Nathalie's Birthday

Nathalie turns fifteen today! I can hardly believe it. My kids are getting so old!

Nathalie is our only child not born at Backus Hospital in Norwich. We were living in Waterbury while I was pregnant with her because Sam had just been hired by the city fire department. We had rented out our house in Bozrah and were renting a small, two bedroom condo, in the "better" section of the city. It was still the city and I am definitely a country girl at heart!

The walls were so thin that we could hear every conversation our neighbors had. Especially the loud ones! There was one neighbor who had car with a "theft deterrent system". Every time it rained it set off the alarm. And it wasn't any ordinary alarm. This alarm spoke: "I am Viper! Stand back from the car!" Repeatedly.

The year she was born was also the snowiest winter on record. Ever. It snowed almost every day. Not huge amounts, just three to six inches, each time. I can remember looking out my kitchen window at the backyard and the top of the snow being level with the bottom of my windowsill!

I started labor on Tuesday. The doctors told me to go home, walk at the mall, and call them when I got close. So we called my parents to come and pick up Abby and take her back to their house. Wednesday afternoon Sam had a job interview for a fire department, so I went with him, since the contractions were only ten minutes apart. Nathalie was finally born on Thursday afternnoon with the help of some pitocin and a pair of forceps.

Nathalie has been affectionately labeled "our slug" by my mother, and the name suits her. She is our least energetic/driven child. If given the choice between reading a book or building a snowfort, she'll be reading. She'll choose reading over just about any other activity, except maybe eating! She is currently training her dog, Pippi, for agility and the joke is her dog often finishes the course long before she does! She is a thinker and often spends much time analyzing (and OVERanalyzing) what is going on around her.

Nathalie loves projects that are tedious and time consuming (and personally, would drive me bonkers!), but don't require expending much energy. She can create exquisite animals, etc. out of simple paper folding and a little bit of glue. She has made the most beautiful friendship bracelets with just knotting strands of embroidery floss and small beads, for all of her sisters and friends.

With Nathalie, God has taught me acceptance. God created Nat and he has given her qualities, that while I may not understand or relate to them, He has a purpose for her with them. I am still learning to walk that fine line of motivation and pushing too hard. She has decided that she would like to be a history teacher, but I have a feeling that she has yet to really find her passion and is merely choosing a career that is in-line with her "slug" personality. She is planning on attending Patrick Henry College in a few years, and my prayer is that she will find her "passion" while she is there.

Happy Birthday Nathalie!