There aren't too many things in the world sweeter than a happy, pretty little girl. Lilly is 4 and at that age where she is big enough to constantly surprise me with all she knows and understands, but little enough to still fit on my lap and to need and want lots of hugs and kisses. I wish I could capture her at this age and just slow time down a little bit. It seems like a year or 2 ago that Brittany was this size, and now she's taller than me and the very LAST thing she wants is hugs and kisses from Mom.

Lilly saw one of her little friends this morning for a little bit and when we got ready to leave she had to run back and give the other little girl one last hug goodbye. It was so adorably sweet! I love how freely she expresses herself, even though there are times when I wish she wasn't expressing herself *quite* so freely (for example, in the grocery checkout, screaming and crying because she can't have whatever it is she has decided she MUST have or she will DIE).

But really, it must be nice to be so trusting, so unwounded by life, that it feels ok to just let it all hang out, to show that unbridled feeling. I hope that's something she can hang onto as the years go by. Looking in her eyes, I want to do everything I can to protect her from the kind of childhood I had. I know my kids won't stumble from childhood into adulthood like a wounded soldier reeling off the battlefield the way I did, but I also know I can't protect them from all or even most of the hurts that are out there. I just hope somehow I can help them learn, and remember, that life IS beautiful, and love really is all around.