Happy Birthday, Nature Girl!!

As I write this, my first born is officially 10 years and 4 hours old. Yes, double digits! Crazy! I am positive it was just yesterday that hubby's and my life changed dramatically! For the better! She truly was a miricle baby.

She rocked our world, to be sure. She was 3 1/2 weeks early and I am absolutely positive that it was a sign of things to come. Ever since that early morning hour on April 11, she has been making her own way ever since.

She is extraordinary. She is beautiful and graceful. She is determined and willful. She wants what she wants what she wants. And she can be very resourceful and thoughtful to get what she wants. There are many times she gives me a different way to do something, her way is better. Makes more sense. She is all about common sense.

She is always smiling. And always singing. And loves to dance, her way. She is a deep thinker. But, not very expressive with her emotions or feelings on the outside. She doesn't cry much. But things do trouble her. She loves to dream. Big! There isn't anything she feels she can't do.

She is a social butterfly. She loves her friends. And being out and about. She loves to go, go, go. But, she can also sit in her room and read, read, read. She is smart. She absorbs everything. She loves animals. From birds to dogs. She has many, many interests. But, informed me the other day, as we were walking up to the 22 floor Capitol Building, that she would not want to be an architech or engineer. I wish I would have had time to explore that more.

She challenges me constantly. In good ways and bad. I have to stay at least two steps ahead of her, to parent her. By the end of the day, she wears me out. But, she has been that way since birth.

I can't imagine what our lives would be like without her. I pray, pray, pray everyday, that she grows into a beautiful woman of God. Inside and out. Happy, happy birthday to my first born baby girl . . .