Happy Birthday Amber

25 years ago today I had my first child. She came in the way of a surprise in my life. From the very moment that I found out I was pregnant, I knew she was a gift from God and He gave her to me to take care of! I was dating my high school sweetheart when I found out I was pregnant. I had just graduated in June. He wanted to marry me and I chose not to.
I will never forget that night on March 10 around 7:00 pm, when my contractions started. By 9:30 my mom realized that I was timing them. Talk about getting excited. I called my best friend for her to come over so that she could drive us to the hospital. I knew that mom would be just too nervous. So off to Dothan we went. I remember having to go to the bathroom and we stopped at Burger King. Leigh went flying in the door yelling "We're having a baby!". I can only imagine what they were thinking. I did order a hamburger and went to the bathroom. Well the contractions just stuck all night at 5 minutes apart.

The next morning the doctor started me on the medicine to make them stronger. And somewhere down the line he even broke my water. When it was time for her to make her grand debut, they called the doctor, and after the second call he finally came. (I think he thought he would just prove a point to a young unwed mother) I didn't get any drugs and didn't even get a local when it was time for her to be born. Today I can still remember that burning sensation from when he had to cut me to get her out!

She weighed 8 lbs 8 oz. And when she was placed on my chest and I called her Amber, she immediately stopped crying. This was an incredible feeling, knowing that she recognized my voice.

She was treated like a little person and it is evident in that today. I think this has made her much more stronger in her days of growing up. She was never really treated like a baby.

I also want to share that her dad and I both gave our lives to Christ about 18 months after she was born. That night when I prayed, I ask God to send somebody to take care of me and Amber. Two weeks later I was face to face with Chris, I heard God say "This is who you ask for". Two months later we were married.

Living in the deep south we did the "pageant" thing like everybody else. She didn't win but she was no doubt the prettiest girl on the stage. This hot pink dress was our favorite. My mom didn't even look at the price tag, she said she was do whatever she had to for that dress. My mom had so much fun with Amber. This would be where the great saying "All Dolled Up" came from.

I think Amber has done a great job adapting to us being in the ministry and moving to several states. She was always a social butterfly (still not as much as her sister) but she met people easily. And for my next picture she is a sophomore in High School. (Sorry Amber, I scrambled to find pictures this morning). We were living in Ohio at this time. This was a new haircut. Pretty cute and started to look more grown up now!
Her senior year must have been the most stressful for her. In November of this year she found out that her mother was pregnant - sorry Amber, you didn't get a puppy, you got a baby brother. But the good news was that her friends thought it was cool and not to gross. In February we found out that we would be moving to South Carolina and we made a choice to let her stay in Ohio and finish school. That was very hard for me, to leave my child behind. We would stay up and send instant messages at night. That was fun for me! I did get to enjoy flying back to Ohio and see her on a few trips. This gave me time to work on her scrapbook for high school. We traveled back to see her graduate and then move her to South Carolina so she could start college.
Amazing to see that in college was where she met her prince charming. But seriously with these blue eyes, how could she not catch him? Even though it was not technically love at first sight, when she told him where she was from he changed his mind about her and that was it. He thought she was a Yankee, but she quickly informed him of her TRUE Southern heritage. They dated through college. I had so much fun delivering her engagement ring to him. I think we were both so nervous to make sure she didn't know what we were up to. She didn't have a clue - whew!
The wedding was INCREDIBLE! God blessed us with sunshine for an outdoor wedding. Even though we were living so far away and trying to get it all together, we somehow pulled it off. It made traveling back and forth fun and I always love getting my visits in. Yes, I even treasure them today! Maybe we should think about vacationing together - now that would make for great blogging. Oh, wait, we did part of a trip already....let's rethink that.

Amber has entertained us with lots and lots of "blonde" comments. She makes life enjoyable and never dull. I just may have to do another blog of those moments but for now we will save them and spare her. It is all about Amber day today - in a good way!

Amber has always fallen into the little mother role, she helped take care of her brother and sister as they grew up. Maybe that is why she is putting off having kids for a while! But there is no doubt in my mind that she will make an incredible mother. I am enjoying getting to know her even more with her blog. And it is also neat to see how my character spills into hers every now and then (sorry Steven).

So today I say Happy 25th Birthday Amber. God blessed me with a jewel. I love you and look forward to seeing what God has in store for you. Always know that I love you!