Princess Lou is TWO!

Guess who turned TWO today?

Two years ago, we had just been to night two of our church's VBS.  I was four days past my due date already and starting to feel certain that our sweet baby girl was going to live inside of me F-O-R-E-V-E-R.  I mean, not that I was dramatic about it or anything. Lo-and-behold, I didn't make it to night three of VBS.  PRAISE THE LORD.  The funny thing is that when Lou finally decided it was time to arrive, she came with a BANG.  No messin' around.  I should have known, then and there, that we were in trouble.  The best kind of trouble.  But trouble none-the less. 

Our sweet girl has been doing things on her own time ever since.  And when she decides IT'S TIME...you better just watch out.  She's comin' through.  Take this last week for example.  Lou decided last Wednesday that she was done with her beloved pacifier.  Just when I was starting to wonder if she might go to college with it, she loved it so much...she decided to throw it away.  BAM.  Just like that and never looked back.  But nothing- NOTHING- could have prepared me for what she did next.  She 100% COMPLETELY potty-trained herself.  Instantaneously.  I'm really not exaggerating.  She decided while she was at the babysitter's house on Thursday that she didn't want to wear diapers anymore.  AND QUIT.   Number one, number two, day, night. EVERYTHING.  And not like, I run her to the potty every five minutes.  Like, she tells me when she needs to go and goes.  Just because she decided she could.  I'd say that pretty well sums up the way she walks through her little life.

As a side note... I don't want to give Lou all the credit for potty training. I do COMPLETELY believe that the Lord knew she needed that and that we NEEDED that.  On top of the current craziness at our house, I feel fairly certain if potty training #3 had been anything like her brothers...it might have K-I-L-L-E-D us.  no joke.

Another word that would sum up our Lou these days is confidence (which might be a nice way of saying- she really LOVES herself).  I can't count how many times I've heard her say "You see this dress/you see this bow/you see these shoes?" or caught her looking at herself admiringly in the mirror.  I've already started teaching her the verse "I praise YOU because I am fearfully and wonderfully made" lest she start to believe that she had anything to do with her own amazingness.  As rough and tumble as she can be with the boys, she is 100% GIRL.  She loves to wear dresses, has her favorite pink leopard print Crocs, never leaves the house without a bow (and rarely without a purse or a baby) AND requires ice in her drinks whenever possible.  Her Daddy sometimes says she is high maintenance.  I think she just has a lot of confidence in who she is and what she wants.  That's different.  Right? RIGHT?

Sweet Princess Lou-

Oh how we LOVE you.  You make our home a brighter place and the Lord's timing in bringing you to us was so sweet!  We love the way you giggle, the way you dance, the way you wrinkle your little nose and (most of the time) we love the way you know exactly what you want.  You are CRACKING US UP these days with the things that you say.  I LOVE how you blend the things you hear your brothers/cousin say with the things of your girly play world, proving that your "dainty" 20lb self is a force to be reckoned with. You love to say "SUPER FAST" while being a super-hero princess.  You like to go "really higher" on the swings with your blond hair flying behind.  You LOVE LOVE LOVE anything that has a princess on it, and of course Elmo is still super high on the list.  You play pretend in your kitchen with CB and it always makes me laugh when you say "What you want to eat?....Sorry we don't had dat"  I love that you ask me at least 100 times a day "which one you fav-rite?" Likely because you ALWAYS know EXACTLY which one is YOUR favorite.  Do you wanna know what my favorite is, Lou?  MY favorite is when you say "DIS MUCH..." with your arms wide open for me to sweep you up and smother you with hugs and kisses.  That's my favorite.

You had a lot to give up in the last few months of your second year.  You are no longer the baby in the house, you aren't the only girl anymore, you share your room and even your bed.  But big girl, you have risen to the challenge and I'm so very very proud of you.  I know it hasn't been easy for you, but someday I hope we get to sit together as women and talk about how it made us stronger.  I have tears in my eyes as a write this because as the Lord works in our family, the world would say that a tiny blond two-year-old couldn't understand it.  But somehow, I know they are wrong.  I know you don't understand everything, but when I watch your tenderness toward your (nearly) twin cousin and your baby cousin, I know you DO understand His love- maybe even in a way that the rest of us are still learning.  I'm learning from YOU.  Thank you, sweet little sister.  May the Lord continue to bless you with abounding compassion, may He use your zeal for life and your determination to accomplish great things for His kingdom.  May you never forget that indeed YOU ARE fearfully and wonderfully made.  You are one of His works, and THAT makes you wonderful (Psalm 139:14).  You are wonderful- and you also happen to be one of my very favorites!

I love you baby girl.  How much?  THIS MUCH!
Momma