Morgan Rae is Four!

Happy Birthday to our free spirit little girl. It is hard to believe that you are four Morgan. You have certainly grown up a lot this past year. You continue to be easy going and content with most things. You are definitely expressing your opinion more though and seem to get pretty emotional lately, especially when you are tired. You have such a kind heart for others and you really want to make sure those around you are happy and feeling good. You are very sensitive to people being mean to you or hurting you. You are quick to cry when you feel there has been some injustice done to you. We've had some firsts this year too.

Your independent sense of style makes me smile. You  have been dressing yourself since you were two and I must say that your ability to match is actually pretty good now. You have strong opinions on what you wear so mommy only interferes when something really doesn't match and we are headed somewhere when I want you to match. I love this independence and confidence about you and I hope it never changes.

Morgan, you and Ethan are the best of friends and the biggest enemies. You had a great summer together and you really grew a lot in your relationship. Since you are getting better at communicating with him you two really have fun together. You are the imagination behind most of what you guys play together. Ethan loves to follow your imaginative lead.

Mo, you and your little sister have a lot of fun together. Most of the time Brooklyn follows your directions and plays what you want. You two can disappear for long periods of time into your room. Sometimes that means trouble!

I love this picture because it shows your crazy bed head. You have beautiful curls Morgan and if we don't braid it the night before, this is what you look like in the morning. Everyone loves your curls too. Often you comment that you wish you had long princess hair, so I know there will come a time when you don't like your curls and I'll be spending hours straightening them:)

You love one-on-one time with daddy and mommy. You don't demand it, but you sure get a huge smile on your face when you get to run errands or play a game with just daddy. Daddy has a way with you too and on those rare times you are coming undone about something I usually send daddy in to deal with you.

You, Ethan and Daddy like to have dance parties after dinner. You love to dance and sing.

Your current passion is crafts. You will spend hours cutting, gluing and coloring. When we started talking about preschool you said, "Do we get to do crafts all day? Yay!" Give you a pack of paper and some markers and you are a happy girl.

You have a lot of great friends and you are a social little girl. I call you my extroverted introvert though. You love your time with friends, but whenever we come home from bible study, church, or a friends house you head to your room for about 30 minutes of alone time. You definitely need your space in between all the people time.

You got your first hair cut this year. You were beside yourself with joy:)

Girl you love the dirt. Put you in the sand box and you are a happy camper. You also love the swings and will swing for as long as I let you.

It has been fun watching you and cousin Annika this year. You are starting to play so well together. You will now disappear upstairs at Papa and Nana's house and we won't hear from you for quite a while. It is fun to watch your friendship.

I love you sweet girl. I love your compassion and how you beginning to understand the Bible and who Jesus is to us. I love how patient and helpful you are with your little brother and sister. I love your confidence and your desire to please. I pray that I can be the mama that you need!

Another first was ballet camp. You got to take 4 sessions of ballet this summer and you LOVED it. I think we may be revisiting ballet in the future.

You are also playing soccer this year and you aren't loving it. You start out great, but then after about 20 minutes of running and getting bumped into or knocked down you're done. It takes quite a bit of talking and bribing to get you back on to the field. I'm thinking this may be our only year of soccer. We still have a lot of games left though, so mommy is really praying you begin to like it!

The last first for this year is starting preschool. You love it so far and I can't wait to watch you prosper in that new environment.

Thanks for making us laugh Mo and for who you are to our family. God made you perfect for your place in our family. Love you girl!