"Mom & Dad, listen -- this song is sad"

Yet again, we enter a new phase of growth for you and a new phase of sheer emotion for both.  Most of the time you have been unable to feel the emotion coming from another person.  If you have felt it or noticed it, it was because you had been taught that a smile means happiness, a tear means sadness and a loud voice meant anger.  But recently, I've seen you feel emotion from me as well as emotion in song and on T.V.  it's a bit overwhelming for me to see because I've never really seen it from you.  While I have hoped for you to get to this point, I have also worried how it would all work out when you started really feeling the emotion of events happening around you.  While we're making strides, we're still not all the way with feeling emotions as the other day during an emotional sound byte on The Biggest Loser, daddy & I were in tears and you just stared at the T.V. and wondered why we were crying.  And just when we thought you were crying during a sound byte later on in the show you turned to me to tell me you were only in tears because daddy passed gas and it stunk.  -- Oh Ashley!

You continue to make us laugh on a daily basis and even though home work hour is like groundhogs day and the worst part of our time together -- I still wouldn't trade it for a thing.  You make me stronger, you push me to have the utmost patience and you make me think of new ways to make learning fun and approachable.  I am thankful for you and your adult-like personality.

I am holding on tight hoping the next nine years don't move as fast as these first nine years.  And no matter how old, every year around this time -- I start to cry and get emotional about you growing up.  It is hard to believe that in just a few months, you will be bridging to a junior in girl scouts and entering the summer as a 4th grader.

Everyone told us it would go by fast.  I never really believed them until recently when I blinked my eyes and you turned nine.