Four beautiful years

It is so hard for me to believe it has already been four years since the first time we saw her beautiful face. Alexa Hope entered this world just seconds shy of March 14th. She made her debut at 11:59pm on March 13th – eleven days prior to her due date. She surprised us then and has continued to surprise us ever since. We prayed and prayed (and waited and waited) for a precious gift from the Father and He gave us more than we ever could have imagined in our bright & brown-eyed Alexa-bear. She is, indeed, our “hope” fulfilled.

Oh - how our lives would be empty without her contagious smiles, dramatic facial expressions, verbose language, vivid imagination, full-on singing and silly dance moves. Especially as the events of this past year unfolded, it was Alexa’s smiles, squeeze hugs, even her “expectations of normalcy” that kept us going. Goodness, how we have all grown over the last year!

Because we have experienced difficulty having children (and because both Chris & I have always desired children), Alexa Hope has an incredibly special place in our hearts. Therefore, every milestone – every first and every last (sniff) – are big deals to this Mama. Birthdays are no exclusion. Although today held no particular hoopla minus a quickly made pirate party hat, “party blowers” (as Alexa calls them) and two rounds of pancakes (one from scratch and one from IHOP), we look forward to parrrrrrrtying with our family “pirate style” on March 22nd. Expect more birthday fun at that point. Currently, Mommy is dreaming up how to make it super special and uber fun for her little sweet pea.

Here are a few snapshots of our newly christened four-year-old. I thought it would also be fun to include a few images from her previous birthdays. Oh my – how time flies!! I count it as one of my greatest privileges, perhaps my greatest privilege, to be a mama, and I pray the Lord grants me many, many more years to celebrate the gift of Alexa Hope. We have never doubted for one moment that God has a beautiful plan for her life. It’s a joy to watch it unfold. As her life verse states, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit,” (Rom. 15:13), Alexa spreads hope and joy wherever she goes. We pray that never ends.

Yo ho mateys away . . . Alexa Hope is four-years-old today!!


I don’t know why but Alexa has always been fascinated with party blowers! Needless to say, this party blower got worked over today!

A GLIMPSE BACK . . .


You were just perfect the day you arrived . . . perfect.


You were all smiles for your 1st birthday. We all agreed that somehow you knew it was all about you that day and you put on a stellar performance.


Birthday #2 and you still have those chubby cheeks and big, brown eyes I love so much.


We loved watching you relish in hearing your name inserted in “The Birthday Song.” It brought us great joy to see the joy you exhibited on your third birthday.

We can’t wait to have a swash-buckling time with you on your 4th birthday!! We love you sweetie!!