Happy Birthday, Reese!

There is a look that my older girls give me when they think they are getting away with something.  It's a look that says, "Is this for real?  Could it be this good and still be true?"  Usually they give me a look like this when they find out they get to sleepover at Nana and D's house or when they're eating a huge ice cream cone.

I feel like I've had that look on my face the entire last year.  That look, that, "Is this for real?" feeling... that's how I have felt about having Reese.  I just cannot fathom how bubbly, how easy, how precious she is... she is too good to be true, and yet she's real.

We've said before that Reese is stolen joy.  We didn't know we wanted a third child; we didn't know we were missing a family member.  But once she came into our world, we knew: life could not have been complete without this piece of overflowing joy.  We feel like we're getting away with something too amazing and too blissful to be true, like we've stolen a little piece of heaven.  But she was freely given to us from the Father of Heavenly Lights, and for our part, we are overwhelmingly grateful.

Reese is the easiest baby I've ever met.  She is still a person... she has feelings and needs and desires.  But she has such an easy-going personality and delights in whatever life brings her way.  The lessons most adults spend years trying to learn, Reese was born understanding: it's okay if life isn't all about you; there is fun to be had no matter where you are; being tired or hungry or wet isn't the end of the world... I could go on and on.  Reese has the bubbly joy for life, the deeply inquisitive nature, and the magnetism towards people that any great leader has.  But she also has a quietness, a tenderness and a willingness to relax that any great peacemaker has.  What she becomes in her life is still, appropriately, a question mark, and as she grows, she will change, to be sure.  But the innate gifts God has put in her are beautiful and wonderful to behold.

As she's gotten older, more of her personality has come to life: she's more verbal about excitement, wants and needs.  She likes to show off, to explore and to express herself.  She prefers Mommy above all else, but food will almost always win her over when Mommy isn't available.

Reese at age one is busy, she's constant, she's expressive... but she's still the easiest, most joyful baby I know.  And I am so, so glad for the stolen joy and the borrowed love we've been given.

Reese, you make our family complete.  Happy birthday, Baby Girl.