She's the first

And now she's 6.

6 years we've had this girl & the Lord has taught us so much through her.

Especially about love. Love that girl more than words could ever say.

What a 6 years it's been...what a gift your life is to us.

Here you are at 6 Miss P:

 Parker, you just had a birthday! Another big one.

They all feel big with you.

I think it's always surprising to see how fast your years go.

This year has been such a big one & such a great one for you.

Last year, right before you turned 5, you welcomed another brother into your life.

And what a sister you've been to that boy. You love him deeply.

I love that. You do ask regularly for a sister, but you sure love those boys.

I remind you all the time what a special thing it is to be the only girl.

That makes you smile.

 You have another year of gymnastics under your belt, & you have perfected your cartwheel.

You impress people with your skills all the time. Nice.

Your Mimi has also taught you to hula hoop. You are amazing with that thing!

Your current favorite thing is to hula hoop while you sing at the top of your lungs.

Especially if you have EVERYONE'S attention. That's always best.

 You started Kindergarten last fall & had such a wonderful teacher & class.

It has been such a gift to watch you grow this past year in school.

You are one smart lady.

You're reading, know addition facts up to adding 10's, know subtraction facts, can count way high, can skip count by 2's, 5's, & 10's, including even & odd numbers.

You amaze me at what you pick up & how fast you learn. It is a gift.

 Your best friend moved away this past year & it's been hard to watch you miss her, but it has stretched you & taught you that God is faithful to take care of you with new friends & good times back with old one's.

It is such a treasure to walk with you through bigger things.

I'm so thankful that God leads us & helps us teach you wisdom & love.

 On October 9, 2012, you asked Jesus into your heart.

The single greatest experience in my life this far.

My daughter loves Jesus & He lives in her.

We've had lots of talks about it since & we're working on learning what the Bible says about believers.

And why it's important to tell others all about Him.

I love that.

 And girl, you've got sass.

And attitude.

And a great laugh.

And a beautiful smile.

And you are graceful, loving, & so much fun.

You love to talk, sing, dance, show off, & sparkle.

And you are an awesome sister.

I love to see you with your brothers.

You lead them with grace & sweetness & bossiness & frustration.

They are so good for you & you are so good for them.

You love art, crafts, movies, nail polish, your blanket, paper & markers, books, playing outside (as long as there are no weird bugs), candy, orange juice, ice cream, pancakes & being with your family.

You have your own opinions about many things, but are also so quick to try to please.

There are days when your attitude exhausts me, but we always end the day with snuggles & right hearts.

You are the one who made me a mama.

This journey we're on is something pretty amazing.

And I'm so thankful God chose me to be your mama.

Happy Birthday to our favorite girl!!!

Love you Sweet P...

Tucker at 3

It's been the Truett show around here lately.

But there are 2 other very amazing children in this household.

One will turn 6 in 2 weeks. Excuse me while I go lie down...

The other is soon to be 3 1/2.

Here's my letter to my Tucker B...

 Little Tucker man.

You are becoming quite the big boy.

You were playing videos on my phone the other day of you at this time last year & I realized how much you've grown.

It makes my heart so sad & so happy at the same time.

You became a big brother since the last time I wrote to you.

And you are awesome at it.

You totally rock the big brother thing.

I'm watching the 2 of you become good friends right before my eyes.

It's an exciting, beautiful thing.

 You're also now the middle man.

And you do that so well, too.

You love your big sis something fierce.

And you can handle all that sass she throws your way.

Although, she doesn't always like the way you handle it;).

You make the middle of our very cute oreo, & you do it with ease.

I'm so thankful for that.

You do love your alone time with Dad & I, though.

I'm even more thankful for that.

 With all this growing up, you're still such a baby in so many ways.

You love your blanket. It brings you great comfort.

You're still hanging on to those diapers.

You call zebras "breezas." 

You still have the cutest giggle that still makes me want to squish you.

You call me mommy, mama, & mom all. day. long.

You still love to snuggle.

You've been in a big boy bed over a year now, but still love to get out of it instead of sleeping.

Work in progress.

 You are ALL boy.

You love making messes, getting dirty, getting wet.

You love all things super hero. Especially Thor & Captain America.

Lightning McQueen & Woody are your best friends.

I love watching you with your favorite toys. They are so real to you.

It's the best.

You love adventures.

You love swords. And shields. 

You love to try to sneak off with "real swords"...also known as knives.

