The Green Piece: Happy Birthday Callie

Monday, January 6, 2014

Happy Birthday Callie

Today Callie is six. Yesterday, January 5, was her birthday. And I'm in shock!

Helping me bake her birthday cake, she gets the privilege of eating the birthday batter.

Birthdays sneak up on you when you are least prepared. I'm not ready for her to get older, yet, I have more and more fun with her the older she gets...so in a way, I love it too. Callie's taught me a lot about life, but I just happen to love being taught about her. One of the best roles I have is being her mom. She was divinely placed in our home, and I take being her mom very seriously. I want to teach her, love her, take care of her, protect her, comfort her, and be everything she needs me to be. I love watching her develop into this smart and funny, beautiful and strong little girl.

Her choice: chocolate cake with white frosting

Callie may appear to have a rougher shell. But, as her mom, I'm among the few who see her soft, super sensitive filling. She's sweet, tender, caring...I've referred to her as my buddy many times, and it's true. We laugh and play together, talk and pray together. I love her so much.

Callie is such a great sister. Sammy and Micah are so lucky to have such a great sister who adores them both!

The other day, she made some bad choices that resulted in her losing some privileges. She cried and it. broke. my. heart. It broke my heart! If Bryan hadn't been here, I'm pretty sure I would have cried with her. It was so hard to stay firm. But of course I had to follow through.

"I can't believe I'm years old!"
Yesterday I asked, "Callie! You're 6 years old! Can you believe it?!"
"No. I just can't believe it. It's like I'm in a dream!"

I've been thinking about that situation a lot the past couple days. I think my love for her grew 125x stronger because of that experience. Really, it wasn't a big deal. We couldn't watch a movie for family movie night and she had to wait for this next week. It's not life or death. But to her little mind and life experience...it was something she had waited for all week (which is a very long time for a little girl). And my heart broke. And it also grew.

I love her so much. And I'm not the only one. She's surrounded by tons of people who love her. And the night before her birthday, we talked about Latice ~ her birthmom. "Callie, this time 6 years ago, Latice was in labor and getting ready to give birth to you...." and we talked about how much she loves Callie and took really good care of her so that she would be the healthy baby that she was. What a gift. On Callie's birthday, we also remember the woman who brought her here to us and is probably remembering those moments, herself.

Nate was happier than he looks. He even made Callie the cutest little picture that we're putting in her scrapbook...a picture with cake, Lambie, and balloons. It was an awesome gift!

Yesterday Callie was beaming (still is) and in love with the decorations around the house and the balloons in front room. She loves that it is her day. It's a fun day, and it should be. But inside my heart, it's more than fun....it's a beautiful, and in many ways, a miraculous day.