9 Years

My Sunshine Girl turned 9 today! {A few weeks ago, my Favorite Little Mister turned 11, so it is birthday season over here!} Was she not the cutest baby?! Oh, how I miss those cheeks!

 

Being a June baby & a little girl, in the hospital I nicknamed her my sunshine girl. She has brought so much joy to our lives & continues to make us laugh & smile.

She is a great sister. Besties with her big brother & so so so sweet {most of the time} with her little sis. It was early on {like at birth} when we could see her love for food. At age 2 we found her on the counter eating watermelon & in the above photo we had eaten ice cream with cousins the night before & I did not totally clean up the mostly empty containers & she managed to lick out the remains of the ice cream all over her jammies!

She is full of joy & light. She is a mostly free spirit & one thing I greatly admire about her is her self confidence. Example: for the last year she has carried an Avengers lunchbox & when she started using it, some girls at school were horrified & asked her if it was her brother’s lunchbox {which ironically he would NEVER use} & she had no problem with it at all.

She, like the rest of us, is a total nature lover. One thing I love about my kids. And, those deep brown eyes… so beautiful!!!! Here again is a food photo. 🙂 ha!

Her first major haircut came at preschool graduation. She loved the pampering, though at heart she is a total tom-boy like me! She is a night owl. A CRAZY sleeper & very silly at bedtime.

 

She is also one of my best models & I think she is in more of my art than any of my kids. The camera loves her. Here the girls are holding some of the Demdaco plaques they are featured in.

She is strong, brave & courageous in so many ways. The above photos is her daddy piercing her ears with a needle. ughhhhh. He did not trust the teens at Claire’s, so took it upon himself to pierce his own girl’s ears “the right way” & the numbing did not last. It was the longest 5 minutes & he was sweating bullets causing so much pain…. but, there is nothing a little ice cream cannot fix & once she had a mug full, she was all better, showing off her new earrings!

Her strength also came into play the summer she turned 6 when within 2 weeks of each other she had 2 freak accidents & got 2 sets of  stitches. The ones in her lip the doc could not believe she did not flinch nor cry & even did 2 extra stitches where he had not numbed her!

She is a natural beauty. She is a natural athlete & shares my love for soccer & her daddy’s love for volleyball. She excels at any sport she tries & loves playing around with the boys at recess.

I LOVE how unique she is. This past fall, she chopped her hair 6 inches to become Paige from Tron Uprising for Halloween. Totally “became” her : full of attitude & spunk.

I LOVE how she is such a combo of me & Sam. My love of art, nature, soccer & photography; Sam’s love of comics, volleyball, Vespas … if you ask her the best day of her life EVER, she will tell you when daddy took her to Comicon! She went as Cat Woman & was in her glory the entire time. I bet she can answer any comic question someone would give her. She has literally read every comic in the junior section of the library & OH! I cannot forget her insatiable love of books!!! {I asked her who she wants a playdate with this week & she told me she will be too busy reading!} 

This is one of my favorite photos of her ever, as it captures her heart. She is free & full of joy & loves to worship. She is full of compassion & I LOVE how she is my little theologian. Her deep thoughts & questions blow me away & it is so evident what God is rooting in her life.

 

We love you Sunshine Girl!!!! Happy Birthday!!!! May you always know God’s delight over you!

 

Grace & Peace,

Julie