All Four of Them.

Tonight we had a little drama in the house.

Eve was half way up the stairs when she lost her balance and fell.

Luckily, it was not a hard fall.

She almost managed to stop herself, but she did slide all the way down and landed (with a thud) on the wood floor.

I was, of course, half a second too late- but I was there to sweep her up before she even had a chance to start screaming.

But scream she did...

I held her close and all the girls came running, 

"What happened to Eve!"

"What happen, Ma!"

"Is Eve OK?"

I told them all she was fine- I'm pretty sure she was more scared than hurt.

But Annie immediately started apologizing to Eve.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to catch you.

I should have caught you so you wouldn't have fallen."

Kate took off up the stairs and returned within seconds with Eve's pillow pet.

"Here Eve, this will make you feel better."

And it did. She immediately stopped crying.

And then Tessa pipes up and starts saying,

"No boofing Eve! No, No BOOFS!"

And everyone, including Eve, starts laughing.

At that moment it hit me- how lucky am I to have these four girls?

Annie is so on top of life. She feels responsible for taking care of everyone- including me.

Like this morning when I asked her to take the recycling to the curb, and she came back and told me that she had not only put the recycling out, but she rolled the gigantic garbage can out there too.

"I saw everyone else's on the street, so I put ours out too."

That garbage can is huge. I still don't know how she did it.

Everyday she is looking out for her little sisters- taking care of them and telling them what to do.

She is the best big sister I know.

Kate is sweet and kind. 

Her favorite thing is when we call her "Kind Kate."

Her face lights up.

There have been so many times where people we hardly know will comment on something Kate does or tells us how kind hearted and sweet she is.  

She is sensitive to other people's feelings.

If I am feeling sad, Kate notices and wants to try and cheer me up.

She is also sensitive to how others treat her... she just wants to love and be loved, that girl.

Everyday I marvel at Tessa... I've never seen anyone so full of joy.

She loves life.

She smiles and laughs- no matter what is going on.

And her joy is infectious.

You can't help but smile at her.

She has been coming up with ways to make us laugh before she was even able to talk.

Her joy is a gift to our family.

And Eve... I still don't quite have her figured out.

I do know that she adds a huge amount of love to my life.

When she wakes up from her naps, she always points out her window.

So, I get her out of her crib and we check out the view.

Today as she was pointing at all the trees, I said, "Eve, I love you a lot!"

And she looked up at me and gave me a big kiss right on my chin.

Then she laid her head on my shoulder and I wanted to cry.

How did I get this lucky?

I love my girls.

Being a mother is hard.

I have never been so humbled in my life.

Nothing has brought me to my knees in desperate prayer more than trying to be a good mother.

When I look at my efforts, I feel so inadequate...

But somehow my inadequacies are either overlooked or overcome by my girls because they are amazing despite it all.

And tonight I just feel so thankful for them. All four of them.