ThirTEEN!

Okay...where do I start?

Not so many years ago, I was a teenager and it felt like I was never going to grow up. It was taking so long. Would I ever be an adult? Would I ever get to be in charge of my own life? Would I ever get married and have kids?

So, I blinked my eyes a couple of times and it's August 31, 2008. My oldest daughter is 13!?!?!?!?!?

HOW?

I kind of remember being pregnant, but if I tried, even a little bit, I could convince myself that it was a dream. The vague recollection of feeling sick and having headaches everyday. Maybe feeling someone kicking me from the inside. I think I remember something about a hospital and some excruciating lower back pain. Then, I think there was some crying. From me and a little tiny baby girl.



If it was a dream, it was pretty real. I can remember her cute face and the way she smiled. She jabbered and babbled and screamed. She grew some teeth and her hair got longer.



Pretty soon she was walking, then running in little tiny tennis shoes.



She twirled and danced and skipped and galloped. She did the hand motions to "Itsy Bitsy Spider." She sang "Jesus Loves Me" and her "ABC's."



Next came preschool. She took her backpack to school and everyday she brought home paintings and art that she had cut and glued. She wrote her name on lined paper. She told me about bugs and clouds and mud. She told me that yellow and red make orange and blue and red make purple.



In Kindergarten, she learned her alphabet sounds, learned how to count to 100 and memorized Psalm 100. We went to school and watched her cross the stage wearing a little square paper hat.



In first grade, she learned to read and boy, did she love it. She read Junie B. Jones books and Magic Treehouse and Frog and Toad and Amelia Bedelia. She lost a front tooth.



In Second grade she went to the regional spelling bee, played in her first piano recital and was a shepherd in the Christmas play.



In third grade she went whale watching then did a diorama all about whales. She played softball. She lost her second front tooth.



In third grade she had to do book reports and science projects. Her big front teeth grew in.



In fourth grade, she sang in Royal Choir, studied the California missions and had her first heartbreak with friendship between girls. I think this was my first wake-up call. She was growing up...



In fifth grade she met Carolyn, her first real best friend. She laughed and giggled and acted goofy. She was on the safety patrol at school.



In sixth grade, she had her first locker, was on the yearbook staff and changed classes for different subjects.



In seventh grade, she had to adjust to a new school, make new friends, figure out who she was in a new town. She thought her heart would break from missing her friends up north. She thought she would never have friends again.

Now, as I type these words, she is in the other room playing Rock Band with nine, yes nine, friends from school. These friends are all here helping her celebrate her thirTEENth birthday.

Now we are back to the beginning. She is now a TEENAGER. I wonder if she is wondering if she will ever grow up. Is she thinking that it's taking too long? Will she ever be in charge of her own life? Will she ever get married and have kids?

Only the Lord knows the answers, but for today, I am going to burn this day into my memory. Because before I know it, again, I'll probably be writing about her teenager...



I love you, Emily! You are a great girl and a good friend. I am very proud to be your mom!

Happy Birthday, Em!