Jessalyn Turns 10

Can it really be possible that our sweet little baby girl has turned ten? Where did the time go?
How did she get to be so grown up and so very tall? There are moments when I look carefully to see if I can find a trace of that happy baby that I used to sing to sleep.........but she has been replaced by an amazing preteen - a young lady full of dreams and questions for the future.

I could write pages and pages of fun memories about life with Jess, but here are a few of my favorites:

* Jessa loved her bottle as a baby - it reached a level of addiction at one point! She cried for it for a full year and half after we quit giving it to her! Yes - she has always been a bit stubborn!

* She said "Bub Boo" instead of "Love You"......it was the sweetest little phrase I've ever heard in my life!

* Dress up and Princess Play has been a way of life since she was born. Jessa has always been a princess - from day one! At 18 mos she was pulling silky nightgowns out of the hamper to drape about her neck. It continues still today.......she is always arranging different outfits for herself or her dolls.....some shocking and some creative and some .....wellllll.......I usually use the phrase........"That's interesting, Sweetie!"

* Jessa has always had a deep sense of "Fairness". I believe she got this gene from Auntie Hilary! :) This little gene pops up at the most unforgiving of times....like when Jessa catches Mommy sneaking a cookie and the "Fairness" rule says she should have one too!!

* When she was around the age of four, Jessa started telling me when she was going to be shy.
Instead of saying "I feel embarrassed or uncomfortable" she would state "I'm going to be shy, Mom."

* She has always taken the art of stalling to new levels at bedtime. My favorite of her many, many bedtime questions has to be : "Mom, how did God make dirt?" And the fact that she could go all day without wanting to drink anything at all...........but at bedtime she would pull the camel routine and drink five big glasses of water. SLOWLY. FIVE WHOLE GLASSES. And she never wet the bed. Not Ever!

There are so many fun memories of these past ten years with our little girl! She's our first and we've made lots of mistakes......but somehow God has managed to protect her from our bumbling trial and error efforts! She is our Sweet Little Missy Girl!!!