Zoe's Cinnamon Rolls

I know people say things like this all of the time. But I really do think that my little girl really is the best little girl there is. She is sweet, kind, gentle, smart, honest, creative... she is the most beautiful person I know. And yesterday we celebrated her 8th birthday. It just seems impossible that eight wonderful years have passed since I first held her in my arms. As each year passes, I find myself being even more sentimental and "mushy" than the year before. It's going too fast... way to fast. So, when her birthday rolls around, I make it a big deal. Because it is a big deal. Her birthday is a celebration of the day we found true love... unconditional, all forgiving, unselfish love. And I make it a big deal because she deserves thanks for giving us such an incredible gift.

When my brothers and I were kids, my mom would make cinnamon rolls for us to take as treats for our classmates. Our friends were always so excited to see and smell and devour Mom's famous cinnamon rolls. It was more to us than a treat... something yummy. It was the fact that Mom took the time and energy to make us feel so special. I didn't understand it all when I was little. But now that I'm a mom, I understand.

So, the night before last, I stayed up until 2am to make my "baby" cinnamon rolls. As I mixed and kneaded and let rise and sprinkled and rolled, I thought of what I think my mom might have been thinking as she did the same for me. I thought about how Zoe used to lay across my chest when she was a baby and let out soft little sighs as she fell asleep. I thought about how she used to put her little dollies in the stroller and hold her arm up to keep her purse on her shoulder as she walked down the street. I thought about her daddy teaching her how to ride a bike without training wheels. I thought about playing in the leaves, baking cookies, cozy nights in front of the fire and making giant snow bunnies and hot chocolate. And I thought about all of the nights of tucking her into bed and how every single day, I thank God that he sent her to me and how every single day she makes me so proud.

And the next morning when her daddy and I put a candle in a cinnamon roll and sang happy birthday to her, her bright eyes and beautful little smile were all I needed to make every minute of the three and a half hours it took me to make those cinnamon rolls worth it.