My new favorite pic of Jessalyn....

I am really so grateful and feel extremely blessed to have Jessalyn in our lives. When I was pregnant with her I was sure that she was going to be a boy. We didn't find out, but my 'maternal instinct' was telling me pretty clearly that she was a boy. We chose two names just in case, Jaden Matthew and of course, Jessalyn. After a long labor (through the night), she was finally born and she was a SHE! Josh and I were in shock and really could not believe that we had a baby girl in our arms.

Little did we know what an amazing blessing this little girl was going to be in our lives! This blessing became more clear as we followed her with boy, after boy, after boy :), of whom we love, and feel blessed to have....but most definitely make the blessing of our little girl even more clear to us!

She is in the final month of her 'single digits' as she is anxiously awaiting her 10th birthday. Ten going on 25. I'm not sure why we are blessed with such an amazing daughter...but I am thankful for every one of her personality traits and attributes. She is a hard working and self motivated and really strives for excellence in everything that she does. (not to confuse excellence with perfectionism...which is something that we try to help her understand as she can become frustrated when things don't come quickly to her.)

I love to hear stories about her leadership in her classroom as she organizes a line to help their class get to the lunch line quicker (she's a Brown...when she's hungry, she's hungry!) or learning of how other students look to her for help throughout the day.

Most of all, her growing faith and love for Jesus. I love to see the little notes that she leaves herself...Bible verses written in random places to remind her to be patient and kind to comforting words to help her through a difficult day. A note written on her calendar that says "Next Baptism, Get Involved".

I write this about Jessalyn because I am certainly proud of her...all the while find myself completely humbled to have been chosen as her mother! Thankful, grateful, blessed...she is truly a gift.

and, I know she reads this blog so...
I LOVE YOU!!! :)