Seven Years of Natalie

We celebrated Natalie's seventh birthday earlier this week and as I was wrapping presents and baking a cake for the big day I got to thinking about just how much she has changed and grown in the last seven years.  I felt grateful for digital cameras as I sat at the computer and easily pulled up pictures of our sweet Natalie all the way back to when she was brand new.

Natalie at around one week old.  She was not our most pretty baby at this point - she was still kind of scrunched up and was obviously a little jaundiced.  However, she was one of our easiest babies and was such a happy girl.  In fact, she still is a happy person who finds joy in even the simplest things.

That joy for life is easy to see in this picture of Natalie on her first birthday.  Even a cake mix birthday cake - a total mommy fail in my eyes - was wonderful to Natalie and she continues to have that attitude about life.  For Natalie every day is the best day ever and every experience is amazing.

On Natalie's second birthday we were living in a hotel and still trying to find a home in Germany.  At two she was sporting a lovely mullet because the hair on the top and sides of her head just wasn't growing nearly as fast as the hair on the back of her head.  

At three Natalie had started to look less like a baby and more like a little girl.  The mullet had grown out so she had enough hair for small ponytails and that's a major hair milestone.  She was finally starting to talk more; it's hard to believe we ever worried about her not talking enough because now she never stops.

By age four Natalie had made the transition into a girly girl.  Anything pink, purple, frilly, or sparkly was Natalie's favorite thing.  She loved wearing dresses and will still choose a dress or skirt over pants any day.  

Five - there's just something about turning five that seems like a big deal.  In my mind, it's on par with turning sixteen or forty.  At five Natalie spent a lot of time looking back.  It seemed as if every other sentence started with "remember when I was three (or four, or two) and I....."  She had and still has a surprisingly good memory for the smallest details of life.

Natalie at six was a force to be reckoned with.  She knew what she wanted and what she didn't want from life each day and she wasn't even a little bit afraid to tell you and if things weren't going her way she'd complain - loudly.  Natalie at six was also a really sweet girl who would secretly do her sister's chores, share her favorite chocolates, and always remind her mom or dad that it was a good time to say a prayer.

Now she's finally seven and we are so happy and blessed to have this amazing young lady in our family!