Happy Birthday Isabella Grace!!

Today our beautiful little girl turns 4!

Truth be told, I am having a hard time wrapping my mind around the reality of having a 4 year old. It sounds a bit cliche, but it really seems like yesterday that we laid eyes on her for the first time and spent those first few days and weeks falling in love with our baby girl. Now when I look at her all of the "baby" things seem to have quietly dissapeared and instead of my "baby", I see a little girl.

As we have watched her grow into the little girl she is, there is no denying that she is extremely strong willed and independent. While those characteristics sometimes cause distress in the McMinn household we are determined to foster them and help her to use them in a way that she can be proud of. I have no doubt that God made her the way He did for a very specific reason and it is my prayer that as her parents we foster those qualities and never do anything to make her feel like she needs to be anything other than the girl (and eventually woman) that God created her to be.

In addition to her strong character qualities there are other things about her that are just priceless. She has to be one of the friendliest and outgoing little girls I have ever met. I have shared this story with many of you, but on a regular basis she stands on the patio in the backyard waiting for people to walk by so she can say hi to them. If they don't respond the first time she will say, okay, yell, "I SAID HI!!" If the person walking by happens to engage her in conversation she will talk until I head outside to relieve the poor passer by of their obligation to stand there and talk to the cute little girl. Today she has told EVERYONE she has seen (stranger and friend) that it's her birthday and she is 4 now. As usual, some people think it's great and others act a bit annoyed that I let my child interrupt whatever it happend to be they were doing...even if it was as simple as walking down the sidewalk or standing in line...but I digress...

I could go on and on but at the risk of sounding like an overly doting mother, I will simply say that we couldn't have asked for a more perfect little girl for our family. In the recent months as we have tried so hard to have another child, I have really began to realize what an incredible blessing she is in our life. Only now do I see how much I took for granted the time that I was pregnant with her and really, each and every day of the last 4 years. God gave us a good and perfect gift when he blessed us with Bella and I hope that she always knows that even if no one else on this earth loves her or supports her, there will be 2 people who will never give up on her, never stop loving her and never forget what an amazing gift we were given on that 6th day of August.

We love you Bella!!!