Happy Birthday Addie!!

Addie and the beloved Elizabeth in her new Christmas dress (we spend more money on this dolls clothes than we do on ourselves!!) This is her favorite doll that Granna got her last year for her birthday.


Sweet girl ~ it is hard to believe you are 9 years old today!! You bring us joy beyond measure, you keep us laughing, and always teaching us so many, many things. And, yes, your stubborn streak can drive us over the edge at times :). We love you more than you could ever know.

I guess every mother relives the arrival of her baby on her child's birthday ~ I know I always do and love to tell her about it ~ she just looks at me like "okay already ~ enough"(the looks I get lately - you'd think she was going on 13 ~ scary!!) ..... thinking of Addie's birth made me think of the verse I posted in a previous post - the part about "groaning as in the pains of childbirth". I have to admit - being pregnant isn't my favorite thing - I remember lots of nausea and throwing up (they say you forget - not so sure about that:)), I remember being on bedrest at 30 weeks and high blood pressure, I remember 25 hours of long labor and being scared to death I was going to have to have a c-section (I had one with Ryan - believe me, it's the way to go!) ....... yet, when I look at that sweet face, I'd do it all over again - having her in our lives is more than worth anything I had to go through to get her here. I trust that is how it will be when we see Him face to face ..... that anything we have to go through here on this earth will be more than worth it ...... still hard to comprehend ... can't even begin to wrap my mind around it ..... but I'm trusting that is how it will be.

Addie had a great day today - went to church with Daddy and got to go out for steak! Our friend Janna came last night and spent the night and Addie got her feet rubbed - she loves that and anytime she sees Janna she has her feet ready for a foot rub (just like her momma!). On Friday she took treat bags for her classmates and then got to share things she is thankful for. Mrs. Kunce does some really special things for their birthdays - you get to be the Star student for the week, all the children write a letter to you telling you why they think you are special, then you bring a blessing bag home and put in it things you are thankful for - the next day you get to share those with your classmates. It was such a sweet thing - Addie took a pretty blue boa, jewelry, a CD, a Nativity ornament (baby Jesus), and her Bible - I loved listening to her and she loves being a "leader". She is our little evangelist - I know God is using her. The sad part to me was how very few of the children seemed to know of the manger scene when she shared the ornament - it broke my heart. As Mrs. Kunce said - you don't have to go on a mission trip to Africa .... how true that is. The children got to ask Addie questions so they could get to know her better ..... that was a hoot! I learned during that time that her favorite animal is a Tiger - ha! I don't think she has ever told me that before. It was a very sweet time and I was so proud of her.

Thankful for birthdays and for the gift of life ....... (scroll on down for more pictures)