It's Amanda's Birthday!

27 years ago today, at 9.56 a.m., Amanda Leigh was born to us. She arrived 11 days before her due date, which totally messed up everyone's schedules. She weighed in at 9 lbs 7 oz. Despite her size, she was an easy delivery, and I remember feeling like I could have danced back to the room, I felt so good.

Heather was 6 1/2 years old, and delighted to have a baby sister. We were thrilled to have a second daughter. Amanda was called Manda almost from day one. She didn't talk much, and when she was almost 3 I got worried and consulted our family physician, who laughed at me. He asked why Manda would talk, since she pointed and Heather met her every need and desire. Shortly after that, Manda started to talk, and there are those who say she's never shut up since.

Manda has always been a reader. It was a joke that she couldn't be the navigator on trips, because she had to put the book down and find out where we were on the map. She always tested in the upper 90's in standardized tests. High school was no challenge to her, and most of her classes bored her to tears. When she was 16 I got tired of listening to her complaining, and started her taking night courses at the community college.

Drexel and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University both accepted her, but Embry had the major that she wanted- Engineering Physics. It was so hard to let her go so far away! Luckily my brother John and sister in law Morgan live 100 miles from Embry, which is in Daytona Beach. Manda was able to go visit them for Thanksgiving and short class breaks.

The EP degree got her a job at Boeing in Houston, writing software. She's since moved to Jacob's, and works on site at Johnson Space Center. She's going to the University of Houston for a Master's in Physics.

So my little baby girl who was born 27 years ago today is now a rocket scientist! We're all so proud of her, and love her so much!

Happy Birthday Manda!