8 Years Ago....The best day of 2001!

February 5th, 2001 at 9:33 am....this beautifully amazing person was lent to us by God Our Father! Eight years ago today, my life was changed forever for the better! Drew Michelle Payne entered our lives....a surprise blessing 8 months earlier, and a surprise on the day she was born....girl or boy???? It's a GIRL! She was my easiest delivery! She is as beautiful on the inside as she is on the outside. Drew was planned but not planned at the time she was conceived. NPayne and I had decided that we definitely would have a 3rd child, but we thought we would wait a year or so; but God had other plans. About 8 months after we made that decision, we were blessed by her presence!

Drew is our granola girl....old soul with a free spirit! Animal lover, nature lover, and all things created by God lover! She has a sense of humor like her mother, and she is often caught laughing hysterically at the oddest things.....hmmmm that sounds vaguely familiar! I love that she has wildly crazy curly hair, and that she will often tell me...."just leave it crazy" rather than go through the torture of brushing it. I love that she will eat ANYTHING!

Drew is a joy to be around and truly one of the kindest people I know out of everyone I know....that says a lot considering she is just now 8 years old. My little girl would do about anything to help someone feel better, and she constantly reminds us (me) "to be thankful for what we have". She is content!

I love the excitement she feels and the way her eyes light up with pure joy at the littlest of things! I love how she is creative and bats her big green eyes at me when I tell her how much I love her! I love that she loves me more and more each day!

I love that she is a deep thinker and cries in movies. She is smart as a whip and loves to learn and teach new things. Although she is probably the most shy of the 5, she will step outside of her comfort zone from time to time....like when she sang "This Little Light of Mine" at our elementary talent show when she was in kindergarten....at the urging of her sister, Addi, who accompanied her on the piano. She sang it, not once but in two different performances.....SOLO!

I love that she has a fiery side.....hmmmm wonder where that comes from, but that she is not afraid to say I'm sorry or I was wrong! I love that she is sensitive but will stand up for what she knows is right. I love that she picks me flowers, ADORES her cutie patootie Elliot and refers to her as "baby girl". I love that she looks out for her brother, and that she is not ashamed of his differences but embraces them. I love that she admires her big sister, and I love that she tries to be a good example for Bryna. I love that she is determined! I love that she pays me the constant compliment of saying "I want to be a mama just like you!"

I love that she would have potentially been my biggest baby and is now my most petite child. Although she was due on March 1, she arrived 4 weeks early weighing in at nearly 9 pounds. I love that she shares her birthday with my dad, her Papa! I remember saying....wouldn't it be neat if the baby was born on your birthday, and him saying.....that will never happen. Guess what? It did.

I loved being on bedrest for 6 weeks waiting on her arrival, after starting contractions on New Years Eve! Yes I enjoyed lying around in my bed, being waited on and served completely by NPayne, Addi and Cal and monitoring my unborn child's every move. I love the fact that she was born a few days after my OB said, "I think it's okay for you to get up and around now." I love that we were surprised at the gender of the baby, and I love that Addi was so excited to have a sister (since she already had a brother). I love the fact that she was the only baby in our house to ever climb out of her crib.....and only at naptime. I love where Drew's name derived from.

I love the fact that she will gladly pull her own tooth, even when it's not loose enough, just to wait for the Tooth Fairy. I love that she is completely organized and a "let's clean up nazi"! I love that she loves to play outside and get dirty, and I love that she would rather be at home than do anything else. I love when I asked her, what do you want to do for your extra curricular activity, that she responded with...."Can I just be a kid?" I love that she is musical, and I love that she (of the 5) is the most like me! I absolutely love to watch her cute little legs run as hard and as fast as they can when she plays soccer.....I love to see the fire in her eyes when she plays. I love that SHE is my smack dab in the middle child. I love that she is a good and such a caring friend!

I love who she has become, and I can't wait to see her continue to blossom. I thank God for this child, and I am so grateful for this loan.