Elizabeth Is Nine!

Nine years ago, the Lord saw fit to give us our very own ray of Sunshine.  She came gently into this world one Friday morning and has been smiling at it ever since.  We brought her home and laid her in a bassinet and she rarely stirred.  

We often joke that she slept until her due date, being that she was a few weeks early.  Thomas was 2 and Sarah was 1 and they barely looked over at her as they barrelled though the house screeching and whooping and being jolly little toddlers.

She'd just sigh deeply and doze on.

I often forget how adorable her little 'Hook 'Em Horns' sign was as she sucked on her fingers.  When she was almost two, she burned those little fingers on a lightbulb at somebody's house.  They blistered up and were too painful for her to suck on when she tried to go to sleep that night.  She whined quietly off and on for about an hour, then popped her thumb in her mouth.  I wondered if she'd go back to the two precious fingers when they healed up, but I'd say she never gave it a second thought.  The thumb was just fine.

She enjoys the simple things in life and chooses comfort and has her own sense of 'cute style'.  She loves skinny jeans and boots or flats and a soft, oversized shirt.  She likes her hair in a tight little bun at the nape of her neck or in a braid over her shoulder.

She's tough as tough gets and rarely whimpers over pain and we find ourselves telling her to please let us know about things when they happen rather than two days later when we see a huge bruise on her!  She just shakes pain to the wayside and works through it.

Lurking just behind her quiet demeanor is a quick wit that takes folks by surprise. I love to hear tales of how her sense of humor peeks through when she is visiting with people who haven't experienced our Lizzie before.

She adores cooking and baking and putzing around in the kitchen.  She begs me regularly to let her make dinner or to teach her some new recipe.  She'll outstrip me by the time she's twelve, if not sooner!  

She's kind and generous and compassionate.  She loves her sisters and brothers and it's fun to watch her relationship with each one.

I'm so thankful she was sent to us.  Thankful for the opportunity to get to watch what God does with her.

Happy Birthday, sweet, sunny, Lizzie!!