My Big Girl Turned SEVEN!!!

Charity's BIRTH day March 9th 2002 (I'm so glad I can have c-sections now WITHOUT the labor, look how AWFUL I look!! 25 hours baby!!!!)

1 year old (I loved that dress.....you picked a cute one Ali!)

2 years old

3 years old

4 years old

5 years old

6 years old

And NOW SEVEN!!!

She's grown up so fast! My sweet little Charity has always been mature though. I look at these pictures and feel like she's hardly changed at all. She's such a sweet girl and such a good friend to me. I have always felt like I could talk with her and make jokes with her and that it was just like talking to my friends. She sure loves life and loves learning and growing. She's done so much already and yet has so much ahead of her. I can't believe she is mine though. I feel so lucky to have her. She has always been such a blessing to me. She's been such an awesome big sister for all of her siblings...being so gentle with the babies, and so fun for the toddlers. She's really just perfect for her position. She is definitely learning the meaning of her name and learning to live her life in a way that she can be an example of charity. I love how she is so aware of others' needs. Especially for someone her age. She is always good for a hug and a laugh.

Charity is really into being active right now. She loves rollerblading and can't wait to get out and ride her bike again. She is really into any kind of dancing and gymnastics. We're hoping to get her into a class soon. She would do great at it I'm sure. She's a fast runner and takes pride in her athletic abilities. She really is very agile. She still loves to draw and write letters. She is really into reading her chapter books too. She doesn't like the ones that don't have pictures yet though :) That's still important to her. I'm amazed at how well she can recall a story after she's read it....WAY better at comprehension than I ever was. She likes to dress up. Loves jewelry. Loves being the center of attention, but fakes that she doesn't really well. She is very shy at first and takes a minute to warm up to most people. She loves playing with her sister and having friends over. She is a very good eater....always eats all of her food. Love that!!! She is a good helper around the house and makes it nice for me since she's finally old enough to actually be HELPing, and not just learning to help anymore.

I really don't know what I would do without Charity in my life. I love her so much. I love her spirit and energy with whatever she is doing. She really is energetic and bouncy. I hope she always knows that I love her and look up to her! Happy Birthday Charity!

So, onto her birthday :) I really screwed up this year and completely forgot to have her sign up and decorations up before she woke up. I actually forgot that morning that it was her birthday, woke her up telling her to clean her room and get ready for school (which she did without complaint, unbelieveably!). I totally spaced it until she came in the kitchen and said, "It really doesn't feel that different to be 7, mom" I tried to fake that I hadn't forgotten, but I couldn't believe it!!!! Anyway, we recovered by making a really HUGE sign (took up two walls! the signs are important to these kids, not sure why, but they are!) and got some balloons while she was at school. She loved them both and acted VERY surprised and special when she got home.
At school that day, she fell in the mud during recess and called to have me bring her some dry pants, only to fall in the mud again during her next recess. Mrs. Stayner wouldn't let her call me a second time. She's so funny though, when she called, she was kind of laughing at herself for falling in the mud. "Mom, I fell in the mud (hee hee hee). Can you (he hee he) bring me some pants?" "Sure. How has your birthday been??" "Good. But the spanking machine....HURTS!!!" LOL!! They did a long line of spanking machine in her class. She had been talking about that all weekend. I loved her reaction! Her class also made her a poster and a crown. I was glad that they spoiled her a little at school. This is my first time not spoiling her all day myself on her birthday. I hated it. It was really hard for me to not just keep her home. I think that must come from never having had to spend a birthday away from home and family and spoiling myself.

That evening we had a joint birthday with my brother Brent. Charity pretty much stole all the attention (obviously). I don't think Brent minded since his real birthday isn't until the 14th. She was really anxious to open her presents from Grandpa Hatch. He took her shopping on Friday so she knew everything she was getting. Grandpa had told her to forget it all so that she could be surprised and other than telling Kelly everything the day before, she did act REALLY surprised!! I was impressed :) I never did that well!

So her cake was interesting. We had started out wanting to do a Strawberry Shortcake type cake (but more birthday cake-ish), and ended up with this "Strawberry Heaven" one we found on kraftfoods.com. I really screwed up on the homemade angel food cake, so thankfully, my dad grabbed some at the store. They were smaller and I ended up making two. They turned out fine, just not as nice as I had hoped. They were sure yummy though. But with strawberries, whip cream and angel food cake, can you really go wrong??

I just noticed that with the piece cut out of it, it looks like a C for Charity cake :) If only I'd meant to do that :)

Overall I think she had a great birthday. I love that she is such a sweetheart even on her birthday! She's 7 now!!