Happy 1st Birthday Baby Girl!!!!

  My baby is a year old today!!!! :(  January 27, 2010, Leah Suzanne Roach, 5lbs 1oz, was born.  You'd think by your fourth child you'd realize how fast it goes, but this one seemed to go by even faster!!!  She has definately been my saving grace!!  Ronnie was very cautious about having another baby after Hannah.  He didn't ever want the new baby to feel like he/she was our replacement for Hannah.  However, I yearned and yearned to hold another baby and I would cry myself to sleep at night with the idea that I'd never hold or nurse my own baby again.  Ronnie would hold me and tell me that if it was God's will he would give us another child, but he was just not sure it was the best idea.  
  Then when I became pregnant with Miss Leah, I prayed for a little boy for Ronnie and Derek.  Lindsay was still young enough that she didn't seem to "need" a sister as much as Derek thought he "needed" a brother.  And besides I had my two girls even if one was in heaven, Ronnie and Derek would enjoy another boy so much.  However, God knows us better than we even do!  He knew deep down that I yearned for another baby girl to put dresses on and have all the dreams that I had with Hannah, but I never wanted to express this because I feared that Ronnie was right and I was trying to replace Hannah.  But God knew what he was doing, when we found out it was a girl, we all were overjoyed, no one was upset.  It seemed as if we all secretly wanted a little girl.  And she has been everything we've dreamed of!  I was able to nurse her a lot longer than any of the other children.  And she seemed to take right to it, I never had any difficulty at all.  She was such a peaceful baby.  She slept through the night at 7 weeks, loved to be held and talked to, and was always happy. 

Leah's baby dedication

This picture is my absolute favorite of the girls!! 

It was not planned in anyway, they just happened to do this at the same time!!!

Trick-or-Treating is hard on a girl!

 Leah eating her birthday cake

Now, we're entering another stage and she has decided to be very busy and into everything, but she is sooooo smart.  She seems to be able to read right though me.  Our favorite trick, is to ask her if she's sick and she can cough on command.....it's sooo cute!!!  I thank God everyday for such a wonderful blessing!!  Once again he has shown me, he knows exactly what he's doing!!!