And In This Corner

Bad grandmother...bad, bad Nana.

Bella turned four last Tuesday and I didn't do her birthday post...Deb says with her head hanging down in shame.

In my defense, there's been a lot happening here at the Casita de Trash, beginning with getting things ready to take to Warrenton and ending with Cat Daddy's unfortunate incarceration in the hospital. 

Before you ask, yes he's doing great, but I'm not gonna gross you out with the details.  He had a small surgery and because he's diabetic, required a four day hospital stay.

Needless to say, the last could have been a game changer, BUT God already had put our plan in place.

He had whispered to me not to carve anything into stone and by listening to Him, we avoided a heap of worry and the loss of an even heaper amount of do-re-mi.  I can't begin to express the feeling that sweeps over me when I am allowed to witness His hand in even the smallest of details in my life....which brings me back to Bella.

Tiny?  Yes, but a giant detail in our lives.

This beautiful, mere mite of a girl never ceases to amaze me.  Sometimes I find myself just sitting, staring and smiling at the wonder of her.

Nana:  Bella, how old are you?

Bella:  Less than 5 but more than 3.

Not to say she's a precious baby all the time.  Au contrary mes amies.  She can be quite the tiny terror at times and totally knows her own mind.  I like what Jenn says about Bella's...ahem...little outbursts of independence:

~In creating her, God made her a fighter.  He knew she'd have to strong willed.  That's one of the reasons she survived and flourished.~

Kinda hard to argue with that reasoning.

(Hmmm...now when did my daughter get so wise?  Oh yeah...when she was on her knees all those months Bella was in her glass castle at the hospital!  And for the record, Jenn is branching out into photography.  She captured Bella's essence in all these photos.  If you're in the DFW area, give her a shout on her Give Me Props page for a photography session.  Hey y'all knew I was gonna throw a commercial in here somewhere...right?)

Our little prize-fighter is a true champion bantam-weight.  Whether playing ribbid frog on the stepping stones or asking for more mac n'cheese, pound for pound, she is perfection in a tutu.  She's smart, funny, stubborn and snea---ky.

Most importantly though...she's a happy, rambunctious, little four year old just like every other four year old.

~I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.~ Psalms 139:14

PRAISE GOD!

So when I find her playing in my makeup, mascara all over the bathtub...and her, (did I mention she's quick?) it's hard to get upset with her.  I think back four years and fall heart first into those dimples.

Dimples deep enough to hold all the tears, prayers and love given by y'all to Bella the Blog Baby.

Happy birthday Bella McBean.  You're my lucky FOUR leaf clover.