Our Little girl is 11

It is so hard to believe that Rissy is 11. I remember being so scared when I found out that I was pregnant and I still am now that I have a middle schooler :)

I was induced on May 6th with no results and then finally she came into the world on May 7th at 10:30 p.m. It was a long two days. She was so small -she only weighed 5 lbs and 3 oz and 17 inches long, she was 5 weeks early.

She has been our most challeging child and I remember wanting to send her to live with my parents or sending her to a military school at the age of 4. Finally we had our reasons for the challenges when she got into 2nd grade- ADD. Now everything made sense and we could at least focus on having more patience with her because her behavior was not her fault.

Karissa has a good heart and is very compassionate towards other people. I remember a serman that Jon preached about giving Free Hugs and she leaned over to us and said I want to do that. It was out of my comfort zone but we all did it as a family and she made us proud! Also she gives her things away without a thought. This week her friend's bike broke and she gave Victoria her old bike-she could have sold it, but decided that she would rather give it away. When she gets treats at church she always gets Katie something too.

She tries so hard in school and that is a big challenge for her but so far she has made the A/B honor roll twice in a row this year. We are so proud of her.

It is so hard to believe that she starts middle school in August and I'm having a hard time letting go. I worry about her because she is so quiet and reserved. Last night I took her to the Rev- which is the middle school program at church-the blessing is that a friend from her class came up and grabbed her and off they went. I'm just going to have to keep praying that the right people "grab" her and help her get involved. I also found out that her life group leader is going to try and get the same group when they move up!!


We love you Karissa and Happy 11th Birthday!!