Emma Jo turns 4!!

I know every parent says this every year their child gets older, but that’s for good reason – I honestly cannot believe our little girl is 4 years old!!  I mean, it feels like just yesterday I was in the hospital waiting to see if we were going to have a Caleb or Emma Jo, only to hear “It’s a girl!” and forever have our world changed.  This little girl has brought an incredible amount of joy, sweetness, frills, pinkaliciousness, and regal-ness (aka Princess!) to our lives {and yes, I’m claiming a few of those as real words in the world of Emma Jo – if you know her, you know those words exist}.  It’s amazing how God perfectly forms each of their personalities and how unique each child can be.  Seth and Emma are only 15 months apart, yet could not be more different in how they see the world.  I am so thankful for each of their giftings and I cannot see what the Lord does with these unique personalities as they grow into {hopefully} God-fearing adults!

Emma is definitely a stop-and-smell-the-roses kind of gal, one who just loves life the way it is and wants to soak it all in.  Pretty much everything brings her happiness and she can make-believe with just about any toy, box, etc.  Her imagination knows no bounds.

She loves all things girly – baby dolls, barbies, princesses, dress-up, flowers, pink and purple, jewelry, coloring, cooking – all the while keeping up with her big brother looking for bugs, digging in dirt, and throwing a ball (all, of course, done in a tutu).

Her favorite show right now is the Pioneer Woman (I’m not kidding!) and she currently wants to be a mom when she grows up (melt my heart, why don’t you?).  She adores her baby sis and helping out with Ellie, although I know she’s a bit frustrated that her baby sis can’t play barbies with her yet.

One of our favorite things about Emma that has been part of her personality as long as we can remember is her care-free sense of self-awareness – aka she has none.  She does not care what anyone thinks of her (in a good way) and doesn’t mind if she looks silly by what she’s wearing or anything like that.  The girl can pull any look off and look very cool.  She can wear a tutu with boots, mom’s beanie hat, mom’s scarf, and look totally ridiculous, while at the same time, looking incredibly cool and fashion-forward. I could take some serious lessons from that girl on not evaluating myself on the perceptions of others, but just being me.  I think we all could.

She is currently in Ballet, which fits her girly-ness perfectly, but unfortunately she was gifted with her mother’s sense of grace (meaning, we have none).  We are as light on our feet as an elephant tap dancing.    Thankfully at this age, that doesn’t matter! 🙂

She is in pre-school one day a week with Seth at our church’s preschool.  Although she may not be as gifted as Seth in the world of letters and numbers (let’s face it, not many of us are), she is growing by leaps and bounds and takes joy in the learning process, a skill that we are very thankful for.

She is a bit of a hypochondriac, with any little bump needing Elmo ice or a band-aid (as I type this, she came in saying she hurt herself needing the Elmo ice).

She is a little very dramatic.  She’s all girl.

Her favorite foods are burrito bowls and meatloaf (that’s my girl!). Other staples include yogurt, cheese, and frozen blueberries.

Although we’ve gone through not-so-easy phases with her, our life would be lacking so much joy without her.  She is infectious in her happiness and her ability to see the good in so many things.  She loves people and loves life, a trait that I pray stays with her always.  I thank God for gifting us with this little life and entrusting us to care for her.  My prayer is that we are faithful in raising her, teaching her that her beauty comes from her heart and loving God and loving others.  I pray that we teach her that true joy comes from knowing our Savior and although we may not always be happy in our circumstances (or boo-boos), we can always have joy.  I pray that she continually desires to serve others and sacrificially lay down her life for others in a way that is counter-cultural, whether that be as a mom, or whatever path she chooses in life.  I pray that she grows to understand her need for a savior and that she is a sinner in need of God’s grace and will desire to tell others about this wonderful gift.

{These pictures were done for a spread in a wedding magazine with Wedding Row Kentucky called Baubles & Bowties.  I was asked by the editors if I would do a little shoot with her as a flower girl to highlight flowers for the winter as well as flower girl attire.  The dress was borrowed from the flower girl at Ryan & Leah’s wedding this past fall, and the flowers were done by Jaclyn Journey here in Louisville.  Let’s just say, Emma ate this little session up.  It was freezing outside, but she maintained her sweet smile while her teeth chattered.  On a few occasions, she would say “I so freezing!!” but then would continue to pose and smile with joy while holding those flowers.  I promise I have not taught her how to pose.  That’s all natural.} 🙂