Our Ava Grace is 3.  Our sweet, snuggly baby girl has become a rough and tumble, dramatic, articulate (though not always intelligible), compassionate – but not the least bit gentle, beautiful little girl.

Some things about her today…

:: She climbs on the compost bucket in the kitchen while I prepare meals and asks to sample anything in sight.

:: Her favorite song requests in family worship time are Jesus Loves Me, “Come and join the reapers”, and Holy is the Lord.

:: She loves bathtime.

:: She wrestles her baby sister…but only wins sometimes.

:: Eating meals has become the bane of her existence, unless the food happens to be any kind of dessert…or strawberries or tomatoes.

:: She never sits still.  Well, unless she’s being read to, ’cause she really loves books.

:: She does headstands because “I like being upside down, Mommy”.  

:: She gets excited about wearing beautiful clothes.

:: She runs around non-stop when playing, but moves very slowly when simply trying to get somewhere.

 :: She loves playing marbles.

:: She is convinced that she is capable of doing anything she wants to do, but claims she can’t do things like standing up, or putting away toys, or going potty when she doesn’t want to.

From the moment she joined our family, she has been an expert at tugging on heartstrings.  She is quick to show love, exuberant in her displays of affection, tenderhearted, and joyful.  She is a such a precious gift and we are so thankful for her.  Happy Birthday, Ava Grace.