Happy Birthday, #2!

She was the easiest pregnancy, easiest birth, easiest to potty-train.....she is my beautiful middle child and she turned 8 years old at 3am this morning!

I have a feeling she will grow up to be either a nurse or a pastor because she loves to help people. It can be a real challenge for me to nurture that when I "just want to get it done quickly!".

She is part kangaroo and if I had to compare her to a cartoon character, she would definitely be a Tigger! Her sisters find her affection somewhat annoying at times and she is always, always in motion from the time she was a baby. She would sit in her highchair and sway back and forth, then she would climb up on top of any counter or table before she could walk. She is quite the opposite of me and much more like The Husband, both physically and personality-wise. This could be why her and I get along very well most of the time!

Being the middle child has not diminished her "take charge" skills whatsoever! In fact, she frequently tries to prove herself capable of anything her big sister can do, she can do, too. She has no problem pointing out the rules to other kids and adults, even if she offends them. I struggle with that because I believe her heart is truly to help people most of the time and not to be bossy, but I think she gets a little misunderstood at times for that. We're working on the appropriateness of her reminding others of "rules" when she notices someone doing something we don't agree with. It can be tough....I feel like a hypocrite some of the time and I'm sure there is a lesson in there for me that God is trying to teach! She is very sensitive and hides her hurts for the sake of "sucking it up". That bugs me and leaves me in a continuous state of trying to figure her out.

Please remember her in your prayers. She will be seeing a pediatric urologist to figure out why she keeps having reoccuring UTIs and the poor dear has been suffering with abdominal pain for a little over a year now, cause unknown. Her appetite has decreased and she barely weighs sixty pounds (no weight gain in the last 6 months; although she has shot up a of couple inches). Her doctors don't seem overly concerned. I try not to worry, but she is so precious to us!

She is an incredible blessing and adds a lot of joy to our family! I remember being 8 years old and it was a horrible year for me. Nothing majorly traumatic happened, just so many small things and an overall memory of feeling lonely and rejected that school year. And, my mom had my long hair cut and people thought I was a boy. Maybe that was pretty traumatic after all......well, I plan to give #2 a lot of happy memories this next year and I won't cut her hair to look like a boy!