Happy Birthday Elizabeth!!!

Hello World!

1st Birthday

I am 2!

Look at me grow...I am 3.

Now, the princess is 4.

I am 5 finally!

Wait a minute! Did I just say she was 5? NO WAY!!!! Unfortunately, it's true. I just can't stop this precious little girl from growing up. She has definitely been a joy to watch as she grows. We have been through so much together over the past 5 years as a family. Amazing!

We got pregnant while we were still living in our apartment in Indiana...where our mattress was on the ground and the guy beneath us smoked like a chimney (even though he wasn't supposed to). The smoke smell would waft through his ceiling and up into our bedroom. You could actually see the smoke coming through the cracks in the hardwood floor...you'd think the building was on fire! Finally Chris had to ask him to stop because I was pregnant. By the time I was 6 months pregnant we were moving into our newly built house in Clunette, Indiana. We had some WONDERFUL neighbors out there!!! As the time approached that we should have our little princess...well, we waited. For two EXTRA, LONG weeks...then, once induced for 43 LONG HOURS!!! I didn't think she was ever going to come out...neither did daddy.

We lived in Indiana for 18 months more before taking the leap of faith and moving out to "nowhere land" in terms of family support...Dubuque, Iowa. We lived in town in a nice, comfy little house behind the Church of the Nazarene on University Avenue, waiting (and waiting and waiting) for almost a year for our house in Indiana to sell. Then we had to wait through having another house built out here. In the meantime, Libby had a sister (Grace) born while we were in that rental house...and actually still asks to move back to that house because of the swingset (which is now gone). Grace was born on the exact same day our house in Sherrill was...they were pouring the footers on the day Grace arrived!

We got moved out here, and Libby had the privilege of enduring mommy babysitting the next door neighbors' kids for 6 months. I tell you what, Soya and Libby are STILL like sisters. They have an absolute love/hate relationship with each other. :) Then, she got to go through another pregnancy and a little brother (John). Through all of this, she also got to try out MANY of Dubuque's churches and be my little Moppett while I helped out with the MOPS program. We have been through SO much more together, but I could go on forever if I covered it all. :)

For this year, I just pray that I can teach her little sponge of a brain (and heart) more and more about God, who He is, and what His Son did for us. We are embarking upon our homeschooling journey. She is ALWAYS a big help with her younger siblings. And, who knows what else God will throw at us this year. I know that He never gives us more than we can handle, so I say, "Let's hit the next year running together...with God in the lead!"