Sierra Faith turned 15 today.
15!
At 15 she is simply amazing. She is beautiful inside and out. She exemplifies her name in all things. Sierra Faith means "beautiful majestic mountains of faith." That is my girl. She loves big and deep and loud. She stands up for what and who she believes in. She shares her heart and hopes. She inspires me daily to be bold, kind, and faithful. We have a very special relationship this year as we have had extra time together (thanks to PT) and have bonded deeply over coffee and shopping and heart to heart talks.
Sierra loves coffee.
She loves Jesus.
She loves Africa and still dreams of being a missionary some day.
She loves real - which is a struggle when you are in high school. Fake is much easier to find.
She loves music and singing and leading worship.
She thinks deeply about how to encourage others. She is a true cheerleader at heart.
She does not like to be the center of attention.
She loves time with friends - but has an absolute need for time locked up alone in her room as well.
Her room is a MESS.
Brenna and I call her "Cinderella" because if the shoe is cute enough it fits no matter the size! The three of us have a lot of fun sharing shoes these days.
She longs for deep relationships, justice and more sleep.
We call her "Rah Rah" lately because that is easy for Mataya to say. (And she does try to mimic it already!)
She is an incredible, patient, gentle and thoughtful sister.
She has a bit of a temper yet knows how and when to apologize.
I am so, so , so thankful for this incredible girl. Being her mom and becoming her friend is an amazing privilege.
I adore you Berra-girl.
Totally adore you.
And this little peanut turned 8 months today!
(nope. not crawling. just practicing.)
At 8 mo. Mataya Hope has 3 teeth, all on the bottom. She loves table food - baby food is a thing of the past. Her favorites are blueberries, yogurt, grilled cheese, pancakes, mango, peas, and pasta with red sauce. She claps her hands. Mataya loves to copy sounds. She likes to read books. She loves to snuggle. She adores bath time. She loves music. . . especially LOUD rock music. (Daddy and the teens love that.) She is a great dancer already, bouncing on her butt and clapping to the tunes. She takes 2 naps a day. She sleeps 12 hours at night, waking once to eat. Her hair gets thicker, longer, and straighter every day. She has just started wearing 12 mo clothes. She says: Mama, Da, done, and ba (bath). She does not crawl or roll. She is happy sitting surrounded by toys or jumping in the baby circus or snuggled on my hip. She is starting to push herself backwards when placed on her tummy - which only causes frustration as her toys get farther away rather than closer, but it is also the first step toward movement! She still loves the ring sling and her pacifier. She is almost always happy.
Miss Mataya, you are precious. We all enjoy you so very much. Your sweet, silly, relaxed little self is exactly what this crazy family needed. We thank God for the gift of YOU daily.
