"Ahhh...I'm Pretty!"

After Nina got dressed for Eileen's wedding, she had to go to the bathroom. When we walked in and I turned on the lights, I turned around to find Nina with the biggest grin spreading across her angelic face. I looked at her and she smiled back saying, "Ahhh....I'm pretty!". I hugged her and reaffirmed her statement, adding that she was beautiful everyday but today it was fun getting to dress up extra special.

I cannot explain how important it was for Nina to be this flower girl. More recently, Nina has been discouraged and upset by her physical appearance. She has looked at herself in the mirror and lamented her situation by saying, "Ohh...I don't like the way I look." or "I don't look the same!". Each of these statements breaks our hearts so for our daughter to not just feel beautiful but to actually verbally comment about it was an unexpected and loving gift to wittiness.

The following photo of Nina and Eileen is my favorite of of the entire wedding (sorry Dave :)) in Santa Barbara because it captures the love that Eileen and Nina share for each other, but also because Nina does feel absolutely radiant there in her satin gown next to Eileen!