Happy Birthday Lauren...

This is a long post :)

I love this picture, she is 2.5 years old here. okay, okay, your bangs were short, lol...

So, my baby girl is "25" today. Lauren was born June 29, 1986, 7 lbs even, at 7:38 pm. I remember being pregnant, not knowing what the sex was, and prepared for a boy. I just knew it was a boy. I barely remember after an emergency C-section, my mother, whispering in my ear as I was wheeled down a hallway at the hospital, that it was a "girl". I was "estatic"... very sick but very happy. Originally, Lauren's name was "Lake", whether it was a girl or a boy, we were going to name the baby Lake. She was going to be Lake Elizabeth, but I changed to Lauren Elizabeth after seeing her. She was so girlllllyyyyy... a big ball of pretty pink. Just right to hold. I just knew one day I would have a boy and name him Lake. Little did I know, that never happened. Here goes what I remember about my baby girl,

She had and has soft beautiful hair, fuzz till she was 15-18 months old.

She was very independent, hard headed, strong willed from the get go.

She was with me everywhere I went. I rarely left her. She adusted to everything.

She wore "pink", her room was pink, she loved pink. Pink walls, pink carpet.

She is spoiled, but a good spoiled. She likes her own space, she is an only child.

She is a hard worker. She is an entrepreneur at heart.

She loves cookie dough, she grew up with a beater in her mouth, http://www.morethanchocolate.net/

She is beautiful, natural beauty, she is photogenic, she is tan :) always has been.

She is gentle. She does not like confrontation. She is kind. She has a sweet spirit.

She loves her family. She may not like what she hears, but she knows she is going to hear it. :)

She is loved. She has always had my attention, and always will.

She always knew I would be there, I cannot remember missing an event.

She is my world. I cannot imagine my life without her.

She has been a delight to me even in the teenage years. :)

She is her grandparents delight also!

She has given me the greatest gift, Layton. Oh I love him so.

She is more like me than she probably wants to admit, ha!

I giggled to myself a couple of weeks ago. It was a Saturday, I was working on the phone with clients, she was waiting for the phone to ring to deliver cookies. We were in and out of the pool, and after she finished her last delivery, she made the comment, okay momma, we can relax now, or something to that effect. She always knows that I have to handle business at odd hours and she is now doing it herself. Insert laughter here :) There goes that entrepreneur... I so love that!

Lauren, I love you more than life itself. I pray you raise Layton to love his family and God. I pray you put God first in your life, and truly understand that he is all you need. That is when all the pieces fall into place. I pray you know you can always lean on me. You are never alone. I pray you are happy, fulfilled, loved, successful, and content. If you want to ever know the meaning of contentment, look at your grandmother. Her life verses are,

Proverbs 30:7-9

“Two things I ask of you, LORD;

do not refuse me before I die:

Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches,

but give me only my daily bread.

Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, ‘Who is the LORD?’

Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God. "

Lauren, I raised you the best I knew how, I made mistakes, but you are the best thing I ever did, I love you, I love you "more than chocolate".

~Momma~