Celebrating 9 years with Kippy!

September 28, 2000 at 10:53 PM, our beautiful daughter, Angelique Grace, officially joined our family. Full of energy, kind of messy and a tish-bit accident prone, we can't imagine our lives without her loving, generous, playful spirit.

Her jet-black hair didn't stay with her, but her beautiful dark, long eye lashes are the same as the day she was born. Angelique's name quickly migrated to Nipper within the first week, thanks to her three year old big sister Abby, who exclaimed, "She's just a little nipper!" the first time she held her. Nipper turned to Kipper and continued to morph into "Kippy", which has stuck with her for nearly 9 years as well.

By the time she was 2 weeks old, we had planted her tree at the farm. It is a Canadian Flowering Red Cherry.

Here she is on her first birthday, beside her tree. I have tried to take a picture of Kippy by her tree on each birthday, but as I looked back, I have regretfully missed it for a few years. Makes me feel like a bad mom... {sigh}. Kippy at age 2. Remember the accident prone comment? Before turning two she had already broken a bone in her foot. Our three-year old daughter charmed the heck out of nearly everyone she met. She continued her accident prone streak and was hospitalized for a MRSA infection in her thigh. By age 4, Kippy was very much a tom-boy. She had me patching and re-patching jeans. She also ruptured her ear drum, but thankfully didn't damage her hearing at all.
As a 5 year old, Kippy would occasionally let me curl her long hair, but mostly she ran around with a crazy, halo of messy hair. It was her running around in the house chasing her older sister that caused the next ER visit and three stitches in the back of her head.
On her 6th birthday, I broke out the camera and got back to the tradition of a picture beside her tree at the farm. Aside from having her long hair caught up in the vacuum operated by her sister, she didn't have any traumatic accidents that year.

Seven, sassy and in the first grade, she is as charming as ever, but continuely messy, bruised and disheveled. Thankfully, her only trip to the ER was to accompany her clumsy mom for X-rays after falling off a chair.
Eight year old, Kippy and her tree are both growning like crazy. Kippy got to watch her dad get stitches after he fell off a ladder and ended up in the ER. She even got to wheel him in for X-rays.

Now we are celebrating Kippy's 9th birthday and are amazed at how quickly these years have gone by. You are a beautiful, intelligent, caring girl and we are so very proud of you!

Let's also hope that your years of being accident prone are now behind you despite having two accident prone parents.