Our Darling Ainslee

It's hard to believe that our little Ainslee just celebrated her 3rd birthday. Trey and I consider ourselves truly blessed by her. We are two of the very, very few people who get to see the real Ainslee. For those people that only see the shy, timid side of her in public settings, you might be surprised to learn what she's really like.

She is very complex and has many different sides to her personality. I never imagined that a three-year-old little girl could be so dynamic. She's sweet and bubbly and has such a great sense of humor. She's very silly. Laughter rolls out of her. She loves to make others laugh. I love to see her with her guard down, enjoying her brother and sister. They play so well together. She's very nurturing. She has a good imagination and loves to pretend. She tells everyone their parts in her imaginary world. (You be the sister, and I'll be the mama; you be the brudder, and you be the daddy.) She's fiesty. She's stubborn; headstrong. She's unpredictable, and she keeps our lives interesting. She's comfortable at home and worries about the unknown. She asks a lot of questions. She's smart. She doesn't like dogs, but she says she likes cats, even though she's never liked a cat that she's seen in real life. She loves to sing, and she does it all the time! She wants to please. When she's in a bad mood, she likes for me to rock and her tell her that I love her. (and I love that she'll let me rock her and love on her!!) She doesn't like men in general, but she loves her daddy. She responds better to praise than punishment. She doesn't like to be without one of her siblings. She's a middle-child, not the baby, not the big kid, searching for her place. She loves all things girly. She wants to be a princess or a ballerina. She loves pink and glitter and loves showing off her earrings! She likes to feel fancy. She feels pretty in a dress and insists, much to my delight, in always having a bow! She loves shoes and jewelry. She's good at puzzles and loves to color. She's a picky eater, and loves to drink sweet tea and chocolate milk.

We love her so much. We love every side of her. Our prayer for her is that she knows that even though she's not the baby or the big kid, that she's right where she belongs, in the middle, right in the heart of our family. We pray that she'll love God, that when she's big enough she'll choose to follow Him, and that she'll lead others to Him.