What I Love Most Today is Summer...

Me: "Summer, why do have to be so naughty sometimes!" 

Summer: "Mommy!  I might be kind of naughty but I say nice prayers!"  

This was her latest and greatest statement of the day.  And I just about died when she said it to me.  I mean the thing is, she really does give nice prayers, so she gets credit for that.  ;)  I'm sure for those of you that know me well, knew this post was coming.  And I mainly want to write this because she says the "darn-dist" things and I've got to record them.  This is such a great picture of Summer below.  She looks so grown up.  When she saw this picture of herself this evening she said, "mommy, that's a really pretty smile on me."

This is more typical of Summer, below.  Sometimes I will talk about Summer's personality with other people and they'll say, "oh yes, I have a child like her."  And I just think, "uuumm, I'm not so sure about that ."  :)

I love the top picture but she's a little more like the bottom picture, just saying... :)  If you haven't already heard, Summer is a hard one to crack.  She's got a lot of spunk and she knows where she's going.  It also means she can be a little difficult at times.  Like in the pictures below.  

The funny thing is that she wasn't a hard baby.  She was pretty easy going until right around the time she went to nursery.  18 months was the magic number for the persistent personality she has.  She insists that she "wear" my earrings.  So I have to hook them to the top of her ears, just like in the picture below.  

One thing hasn't changed and that is how much she loves me.  She would attach herself to my hip if she could.  It can drive her dad nutty because he wants to do things like the bedtime routine, but of course she doesn't want her dad, she wants me.  

Summer is not a monster.  She's just really bold, colorful, and she knows what she wants.  The challenge as her mother has been to strike a fair balance of firm discipline and love.

 This was taken July 4th, 2012.  William came early on June 8th, just a few weeks before this was taken. And, my mom died two days after this picture was taken.  I wish my mom could have know Summer better.  Summer is never far behind me.  I love it because someday it won't be like this.

She's so dang cute in the picture below.  She says her prayers every night and they go a little something like this.... "Dear Heavenly Father, thank the that I can love Jesus and that Jesus can love me back, thank thee that Jesus loves my mom and that mommy loves Jesus back."  She really does give "nice" prayers.  

I love her to pieces.  Lately, she has been playing by herself a lot more.  While I am doing school with the big kids, she will play in her room with her kitchen set.  And she loves her babies.  Loooooves them.  But, she also begs me to do "school" with her.  I have a special notebook just for her when she wants to do "school." 

Here she is below.  I title this picture, "Summer the conqueror."  As she gets older, she is more pleasant and a lot happier.  What I've learned from being a mother to Summer is patience, acceptance, and how to be firm in a loving way.  I'm so grateful to have her as my daughter.  She melts my heart, especially when she says things like,"mommy, your face looks pretty today." And I usually look right back at her and say, "your face always looks pretty"...  What I Love Most Today is Summer.