Happy 2nd Birthday Presley Rose!

Presley Rose,

Happy Birthday my sweet girl.  Today you are two years old and as much as it feels like the time has flown by, in many ways the last two years have felt like a decade.  As I watch you play today I am amazed.  Amazed at the gift that you are.  Amazed at the grace of my Lord.  Amazed at His timing.  You see my sweet girl, your birth marked the beginning of the hardest season of our lives.  A season where we have struggled in every way possible and felt more lost and more loss than we ever imagined.  A season where loneliness and hopelessness were at the tip of every day waiting, with the devil, to take over our home and our hearts.  And then there was Presley Rose.  This beautiful tiny little person that Jesus sent to us knowing that if we had you, we would never quit no matter how hard it seemed or how tired we were.  And so it was. 

On the days that daddy worked 16 hours and I was home with you and Kathryne feeling lonely and lost there you were needing to nurse, or be changed, or be held.  When your brother came and went in a day, there you were not even a year old, needing only mommy. A gentle, beautiful reminder that life goes on even in death and our blessings out weighed our sadness infinitely.  The year that has followed we have watched you grow and learn and finally get hair ;)  and we have laughed more than we ever imagined.  The days that I feel like I have had all I can stand your daddy will smile and look at you and your sister and say, "look at those girls, what do we have to complain about? What else could we possibly want?" He is right.  You and that big sister of yours are more than we ever deserved or imagined.  A blatant act of love and mercy from our Lord and Saviour. 

Today you are two and you are funny and beautiful and spunky and obstanant and loving and in a purple cast up to your left hip ;).  The first of many boo boos I am afraid.  You, my sweet girl, are wild and wide open.  Nothing is stoping you and everything is yours to be had.  Daddy and I watch and laugh and shake our heads at the glimpse of  our future with you.   I fear that motorcycles and sky diving are a part of that future.  You are your mama made over.  Tough and full of energy with a hint of mean, just enough to get through anything that may stand in your way.  Your daddy knows he is in for the ride of his life with you and he cannot wait!!  You have white blonde curls and giant blue eyes that fill up your face complimented by a dimple on the left side that matches Uncle Brett's. 

There is absolutely no way to tell you how much we love you or what you mean to us.  All I can say is that you are a gift that we did not deserve but that we cherish with everything that we have.  You bring laughter and fun into our lives and our home and that is something we have needed more than ever over the last two years.  We pray for you every day.  For your health, your future, your husband, your heart.  We know we cannot protect your from the world, but we are asking Jesus to give us the tools to prepare you.  Watching you grow delights us and gives us so much to look forward to.  You my sweet Pdub are a mommy's girl, you and your sister are best friend's and your smile lights up your daddy's world!! Like I said, Jesus knew just what He was doing. 

Happy Birthday Presley Rose. 

We love you bigger than the whole sky. 

Mommy, Daddy and Kathryne (Sissy)