Happy Birthday, Buttercup!

My baby girl turns 12 today!

My independent, quiet, determined, loving, intelligent little girl is another year older.

A wonderful combination of charaters.

At six months she would crawl off to play by herself.  She was never a clingy child.

At two and a half she sat down for 45 minutes to finish a new 100 piece puzzle by herself.  No one was to help her, because she was going to do it herself.  And she did.

At 3 I found her reading a book to her little brothers.  At first I thought she had just memorized it, so I tested her.  I held up a magazine and asked her what it said.  She read every word on it.  And has read every word she has come across since then.


By the age of 5, Buttercup had suffered two injuries that required stitches and had her elbow out of it's socket.  She didn't shed one tear through it all.

When she was 8, a girl in her class had a birthday party where every girl was invited except for one.  Buttercup called the party-thrower, told her that it wasn't right to be treating the girl that way, and wasn't going to be a part of it.  Buttercup chose not to attend the party.

At the age of 9 she went on her first real, fast, major roller coaster. None of her brothers wanted to ride it, so she went with her dad.  When she got off, she ran up to me, yelling, "That was freakin' awesome!"  Ever since, she has been excited to go on every roller coaster/ride she can find.

Little children adore her, as she is so attentive.  She takes care of them, and plays with them, and makes them giggle until their sides hurt.

I could go on and on about all of the wonderful things about Buttercup.  But we've got some celebrating to do.

Today, she and I will be going shopping.  All she wants for her birthday is a pair of fashionable boots.  "Not the expensive Uggs," she says.  We're going to make a day of it.  We'll meet up with Hubby and the boys for church then go to her favorite restaurant for dinner.

The first 12 years have had so many fun, sweet, jaw-dropping moments.  I am very much looking forward to seeing what she does next.

Have a lovely day!