My Sweet Piper Jolie,

You are four years old, love, and I can hardly believe how fast the time has flown, slipping through my fingers. You are everything that is true and bright and extraordinary. There are so many special things that make you unique.

I love to watch you play, weaving your stories and living in fantasy. All of your characters have intricate stories and you often reflect things that have happened to you in your storylines. That's how I find out how your day went at school or if anything happened that made you sad, happy, excited, or funny.

If you aren't making up stories, you're making up songs and singing all the time. I love listening to you sing, it fills our house with joy. I hope that you never lose your song or feel ashamed to sing.

The other day we were in the car and you said, "Mom, I just thought this in my head and I was thinking. Last night I had some really nice dreams."

I wonder what you will be when you grow up, what you will become. Lately you have been arguing with me about who gets to marry daddy first - you or me. You ask me, "Can I be a mommy when I grow up and have a baby in my tummy?" I tell you that you can be whatever you want to be and really believe that you will be everything that God has planned for you.

I will always love you. You can always come home and you will be safe. There is absolutely nothing I wouldn't do for you and there is nothing that would cause me to turn my back to you. I am excited about your future and blessed to be a part of your past.

As we were sitting here this morning before the sun came up eating your choice of cinnamon rolls you looked out the window. The sun had just started to rise and the clouds and sky were your favorite shade of pink, "Look ,Mama! God painted the sky my most beautiful favorite color just for my birthday!"

Happy Birthday. I love you to the moon and stars and all the way back down to your sneakers and toes.