Ruthie's Birthday!

The first wave of Christmas company is past. But before we visit with family for New Year's, we've got to celebrate another very important birthday.  Ruth Mercy is 13!!!  Yep, that makes four teenagers in one house.  Lord help us all!



Now that Ruthie is officially a teen, she's glad that she can join the teenagers in our homeschool co-op without feeling like a little kid.  She's also allowed to wear eyeliner, which is a very BIG deal!!! And, she's having her first sleepover birthday party.  She's been planning for months.  She's a planner... she didn't get that from me!  She's also fancy, which comes from her dad. She got her straightforwardness and love of animals from me.  ; )

This picture is with her cat, Greggory, whom she loves dearly.  He was a sad, little stray just a year ago.  Now he's smothered in love.  Ruthie will even sit out on the deck in the freezing rain just to give him some attention.  He lucked out with a pretty good mommy.

Birthdays always remind me of the birth day.  Ruthie was my first complicated pregnancy.  We had been in the process of re-locating, selling our house in one state, and looking for a new one about 3 hours away.  The Captain was busy with his new job at the new location, so I was left home to pack and manage a 5, 3 and 1 1/2 year old.  Needless to say I was a little frazzled.  When we finally decided to rent an old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, I was just glad to get settled.  By the time I finally went to see a midwife for my check-up, I think I was around seven months pregnant.  She gave me some pretty weird looks.  Fourth pregnancy in five years, it was getting pretty routine.  I felt fine, except for being totally and completely stressed out!
Within a few weeks, though, my blood pressure was getting dangerously high.  I was put on complete bed rest.  Yeah, imagine that.  Me in an old farmhouse in the middle of nowhere, laying on a mattress in the living room barking out orders to a 5, 3 and 1 year old, all by myself all day long.  Exactly! That wasn't stressful at all!  But we survived.  I was thankful for all the various friends and relatives who went out of their way to help me.  Just laying there made me feel crazy, visitors helped so much.  After two weeks of laying on my left side,  I ended up being induced about two weeks early.  Everything went well, though.   I absolutely loved my midwife/hospital experience.  And the end of that story is...Ruth Mercy!  Perfect little baby girl.

Isn't she a beauty?  She's just as pretty on the inside!

Happy Birthday Ruthie!