Nature Girl

When I was first pregnant with Bailey I thought I was surely going to have a boy.  In fact, we had boy names picked out and could not come up with a girl name at all.  I couldn't imagine having a girl because I was always such a tomboy.  How would I ever raise a girl?  As a kid I always played street hockey, soccer, and football outside with the neighborhood boys.  The only time I ever played with Barbie dolls was when I would cut their hair or push them in their Barbie convertables down the stairs.  When I found out Bailey was a she after all I immediately began researching dolls and tea parties.  Okay not really, but I did mentally start preparing for having a girl.

Bailey loves the "baby flowers"

Now that I have Bailey I cannot imagine having a boy.  She is so sweet and loving.  I always get kisses and "I love you"'s from her.  She does enjoy her dolls and stuffed animals, but she has a good mix of tomboy in her, as well.  In fact, she mostly wants to be outside smelling flowers, looking at butterflies, jumping on the trampoline, or playing in the water.  The first thing she wants to do when she gets home is take her clothes off.  That's why most of her pictures she's in diapers.  I have no idea where she got that from...okay maybe I do :-).

She recently climbed her first tree.  Not by herself, but with the help of her very cautious mommy.  Thank goodness her daddy wasn't home because he probably would have fainted, but no need for worries, I completely had her.  When I was a girl I loved climbing trees.  Here's a bit of advice: Do NOT climb trees barefoot.  I know that seems like a no-brainer, but that's what I did at my grandparents' house in Corpus Christi when I was a little girl and I slipped.  You can probably imagine where the tree bark went.  Yep, right up under my toenail.  Sorry about the visual.  Anyway, so I had to go and get my toenail removed at the age of 7 maybe.  I guess Bailey didn't really climb the tree so much as sit in it with me right under her in case she fell.  She'll have to wait and climb when she's a little older.  But I will definitely show her how!

We have beautiful bushes that attract butterflies (wish I knew the name of them) and Bailey loves to try and catch them.  She's small enough to go underneath the bushes and I can imagine her making a "fort" inside the bushes someday.  That's another great memory I have from my grandparents' house in Corpus Christi.  Katie and I created a "house" behind the bushes.  I don't really remember what was back there, but I remember it being a blast. I'm so very thankful for my nature girl/tomboy.  God certainly knew what He was doing! 

My little nature girl exploring the bushes