To the Bear on Her Third Birthday

Dear Bailey,

Dear Lord...where do I even start?  This has been such a big year for you.  I cannot comprehend how you've come so far, my little girl.  Not only have you moved from one continent to another,  but you've grown from a rough-and-tumble toddler to a boisterous little girl. You're learning patience and how to master those great big emotions that are a part of who you are. You've taken to demanding I braid your long hair like your big sister's and your fashion sense defies anything I've ever seen on a kid before.  You own it, though, sister.  You own everything you do.  You stand strong in your choices and only the stubborn will of your mama can make you back down.

You love your family so much, you sweet thing, but most of all, you love your sister; you emulate everything she does too.  The two of you carry on around the house in amazing games of make-believe, hollering spells (Wingardium Leviosa!!) hosting weddings and saving tigers in distress. 

You overwhelm me every day with depths of the love you possess; the passion that encompasses every aspect of your life--both the good and the bad. You somehow effortlessly embody the unprejudiced acceptance that Christ showed for others and I often find myself jealous of how you can get people from every walk of life to open up to you--to melt and fall in love with your smile and those happy eyes--to accept hand shakes, high-fives and hugs as tokens of your affection wherever you go.  It is an amazing and a humbling thing.   

You are so full of life, child.  When I look at you, I know what it is to see someone who is a bringer of light.  I am so thankful that God chose us as your family--that your Papa and sister and I get to be in the glow of His light shining through you every day.  I hold you close now, knowing you are meant to eventually go out into the world.  You might only be three years old, baby, but if you wanted to rock this world, I believe you could do it...and you'd do it with a skip in your step and a glint in your eye.

With all the love in my bursting heart,
Mama Gigi