Eleventh

It's early for me to be writting my next blog, but I feel it's time for me to introduce my daughter.
She is a sweetheart. She was born 15 yrs. ago, weighing in at 4lbs. 14oz. and 18 in. long, she came into the world screaming ! After that one very loud, very short anouncement she quit breathing and was wisked out the door. I wasn't allowed to see her and shortly after being moved to a room of my own the hospital's pediatrician came in and told me we might loose her. I was so heavily medicated that I fell asleep! When I woke up, I was anxious to see her and I got to go down to the nursery and hold her. My daughter was so small, but she had the biggest feet, and bright, new-penny, red hair! She was on oxygen, an I.V. and a heart moniter. It made her dad cry to see her like this, and we were both scared to hold her.

We had my cousin and one of the elders from his church give her a blessing, and from then on she started making progress! She stayed in the hospital for 11 days, we brought her home on oxygen, and she kept it on for another 2 months. She loved to eat, and when she was hungry she let you know it! She improved slowly but surely and by the time she was 6 months she was doing fine.

My daughter's first word was "drink". She pronounced it "Bink" and she would get so dramatic when she wanted a drink by holding herself securely to whoever was near and throwing her head back while moaning, "a bink, aaa Binnnk!" It was hysterical!

She loved her walker. Her brother walked at ten months, she had no interest at all in crawling or walking because she had learned to move fast in her walker. She ate, napped, played, and slept in that thing. If we tryed to take her out she would scream and hold on to the sides so we were lifting not just her, but the walker too. Her brother loved to push her around in it. He would get going really fast down the hallway and she would lean back just like a racecar driver, and then they would run into a doorjam and they would laugh and laugh! I'm suprized she never ended up with whiplash!

Her favorite things when she was young were beanie babies. Any animal would do, but she was allways toting one around and there were several times my nieghbors would return one, washed and "fluffed" because she left it behind.

My daughter found a best friend at 6 yrs. old. Her friend was 4 and they hit it off right away. Many summers went by with the two of them running from house to house, trading "lilest pet shops" or hunting and catching bugs. These two are still great friends and we still enjoy summers running back and forth even though the friend moved out of the neighborhood.

I spent six years homeschooling my daughter, sometimes wondering why I put myself through it! She is dyslexic and struggles to read, which in turn makes any subject difficult. We spent alot of afternoons in tears because she hated not being able to focus, and I didn't know how to make it easier for her. Then we discovered horses! Now everthing revolved around them. Books about horses for reading, studing horse anatomy for science, the history of horses used in agriculture, and trained for war in history, and drawing horses in art. We used horse-riding to reward her for jobs well done. She started to save her money to buy a horse 3 years ago, and hasn't stopped yet.
She is bound and determined to own a horse and I think it will be the most loved creature on the planet when she does get it!

At 14 she decided to get baptised. It was entirely her decision, and she has not waivered from her desire to live a life close to Christ. She loves her Savior, and sets a good example for those around her. My daughter has been blessed with a compassonate heart, a strong spirit, and a mind of her own. She is very tenderhearted and easily hurt. I am humbled by her ability to forgive the many hurts that have come her way. In her youth group she is allways willing to help out, even when she doesn't really want to, she goes and gets the job done.

This last year has held many changes for my daughter as she enters the "teen scene". I am scared to watch the transition from catapiller to butterfly, as she starts trading toys for make-up, Friends for boyfriends, and wanders farther from the safety of family to the unknown of the world. One thing I am sure of- My daughter loves being God's princess! And I know he will watch over her and protect her, giving her the asurance that he is allways near and he will bring people into her life that will treasure her and love her, just like we do.

"...Thy gentleness hath made me great..."