Happy Birthday Pi Baby

Piper Everly Gilley 

On December 18th, 2012 at 12:15pm (and after only 3 big pushes), a little silver haired beauty made me a Mother of 2!

I think when Garth Brooks sang the song “She’s Every Woman” he must have known a lady JUST like my Pi Baby.  I’ll cut out the love parts of the song, but the rest of it describe our little Piper to a T!

"She's sun and rain, she's fire and ice 

A little crazy but it's nice 

And when she gets mad, you best leave her alone 

'Cause she'll rage just like a river 

Then she'll beg you to forgive her 

She's every woman that I've ever known 

She's so New York and then L.A. 

And every town along the way 

She's every place that I've never been… 

She's a stroll through Christmas lights 

And she's everything I want to do again

(See what I mean?! Sun and rain, fire and ice:) :)

Piper, although the past 2 years with you have been TOUGH AS NAILS, I still adore you (your first two years were a breeze!).  You come out swinging and then just as quickly ask me for a kiss and a hug and tell me in your sweet little nasaly voice that you love me.  And yes, your voice- it could melt glaciers.

  

Here are some things that I just adore about you: 

That little crooked smile of yours; the way your big blue eyes get squinty when you’re giving a real, true Piper smile.  The way you go about your days independently but also you’re SO dependent on me at the same time.  Sometimes I’m a little bit afraid of you and other times I love you so much that I think I could hold you in my arms for the rest of my life and be perfectly content.  Your life hasn’t been long, but it has been full and it has certainly filled me up to the brim.

I love you so much Piper.  I don’t always love your window-shattering fits, but I DO love your big heart.  I love to watch you be the worlds BEST big sister to Sullivan.  I love to watch as you get down to play with him; you touch your forehead to his and tell him how much you love him.  You ask him if you can play with him (as if he’d ever say no to you!) and you will sit with him and play as if there is no difference in age at all.  When he wakes up in the morning, or from nap, you get so SO excited to see him, as if it’s been days since you saw him last. I never thought you’d be the sister that showed him boat loads of attention, but you far surpassed my expectations.  As with Lucy, you look up to her in every way, but you can hold your own and tell her what she’s doing wrong at the same time.  You love your big sister.  You encourage her to do her homework, you tell her to have a good day at school when she gets picked up from the bus in the mornings and you ask her how her day went when she comes home.  You are such a friend to both of your siblings. That perfect “middle child” trait!

I love your silky blonde hair that still turns white each Summer. 

I love your determination.  Whether it’s to prove that you can swim without floaties or that you really do know how to buckle yourself up and I am NOT ALLOWED TO HELP.

I love that you want to hear me tell you that I love you more than ALL the leaves on ALL the trees.

I LOVE your prayers at dinner.  You make sure to include the most trivial things and Shawn and I always peek glances at each other form across the dinner table and smile because the things that you are thankful for at the end of the day are the cutest ever.  Sometimes you’re thankful that Mommy used a certain spoon to cook with and then turned the oven light on so you could watch something bake. Sometimes you’re glad that Sully got to swing in his baby swing.  Other days you’re thankful that you got to pick Lucy up from the bus stop without having to put your shoes on first, or you’re thanking Jesus for the fact that “Mommy let me eat a fruit snack, even when it wasn’t snack time.”  There are times when you’re even thankful that I put extra soy sauce on your quinoa. Your prayers are my favorite.

I love your silly jokes that actually are pretty funny!

I love it how whenever you see a picture of yourself, you point out how gorgeous or adorable you are- because it’s true and don’t you EVER forget it!

I love that you still have no clue what the value of a dollar is and you’d rather have shiny pennies and dimes when you earn money because coins are way cooler than a dollar bill.

I don’t love that we still have to fork out money for night-time pull-ups, even at age 4, but I do love how you are trying SO hard to stay dry at night. I know your little heart hurts a bit when you have to tell me that you didn’t wake up dry in the mornings, but you feel so intensely proud of yourself when you DO wake up dry!  You’ll get it baby girl.  Some day, you’ll never wet the bed again :) 

I love how much of a Daddy’s girl you are.  That man is the Apple of your Eye and you are fiercely loyal to him.  You know why I love that so much?  Because he’s the love of my life and you’re my baby girl and to see the bond between the two of you is like watching the most beautiful sunset you’ve ever seen- the sun and the clouds put on a spectacular show that warms your heart.  That’s how I feel about you and your daddy’s relationship.

I love how smart you are.  You’re learning right along-side Lucy.  You do some Kindergarten work and your brain amazes me more and more everyday.

I love your love for animals. Maisy and Schmidt are never bored when they’re around you and you LOVE to feed and water them.

I love your negotiating skills.  Sometimes you’re so persuasive to Daddy that he actually believes that Mommy said you “absolutely could” have a candy bar at 8:15 in the morning!

I love a lot of things about you Piper.

But mostly, I love that you're mine, all mine.  I love that I know you more than anyone in the world knows you. What a privilege it is to be YOUR Mom and you know you inside and out.  

Happy, happy 4th birthday Piper Everly.

I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, as long as I’m living my sweet Pi Baby you’ll be.