A Belated Birthday Post

(I just realized I forgot to publish this post!  It was intended for Linnea's 13th birthday which was back in September.  
Better late than never?  I hope so.)

I wonder if I blinked; perhaps it happened when I wasn't looking--

but I was watching.  

It happened right in front of me, right before my eyes.

This daughter of mine with whom I endured terrible morning sickness, 

my first experience with the mind-numbing fatigue,

the barely-keeping-my-lunch-down nausea,

and which cast a pallor about my skin,

has grown from the tiniest of persons at conception 

to a thirteen year old young woman.

I watched nearly every minute of it.

But did I really see it?

I remember the late nights and the early mornings.

I remember how I imagined her in dresses and tights with the frills on the rump.

I clearly recall dressing her for Christmas when she was a year old.

She didn't want to wear the red velvet dress;

she stood on the changing table before me and shook her head.

I remember saying, "You will wear this to church."

I then thought to myself, or maybe said it out loud,

"this is the kind of conversation I expected when you're 15 years old,

not 15 months old."

I had visions of a lass clad in lovely play dresses with plaited hair.
I had to wait until Ruby for that to come to fruition.

I have watched her go from fighting with her brothers to
.......still fighting with her brothers.
She has always desperately wanted to keep up with them--
and keep up she has!

I do try to see her...
I see her try new things.  She's more confident than I ever was or probably ever will be.
I see her stand for and speak her convictions.  This makes me so very proud.
I see her love her sisters and brothers.
One of her favorite things to do is spend time with Dad
and I think that's great.
I'm no fun, but he can be when he wants to be. ;-)

I'm much larger than her so there is no sharing clothes,
but she will occasionally borrow a scarf or pair of shoes.

She's my go-to girl when we get ready for church or any other outing,
when I ask, "Does this look ok?" she'll give me an honest, yet kind, answer.

One of my absolute favorite things that I see is when we are with another family who has little ones.  She very often will offer to hold or carry their baby or toddler to give that mama's arms a break.  I typically have a few extras that can help me, so I happily loan her out. :)
I want her to be confident in her ability to care for children.
I don't know what her family will look like in her future, if she will marry or have children,
but I know without a doubt that she will have opportunity to use her training and experience in our family to be a blessing to another.

Happy 13th, my first daughter.
We love you.