grateful

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Today is Grace’s birthday. I remember when she was born, I had a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon.  I was still two weeks from my due date.  Later on, at about 10pm, I went to bed, opened up a book, started reading…. and then almost right away I began contractions.  Rich said, “Are you serious!?” It was about to be an all-nighter.  We had moved (away from home) into an apartment just a few months earlier and had made arrangements for a lady from the new church we were attending, to come over and watch the boys until my parents could arrive (they were 2 hours away).  So we called the lady (I don’t even remember her name now) and when she came, Rich and I drove to the hospital.  I had an epidural for the first time and it was WONDERFUL.  I smiled all through labor and delivery.  What a nice way to be born…while your Mama is smiling.  I love that.  She was born at 3-something in the morning.  Dark hair, 5 lbs, 13 oz.  17 inches long.  A peanut, they called her.

Of course I was thrilled that she was a girl, after having two boys.  I held her nonstop.  The nurse noticed and said, “You don’t like that baby, do you?” Teasing me.  I knew that she would grow just as fast as her brothers did so I wanted to enjoy every moment.  My parents came to the hospital with the boys to see their new granddaughter, and then they took them back to NY for the next week.

The first week home with just Grace was a treat.  I could concentrate on my new baby and rest.  I was 23 years old when she arrived.

Jacob, Ethan, and Grace were all born within a three year period and it’s been such a joy to watch them grow up together.  They are the best of friends.  And now we have David, Caleb, Seth and Sarah, too.  Grace is a big sister and a very good one.

 

It rained all day today but it felt nice and cozy.  I polished Grace’s nails for her at the kitchen table with boys all around us.  Seth sat in my lap (learning, no doubt, how to polish nails), Caleb kept showing us his Clifford library book, and the other boys drew pictures of Star Wars figures.  Sarah was napping.  But when she woke up I plopped her on big sister’s lap for a few pictures.  Just think, I took pictures of just Grace and the boys last year and now……my heart is full of happiness to have two girls and I keep thinking about how grateful I am that Grace has Sarah for a sister.  A most wonderful gift~

I took Grace out for a quick, drive-through lunch at McDonalds and stopped to buy some birthday candles. 

We got home and spent time in the kitchen.  Sarah sat on the counter and kept me company while I baked the cake. I was going to make one from scratch but to my astonishment I had 40 pounds of flour in the house but NO SUGAR.  How could that happen?  I ransacked the cupboards but came up with nothing.  I was grateful that I had a cake mix. 

After I was done baking I took Sarah and went to bed and took a very lovely dark and dreamy nap for over an hour.  Warm baby was tucked up next to me and it was bliss.

When I got up, Jacob had taken the cake out of the oven and Seth had dug a hole out of it.  I whipped up some homemade chocolate frosting and covered it right up.

We had a sandwich dinner and now we are waiting for my sister and her family to come for cake.

 

I love birth-days.  They are such a nice day for remembering, and doing special things, and being GRATEFUL. 

 

Thanks for stopping by my blog~ I appreciate all my friends~ and love you~xoxox~  Love, Shanda

 

0 thoughts on “grateful”

  5. Happy Birthday, Grace!  I have thought about Grace several times today- remembering that it was her birthday.  Sounds like just the right kind of day.  Love the picture of the sisters- the one where Sarah has her tongue out.  So cute!

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  6. Happy Birthday to a lovely young lady. And Shanda, you should feel the approval of your Heavenly Father as you pattern Godly womanhood to your precious children. I would to God that there were more mamas like you.

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  15. Happy Birthday, Grace! My great-grand-daughter will be 11 on the 15th of this month, and one of my grand-daughters will be 11 Dec.26th. They’re in the same 5th grade class at school.

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  16. Happy Birthday Grace! When I saw that first picture, my immediate thought was that Grace looks exactly like her mother!!!I just love that mothers of many children are generally undaunted by such petty things as holes in cakes! LOL

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  17. I’ll add my Happy Birthday to the many already on here! My youngest turns in 11 in a month, and it is amazing how the time does fly! I absolutely love that black and white of Grace holding her sister! Such beautiful girls.

