Happy Birthday, Bennett

This post may seem a little anticlimactic after two days of picture and videos about Bennett, but today is her actual birthday. It was two years ago today that I held this little bundle all wrapped up in blankets and knew that my life had changed forever.

I could honestly write 100 pages about how much I love this girl, but I will try to be short. I will just say that she has brought more joy into our house than I ever thought possible. Rob and I will spend hours just watching her, laughing at her, and delighting in her.

My two year old Bennett loves to laugh. She loves to sing and is always asking us to sing her a song. Her favorite right now is, I've got the joy joy joy joy down in my heart. She can sing every word to Row Row Row your Boat, Twinkle Twinkle, her ABC's, and about 5 other songs. She still loves Mickey Mouse, but is content now to go a few days without watching him. She knows most of her letters and can tell you what they are and what word starts with that letter. She can count to 10 and she can tell you the name of almost every single book on her bookshelf. Of course some are her made up name for the book, but you had better believe that she knows what it is in her mind. :-)

She loves animals, books, and her pillow. She has a crazy vocabulary and can say so many words. There is no point in trying to count them. She can say so many sentences and phrases. She speaks in 4-5 word sentences and loves her family. In fact she will sit in between me and Rob and say, "My family." Rob taught her to say "climb of the century" when she was climbing on his back and so she says that every time she climbs on something and it cracks us up.

Rob and I were talking last night about our favorite memories of Bennett from this year and one that stands out is when she was younger and would tell every animal she saw to go to their bed like she always heard us telling our dog Meg to do. We were laughing about when we took her to the zoo at 13 months and she would yell at the llamas, "Go Bed, Meg!" Everyone we saw was laughing at this bald thing scolding the animals, and that still really sticks out as such a fun memory.

Bennett is quirky, funny, energetic, kind, sweet, loving, precocious, endearing, and adorable. She is my heart, my joy, and I am so thankful that the Lord chose me to be her Mom.

We prayed for this child and the Lord has granted us what we asked of Him. – I Samuel 1:27