the first september girlie...

today my lillie katie is twelve.

you should see her chandelier smile. her gratitude and joy are just slicing my heart to bits. maybe even more painful is the number of years she's been ours. ugh. i've been all weepy since last night when she opened just one present, mom? please? please? please? just one?

i always tell her how i remember every moment of her life. every single moment. i mean, she's my first. and grae came when lillie was just one year fresh, so grae's beginning was a little fuzzier. i was preoccupied with my lillie, you see.

and that's never ceased. not really.

the other day, we were all on a family hike. lillie was up ahead juggling coco and an itouch and she turned around and smiled and i swear that smile made uncle sugar and me both feel taller. i thought he was thinking what a little brown bear she is - just like him - and how her smile lights up the sky, day or night, just like i tell him that his does.

she has your cute walk, he said.

{gasp!} i have her cute walk!

i wish i could write something really profound. the kind of words that make you understand that this girl is not just supposed to be important to me. that she's supposed to mean the world...to the world.

no such luck. i just keep coming back to what i tell her whenever i remember to tell her...

lillie? i'm so glad we made you.

photos that make me smile every time i see them by amie adams.