missionmightymom

Aniston Paige, our Super Girl- our A Train.

A Train:

• A one of a kind creation

• One with limitless energy, personality and charisma

• A girl created with the most perfectly magical balance of sugar and spice

It was obvious very early on that Aniston had personality. Her first nick-name was Happy Face- she had a perma-smile that lit up the room. She was born beautiful (seriously beautiful), she didn’t fuss, and if she fell down she hopped right back up. She is a glittering girly-girl bull-dozer, if you’ve ever seen such a thing. A tutu wearing, bull-headed masterpiece. And somehow, someway, she is mine.

My middle child is most definitely a force to be reckoned with. She is my unicorn- so special and unique. And raising such a majestic, mysterious creature, well- it ‘aint for the faint of heart.

I have prayed for God’s guidance as a mother so many times since He placed her in my arms. I have begged for patience and wisdom. I have shed tears trying to figure out how to set boundaries without damaging her free-spirit or disrupting her creative mind. It’s a very delicate balance. So I pray.

My A Train is a light. She finds beauty in everything. EVERYTHING. My girl dishes out compliments like the rest of us breathe air. It’s that natural. She inspires me. She points out the colors of leaves and clouds. She prays to God the sweetest prayers and she reminds me every single day to smell the flowers (or weeds), to look for the rainbow.

And when I’m in a hurry, she says, “Look Mommy, I’m a sloth!” No joke!

Her energy is of the super-human variety. “A Trains don’t get tired.” But Mama’s do! Keeping up is nearly impossible. Exhausting. It’s typically equal parts super-human energy and her super-4 year old strength (and maybe a dash of middle-child jealousy) that gets her in trouble. But she is always quick to apologize. And sometimes,(unfortunately) just as quick to repeat.

Aniston loves hard- her sister, her brother, her Daddy, her dogs. Bull-dozers aren’t gentle- they lay everything out in their path. And that is how she lives and LOVES- it’s a full contact sport. How do you teach such a lover of life and of people to do so in a softer way without changing their heart? I don’t ever want to change that heart of hers.

To A Train, life is a party, and I adore that about her. I’m jealous even. She enjoys everything more because she is eternally optimistic. But reining that in is a challenge. And knowing when to rein it in and when to let her loose is an even greater challenge.

Aniston makes us laugh. A lot. A WHOLE LOT! Sometimes at inappropriate times, and always at the right time. She fills our home with so much joy and so much fun and even more noise that it may one day burst. She has taught me to let go, how to be really silly, and how to dance and not even care if someone is watching. My A Train is the coolest chick I know, and I want to be her when I grow up.

I pray daily for my girl. I pray that I live up to God’s expectations for me as her mother. I pray that not once do I take for granted the gift that she is. I pray that I learn to navigate this life with her with grace. I pray that others appreciate her Whata-sized personality. I pray that she continues to have unwavering faith in the world around her. And I pray that she always knows how special she is. She is.

Our A Train.