It's Official....I'm The Mom Of A Teenager

This week my oldest turned 13. Wow. I can't believe that my baby is a teenager now! Of course she's been acting like one for quite a while now. Well, she always has been advanced........except for the delivery part.

I was in labor for 16 hours, they had me push for 3 hours and I ended up having a c-section with her. Well, she was 10 pounds, 6 ounces, so no wonder she wouldn't come out!! I remember my sister-in-law down by the doctor saying, "I can see her head!!" Hubby and one of my closest friends were helping me on either side of me as they doctor would say over and over again, "Let's try pushing again" I would spend all of my energy pushing and then when they would tell me to stop I would literally fall back down and not even move until it was time to push again.

When she came into this world (and I was conscious again - I could feel them cutting me and so the "drug doctor" upped my dosage of whatever he gave me and I was out in LaLa Land when she was born) I was so happy and blessed that my beautiful baby girl was in the world. The one who I had been waiting for and dreaming of my whole life (just ask my friends, they'll all tell you I always wanted a baby).

Wow.......

Here is a picture of her at 1 week old.......

At this time she was sporting the George Clooney look from when he was first on ER.

I was SO blessed to have her!!! Hubby went out to sea for 6 months though when she was only 3 months old. Since we were moving out of state when he got back, and I didn't plan on going back to work, I moved in with mom and mom and my sister. When he got back, we moved out of state, but then shortly afterwards, I realized how much I missed my family and after he was done with a school he was at, he was lucky enough to get orders back near my family.

Here she is at 1 year old. We bought this ball pit for her, and she loved it so much!!! Hubby also wanted to get her a Tickle Me Elmo, which we still have to this day. It's in my youngest's room right now.....

She has always loved to color and do crafty things. Must get it from me, although hubby is very crafty himself (although he'll tell you he's not, but he is). I've always been so glad she loves the creative side of her. I learned so much from my mom, and I hope to be able to pass that along to both of my girls.

This is her at 2 years old.......

Christmas has always been a favorite holiday in our family. Here, at 3 years old, we had just gotten back from some holiday event where they had face painting......
At 4 years old she wanted to take dance. Here she is at a Christmas Pageant.....
School. Kindergarten... My email mom's group and I were discussing on if you were a crier or a non crier when it came to your kids and them starting school. For the most part I'm a "non-crier", but I certainly did get very choked up when she started Kindergarten. What a milestone in a child's life and your own! You flash back to all the events and times leading up to this moment, and though it's only 5 years of memories, there are plenty! She was SO happy to start Kindergarten and has excelled in school since the beginning. When she started Kindergarten, she already knew how to read and say the alphabet backwards! Even the teacher was impressed about the alphabet thing!
At 6 years old, she started going fishing with Daddy every so often. She loved doing that, although I don't know how fond she was of the fish! Here she is just as they're getting ready to go fishing.
Ahhh.....7 years old. 2nd grade. She was a big sister now, and has ALWAYS been great with her sister from the very beginning (well, okay, not ALWAYS, as they argue and fight like most sisters do). She was SUCH a big help with her little sister. Hubby left to go out to sea when the youngest was 3 months old (yea, I know, freaky, huh???? ) This time I wasn't at home, living with my mom. I was out, doing it all myself, plus taking her to school, and everything else. She truly has a wonderful giving heart.
8 years old. (Of course as you can see with the birthday card she's holding up)

3rd grade. During this year she participated in her talent show at school, doing a gymnastics routine. She did SO well!! (yes, after dance, she wanted to do gymnastics...oh and has been playing soccer as well). She got to be very good at gymnastics and had it not been for an accident involving a door and her toe, she probably would still be doing it. But she was out of commission for a month and then when was well enough, she lost the desire for gymnastics.

9 years old. The start of braces.....Phase 1. (she will be in Phase 2 in a couple of years from now). She also started a new school, because she became GATE (Gifted And Talented Education) Identified, so she qualified to go into the advanced class, and because her current school didn't have it, we moved her to a new school, the one she is still at right now.

This was a hard year for her. Moving to a new school can be hard on children. And while she is a strong and determined girl, she's also shy.

But she got through it.

10 years old. Double digits. I remember thinking, WOW....she's TEN years OLD now! Where has the time gone????

She had the most wonderful teacher in 5th grade. He is truly a gifted teacher to inspire his students the way he does.

It was also this year, just before she turned 10 that she cut her long hair and donated it to Locks Of Love.

Also, this was the year of Hurricane Katrina and she was the driving force in starting a Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund at her school. She also helped to raise money for the Pandas this year as well.

11 years old.

Yes, as you can see in this picture, she's no longer my little girl. She's growing up. Gone is the "baby face", and now, even though there's still 2 more years until she was an official "teenager", the teenage "attitude" started. It was definitely more about the clothes as well.

12 years old.

7th grade.

This was a hard year for her too. Her school is a K-8 school, and they separate the 7th & 8th graders to the "junior high" part of the school.

So now, not only do you have school, but the "cliques" definitely start forming here.

And last (for now) but certainly not least, by any means......

13.

My little baby (well, okay, so she wasn't so "little" when she was born) is now a teenager.

For part of her present she got to upgrade her cell phone to a nice one. As I'm sure you can see, she is EXTREMELY happy about it. Daddy also got her a pink electric guitar for her birthday too. She can't wait until she can learn how to play it.

I am SO proud of her! She has SO many talents and sometimes I think she wishes she could clone herself so she could have more time to do all of them.

Happy Birthday my baby.