Happy Birthday Nathanael!

Nathanael celebrated his NINTH! birthday yesterday! This is so hard to believe. What a joy these years have been for Joel and I. What a blessing Nate has been in our lives. I look at him and cannot believe he is so big already. And yet, still my little boy. Nate has a real sweetness to him and a very little boy nature yet. He still loves toys and is very affectionate. What big hugs and kisses he gives at bedtime!

Nate was so happy to go to IHOP with Pop-pop Eder and his brother Jeremiah. They polished off huge stacks of pancakes drowning in strawberries, syrup and whipped cream. They had fun looking in the sporting good's store- playing with the punching bags and then going to Toys R- Us. Nate picked out a Starwars transformer. It is pretty neat and he loves things he can take apart and put together again.

While the boys were gone I was able to bake Nathanael's cake. He requested a Knight's cake, and I was happy to come up with an easy way to decorate it. I drew a shield and a helmet onto the cake and colored them in with colored sugar. I also put one of his toy knight figurines on the cake. He was happy with that. We had hotdogs, mac-n-cheese and baked beans for dinner, one of Nate's favorites and again, nice and easy for me! Joel and I stopped and had a hotdog before going to the midwife to deliver Nate, probably not the best pre-labor meal, but I didn't get sick and maybe thats why Nate loves that meal now! We gave Nate a baseball mitt and some new hotwheels cars. He was very pleased with those gifts.

Nate has grown alot this year, in so many ways. I cant keep him in pants that are long enough as he grows continually in stature. He is learning so many new things in school, cursive, multiplication and division, fractions and decimals. He is writing reports. Reading big chapter books, likes to help while I cook on the stove,stirring things etc. He is almost done his second year, as a wolf, in cubscouts. He can get Elijah dressed and in and out of the crib and highchair. He showers completely by himself. I am working my way out of a job with Nate! I love watching him grow, especially spiritually. As his reading has become second nature to him, he can follow along during worship and start singing even unfamiliar songs. He has an amazing memory and can often recall details in our family devotions that even Joel and I forget. He doesnt' know what he wants to do when he grows up. It ranges from an aerospace scientist, to a builder! I know God has an amazing plan for this son of ours. I am so glad to be part of it. Thank you God for nine wonderful years of loving Nathanael David. Please give us many more years to watch him grow and learn. Please keep him loving you, and make him in to a mighty man of God!