Dear Taryn,

I blinked and you went from a sweet, chubby little baby to smart, fun little girl.  I remember when you were about to turn 2, I started to feel like I could just sit and watch you and be entertained for hours.  You fascinate me.  I think I really could fill my day just being entertained by you, chatting with you, discovering things in a new way with you.  You see the world in a way that I never have.  God blessed me with you, I believe, as a way to help me slow down and appreciate things in a new way.  Things I hadn’t noticed before, things that are beautiful when they are seen and experienced in your sweet, warm, bright and bold way.  It’s baffling how you’ve made me slow down yet consistently keep me hopping to keep up with you.  You are fascinated with so many things.  Your curiousity is so big sometimes, it feels like a full time job keeping up with it.  I love it, and I try!  It makes me giggle to  find you yelling at Google for not giving you the answer you want to your search of “are dragons real?”.  I love how your nose is constantly stuck in a book and that you think nothing of talking about a chapter book you recently read, complaining about the parts that bother you, showing love for a good ending, talking about the characters as though I was right there reading it with you all along and should know every part too.  At least once or twice a week we find you reading in the middle of the night, flashlight in hand, hiding under the covers.  You are doing so great with homeschool.  We have had our challenges, but your curiosity is big, you excel at everything you tackle, you love writing in cursive and it amazes me at how many things come easily to you.  You love going to enrichment and fitness class, you are stronger and more able bodied than you have ever been.  I’m so amazed at how much strength you have now.  We often say that you and Jude are like a little old married couple.  You bicker together and when you’re apart, you can’t wait to see each other.  You don’t like to admit it out loud, but we see in your eyes how much he makes you laugh.  I love watching you enjoy him.  He is funny and I love when he makes you laugh and you pat him on the head with affection.  I also love it when you sneak in and snuggle with him while he’s sleeping.  Jonah, oh man, does he ever adore you.  You are his favorite.  He lights up at the simple mention of your name.  He tries so hard to say your name and he loves it when you walk with him around the house.  Your relationship with Ty….you truly are a pesky little sister….let’s just leave it at that.  I’m so glad we took the above photos when we did, because just a week or so later, you lost one of your top front teeth.  You look SO cute right now, but I’m happy to have captured these before you lost the tooth.  This year, has by far, been your healthiest year.  Every day of good healthy food has helped you, I’m proud of you for trying so hard to be healthy.  You even taught your friends and enrichment classmates about GMO’s by teaching a lesson about them.  I was so proud of you for making such a positive impact.  You are fascinated by animals, you are convinced any large bird flying outside *might* be a dragon.  You are happiest being outside, digging in the dirt, building and creating something new, watching and finding animals, swimming (your birthday wish this year was to go to Deep Eddy) and you constantly want to go fishing.  Your laugh is loud and contagious.  I love you my sweet girl and I hope you have an awesome year.

Love, Momma