Happy 20th Birthday Sarah Annie!

Sarah Annie turned 20 years old today.  This is the first birthday Sarah was out on her own. It was a bit unusual.  When the kids were little, I would bring breakfast to their bed with a candle in it. I'd sing happy birthday, they'd blow out the candle and have breakfast in bed.  We'd talk about our day and what we were going to do.  Often the kids would ask for waffles with peanut butter. So I made little sandwiches with the waffles.

Today I went to Sarah's house and took her to lunch at Applebees.  It was so nice to talk to her and catch up.  We went back to her house to look through her baby album.
As is tradition, Sarah and I look through her baby album and retell her birth and look at  pictures and recall memories of her special first day on earth.

   Sarah's name and Ben's as well were picked out on our honeymoon so long ago.  We were very worried before we knew Sarah was a girl, that I was going to have another boy, and we didn't have a name we liked at all in mind.  God had it all planned out and at 7:27 p.m. Sarah Annie was born weighing a whopping 9#13 oz. and was 21 1/4 inches long.  What a miracle birth is ya know?  To think God has knit us together in our mother's womb is just amazing.  He knows everything about us before we're even conceived.  That just blows my mind.  It's hard to wrap my brain around all of that.  It's also hard to believe that with all my short comings, God still loves me more than any human here on earth.

I found some pictures of Sarah's birthday over the years. I just love looking at pictures.  While we were looking at her baby book, Sarah said she loves pictures as well.

Ben and Sarah are 22 months apart. Ben loved Sarah from the first time he saw her.  We had him help pick out the coming home outfit for Sarah. He helped paint her room pink. He helped me put clothes in the dresser and diapers into the diaper holder. He was such a big help.

 Aunt Missy, Tim's sister brought Ben to see me in the hospital. He was in awe of the new baby.  He stared at her moving body and wondered what the sounds were that she was making. The saddest part of the visit was when they had to leave. I could hear him cry, "Want Mommy," down the hallway.  It broke my heart. After a baby emotions really run high.  He didn't understand we'd see him the next day.
Ben and Sarah posed for Christmas pictures together like this. They loved putting their heads together like this. They really did get along growing up.  They didn't torment each other when friends were over. They were so nice to each other most of the time.

 A sweet, sweet picture of my Sweet Sarah Annie. God's made her such a beautiful woman inside and out. Praising God for blessing us with Sarah and Ben.

Sarah's big eyes were beautiful from the start.  

 Sarah's waiting to be fed and saw baby's breath in a flower arrangement. She touched it and pulled it closer to herself on the table. Such fun to watch.

The whole family gathered at Brianna and Sarah's house tonight to celebrate her birthday.  Brianna made Sarah's favorite, eclair cake.  It's always a favorite at family gatherings.  It was a fun time with stories, videos with Beaker the Muppet, and Ben and Rachel using their new latte maker to make lattes for all of us.

  We've begun new traditions now that the kids are out on their own.  Different is good. It's a little bit hard, but seeing the love and fun we have it's so worth it.  Both Tim and I are thankful the kids are out on their own living their life.

Blessing of the Day: Celebrating Sarah's birthday...so love the woman she's turned into.

Thank you again God, for allowing Tim and I to be her parents.  It's been full of ups and downs but God brought us through all of it.

Blessings,