Keira

My baby girl is about to turn 5 years old in a week! She is such a joy in our lives. I love her big personality, and how passionate she is about anything and everything. :) She's one big ball of energy! She's strong-willed which can be hard when say, I'm trying to dress her in something she doesn't like (The other day I made her wear a dress she didn't like to church and she said dramatically "Everyone will hate me for wearing this!") But I see the strengths of her strong-willed nature already playing out as well. She's not afraid to stand up for a kid that's being picked on at the playground which I witnessed the other day. Fear does not keep her from doing anything she sets her mind to. And though she is outgoing and energetic, we've recently realized that she does really well with a little bit of quiet alone time too. That's definitely how I naturally recharge, but I didn't see it until more recently that she is the same way. And my goodness, she says some of the most hilarious things! We always find ourselves laughing from her statements. She's a pretty witty kid. :)

I love watching her growing excitement about her brothers. She's said some pretty cool statements lately. The other day at dinner we were all talking about how we are going to sometimes eat Ethiopian food for dinner now. She said she likes the Injera (flat bread) and the chicken and eggs, but when it came to lentils she said the following. "Well, I don't think I like that food very much, but I SURE do love my brothers!" (Or as she says it, brudders) :)

Last week we were at Wal-mart picking up a few painting supplies and all of the sudden she exclaimed at the top of her lungs "Look mommy!! That person has brown skin just like my brothers!!!" And before we left the store we browsed the toy section so that I could get an idea of what Keira would like for her upcoming birthday. She found several things that she really liked, but as we started to walk away she said, "I think I want a barbie with brown skin cause I want it to look like my brothers."

My little Keira bear is such a precious gift to us. She truly brings so much joy to our lives, and I feel so blessed to be her mommy!

She just walked up to me, leaned her head on my shoulder, burped really loud, and then said very matter-of-factly, "Well, you did that." Ha! Yep, that's my Keira. :)