In Gratitude... For Camilla

This girl. How is it possible that someone SO amazing is MY very own DAUGHTER?

Okay. Truth. My WHOLE life I wanted a little sister. I didn't get one. I had five little brothers (and thank heavens - one older sister so I wasn't TOTALLY alone!). I love my brothers (see Sammy?). I wouldn't trade them (especially since they married "sisters" for me - JUST for me - right?) Anyway, Tanner was a surprise. We didn't know his gender before birth - NOT ON PURPOSE (which is why he is STILL grounded). He was such a fun baby that when I had my second, I was GLAD he was a boy. As a matter of fact, I started to understand why my mom CHOSE not to give me a little sister. I was SERIOUSLY okay with ONLY having boys... BUT, when we found out that Camilla was a girl - ALL of that longing for a little sister came back and I was CRAZY with happiness for a DAUGHTER! Bows, tights, patent leather clacky shoes, dresses, pony tails... I couldn't wait!

Turns out, this girl was SO worth waiting for. She is a great friend to me. I am so thankful that she loves me. She HAS to sit by me at church and kneel by me at prayer time. She talks to me and reads to me and sings with me. She is so responsible that Brad and I MARVEL! There are several times when her little sisters PREFER her help to mine. And FUN??? We just laugh and smile and sigh at that Miss Mills. She is creative like you wouldn't believe - she LOVES to cook and has even created a several recipes from scratch (strawberry cake, blueberry muffins...) and she is always drawing pictures for us and writing little notes about why she loves each member of this family. We just couldn't BE a family without our Camilla.

Camilla, you are one INCREDIBLY AMAZING girl. We just couldn't LOVE you MORE! Thanks for being our very first daughter. You are the BEST!