Happy 12th Birthday L!!!

Dearest L,

How I thank God for you!  As you know, we found out we were expecting you when your brother G was still just an infant, so the news came as a pretty big surprise.  But you have been the BEST surprise of my whole life!  You were so carefully knit together in my womb by God Himself, and He does good work. :-)

You've heard the story of your birth many times already, so you know that your first few minutes were actually quite scary for daddy and me.  You were very blue and needed a team of medical people working on you for many long moments before we knew you were okay and I was able to hold you.  I couldn't wait to get my hands on you!!

You were very big (10# 8 oz), and had trouble maintaining your blood sugar level and body temperature at first, so you spent some time in the special care nursery.  We were so happy to be reunited later ~ we had so much to be thankful for!

Grandpa got to come to the hospital first this time, instead of Grandma (who was busy watching your siblings), because we had a very special surprise waiting for him..... your middle name is his middle name!

We were pretty excited to be a family of five!  You gave your siblings little presents when they came to meet you for the first time, and so they loved you from the beginning!  ;-)

You were born with such thick, luscious dark hair.  EVERYONE wanted to touch it, and that made it greasy really fast from everyone's hands.  So you got frequent hair washings.  This was after your very first bath at home.

I love this picture of you, because this is what you looked like whenever you were awake!  You were an incredibly happy, smiley baby.   Twelves years later, it still melts my heart when you smile!

Again, because we are slightly crazy, when you were two months old we flew to WA to visit your other grandparents.  This was the trip you've heard about, when daddy had to go home early to go back to work, and I flew on a 5 hour flight home by myself with a 3 year old, 1 year old, and infant.  Thankfully it was the year before 9-11, and grandma and grandpa could wait with me at the gate before boarding.  I needed lots of help!  I won't embarrass you too much further, but you made a very memorable deposit during that flight..... TWICE.  We both needed baths as soon as we got home!

Your first Easter.  You were such a happy, eager, bold baby.  You held your own very well against your older siblings!  These were very happy days for me and daddy.  Such precious babies we had.

 Big sis and you were best buds there for awhile.  I love this picture!

Remember our trip to Williamsburg, VA?  You were seven at the time.  The age Little Man is now!

That year, for no reason other than you wanted to, you bought me my first webkinz with your very own money.  That was very special to me!  (thank you! that webkinz is still on my bed!)

This is when you first got your body sock.  Remember how much you played in that?  It doesn't get used much anymore, but for a couple years it was used almost every day.

Your 8th birthday brought you some cool new water guns!

This picture was taken when you were 9.

With one of your pinewood derby cars ..... this was a fun activity for you for three years in a row.  You designed this one yourself.

This was last year, when you turned 11.  Trying out your new "muscle shirt"!

And this was this morning (same shirt!). 

Happy, happy birthday to you, dear L.  Words cannot express how much I love you, and what a joy it is for me to be your mom.  I love your sensitive heart, your great sense of humor, and your unique way of looking at the world.  May you always stay close to Jesus ~ and remember that He is always with you!

I love you,

Mom