Truth.

And you make sound effects, all the time.

You are loud. You are fast. You get quiet, I get worried.

You've scared me so much more than your sister ever has.

Crazy kid.

 You are sometimes painfully shy.

It hurts my heart for you.

But people just love you because of your sweet nature.

You are a good friend. Even at 3 I can already see that God has placed such special things in you.

You are a giver, a natural sharer. Oh how I love that.

You are tender hearted & notice when people are upset.

And when you get upset, you feel it.

When someone has won your trust, you show it with hugs, wrestling, & giggles.

You are a lot of fun. And you're way sweet, even amidst the wrestling.

You remind your Mimi so much of your daddy when he was little.

I love to see that twinkle she gets in her eye when you're with her.

 You love cereal, corn dogs, all fruit, cereal, yogurt, cereal, pancakes, Chick Fil A, cereal, eggs & CEREAL.

You love to steal drinks of my root beer or sweet tea.

You only eat the frosting on cupcakes.

You refuse to eat sandwiches, thus the discovery of your love of corn dogs.

And you ask for cereal (see-yal) all day long.

You love animals. Especially lions & dogs.

Your lion imitation is practiced often (as evidenced in the above picture) & is accompanied by a ferocious growl. Many know it.

I feel like your height is fairly average, but you seem to have long legs.

And your feet. They never stop growing.

You are only one size behind Miss P. Crazy.

You just started playing soccer. It's been stretching for us both, but it's helped me learn more about you.

You are so brave sometimes. And it makes me so proud.

You love balls. And building. And running (you are pretty amazing at running). And parks. And swings. And anything active.

You have several favorite movies these days, especially Toy Story 2 & 3 (the fires), Peter Pan, & Madagascar. Hence the lion thing.

Little boy, I tell you everyday that I'm so glad it was you God sent to be our first son.

We are honored to be your mom & dad.

And we are so proud of you.

What a 3 year old you've turned out to be & what an awesome 3 years it's been!

Gosh, we love you.

A little photoshoot...

with a not so cooperative birthday boy.

But I caught him in his antics & they'll be great reminders one day, once I've forgotten all his cute faces, looks, & moves, of the super awesome baby that he is.

And I'll be taken back to these sweet days.

Grateful for that...

This boy has my heart.

All of it.
Gosh I love him.

I'm so glad he's mine.

Happy Birthday my little bear man!

Baby Man's First Year {Truett 11 months}

Little Bear!! You're 11 months old.

I want to bottle you up & keep you in my pocket this way always.

But instead, I'll just keep enjoying getting to know you & loving every ounce of you I can.

At 11 months, you are all over the place!

You crawl at lightning speed, most often with your mouth open, yelling or laughing.

And your newest thing is closing your eyes & shaking your head while crawling like a wild man.

Oh, you make us laugh!

You are so ticklish. It always brings giggles.

You love to be outside. Eating dirt. Or rocks. Or whatever else you can find that is small, or gross.

 You are known as the always happy baby.

And, it's true. You are easy going & happy to just be.

You give the best hugs.

You won't say mama. And you think it's pretty funny.

You have learned the art of screeching when you want something, which is lovely.

But we're practicing please. Which you also think is funny.

You love anything that the big kids have or are doing or eating.

3rd baby.

Parker loves to give you goodnight hugs, which make you giggle.

And Tucker has become your new role model.

Not sure how that's gonna work out for me:/...

You are SO close to walking.

You are getting braver each day.

Standing all by yourself & taking one or two steps before you flash a big grin & sit down.

Silly boy.

You love, love bath time.

It is your favorite.

You already try to wrestle like your dad & brother.

You love to eat smoothies, Gerber organic fruit & veggie packets, & anything from my plate.

You've started slowing down in growth, thank goodness! Little long boy.

I love to watch you clap your hands when you hear anyone else clapping, shout for joy, call for your brother or sister, tell the dog no, dance like crazy, wave bye to your favorite people, crawl like a mad man to your daddy when he comes home from work, & smile so big when our gazes meet.

I think I'm still your favorite, but your daddy is most certainly holding his own with you!

Stiff competition, I tell ya.

You have brought more joy than I can describe to your Dad & I this past 11 months & we think you rock!

And you keep your brother & sister amazed with your antics. You bring a lot of laughter to our house little bear baby...a few more days & you'll be a birthday boy.

After that, let's pause time. At least for a few years??