Happy 6th Birthday, Bailey!

My very first baby is 6 years old today.

Six years old.  Let that sink in for a minute.  She's officially closer to being 10 years old than she is to being a baby again, and I almost can't handle it.  I say this on her birthday every year, and I'm sure I always will, but I still so very vividly remember the day she was born, and I can't believe that six years has passed.

My girl, on the day she was born

 
Bailey is, and always has been, an amazing kid and she astounds me every day.  She's got an abundance of sass and spunk, but can be so caring and loving at times that it almost hurts to watch.  Her smile...well, her smile just lights up my whole world.  She grins with her whole face, missing front tooth and all, and it completely transforms her.

The end of a successful t-ball season with the Rockhounds

She just graduated Kindergarten and she's so damn smart.  So smart.  She's reading and writing and doing simple math.  She loves to draw and sing and play outside.  She wants to be a mom when she grows up and her favorite color is "all of them".  She likes to play sports, and her interests in that respect range from t-ball (see photo above) to dance to cheerleading, and now she's decided that she'd like to try gymnastics.

She's brave.  So much braver than I ever was or could hope to be.  She's outgoing.  She makes friends easily.  She's funny and sweet and so much more amazing than a simple blog post could ever hope to convey.

Bailey and her bff's

On the day she was born, I didn't know what to expect.  I knew that there would be sleepless nights and dirty diapers and temper tantrums.  I expected smiles and boo-boos and some 'tude as she grew older.  But nobody prepared me for the absolute, raw love that I would feel.  The pride I would discover in being her mother.  The happiness that she would bring me every single day {yes, even now that she's 6 and has the attitude of a PMS-ing teenager some days}.  I didn't expect that.  I didn't expect her.  She is so much more incredible than I could ever have imagined.  So much more incredible than I could ever be, and I love her with every single piece of myself.

Six years ago, she made me a mommy.  And she hasn't stopped amazing me since.

Happy, happy birthday, Bailey!  "I love you more than anything else."