Happy 19th Birthday, Lauren!

Even though I have been on a Mother/Daughter trip with Lauren and seen her the past five days, it was still waking up this morning and not being able to tell her "Happy Birthday" in person for the first time in 19 years!  I knew that some day I would not see her on her birthday, but 19 seemed to young for that!  But, we had a great long weekend together, so it will be okay (I'll tell about the trip tomorrow.)

I remember turning 19.  Even though I was going to be getting married soon, it was a weird age.  Not really a "teen" feel anymore, but not in the "total adult" ages yet, either.  Strange feeling!  Lauren said she felt that way, too, not too long ago!

The years have flown by. When I look at these pictures, some of those times seem like just a short time ago!  But then, when I think that it's been almost 20 years, reality hits....and I know it's really been a long time!

Technically Lauren will not be 19 until 9:45 p.m.  She took her time getting her, after my water breaking at midnight and heading to the hospital right after that! Nothing happened for 12 hours, so they induced me around noon.  Still nothing happened for several hours, but then I started making progress!  YAY!  There were a few scary times when Lauren's heartbeat would drop.  We didn't know if we were having a boy or girl, but when the nurse put a needle into the baby's head to track the heartbeat, she knew the baby had lots of hair! It's covered in the picture up above by a cap, but she had so much hair that it was even on her ears! She STILL has baby hair around the hairline! :)  It was an exciting time, and we were glad to welcome our baby girl!  I thought it was a boy, but had dreamed I was having a big, hairy girl a few weeks before!  (Sorry, Lauren!)  She weighed 8.9 lbs.

Dear Lauren,

Happy birthday!  We love you, and are so very proud of you - for who you are and what you are.  You are beautiful inside and out.  Your love for God is evident. You are making a difference in the lives of those around you - as well as in the lives of those who don't know you. You influence others by the way you live and the way you encourage.  We look forward to seeing how He directs your paths in the future.

Love, Mom and Dad