I Have a Teenager!!

I'm still in denial. Seriously, just a couple of days ago she looked like this:

I don't know where those 13 years went. When I held her for the first time, I had no idea how fast the time would go. I sometimes wonder: Did I play with her enough? Have I listened to her when she needed me to? Have I spent enough time with her? Have I missed anything important? Then I have moments like last night. It was 11 o'clock and we were up making brownies. We were reading the last few pages of the final Percy Jackson book together. We were laughing and chatting and having such a great time. I know I haven't been a perfect mom, but I have a wonderful 13-yr-old daughter.

Let me tell you a little bit about Eryn: She was born on December 22, 1997 just a little after 6 am (after a very long night for her expectant parents... seriously we wondered if she was ever gonna get here!) She weighed in at a teeny-tiny 5 lbs. 14 oz. and she was only 2 days early. She came by C-section, and we were home from the hospital on Christmas Eve. I loved holding her and just looking at her. She was such a fun and funny little girl.

She has always been a little too smart for her own good. She walked and talked early, and as soon as she could talk she was singing. All. The. Time! It always made me smile. (She still sings all the time. It still makes me smile.) She has always been a challenge for her teachers: Not because she was naughty, or a class clown, or anything like that, but because they had to find a way to challenge HER. She was reading chapter books in KINDERGARTEN. What the heck do you do with a kid like that? Still to this day, you rarely see her without a book in her hand.

Here she is in all her sweet little Kindergarten glory. Really? I swear this was last week!!

One thing I admire about her, is that she has always just done her own thing. She doesn't care what anyone else thinks, and she'll make sure you know that. There are times when it's frustrating, but she is so strong in her convictions, that nobody can make her do something that goes against what she believes. I certainly hope that she stays that way through her teenage years!

She is a drama queen, but not always in a bad way. She LOVES acting and was in the play "Fiddler on the Roof" last spring. Right now she is studying up to audition for another musical at school.

She draws like you can't believe. I've always loved looking at her drawings. You could always tell how her characters felt, because she could draw their expressions so well. I'm still amazed at her drawing ability. I should have scanned some in. They are seriously awesome. And she has written several "books." She's a fantastic writer!

We are so proud of our beautiful 13 year old. Sometimes I still expect to see her still looking like that Kindergarten picture above, but then she walks into the room, looking straight into my eyes (she's only about 2 inches shorter than me), wearing almost the same size shoe, and I'm forced to remember how old she really is. She's a wonderful and very important part of our family, and I cannot imagine a world without her in it. 13 years ago, I felt like I was holding an angel. All these years later (and even when she comes and sits on my lap at the computer and nearly crushes me) I still feel the same way :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERYN! WE LOVE YOU!!