Happy 12th Birthday Nate!

Nathanael is about seven and a half months old here. He was such a fat, happy little baby. And easy going. He was a stickler about his schedule. If it was 10:00 am, he better be eating! Nate loved to look at and chew on books, and be with our dog Millie, a chocolate lab. We spent lots of time outdoors and went for long walks every day (oh the freedom!).

Mother's Day 2000. Nathanael is 15 months old. I am 23. We both look so young! :) Nate would become a big brother for the first time at 18 months old. He was a great big brother to Jeremiah, and he has been excited about meeting each new brother and sister sent his way. Nate has the personality of the oldest child in the family. He is a peacemaker, can be a bit bossy and concerned with justice :) and is very flexible. Nate loved "gik-gik" at 14 months old, and he still likes worship music. It is neat to see him grow in his skill at drumming and to see him play along with worship songs.

Nathanael this past Christmas. Nate is a hard worker at school. He is also very easy to teach and seems to pick up new things very easily. He loves to read. For his birthday we got him a trilogy of books by Douglas Bond; The Crown and Covenant Series. We also gave him a Klutz kit to build pirate ships (and others) out of cards. Very fun, and he has enjoyed putting together some neat creations. Yay for an awesome find at Goodwill (the Klutz kit, not the books).

Nate loves to play with his brothers and Rachael. He is very imaginative, and balances his book reading with lots of vigorous play. He is just about to finish up his Cub Scouting career and has enjoyed doing that with Daddy very much. He loves the BB gun and Sling shot range and has learned a good bit about first aid and handyman skills this year.

Hard to believe I had to put 12!!! candles on this cake! Nathanael requested lemon cake with coconut icing. Yummy. We had his grandparents over for pizza (thanks Pizza Hut Book-it program!) and cake. Joel prayed that God would bless our young man and cause him to grow more and more like Christ. Amen.

So this is our last year with out a teen in our home. I cannot believe time has flown by so fast. I still sometimes think I am the young 23 year old mommy in the picture above. I have cherished all these years with Nate, and his siblings so much and am looking forward to seeing what God has planned for his future. I sometimes wish that time could slow down a bit, so I could treasure it more. Life is busy and bustling in our home and it is all to easy to get caught up in the doing instead of enjoying the being. So I really want to try to just "be here" with these little (and not so little) ones God has blessed our home with. I did that last night. Joel was out, so the kids and I sat in the living room (mind you this is after kitchen clean up, and emergency baths due to diaper explosions on our allergy child) and did puzzles with Asher, snuggled the baby, and really looked at the pirate ship Nate was creating, and listened to the chatter of the others.

Nathanael, Happy Birthday C.P.! Mommy and Daddy are very proud of you and could not love you more!!!