Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's youngest child, Audrey, is hardly a child at all. She turns 17 on Thursday, Dec. 6, and her dad couldn't stop praising her in a post on Instagram that also includes several photos.

 

"17 years ago this little precious jewel came almost 8 weeks early to us!!" he writes. One photo shows him holding a newborn Audrey, who is asleep on his chest. "So tiny, but so strong! Her mom, her sisters and I love her endlessly."

"She is our baby girl and she has grown into an incredibly smart, beautiful and powerful young woman who will be a light in the world!!" he adds. "Happy Birthday Audrey Caroline McGraw ... you are loved beyond measure."

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Audrey is the younger sister to Gracie Katherine and Maggie Elizabeth. McGraw shared with Taste of Country Nights earlier this year that his wife of 22 years is having a hard time accepting that they'll soon be empty-nesters.

"It's toughest on mom, because she is the one ... they always want mom to do stuff for them. Sometimes she just misses them and doing things for them everyday and doing things moms do," he admits. "I think it’s really tough on her sometimes."

"They had had such a great role model in their mother to model themselves after to go out and face the world as a woman because of who was involved in raising them," says the "Neon Church" singer, who is currently working on a new album. "They’ve gotten some good tools."

 

See Tim & Faith's Cutest Pictures Together Through the Years:

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