To .... Love in the Middle -

I went hunting for pictures circa January 2008.
When Dolls was fresh & new & we had just met.

<<blink>>

She's seven now.
Or she was last month.

Seven years in & we're still in the thick of getting to know her.
Middle kids can sometimes get left in the middle.
Of busy.
Of rushing.
Of schedules.
Of life.
Of siblings.

But most importantly,
Of love.
Squished right in the middle of a love from all sides.

She's so much more than a middle kid.
She's not super complicated.
Yet she runs a whole lot deeper than a first impression.

I love her drive.
Her determination.
Her i-don't-care/oh-i-care-a-whole-lot personality.

I'm waiting for the day she wants to pick her own clothes.
9 times out of 10 Sailor picks them for her.
Day 10 she asks me to.

She has a little collection of things that sit on the rail of her bed.
A pencil to mark the days off her calendar.
A Bible story book she reads each night.
Sunday school papers.
A reading light.
A ziploc bag with a miniature game of mexican train .... she plays with Regan.

She likes to paint & play piano.
She's hands down the most self motivated 1st grader I know.
She likes watching Curious George & the Jesus Storybook Bible.

She switches back & forth from the little kids to the hanging no problem with Sailor & the boys.
She's not a doll & purse girl.
Once she looses it, she's done.

- - -

Donuts.
Shopping.
Horses.
Family.
Pizza.
Happy Birthday.
Red plate.

That's how we celebrated 7 this year.

Regs takes horseback riding like anything else she does ..... all sorts of fabulous style spilling over.

- - -

7 candles pretty much took 7 good blows :)

- - -

- - -

As usual Sailor dressed Molly.
We took pictures one foggy morning when we were still on vacation & didn't have to get dressed.
Sailor, who is usually always put together was caught in vacation mood.
Molly called her something like her clothes lawyer .... so we roped her in for a picture too :)

Sailor would like to go on record saying that while she was responsible for Molly's outfits - she had nothing to do with the monkey or the cat or the posing.

That was all Molly.
Clearly she rocked it.

Pink monkeys & wandering cats are natural photo props :)

Especially ones that can be velcro-ed to all parts of you.

- - -

I love having favorites.
She's my favorite Molly.
She's my favorite 7 year old.

She's my favorite middle girl kid .... to love .... to know ... for forever.
Love Jesus, Dolls.
Forever.