Our little girl is now a teenager!
I am officially the mother of 3 teenagers. Crazy how time flies! You know, I started this blog when I was 8 months pregnant with Anna. So if you have been with me from the beginning you have really seen her grow up!
Yesterday Anna celebrated her 13th birthday and it has been a great birthday weekend/month! For the 13 days leading up to her birthday we gave her 13 small gifts (more on that later). And last night she had a fun pajama party with 10 of her friends (more on that later.) The one thing she wanted for her birthday was a bedroom makeover. We also did a bedroom makeover for her 9th birthday and since then her tastes have changed just a bit. Last weekend we said goodbye to the teal blue wall and painted it a pretty muted pink. We also purchased new grown-up bedding and over the summer she got a new bed. When all the final touches are done I'll be sure to share a peek here.
Friday morning Anna was honored at the Breakfast of Champions at her middle school -- she was selected by her English Language Arts teacher as student of the month. Right out of the chutes! The SAME thing happened last year. In the first month of school her English/Reading teacher selected her as student of the month. This girl has a love for writing. She is very descriptive and it seems to flow naturally for her. We'll see if she can keep up the streak next year!
Saturday morning (her birthday) she had a soccer game. She plays as keeper and loves it. Sometimes the coach will have her play keeper the first half, and then put her on the field the 2nd half. But, knowing that they would be up against a tough team this week the coach kept her in keeper the entire game. It was a tough, well fought game, but her team ended up losing 0-1.
That's her in the pink. She loves her special goalie jersey and her professional goalie gloves.
Missed the ball by just that much! While this photo is a bit heart-breaking (the other team scored), at the same time I love it because it shows how she puts her all -- her whole heart, her whole body! -- into this position. She is fearless and will charge the ball as players come at her or throw her body across the keeper box to keep that ball out!
Scott is the assistant coach -- here he is giving her some pointers during the water break. Yep, we're still in the upper 90's here!
And always so sheepish about getting her picture taken on the field. She has much more important things to think about!
We brought donuts to share with the team and another mom brought fancy cupcakes (just because). Sweet! Diabetes for everyone!
We spent most of Saturday preparing for the big birthday party. Anna was a great helper. Here's a little snuggle time with Cooper before everyone arrived.
She sure loves this dog! She has been lobbying for a dog since she was 5 years old. We've received many sappy pleas and notes like this one (go read it!). I'm so glad we were able to make her hopes and dreams come true! So far she has given Cooper all of his baths. She helps with the dog training -- she taught him to lay down and to roll over. I still can't get him to roll over. She calls him "Baby" and basically just loves on him anytime she can.
Anna also loves
TV . . . . America's Got Talent or Miraculous Lady Bug
Music . . . . Organs by of Monsters and Men
Books . . . adventure books. Although we are currently listening to Echo on audiobook.
Youtube . . . . watching drawing & art videos (just this morning she was studying how to draw a hand in various angles/positions)
She definitely has a talent for art. She is always drawing, always sketching with either a pencil or colored pencils. She has dabbled a bit in watercolors. Other than a new bedroom her wishlist includes a long list of art supplies and an iPad so she can sketch on Adobe Illustrator.
Anna has always loved to create. This summer she created several amazing things for her bedroom using basic supplies like straws, wooden dowels, cereal boxes, a wood pallet, a glue gun, and spray paint. Like, really amazing! I'll show off those items once we finish her bedroom update.
Recently she took on the project of planning our ward's Young Women in Excellence evening. I'm excited to see her get practice in planning & executing & having responsibility for something like this. I can see the wheels in her heard turning!
It was really fun watching her interact with all her friends at the party. She was so thankful for every little thing, and made an effort to help each girl feel welcome as they arrived and appreciated (hugs) as they left. So many simple little things too that just demonstrated how kind she is. I noticed that every interaction had the purpose or motive to make the other girl feel good, appreciated, or uplifted. Never anything in her demeanor that would have put someone down or make them feel less than -- I noticed this specific thing because there were moments when it would have been very easy to do so.
She got braces over the summer. Since then, I think she has been a little unsure of her smile and overall appearance. She spends A LOT more time planning outfits and caring about her clothes than she used to. And smiling with her mouth closed Ugh. It pains me to see that. I just want her to see how amazing & beautiful she is and be confident in that and somehow squash all of the outside influences that come from friends, school, etc. Being 12 is just weird. BUT, I've seen her come out of that in recent weeks. In fact, in just the last few days she has commented on several occasions (almost with surprise) that she likes her smile in pictures (including these below). Yay! The big smiles are back and I'm so glad.
She is attentive and aware. Last week was a hard one for me. I felt like I was doing a decent job of keeping it together around the kids -- but truly, just going through the motions. One day a friend (who I admire & adore) invited me to lunch. That definitely turned my day around. Later that day, Anna actually commented to me, "You seem happier today." Like I said, she is so aware & sensitive to the needs of others. She'll ask me questions about my mom / Grammer like, "what do you admire most about Grammer?" or "what your favorite thing that Grammer had?"
She is a pretty amazing girl. Smart, talented, driven, thoughtful, a caring friend & daughter, helpful, kind.
And just a little bit silly.
Happy 13th Birthday sweet girl.
