"And though she be but little, she is fierce."

To Anna, my four year old little girl,

It's hard for me to believe that this week you turned four. Wait no, it seems hard to believe that you are already four and you can write your name, hang up your clothes and button buttons. I felt like since you were my baby, you could just stay little forever. That I could keep you all to myself and we could spend our days reading books, playing doll house and just stay us, the way that we are now.

You are so funny and you really know how to make people laugh. You never, ever wake up in a bad mood and you are never grumpy for long. It's actually really funny how extremely mad you can get and how very quickly it goes away.  You are so loving and so affectionate. You laugh and cry and love easily. If I cry you cry and you demand to know what happened. Your imagination is WILD! You are known for stories,  tall tales and silly joke (like you actually think of your own punch lines for knock, knock jokes) Demanding and straight forward are also good ways to describe you and maybe the combination of all the so many good things about you mixed with the fierceness of your personality makes it so easy for your brother, father and I to always give into you. Good thing you have found friends that have the kind of fight that you do. No one gets pushed around. You, Taylor, Alyssa and Reagan can all hold your own and Emily, she's just so sweet!

You weigh about 33 pounds and in August you will start Pre-K at John's school. You like Hello Kitty, playing with your doll house and reading books. You also love to color, write, cut and work on letters and numbers. You love to learn! That being said, on Sunday you told me that you know more than me. I thought you were going to wait until you were 12 or 13 before you said something like that... Your favorite food is Macaroni and Cheese. Favorite shows are Little Bear, Oswald and Pepper Pig. You love our Dog Bella and your favorite color is pink. You love to laugh but more than that, you love to be funny and make others laugh. You are so sweet, happy and loving and I am so blessed to be your Mom. You love to sing and listen to church songs, it is so sweet! You are the one that reminds us to say our prayers and you talk about Jesus like you know him and that's because you do. You are a sweet, funny and strong spirited girl and I love you so much! It has been really awesome to see who you have grown to be at the sweet, busy age of four. Always remember my girl, that I love you for everything that you are, eveything you will become and for all these years that we have shared.

Children are the anchors that hold a mother to life.-Sophocles