By: Niki
December 28th, 2006… a day that changed our hearts and lives. Nya has always been our BIG girl… always learning, always striving for the next phase, always taking the world in and learning to articulate it back to us. Her first night in the hospital she layed next to me and neither of us slept that night, we just stared at eachother. I’m convinced that even then, only hours old, she was taking it all in… not wanting to miss a thing. We have jokingly called her the party girl since she was only months old because she was so social and never wanted to go to sleep if there was a voice to be heard in the house. She continues to make us laugh daily with her wit, intelligence, and facial expressions (oh and crazy dance moves). Nya was practically born smiling… and putting on the cheese for the camera …
3 months old
6 months old
8 months old
As a toddler Nya tested her boundaries as every child does and wasn’t shy about vocalizing disappointment when she didn’t get her way. But she also responded well to instruction and discipline, making her a joyful child most of the time. And this girl has never been short on facial expressions…
She’s always been happiest when she’s working alongside mommy or daddy, so we’ve learned to incorporate her into most of our daily chores and projects.
This year has brought many firsts for Nya. I can’t possibly go into all of them, but here are some photos to capture a few …
Learning to climb trees
First Micky Mouse Pancakes
First “Princess Dance Camp”
Learning to swim in Lake Michigan
First time harvesting local crops!
Learning that “Goodbye’s” are really hard sometimes
(Nya gazing at some of the memorabilia left behind after Tera, Sadie, and Ruby left)
Learning what friendship is all about
First time inside a cop car
(we hope she’s ONLY ever in our neighbor’s cop car!)
First time meeting a real princess
First roller coaster ride
(as you can probably tell we didn’t try this one again…)
First Preschool Curriculum completed!
Learning to hula hoop
Learning to roller blade
Learning to ride a bike
First time making apple sauce
First time eating green eggs and ham
(thanks to daddy!)
First time jumping into humungous piles of leaves!
First time getting bangs cut
And my personal favorite first… telling somebody how they can get to Heaven 🙂
Little boy: “My other dog, Rosie, died and went to Heaven.”
Nya: “Do you know how YOU can go to Heaven?”
Little boy: “How?”
Nya: “You have to trust in Jesus with all your heart and believe in Him every day and then you get to go to Heaven.”
And finally, a few of our favorite pics just for cuteness sake…
Precious Nya, as hard as it is to watch you grow so fast, we know that God is going to use you for His glory and so we consider each day a gift and privilege as we get to teach and train you in the ways of the Lord. We love your giggle, your tenderness towards the things of God, your desire to learn, and your affections toward us. May God captivate your little heart and grow His desires within you. We LOVE you!
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Such precious years. Loved reading through this post and watching Nya grow in the pictures. How can you possibly capture the joy of parenting in a picture or a post? It's realized in the heart. Blessings your way, Jaimee