Happy Birthday Kaya!

Our baby is two! There is something about a child turning two- it seems babyhood is gone. We have truly seen her blossom into a little girl over the last few months.

This is the end of a season for our family. It is a little bittersweet to know that I will never cradle another baby in my arms and introduce myself as her mommy. I have enjoyed and treasured all four children as babies. I feel like I was mindful of how quickly their babyhood would pass and spent enough time gazing into their eyes while they nursed, slept with their little bellies pressed against my own, and never worried about holding them too much. I think we loved having babies so much that we can move on knowing we have loved them well and treasured it up in our hearts. We have some regret that Kaya will never be a big sister, but surely one child must be the baby!

Kaya is talking in full sentences and potty training. I took her shopping this week so she could pick out her own gift. She ended up with a beautiful petti-coat and a little dog you pull behind behind- the pink variety of course. Already she loves lip gloss and having painted toe nails. She is all little girl. This morning, she came to my bedside and I told her how pretty she was. Upon hearing the word "pretty" she quickly glanced down to notice someone had removed her petti-coat. "My tu-tu! Where is my tu-tu?" she cried running out of my room. Daddy came to the rescue and returned the gift that had been snatched while she slept . She went on with her day- "tu-tu" intact.

Her full head of blonde hair and strong legs that carry her quickly through out her day are such a contrast to the baby pictured in her birth announcement. The picture was taken at about 10 days old in the nicu. While I have created many beautiful naked baby pictures for clients, that was not a luxury the NICU afforded. The hospital-issued shirt creatively covered the wires and iv and her hand discreetly hid her feeding tube. While the picture was not what I had planned when she was hidden in my belly, it is an image I will always treasure. In a sea of nameless babies, she became a little girl.... she became Kaya Faith instead of baby Evans. At two, she eats like a horse and rattles off amazing things. We worry none about how her early arrival has affected her.