Happy Birthday, Princess!

Ten years ago today our little princess, Joy, was born.

I could have hugged (actually I think I might have) my Dr.'s neck the day before when he asked me if "we" wanted to have a baby tomorrow! I was absolutely miserable...swollen ankles...well...swelling everywhere! And to make matters worse, I had four kidney stones that were moving around in one of my kidneys. They would bother me from time to time, but not always...right at the end of the pregnancy. Of course, there was nothing they could do about them or for the pain until after Joy was born. On top of that, I spent pretty much all nine months with "all day sickness". I don't think there was a place in town (restaurant wise) that I didn't get sick after eating! lol! So, I welcomed this day! However, I have to say that the delivery was a breeze, as if she knew she'd better make this part easy for her dear ole mom! Kidney stones are worse than child birth anyday!

We welcomed our little bundle of "Joy" at 9:18 p.m. - all 6 lbs. 9 oz, 20 inches of her! Here she is the next morning. (Call me vain but I had to get up that morning...take a shower, and put on makeup before visitors started coming)! It just made me feel better! And I was so relieved that so much of my swelling was gone!


On Joy's first birthday (A Barney theme) She was overwhelmed by everything!


This was on her 2nd birthday with her proud brother, Colt. I made this doll cake. I had one like it when I was 3 years old that my Aunt Jo made and I wanted to make one for her. One day I'll show you the two pictures side by side....me at 3, and her at 2.


This was her 3rd birthday. This was an old-fashioned birthday party at our church...you know the drop the clothespins in the jar, pin-the-tail on the donkey games like I used to have when I was little.


And one of my favorites...her 4th birthday. We kind of went all out on this one..a princess party. We made the castle and drawbridge. The boys became knights and the girls princesses. They feasted inside the castle at a table set for royalty of course.


This was Joy's 5th birthday. It was a baby doll party. The kids all brought their favorite dolls. They paired up and then had a race to feed their partner a bottle. This was a fun one too!


On her 6th birthday, we had a scrapbooking party at the local scrapbook store. The lady that owned the store led them through the process. The kids brought their favorite pictures and scrapbooked a page. I had a pre-made scrapbook with the kids names and pictures on front. They added their page and took it home to continue scrapbooking. Joy has kept her love of scrapbooking alive and has added to hers often.


This one was her 7th birthday....a skating party. What can I say? It was easy for me, just show up and the kids skate! (But it was noisy!)


I also loved her 8th birthday party. This one was a 50's party. We had adults and kids alike here. We had a full house too. The kids (and some of the adults) were dressed 50's style. My mom came over and taught the kids several 50's dances. Whew! We were tired, but it was SO fun! They all went home with a CD of the 50's songs and doing the hand jive!


On her 9th birthday...I had the flu. Bless her heart, we had to postpone the celebrating a week. For this one, she had her friend, Katie Beth, over for a sleep over. We did a little bit of everything.... pampering, crafts, playing on the computer, and movie-watching.


And this year, her 10th birthday,....well, you can click over to her blog and check out this year's party. It was all day Saturday. I think it just might be one of my favorites too! The girls were lots of fun and it was a laid back party. There was plenty of time to do everything and I loved visiting the Nursing Home! Yep, she wanted to go to the nursing home for part of her party. But I won't tell you anymore about the day, because Joy wanted to do that. I'll just leave you with this one photo of her 10th birthday.


And now our little princess is in her double digits (as she loves to say). I can't say that I like it. She's growing up a little too quickly on us! But that's how it goes! I'm so thankful that the Lord blessed us with her. I'll tell you another day about the faith it took to get her here. (I consider both of our kids miracles and.. well I'll tell you more on both on another post another day).


Happy Birthday, Joy! We love you!

~ Mom and Dad ~