8 plus 8 is SIXTEEN!

My oh my how the time does fly! I can hardly believe that I've been a mommy for 8 years. I still remember me and Nick stopping at Eckerds on our way home to Temple after spending a week-end visiting family, wondering if just maybe our prayers had been answered.  It was Mother's Day 2003. I was 22 years old and we'd been married for 2 years. A few months earlier we had announced that we were going to be parents and our parents were going to be first time grandparents, only to be disappointed when the doctor said it wasn't to be. To our delight the test was a clear positive, but of course I had my reservations.

As it turns out, 9 months later, after 20 hours of labor, on January 12, 2004 we became the parents of a beautiful baby girl. I had her at 11:46pm and they whisked her off to the NICU for observation before I even got to hold her because she was having a hard time breathing. That was the scariest, and most painful, few moments of my life, but I would do all over again to have her in my life. A few hours later I was wheeled down to hold my angel for the first time. She looked so big compared to the other tiny babies, and she was mine. It felt so good to finally hold her in my arms. I never wanted to put her down, and now she complains because I "never" hold her. Now she has two little brothers that take up my time, but she'll always be my little girl. I tell her that she'll be my baby even when she's 30 and I'm 53. She thinks that's the silliest thing she's ever heard, but I promise her it's true.

Now on to the celebration details! It's going to be hard to top this year's birthday. We pretty much had a birthday week for her. Last Sunday we drove to El Campo, 2 and 1/2 hours away, to pick up a Cockapoo puppy we found on Craigslist. We all missed Sammy, our little Cockapoo with the tragic ending, so much. (Nick accidentally ran over him a few months ago, while we were all in the car. That is one of the saddest moments in the history of our little family.) He was Lorelai's little buddy, and she was crazy about him. We promised her we would get another puppy in April, which would be exactly one year since we got Sammy. Then her Uncle Micah got a puppy about a month ago, and she went crazy over that little dog. So, since we were wanting another dog anyway, we figured what better time than her birthday? That's how we found our sweet Twyla. She really is the sweetest puppy I've ever seen. She's 6 months old (only 7 pounds)and already house trained. We just think she's great! Isn't she so cute?

On her actual birthday we took her out to eat at Texas Roadhouse. She made me tell the waitress that she did NOT want to sit on that saddle and have the whole restaurant sing to her though. Oh, and that morning we went to our usual monthly craft day where she got to make headbands with feathers and flowers on them. I took cupcakes for her and her friends and they sang "Happy Birthday" to her. Here she is with her BFF, Michaela and their feather creations.



The next day we went to our homeschool co-op in the morning and had a small slumber party for her that night. I made her a rainbow cake because she loves drawing them and she loves bright colors. It was the most fun I ever had making a cake. I split the batter into 6 semi-equal parts and dyed each portion a different color of the rainbow with gel food coloring. The results were so fun and colorful that Lorelai said she wants a cake like this every year! 

So, here's to hoping that the next 8 years don't go by as quickly as these first have. Sadly, I know they will. In the meantime, Lord help me to enjoy her while she's all mine. Amen.