"I Love You"

How nice to be on the way out the door and have your four-year-old daughter tell you, "I love you." We get this nearly all the time now, which is just about as precious as it sounds. Madison makes sure she gets a kiss goodbye and then she makes the hand gesture for "I love you," making sure she says it loud enough that you can hear it. Those are the moments right there that make up for a lot of the hurt in this world. You just sort of phase all that away and realize how wonderful it is to have a little girl.

She even tells it to me over the phone when at work. Daddy gets a call, and Mommy passes the phone over to Madison so she can talk. Of course, everyone in the office is looking to Daddy now, knowing he's on the phone with Madison. She starts talking, and Daddy tries to understand as much as he can. But "I love you" is really easy to hear.

I love you too, sweetheart!