Cheyenne Christina (age 11)

Cheyenne came into the world way early and weighing in at just over 1 pound. She had heart surgery at 1 day old. Her doctors did not think she would survive the surgery, but they knew she wouldn’t survive without it. In His great love for her, our Lord carried her through that surgery and the hard that came after. She is an amazing little girl. Truly amazing.

Cheyenne is level-headed. She thinks through her decisions and responses. When she meets people she watches objectively, calmly. First impressions don’t mean much to her. She watches people for awhile to decide what they are really about. When she makes a connection, it is precious. If Cheyenne trusts you, you better be intentional about being trustworthy. You are truly holding her heart in your hands. She is a big responsibility. She watches me a lot, in the sweetest way, assuming the best. However, I do feel the responsibility.

Cheyenne is gentle, she is kind, she is pleasant, she is even. She does not complain, she is grateful. She is shy and bold at the same time. She will speak her mind, but in the most respectful way. She is not afraid to share her opinion, but she waits for the right time. She wants to be heard. She also asks a lot of questions. Good questions. Thought-provoking questions. She wants to understand the world and people. Sadly, sometimes she can’t.

Cheyenne is right in the middle of our Fabulous 5. That suits her perfectly. She is nice and cozy there. She does not want the attention of being the oldest or youngest. Just recently it came up in conversation that many people don’t like being the middle child. That blew her mind. She was like “What?! It’s the perfect place to be!” She likes being a little sister. She likes being a big sister. She loves being a part of a large family. Our family. She loves Ryan and me so much and always understands what we are trying to teach her. Even when it means not getting her way. Sweet girl. She is determined to be content.

Cheyenne needs purpose in her life. She will “play” but it doesn’t keep her interest for long. The current exception to this is her recent birthday present from her grandparents, a re-born baby. Have you seen these things?! It looks so real! We get a lot of comments when we are out about it! It makes the sweetest little cooing sounds and has a heartbeat. Her dad and brothers think it is super creepy. But she and Alexa love it and I have to say I think it is pretty cool too! (I might pat its bottom when I “babysit”…. why do us mamas have to do that to babies?!) As much as she loves Leia (the reborn baby), she would much rather do something that makes some kind of difference. When Collin and Alexa will cooperate she loves to do school with them and actually teach them. She can spend hours doing some type of activity/therapy with Caleb. Just last night she found this little zipper bag and decided it would be Caleb’s mailbag. (He LOVES playing mailman and even was a mailman for Halloween one year with a real mailman’s uniform and mailbag…. our mailman loaned it to him!) She had him sit at the craft table and make cards for members of our family. Then she had him put all the cards in the “mailbag” one at a time and they would run around the house yelling “Mail delivery! Mail delivery!” They both had the best time.

Then there is Baby Kate. She is 2. Oh my. Cheyenne absolutely adores Kate and the feeling is mutual. Kate is so precious, so lots of people love her. However, she and Cheyenne have a special connection. The most important thing to know about Kate is that she is pure joy. A much less important fact, is that she has special needs including being blind. Cheyenne absolutely loves spending time with Kate. She goes to Kate’s house a lot of Saturdays to be Mother’s helper to Samantha. When I go pick her up she is NEVER ready to leave, no matter how long she has been there. She loves being with Kate, helping with Kate and learning about Kate. You have no idea how much we talk about this precious baby. Samantha says that Chey is Kate’s best friend (and even gave Chey a best friend necklace to represent that). Cheyenne is a comfort to Kate. She talks to her, right in her ear, so sweetly…. and Kate just completely lights up. Well, they both do. Chey knows how to rub Kate’s arms or hands or leg, with just the right pressure, to comfort her. She is learning how to bathe her. She is learning how to feed her. Purpose…. she’s got to have it.