first-born

kristen celebrated her 25th birthday yesterday! i know, i know...how can a mother be a day late? i just got back in town this afternoon so in case it can still count...HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY kristen dear! we are so lucky to have kristen as our first-born. there is something very unique and wonderful about your oldest child. besides being responsible and helpful and motherly, kristen has also developed the qualities of forgiveness and understanding. she recognizes the difference between her childhood and the way the younger girls have had it, and mostly she is just really happy for them that things have gotten easier:) kristen, by nature, wants everything to be fair, and she doesn't like people "getting away" with things, but she has demonstrated great restraint in being able to turn her head at a lot of things her siblings seem to "get away" with. (i'm not sure lauren will be so lucky:)) i think some of the sweetest moments of my life this far, have been watching kristen be a wonderful, confident, loving mother to lauren. anyway kristen, thanks for being an amazingly beautiful daughter (both inside and out), and thanks for making this next season of motherhood so wonderful for me. WE LOVE YOU! happy day!