Leah

So Leah turned four the other day, and this post is a couple of days late. I have been working on it for quite awhile, but I just can't seem to put everything into coherent words. How can I possibly express all my thoughts about this little person who has brought me such joy, such frustration, and has been the agent of so much sanctification in my life? How I can possibly begin to describe the delightful little fireball that is my firstborn. It's very very hard.

On the one hand, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, and that she is just the most incredible thing ever to come out of a woman's uterus. On the other hand, I don't want to dwell on all her faults or make it seem like she makes me want to pull out my hair on a daily basis. So I'll just do the best I can.

Leah is hilarious. I don't know if she means to be, but she is hilarious. Her facial expressions, the things she says make me crack up and laugh constantly. She is truly a joy.

She has this incredible spirit and spunk, one that I hope never goes away. She is a true extrovert, always asking me "what we are going to do today", and "who are we going to see today?" She has never met a stranger. She invites everyone we see, from the mailman to the cashiers at Kroger, to come to her birthday party. She will talk to anyone and everyone, and wants to... all the time. At church she is like a little butterfly, walking from person to person, saying "HI!" "Do you like my shoes?" "I'm turning four!" "Do you like princesses?", or anything else that comes to her little mind.

She loves all things beautiful. She wants to be beautiful all the time. She asks people if she is beautiful all the time. She cries if the little boys that she is friends with tells her they don't like pretty things. Before we leave the house she "needs" her sparkly shoes, her crown, her headband, her ring, her necklace, and at least one stuffed animal friend.

She says she has 5 best friends: "my charlotte friend (a spider), annie (andrew and Krista's dog), Lucky (a dog down the street), dumbo, and God." Hey, at least God made the list.

She is incredibly sweet.

She is incredibly smart. Her memory is pretty remarkable. She will recall random conversations or events that occurred two years ago.

I could write pages and pages about the things that I love about Leah.... I really could. But she is not perfect. Far far from it. I never want anyone to read my blog and feel like I try to portray my life in a perfect light, because it is not. I'm a sinner, married to a sinner, raising sinners. It's difficult, challenging, exhausting, and brings me to my knees daily.

All this to say: I love you Leah, my precious four year old!