HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LILY!

Our oldest is 9 - her last year in single digits.  I remember seeing other people's children turn nine and hearing them say that it was the halfway mark.  Halfway to adulthood.  Halfway to moving out of the house.  That makes me want to weep a river of tears, because it all goes by so quickly.  Really, it does.

Exhibit A: Here are her past 🎂 birthday blog posts that it feels like I just wrote yesterday.

{3rd Birthday} {4th Birthday} {5th Birthday} {6th Birthday} {7th Birthday} {8th Birthday}



This child made me a mother, and my mind is blown by the way I've been transformed over the past nine years.  And bless her heart, we are learning so many things the hard way with Lily.  For example, we have a science fair project that we all effectively and collectively forgot about for the last two months.  It's due on Thursday.  I had no grid for what a big deal this was, so when Lily came home on Friday saying kids were bringing their finished boards into class, it induced some level of panic. 😱

We had done the initial work back in October, so thankfully, we were not starting at square one, but most of the grunt work needed to be completed this week.  I can only hope and pray that we will not make this exact mistake again, but with our first child, we are all sort of walking blindly along, falling in all kinds of potholes along the way.

That said, Lily has risen to the occasion.  She has taken responsibility for her part in this fiasco, and she has been all hands on deck with creating webs and recording {rather nonexistent} results.  Lily is our enthusiastic learner who is continuously curious and always listening.  In small groups, she can get so animated and excited.  In larger groups, she tends to be a bit more reserved.  She is witty and observant and practical.

Seeing Lily blossom from a tiny little person into a tiny kid is such a joy and privilege.  She is loving and kind and wonderful in so many ways.  I love to see the way that God is working inside of her as he draws her to himself.  It is remarkable how different each child is, and we treasure the person that Lily is and is becoming.

This morning, we woke her up with a donut 🍩 first thing, which helped rouse her after her relatively late night of web spinning.

I took lunch to her at school, where she intimated that she might actually pass out from exhaustion - there can be a slight tendency towards drama.  I have no idea where that comes from. 🤦🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️



We rounded out her birthday with more science fair fun and then a delightful dinner with family that ended in one of her favorite desserts.



Happiest of birthdays to our dear Lily.  You are one in a million, and we are so glad you belong to us!