happy birthday, dear middle child!

today marks the day my middle baby girl turns 6!
SIX!!!!
oh gosh!
can she really be that old?

(me, in labour at the hospital... probably close to 9 cm at this point... and i'm STILL laughing and smiling!)

i remember her birth like it was yesterday.
i basically just leisurely spent the day breathing through light contractions, from mid morning to mid afternoon.
anticipating another long haul, i kept waiting for the "real" stuff to kick in.
only to be checked and announced that i was 8 cm dilated!!
you can imagine our surprise!
plus, we were at home (and not planning a home birth)!

(this picture speaks a thousand words! 3 minutes after birth.)

so we shot off to the hospital with our midwife shouting directions at my husband to pull over if i started to involuntarily push!
ha ha ha ha!
i'll never forget that.
i was so calm, cool and collected...

(my sweet little newborn! only hours old.)

big M on the other hand?!
freaking out and speeding through town!!
we got stopped by a red light and i was thinking aloud about baby names.
my honey?
he was white knuckling the steering wheel waiting for the green!
we arrived at the hospital and the nurses laughed and thought there was no way i was already 8!
then all hell broke loose... for about an hour.
crazy, intense, searing white hot pain.
but then it was over!

(1 year old... loving that ice cream has been added to the diet!)

and then there was my new baby girl!!!
she was beautiful.
she was pink, screaming her lungs out.
she was perfect!

(2 years old... i thought she was such a big girl... but look, she's just a baby!)

and i felt like a million bucks!!
i just birthed out a baby with no drugs.
it was amazing... empowering... so overwhelming.
one of the best moments in my life.
what a joy it was to finally meet her.

(3 years old... proper princess in pink!)

and fittingly, we gave her the middle name joy!
and she still is an absolute joy!
she is feisty, and emotional too, don't get me wrong.
she is all kinds of crazy as well.
she's a girl, of course.
but she is also the biggest cuddlebug you'll ever meet... never holds a grudge... and wears her heart on her sleeve.

(4 years old... those big blue eyes get me every time!)

she teaches me so much!
i'm not sure i can imagine my life without her.
yesterday was her last day of kindergarten.
today, she turns 6 years old.
she's growing up right before my eyes!
and i just wanna hold on tight and never let her go!

(5 years old, stylish and sweet!)

thank you little k... for your spirit... your love... your zest for life!
i promise to always be there for you... show you the love of Jesus... and pray with you and for you every day.
i love you, my little honey-pie!!

 (still 5 years old... but taken just a couple of months ago... therefore, closer to 6.)