Fourteen years ago, this little girl made her debut. She arrived 4 weeks early, unable to feed normally so we used a dropper, but with a set of lungs to let us know she was ready for the world.
And she hasn’t stopped talking since!
I was blessed to be a mom for the very first time, and in the blink of an eye, now 14 years have gone by.
It’s so very hard to believe. So slow, yet oh so quick. There really is some truth to the saying “the days are long but the years are short”.
Our adorable, chubby cheeked girl is growing up right before our eyes.
She has an immense love for animals (particularly llamas and dogs), a giant heart that cries crocodile tears of sadness and an uncanny ability to talk and talk and talk. :) She is athletic and adores sports:, long distance running (no sprints!), dance and her absolute favorite is softball.
Beyond everything, she is social. Every single school conference since kindergarten, we are reminded that she loves to talk. I cringe because since the 5th grade, she learned how to be social, while getting her work done at the same time. It’s a fantastic life long skill, but one that most of her classmates have still not yet mastered, and as such, can be distracting to them. She easily makes friends, always trying to help the new kids. She floats around, having all sorts of groups of friends. Her coaches and teachers clue us in that these traits (though challenging at times), make her a true leader. And those comments make me proud :)
Her most recent realization has been that she will graduate high school in just 4 short more years. While this life event is so very exciting, she cried those crocodile tears when she did the math and discovered Lincoln would still be in elementary school. I didn’t have the heart to tell her that her math was off, and he would actually be younger than she calculated. Her fear is he will forget her, she’ll become a stranger that shows up on holidays....(we are a tad dramatic over here!). But I secretly cried right along with her. If 14 years went this fast, imagine how quickly the next four will go. So my advice to her, keep making memories, don't hide behind those screens, and your siblings will always remember their fun big sister!
I’m hanging on to every moment over here. Clinging to this sweet girl who drives me batty with her eye rolls and general lackadaisical attitude. This sweet girl I love so fiercely!
Happy 14th birthday baby girl!
