Another Birthday!

My oldest turns seven today.  That seems impossible but it's true.  Oh this child of mine.  I think it's amazing that your child is exactly who they are from infancy.  This is so true with my oldest.  She was a fussy fussy baby.  Now that I know her better, her babyhood makes so much more sense.  She could not tune out anything and would get so overwhelmed.  And she's still like that today.  That face to the left could have been her at the table trying to do her math yesterday.  Or, if I'm thinking about it, her every day around 4pm when she really needs to eat.  We survived those baby and toddler years though and now she's a big huge second grader.

When I was pregnant with her I was working as an accountant.  My husband also worked at the firm and we got to spend a lot of time together.  We worked a million hours of overtime together, drove to work together, ate lunch together...It was nice.  Made for a big adjustment when I quit working though.  I was used to seeing my husband 24/7 and we worked very well together.  Now I was stuck at home feeling very overwhelmed.

At the end of this pregnancy I got the PUPPP rash.  It was so awful.  It's a horrible itchy rash on the stomach, legs, hands, and feet and the only way to get rid of it is to deliver.  I was eight days late with baby girl and could have gone longer but just couldn't take that rash any longer.  My wonderful doctor took pity and induced me.  I had an epidural and was in labor all day but baby girl got stuck.  I had a c-section at 10pm and that poor baby was MAD.  The doctor opened me up and she was screaming inside!  I got very sick from the anesthesia and was in recovery for a long time so baby girl got to spend a lot of time with her daddy.  

I think those three days around her birth were the hardest of my life!  We had her at 10pm and she stayed awake until morning!  She was mad and hungry.  I was exhausted from being in labor, having surgery, and then staying up all night long.  Since it was our first baby we had lots of visitors. She slept all day that they were there and then was awake all night again.  The day we went home from the hospital I cried with every bump we hit.  My poor body hurt so bad.  We had over ten messages on the answering machine (doesn't that date things!), the phone rang off the hook, and three sets of visitors came by our house.  We finally got to bed late that night (on the couch because I couldn't get in and out of our bed) and then she was awake all night again.  Oh the things you learn from that first baby experience.

She's a special one though.  We survived her babyhood and toddler years and she seems to keep getting easier.  She has always been mentally ahead of her physical abilities and so the older she gets the easier things seem to be.  She has an almost spooky ability to perceive things about people and she's very spiritually mature for her age.  She also has huge ideas.  She's gonna make a fantastic adult someday and if she can put all these wonderful ideas into action will do amazing things.  For right now though, her big ideas can be frustrating.  She doesn't usually ask me before she launches into something and then gets upset when it doesn't work.  Last month she wanted to call all her friends and have them mail her pictures they'd made so she could judge them (we were around some 4-Hers that month).  Once she started making newspapers to put in plastic bags and deliver to all the neighbors.  She tried making a solar cooker out of a cardboard box and had plans to make popcorn and refried beans in it.  And there were more.  Many more ideas.

In an effort to channel that I put her in charge of breakfast.  It is now her job to make herself and siblings breakfast every day.  She has done a fantastic job and loves it.  And it has been a big help to me to have her take this on.  At the homeschool conference this year, one of my favorite finds was a book called "Home Economics for Home Schoolers".  You can buy it on this website  http://www.pearables.com/home_economics.htm  She loves this book so much she sleeps with it sometimes.  It has chapters on learning to use the toaster, peeling vegetables, learning to use the oven, cleaning, organizing, and hospitality.   Finding things to keep her busy is a challenge and this book truly was answered prayer!

This little girl is a really good big sister.  She loves organizing things (closets, people, whatever), she talks nonstop, and needs constant interaction.  She plays the piano, enjoyed drama class and VBS, and could probably run this household if I needed her to.  And do a good job at it.  She loves watching "The Duggars" and is currently writing them a letter about how she loves how they train their children.

When I found this I thought of her.  She really is a special treasure and I'm so thankful God chose me to be her mom.  She's gonna do great things for His kingdom.