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  21. Oh! A little late at night to be wishing you a happy birthday, but I hope that your birthDAY was a fun one and that God blesses you richly this coming year! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GRACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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  22. Shanda, I laughed at the hole in the birthday cake story. One year, granddaughter (JanaLyn) lived with us when we celebrated Rissy’s birthday. We found JanaLyn on the birthday table with “Blues Clues” blue frosting all over her BEFORE the celebration ever started. She’d sat on one corner of the cake. Rissy smiled graciously. Then, Rissy got a princess dress up outfit as a gift, and JanaLyn quickly put it on, before Rissy finished opening all of her gifts. Again, Rissy smiled and said nothing. THEN, after the party, Rissy went to brush her teeth before going to bed and found a brand new mini doll (another gift) floating in its box in the toilet. We were amazed when our newly turned 6yo smiled and said, “Boy! JanaLyn sure enjoyed my party!” You February birthday ladies sure have an easy going outlook on some of the twists life throws you!!!! Glad you were able to smile and cover the hole with frosting!

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  24. Glad to hear Gracie had a good birthday…hard to believe she is 11.  Love you ❤  p.s. did you notice the weird random comment in the middle of all the birthday wishes? LOL

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  25. It is funny…I started following your blog a couple years ago and your daughter has really grown up since I first started seeing her picture…It makes me sit here with tears in my eyes because my oldest daughter Jade will be 9 years old next month…It makes me realize even more how the time flies by and to be so intentional with the time we have with them and to spend that time wisely. It also made me smile because I just said to my Jade and Ruby that we needed to get their nails painted and I see Grace’s pretty nails. You are doing a great job mommy and I am blessed to come and visit your blog. It is fun to see that we have the same taste in music, in books and in clothes as my girls have a lot of Grace’s lands end clothing! And I have had a couple of our outfits from Target and Costco as well. 😉 It makes me long for a kindred spirit like you in real life! 🙂 Blessings to you and your family and big birthday wishes to Grace! PS I have been longing to buy the Simply Shabby Chic bedding for my daughters new room as we just moved to the country and thought it would be a fun change and was surprised a week or so ago that you also love it! See…kindred spirits LOL!

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  29. Happy Birthday Grace!!!I remember being 11…I had a 13 year old sister, a 7 year old brother, and a 5 year old sister…have fun while you are still young…because it goes so fast…I am now 27–with a 30 year old sister, a 23 year old brother, and a 21 year old sister…

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  30. Your pictures today are exceptional–probably because the ones in them are so exceptional! The top one is frame-worthy, as is the mother-daughter one…. and the third one (Grace admiring her nails while Sarah laughs)–made me giggle out loud. It’s good that you’re writing down your memories of your children as you go along…are you archiving your blog? I do, and then I print it out once it’s on my desktop. I can then use my 3-hole punch and put the pages in a binder and….voila!….I have a journal. It’s good to hand-write a journal, but this is another fun thing to do, because you get the pihotos along with the words.Hope your day today is sunny and sweet and happy!

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  33. @ilovemykids3 – I got her craft stuff at Micheal’s.  They sell American Girl craft items.  I got her a “make your own stuffed owl” kit, and a few paper craft kits so she can make decorations for her room.  Some markers.  A watch.  And a jewelry set.  🙂

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  37. Sending Birthday wishes to Grace. What a lovely girl you have. I loved seeing the pictures of her on her day. I too think she is looking quite a bit like you. I laughed to see that delighted little face on Sarah, what a happy baby face. It sounds like little Sethy is into something every day. Yay for frosting!

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  40. I know I am late, but HAPPY BIRTHDAY to sweet Grace! Just today I was on the phone with my youngest daughter who lives in N. Ireland, and I was reminiscing about the day she was born! They are such blessings! Soon she will have her own wee blessing!

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  41. Seems like only last week you were posting about her 10th birthday. Happy Birthday to Grace.That Seth-boy makes me laugh. Hide your nail polish bottles! And excavating the cake? What fun!Sarah

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  42. please tell beautiful Grace Happy Birthday! It’s been a delight to watch her grow over the years….and thank you for sharing her birth story! You were only 23 and had 3 children…my Bri at 22 would love to get married. Waiting on God’s timing is hard sometimes

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