Happy almost Birthday to our sweet daughter, Hope. She will turn two officially while we are in London. Because of being forced to travel on her birthday we decided to celebrate her day sooner. Last Friday we had a party with my mom and all the bunch. I cannot believe THIS baby is turning two!
Hope, you are truly our joy! We have been surprised by Hope since we found out she was baking in my tummy. We named you Hope because our hope is in Jesus and him alone. It is interesting to be inside the beltway and see everyone with their "Hope" bumper stickers. Without getting too partisan or political, that Hope is not at all what you are named after. I pray someday your hope will be firmly placed in our Lord and his redemption for his people.
Hope you are so cute, fun loving, funny, and full of spunk. You are a 5 year old trapped in a 2 year old body. You think you are one of the "big three" and heaven help the person who tells you that you are the youngest. You love your older siblings, each has a special game they commonly play with you. You are truly a Mommy's girl. You just adore me, and don't ever like to be farther away than a couple feet. You are very good at climbing anything, swinging on the big swings at the playground and eating black beans, which are your absolute favorite. Your father and I adore each of our children, but I think we have been the best parents to you. We are experienced parents and are much more relaxed with you. We know what will fatally wound or maim you, and everything else is fair game. You are much more free to explore and play. I have loved parenting you and I wish I could have relaxed more with Grace and Faith when they were your age.
You are an interesting mixture of a happy go lucky girl with a spit fire of a will. You are uniquely your self, but I see flashes of Grace, Faith and Luke come out commonly. This picture was taken of you on our recent Capitol tour. You had been a trooper, but in this photo you have come to your end. If you were my first child I would have been horrified, but no sweet girl you are the fifth. I thought it was cute photo so I began snapping away. I am sure the gentlemen watching both you and me thought I had gone crazy. Oh well, maybe I have, I'm crazy for you!!!!!
We can't wait to see you grow and change over this next year in Kuwait. We thank God for making you and allowing us to parent you!!! You are so special to us~ Love Mommy and Daddy~
