My Maribella

I have been wanting to blog about my daughter....Maribella Joelle.  I figure that she deserves her very own posting seeing that she is the only girl amongst five brothers.  Many of you wonder, "how does she survive?"  But I assure you, she holds her own just fine!  She can wrestle with the rest of them and be a fierce princess with a rifle, or a sword , or whatever weapon is on hand...  John and I both desperately attempt to instill in her the necessity to be a "lady" and I desire to always cultivate that in her especially as she is immersed in a very male society within the Martin household.  She truly is a little Mommy though which is such a joy to see.  As the picture shows her doting on Killian dressed in her oh so lovely Princess Belle gown , she is quick to lend a hand.    She adores Killian even though she is quick to remind me (and him!)  "I thought you were a girl Killian....sweet baby" she will chime.  It is really quite comical to hear her say this, but I am afraid that we better nip this in the bud before the little guy develops a complex!  Having one daughter has truly shown me the drastic difference between boys and girls in their natural interest in domestic duties.  Maribella is very eager to help herself in the kitchen, or desire to make a sandwich, or help me cut up things for dinner.  She really does not have a healthy fear of knives.  She is oh so eager to assist in making dinner!  I am really proud of her and desire to cultivate this art all the more.  



Here is Maribella with her darling friend Mina.  This has been a big year in establishing some relationships with her sweet girlfriends.  Since Maribella doesn't have a sister John and I both feel that it is quite important to facilitate relationships with other litte girls, simply to offset the testosterone flying around here!  It has been a real joy for us to see these relationships thrive and to see the vast difference in the way little girls interact and relate versus the way that our guys wrestle, play army, "kill bad guys", create legos, play football, throw around the baseball, and on and on...  We look forward to watching these relationships grow and pray for Christ centered friendships that will be used to sharpen one another and spur one another on towards growth.   Some of Maribella's darling friends are Shannon and Coley (her 2 very best girlfriends--truly more like sisters!), Ainsley and Emma (whom she adores!), her darliing cousin Bekah (who she loves so much and also says is her best friend), Paigey, Lilly, Mina, Emma G., Ella, Chloe,  and so many more!Now I have to say, that this truly depicts our absolutely funny and goofy sweety pie.  She is a hoot!  And many of you may not know this because this lies under a shell that is a bit shy, even cool at times.  But we have really begun to see that shell disipate within this past 7 months of her being 4.  She is really developing into such a fun loving little girl who continuously cracks John and I up as she will do the funniest things and make the most adorable expressions that seem way too old for a 4 1/2 year old!  We get a bit sad at the fact of her getting older...it is just happening way too fast!  We seem to notice it all the more because of her being the only girl in the fam.  Also, I need to add...she adores her "Daddia" as she fondly calls him.  She jumps up on his lap and kisses him and cuddles him profusely and nothing delights me more than to see such a loving and healthy father--daughter relationship.  It is what every daughter should have with her dad, but so few do.  We are truly blessed!