We have a 4 year old!

We have a four year old! Well, as of tomorrow morning we will. Like I’ve said before, my “years” seem to begin and end with August, not January. J & I have a wedding anniversary coming up, A will be 4 tomorrow and before I know it I will be starting my 7^th year of teaching. All of my new beginnings seem to center around this time of year.

These years keep getting better and better and this one was no exception. I haven’t updated in a while, because to be honest, the Blom Bunch has just been having a wonderful time with everyday life. We have just been finding joy in the ordinary, everyday activities this summer! For our anniversary J & I took a much needed trip without the little one to Vegas. As much as I dreaded leaving her (like, I cried several times on the plane), we needed it for the sake of our marriage. We owed it to ourselves to make our marriage a priority. We loved it, A had a blast staying with my wonderful cousin and super-sweet aunt.

A has been growing and evolving so much. I love watching her little spirit develop and her grow into the little girl that she is becoming. She is definitely growing up. She still loves to cuddle, but has a strong independent streak (hmm...wonder where that came from)  now get called "Mom" more frequently than "Mama" or "Mommy".  She finished her first year of preschool and loved it! I cannot believe at this time next year she will be in Kindergarten. Does this ever slow down? I wish it would.

 She was a flowergirl recently in Uncle Joe’s wedding and of course, my fearless, outgoing girl had no problem going down the aisle and smiling at the crowd. Shocker – she loved the attention. Then, Little Miss danced the night away and was convinced the next day that she had to have a wedding. Disappointed when I told her she had to be older, her reply was, “Ok, so maybe when I am five I can get married. I’m going to marry Uncle Jay because he is a good dancer.” Hopefully I can convince her to stay my little girl for a little longer than that J

She is a little social butterfly and so far has enjoyed every activity that we have put her in. Well, almost everything. T-ball has been the exception for this girl. She literally ran off the field when she was playing 3^rd base and told me, “Can you hold my glove? I don’t really need it.” The attention is not there yet. We have been at the pool every day it is warm and she can swim short distances without her floatie. She still prefers to be slightly lazy and have it on, but it makes Mama feel better that she can swim if she has to. She loved soccer, which naturally delighted J, the soccer player. Her team was the Gold Gophers. Weird mascot and not very pretty colored uniform, but she didn’t seem to mind. She loved practicing dribbling and scored two goals her last game. Daddy was very proud (I was too, but soccer is just J’s thing more than mine).

Her favorite? Dance! We started lessons and I found a wonderful studio that I feel in love with. Teachers are great, very impressive choreography and technique is good. Her first recital was “Build Me Up Buttercup” and she did a great job! Afterwards she told me she’s ready to dance all by herself like the big girls! Her confidence made me laugh, but my heart got a little sad knowing that her senior recital will be here before I know it.

The best thing about this year for A is how her heart has grown. She continues to be caring about others and compassionate. A couple of months ago at church we had Compassion Sunday and talked/prayed about orphans. When I explained that an orphan was a child without a mommy and daddy, her response was priceless. “Well, I have a mommy and daddy. Why can’t you guys be their mommy and daddy too? I can share.” This, in combination to how seriously we are considering adoption, made me tear up. She said it like it was no big deal. Her little mind clearly knew what to do about that problem. Since then she has been praying for orphans occasionally, but the last couple of weeks she has really had them on her heart. This was her prayer today “Dear God, I thank you for this wonderful day that we had. I bless you to bless all the children who don’t have mommies and daddies. Keep them safe and make them your children and make them part of your family and keep them out of darkness. Amen.”

That was it. No other prayers for herself. Sweet girl has been spending all of her time in prayers like this. We have started doing devotionals with her and she’s working on memorizing A-Z Bible verses. I think we spend so much time when they are toddlers  wondering who they will become and I love being in the midst of this age where I can see talents and gifts and picture who she is becoming! I love to see how God is working to develop her gifts. These moments have me constantly remembering that she is His, not mine. I am just the blessed one who gets to be her mama.

And….that’s it. That is what the last months of A’s three years has had in store for her. Swimming, Dance, Soccer and concern for orphans. Cannot wait to see what this next year has in store for our family.