Happy Birthday My Sweet Baby Girl!

Olivia awoke to a brand new tricycle the morning of her birthday!!! She already loooves it!!
She's got the steering down, we just have get the pedaling figured out!ha

How in the world is my sweet baby girl 2????? I realize she is not a baby anymore...trust me, she reminds me everyday that she is fully capable of doing it HERSELF!!! Rush jokingly says all the time that she would move into her own aparment tomorrow if she could! She is seriously strong-willed and independent! WHICH are two personality traits I'm so thankful she has. However, it makes these young years a little tough and trying. We are hoping to guide that strong will and independance in the right direction so that one day those personality traits will be used for God's glory!!! So, back to my first sentence....how in the world have 2 years gone by since she was born??!!!! It scares me to death at how fast her little life is flying by! On one hand I feel like she was born just yesterday and on the other it seems as though she has always been a part of our life. Rush and I often wonder what we did before she was a part of our family! I can honestly say there wasn't near as much joy in our home!! On April 11 we were given the most precious blessing God can give, the gift of life! She has blessed our lives abundantly every day since then! Only since her birth do I even get a glimpse of how much love God has in his heart for me through my love for Olivia! I never knew my heart could be so full of love for someone! I also realize how gracious our God is.....I am so unworthy of such a precious gift as Olivia! How humbled I am that he would see me even remotely worthy to entrust her life to me. Lastly, I realize she is not mine, nor is anything else I may possess....it is HIS. HE has only loaned her to me for a short amount of time here on earth. Her life belongs to him...while that is an overwhelming thought, it also brings me so much peace! Only through our Savior, Jesus Christ, can she have eternal life! It also helps me realize that I can't do this alone.....only with Christ by my side can I rear her in such a way that she would come to know Him as her savior and live a life in such a way that would be pleasing to Him. So, on this day, I not only celebrate my baby girl's 2nd birthday and the joy she has brought to our lives, but I also celebrate what Christ has taught me through her sweet little life in only 2 years! As much as I hate to see another year fly by as fast as these past 2 have, I'm just as excited to see what God has in store for her life and just what else he can teach us through her!!!