The birthday girl

Nora Elizabeth,

You are 5-years-old today!  I cannot believe that!  How can 5 years go by so quickly?

Your daddy and I were talking last night about what life was like 5 years ago.  He said 5 years ago (last night) we didn’t have any kids and 5 years from now we would have a 10-year-old!  That stopped me in my tracks right away!

We had no idea, when we went to the hospital 5 years ago today, how life would dramatically change.

And how it has changed!!!!!!  And I would never want to go back to how it was before you entered our lives!

What has gone on this year?

• You started going to a 3-day-a-week preschool and have LOVED every single minute!
• You have made so many friends at your new school and you think your teacher, Mrs. O, is just about the smartest person alive.
• You have learned so many Bible stories this year (in part because of your preschool and in part because of your daddy reading through your Bible with you-y’all just started back at the beginning).  You remember the stories and discuss them quite frequently.  You ask us questions about God-A LOT.  Some of them are easy to answer and some are near impossible to answer-whew!  I am so thankful that you are inquisitive about our God and pray that you always search His Word and always come to us with your questions.  It has been a joy to see your heart grow for God!
• You are a loving sister.  I cannot count the amount of times I have been thankful that you and Elyn are close in age.  Especially this year!  You and Elyn play so well together and you are such a big helper to her!  I can always count on you to help me with Elyn.  However, a lot of the “helping” that you do for Elyn is really annoying to Elyn-ha!  She will tell you, “I can do it MYSELF!”  I have to stop myself, constantly, from becoming involved in your “discussions”.  I think it is so important for you two to learn how to work out your arguments.  Mostly they end with y’all running to where I am (or your daddy) to tattle on each other, but I’m hoping that as time goes on, you will both be able to figure out a solution on your own.
• Speaking of being a big sister, you already love your baby brother so much!  You are always coming up to my ever-growing belly and saying, “Hi Rives Matthew Henderson!  I love you!” and then giving my stomach a great big kiss.  I am so excited to meet Rives but, right now, I think I am a little more excited to see how precious you are going to be with him!  I know I will have to say, “Nora, back up” more times that I can imagine but I know you will be as proud as can be when we meet him and will definitely be a “mama”.
• You are VERY emotional (and that is an understatement).  Your daddy and I shake our heads all the time when you bust out into one of your dramatic episodes.  We do not know what to do with you!  This does not surprise us though because this has been your personality since birth.  I think one of the phrases that I use the most with you, during a meltdown, is “Nora, it is NOT THAT BIG OF A DEAL!”.  I almost feel bad saying this because, to you, it really is a big deal.  But it is so important that you learn the difference between a big deal and an inconvenience.  I pray that God will use your PASSION for all things and direct it towards Him and growing His kingdom.
• You are still quiet shy when in a group of new people.
• You LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to sing and often times place regular conversation in song form.  You ask to sing your prayers at night-ha!
• You know all of your letters and almost all of the sounds.  You make random strings of letters and say, “What does that spell?”  Very rarely does it spell anything.  I have to remind myself not to get too frustrated or anxious about what you CAN’T do and focus on what you can.  You still love to color and draw.  You adore all things crafty (but LOSE IT when Elyn messes up your crafts-understandably) and take great pleasure in what you complete.  If something is not “perfect”, in your eyes, you deem it ‘ruined’.  Oh Nora, I wish you weren’t so hard on yourself!  But I am happy to know that you will strive for perfection in your life and hope that you find it, especially when looking for your future mate-someone like your daddy would be great, he’s near perfection.
• You have become less interested in dressing “girly” this year, which is actually a great thing!  I can pick something out for you to wear and you rarely argue with me (your sister on the other hand….).  When you pick out your own clothes it is an outfit that has “great” color in it.  The colors are all over the place-very “fashion week” if you ask me.
• You have the driest skin I have ever seen and it has become so much worse this year.  I am sad for you when you start scratching everywhere because you can’t get any relief.  I hope that this year of five is the year of better moisturized skin!
• You still love t.v. and movies.  ANY t.v. or movie.  It does not matter what is on the t.v., you will stop whatever you are doing to pay attention.  We have to be very careful about what we have on because you will be sure to watch.  You recently decided your “most favorite show” is “Minute To Win It”.  You ask me nightly, “Is my favorite show on tonight?”  You will make us all stop what we are doing to sit down and watch it with you.  It’s pretty cute!
• You gave up ballet and tap this year and started gymnastics.  You really seem to enjoy gymnastics, although I don’t think I need to start saving our money to watch you in the Olympics in twenty-whatever.  I’m just glad you are having fun!
• Your favorite foods include: mac and cheese, spaghetti (with no sauce), chick fil a, green beans, fruit, broccoli, mashed potatoes, shrimp…really just about anything.  I am so glad you are not a picky eater, it makes life much easier!
• You are still a great sleeper!  You love to take a nap and will still sleep for 10-12 hours at night.  Thank you for that!
• Your ability to remember things is astonishing!  I am always amazed at what you can pull out from the archives of your memory banks!  Sometimes it is to my advantage, often times not-ha!

Your daddy, Elyn and I love you so much!  You are such a sweet girl and we are so thankful that God allowed us to watch you grow! 

We had fun at your birthday party and I can’t wait to share about that too!