Happy Golden Regan!

Fifteen years ago, on a bitterly cold morning (much like today!), I went into labor with our firstborn. She surprised us, ready to come nearly 4 weeks ahead of schedule. But she was ready to greet the world and we are so proud to be her parents! 

She's grown into such a beautiful teenager and it is so fun to watch her find her place in this world. As much as she tells me she's no longer in love with going to dance classes every week, she sure shines on stage and loves being in that spotlight. 

I love looking back at where she came from.
Up on stage, begging for a Hippopotamus for Christmas in a pink and black dress! 

And seeing her debut as catcher, just cracks me up! Sitting in the dirt. Not a care in the world as to how she is actually supposed to squat. 
My guess is she was actually playing in the dirt, and probably dodged every ball that came her way :) 

She's come a long way, playing this game she loves so much. In fact, when the pandemic shut down her club for a few months, we installed a heater in the garage so she (both girls actually) could continue working on their game. She holds a record for most recorded swings in the whole organization (they use some pretty awesome bat technology to track swings and provide feedback)! And all that practicing paid off when she hit her first dinger this winter! 

We scored a pretty awesome impromptu photo shoot recently. She was doing her thing, having a catching lesson with her club. Nearby a professional photographer was finishing up taking headshots for the website. He told her to remove her covid facemask for a quick picture, and then later sent her this image. 

I love it! 

Her golden birthday is not exactly how she planned it would be, pandemic and all. Little did she know, her best high school buds had a surprise up their sleeves. And with a little mom-coordinating of schedules, I managed to convince her to run outside in the -10F weather to grab the mail (for the record, it’s Presidents’ Day, there was no mail)! And out from no where jumped her two besties with silly string and gold balloons, hats and presents! She’s picked some pretty amazing friends (bonus: they have amazing parents too!)! 

So alas, her pandemic Golden wasn’t completely a bust. And her bright personality shines on, just like in this photo below. 

We love watching her grow up. She's loud and outgoing, friendly and an extrovert. 

Happy 15th Regan! 

15 things I love about her: 

-she makes friends wherever she goes

-she is dedicated and driven

-she does her homework, without reminders 

-...and her grades show it! 

-she can easily talk with adults 

-we jam out to music on our daily drives to softball 

-she willingly tries new activities 

-she knows what she likes, ...and what she doesn’t 

-she works hard 

-she has a passion for animals, even tho we don’t have one

-she has a giant heart 

-she loves a MN summer 

-she’s a great traveler! 

-she loves to explore whatever I come up with when we travel 

-she has a beautiful smile! 

Love you sweet girl!