Four years today, a little girl with olive skin and dark brown hair, and the biggest brown eyes I have ever seen came into this world and was placed in our arms. From the moment we saw you, we couldn't believe how beautiful you were and as we watch you grow you become more and more beautiful to us with every passing year. But what is really special to us is how beautiful you are on the inside.
The name Anna means "Gracious and Merciful" and your middle name Elizabeth means "consecrated to God". Daddy and I have always loved the name Anna and we decided to name you Anna Elizabeth because it is backwards from my name, Elizabeth Anne, however we didn't know at the time we chose that name for you how you would truly be a little girl who lived out the meaning of her name. If I were only given a couple of words to describe you to someone who didn't know you, I believe I would choose those very words, "gracious and merciful". You have such a big heart. You are always putting others first. Your whole life you have always loved to share and to give to others whatever you have, whether it be the very last bite of your prized donut, or a special toy that your sister wants. You are so unselfish and free hearted. You are an example to every one in our family of someone who thinks of others in every area of her life.
You are also merciful. You truly care about others feelings. When your sister is hurt or sad, you are by her side showing compassion, and you are also always quick to forgive and show love when you are offended.
You have such a sensitive and tender spirit. We have never known you to say anything hurtful or mean to anyone. And, in return we have learned how it is important to be tender with your big heart as well. It doesn't take much to hurt your feelings or break your heart. You have shown us all how to be more tender with others, even though you are far more advanced than any of us in this area. Thank you for being such a good example to us all.
It is already evident to us how much you love God. As the name Elizabeth means, you really are someone who is consecrated to God. With a passionate faith just like a little child, He truly has your heart. You love to pray to Him on the behalf of others and you sing to Him in your sweet angelic voice as you go about your day. I remember when Caleb was in my belly, you would pray every single day and night that God would make him healthy and strong and help mommy not to be sick. And when Uncle Brian got hurt last year, you prayed every night for him to get better all on your own for many, many nights. Sometimes you tell me to lay my head on your chest and listen so I can hear Jesus beeping inside your heart. There is no doubt in your mind that He indeed lives inside your heart. Our prayer for you is that you will always live as passionately for Jesus, and that just as your life is consecrated to Him now, it always will be. God will use your gifts of mercy and grace to bless many over the years.
Some things that make you uniquely "you" are the way that you back up to someone when they ask for a hug, letting them embrace you in their arms, the cute little names you make up for all of your special little animals and dolls, favorites are your snow-white dolls "Pulla and Tila", your puppies "Sparkles and Dogga", Pinky bear, Lamby, Rose the elephant, and Slippers the mouse. I don't know where you come up with your names, but you never want any help choosing a name. You think about it for a moment, and then you choose one very matter of factly and that is that. You are very particular about the way you do things and you don't like for us to change it around. You usually do things by the book and we call you our little "rule keeper. It makes you really upset if you see someone else doing something wrong or not following the rules. You never fail to remind mommy or daddy if we forget to put our straps on in the car! (We hope you keep that kind of conviction into your teenage years :) You also are known for taking your time. You are never in a hurry. Sometimes this can be exacerbating if we are in a rush and you are taking your own sweet time...Like the other day when I was trying to get you to finish up something and you were taking forever. I said "Come on Anna, you are moving so slow"! And without missing a beat, you looked at me and said, "but mom...you know that slow and steady wins the race!!" You are always coming up with little sayings like this to crack us up. We love your quippy, silly personality. You keep us laughing that is for sure!! You also have your own special way of coming and sitting on the middle of the stairs so quietly in the morning when you wake up, and I would never even know you are awake except I can hear the sweet sound of you breathing deeply. I come around the corner and hold out my arms and you run and jump in them, and then we sit and cuddle for the first few moments of your day. I love how when you are scared at night and I come into your room, you always climb on top of me getting your body as close to mine as you can possibly get until you feel safe and secure. You tuck your little hands under my back to anchor yourself on and you breathe a sigh of contentment and fall asleep. I also love how if I am laying beside you for a minute as I tuck you in, you make me put my hand under your pillow next to your hand so we can hold hands as we talk as I am telling you goodnight. These are just little things that make you "Anna".
We have had so much fun watching you grow these last four years and develop into a little girl. It is so special how you have your own little things that you love and enjoy. Your favorite color of all is Yellow. In fact, it was one of the very first words you could say and recognize, and I love that because yellow is so appropriate for you. When I think of the color yellow, I think of joy and sunshine and warmth, and that is YOU! You brighten up this home as you go about the day always singing a little song that you are making up. You sing when you play, you sing when you do your chores, you sing when you are going potty, and you sometimes you sing yourself to sleep. You always have a song in your heart. I love how when you are really happy or excited, you skip and bounce everywhere you go. You show joy from you head to your toes when you are happy. You rarely complain about anything, but are one to just go with the flow of life and be content with whatever it is we are doing. And again, you are an example to us all in this area as well. You are our little sunshine!
You love picking flowers. Every single Spring since you could walk you love to go to a big field where you are surrounded by flowers and pick more than you can hold in your arms, singing as you work. If we want to make you mad all we have to do is say that dandelions are weeds. "NO, they are not, they are beautiful yellow flowers" you will say. You also love bandaids! When you were little and I was trying to finish up grocery shopping, all I had to do was give you a handful of bandaids and it would occupy for an hour as you opened each one and placed them on your arm, and now almost every night when you go to sleep, there is some little spot on your body that just has to have a bandaid for you to settle down. And we can't forget lady bugs. You love to find a little lady bug outside. You carry it around as your little pet and let it crawl up and down your arm, and then you are so sweet and let it fly away so it will be happy. Tonight you wore your yellow flower dress and had a yellow birthday cake with little lady bugs all over it. Three of your favorite things: the color yellow, flowers, and lady bugs!
You also love to help mommy bake in the kitchen. From the time you could stand on your own, you would drag a little stool over and climb up to the counter and get your hands in whatever I was doing. You are a great mixer, and you shape loaves of bread like an expert. We have so much fun baking together. I treasure those times.
And of course you love your sister Kate and your little brother Caleb. You have so much fun playing with them. You and Kate go on some of the best adventures all around the house and I love to listen to your wild imaginations. I love the special relationship you have with your sister. You two are inseparable, like two peas in a pod. And, you are such a great big sister to Caleb, always helping mommy take care of him. They both love you so so much.
Other things you love as a four year old are music, books, strawberry cereal bars, going on special dates with just you and daddy, making crafts, playing at Chucky Cheese, going to the bookstore, your best friend Jackson (who you say you are going to marry), and I could keep on going....However, it is way past my bedtime because some little four year old girl (I won't mention any names...) took a long time going to sleep tonight, asking for bandaids, cold water, cold washcloths, wanting someone to lay with her for "just one minute"...But you did have a pretty exciting day celebrating your fourth birthday so it quite understandable that it took so long to settle down. But now you are sound asleep now as I finish this letter. I just snuck in your room and you looked like a little angel laying there breathing so sweetly with your little hand tucked under your pillow and your other arm tucked around "Lamby, Dogga, Sparkles, and Pinky Bear.
We love you so much sweet Anna-Beth. I hope you had a very happy fourth birthday and we look forward to celebrating many, many more with you!
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