How Do I Even Begin to Explain?

 The other night I got a delicious looking brownie recipe on an email feed.  I was anxious to try it. So like I have done a million times, I collected the ingredients, utensils, and the girls to get started.  This batch would be extra special because my miraculous seven year old treasure joined in.

 How do I even begin to explain how special these moments are for us?  How could I ever convey what it is like watching her participating in something so seemingly simply that, for her, is so extraordinary?  She stirred.  She mixed.

She even put her finger in the batter, and then licked it to taste it.  I wish I could come up with something to say that would help you feel what it was like to be gathered around the island in our small kitchen with the rest of us watching her.  I wish you could feel what her Daddy and I do as we see her licking her finger.  Licking a finger is such a simple, childhood act, but one that is so amazing when done by this special, special girl.  As I watched her participating with the support of her loving Daddy, I teared up, because having such a special treasure was never a part of my plan.  Yet, having the small part that I do in watching her take on the world is one of the greatest blessings of my life.

When she got out of the bath after they had baked and said she wanted to eat one, I was over the moon.  At seven years old, she ate her first brownie.  These moments are the ones that are etched on my heart.  These are the things I want to remember and treasure as I go about my life.  How I absolutely love and adore this very special little girl just eating her brownie while her mother sobs over her accomplishment.