Stop the Clock

I'd like to devote today's post to the love of our lives, our little Makenna Rose:

We are enjoying her more and more everyday as her personality blossoms and especially as she says new, funny things on a daily basis.

To be honest, I see many qualities in Makenna that remind me of myself. She can be exceptionally sweet and affectionate yet can also be very stubborn. She is a girly-girl who loves to play dress up and play "tea party", but when we go outside or to the park, she's down in the dirt and sand, digging and getting very dirty. I will freely admit that I've tried {and succeeded!} to get her to fall in love with some of my favorite Disney films or favorite musicals: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Cinderella, Mary Poppins, and The Sound of Music.

Makenna loves to perform. She sings and dances every day, so I'd say there's a good chance that dance class will be a hit with her when she's a little older. Even though dance is one of my greatest loves, I won't force it on her if she really doesn't care for it!

Makenna loves books, whether we are reading them to her or she is sitting alone, looking at the pictures. I have fantasies of reading some classics aloud to her as she gets older. I really hope she retains this love of books, or "sories" {stories}, as she calls them.

And it appears she may have even inherited my love of organizing?!?! She's certainly in that toddler phase of dumping toys onto the floor, but we regularly catch her arranging toys or items very precisely to her own liking.

Her own arrangement of treasures

This morning, the two of us went to the park. We enjoyed the swings, slides, sand, and play structures for well over an hour. The sun was out, warming our skin. As I sat on the swing next to Makenna {because she told me, "Mommy, sit. Swing."}, I thought about the sweetness of these precious days together. The days when we can have adventures together all day, just the two of us, before she gets bigger and has to start school. It was such a good reminder to savor these moments, because they go so quickly, and I know all too soon I'll look back and long for this time with Makenna again.

I so often wonder how it is that Matt and I were blessed with such a wonderful little girl. She makes us feel like the luckiest parents in the world. We never could have dreamed of the love, joy, and fun she'd bring into our lives.