Happy {belated} birthday to my favorite three year old!

My Dear Dakota,

You are an incredibly fun and loud little girl. You have always been so. Your energy for life has amazed your mommy and daddy from the moment you started to move around. We would always look and you and say: "If only we could bottle up all of her energy!" You have always been such a strong little girl- built with your mommy's thick legs :-) . You are athletic, adventurous, and oh so very funny. Your brother and sisters think you are extremely funny, but you are entering into the stage of getting a little embarrassed at times. You have not decided yet which hand you prefer as dominant and I have watched you peel an orange with your left hand and eat it with your right. You are the first to do this in our family. You LOVE the outdoors, love riding your new bike and most of all you seem to LOVE to snuggle up with Mommy. We begin our day every day with lap time on the couch. You love physical affection and it shows! You are quick to give hugs and kisses and even pat other kids on the back to show encouragement. You love your big brother and seem to be amazed at the things that he does, wanting to dive into "dangerous" things yourself, without showing very much fear.

You talk about Jesus. You know that He made you and loves you, and even talk about what it was like to be made by Him, as if you remember it :-) You said just yesterday, "When Jesus made me I looked at Him and said "ROOOAR!" like a lion, and I made Him LAFT (laughed)!"

You are so silly. Mommy has played a little game with you for quite some time. After I tuck you into bed and we say prayers, I look at you and say: "You are a beautiful, amazing, child of God!"

As time as gone by I have begun the phrase, "You are..." and you finish it with great enthusiasm: "BEAUTIFUL, AMAZING CHILD OF GOD!!!" In fact, you usually yell it.

And, just today when cousin Harrison was over I heard you say to him: "You are a beautiful, amazing, child of God!" Only this time you actually didn't yell.

You love to keep up with the "Big kids," and little did I know that time would fly by and my sweet Dakota would be getting BIG.

May you continue your sweet smile, love for life, and most of all may you love Jesus and pursue Him with all that you are.

We love you, our dear sweet girl! may you always know our love for you and know that your Heavenly Father loves you more than you could imagine!

We love you, Mommy and Daddy