The high-fiver.

Last week, I asked Kaylee how she was liking middle school and she replied with an "I love it."

I asked her if everyone was being nice to her (because, she is my baby and I stress about stuff like that) and she says: "Yep! Mom... everyone is nice to me because I'm nice to them. Plus, I'm the one collecting high fives all the time. I have the 6th graders, the 7th graders, the 8th graders, the teachers, and even the lunch ladies giving me high fives! It's quite fun, actually!" 

Oh, what do I worry for? She was blessed with her dads social skills and a 'go get em' attitude. I'm pretty sure that she is going to do just fine in this great big world.

Old.

That feeling you feel when you are sitting outside the dressing room at what used to be your favorite store while your daughter tries on clothes.

Our little fighter.

For the last few years, we have been trying to find a fit for Kaylee in the sports category.

She has tried dance, soccer, swimming and she has liked some of them but they haven't been the one thing that she just has to do - the one thing that she just has the heart for.

Kaylee has always been our little scrapper and for awhile now she has been drawn to the whole "cage fighting" sport. [yes, I about had a heart attack when she asked if she could try it.] Lee and I went around and around. But, I agreed to at least do my research.

We found out that she can't do the actual 'get in a cage and get your ass kicked' sport until she is 16. However, we were advised by a coach to let her make that decision on her own when she is 18. (He didn't have to tell me twice.)

For now, we found some classes that she can take to learn the sport. So she is doing brazilian jiu jitsu, and muay thai - which in english form, pretty much means wrestling and kick boxing.  Not only does she absolutely love it, she is good at it. She was even asked by her coach to join his MMA fighting team and is training to compete in her first competition in September. (Don't worry, we have been reassured that at this age, she won't get hurt.) They compete against each other using certain moves and holds that she learns in class. Whoever taps out first, loses. 

We are so proud of how hard she has been working to learn everything in such a short amount of time. She has practice four times a week and just watching the warm-ups make me exhausted. I never knew she had so much fight in her. 

When this girl is determined, she gets it done.

I love that about her.

Schools out for summer.

And, it's official. We have ourselves a middle-schooler.
Lord. Help. Us.

Bittersweet.

Lee has been on this organizing kick lately (I'm so not complaining) and the other day he helped the kids go through their rooms.
They spent hours at it and ended up giving up a lot of stuff.
It broke my heart when he came into the kitchen and told me that Kaylee no longer wanted to keep her barbies or her dollhouse.
My first reaction was something like: "Um, she has to keep those! She isn't old enough yet to get rid of them."
He just looked at me with a sweet smile and said: "Babe, it's okay... she's just growing up."
The sound of that literally makes my heart ache. I'm not prepared for that yet. Not sure if I ever will be.

Lee likes to tease me by saying: "Hey, you have another one now to baby..." but, doesn't he know that having Ava makes it no easier watching the oldest one grow up and move on from her childhood?
If I'm being totally honest, it makes it just that much scarier.

#11.

She is beautiful, opinionated, smart, and stubborn.
She is kind, giving, and has the best personality.
One minute she has me smiling, and the next she can have me frustrated out of my mind.
She loves her family, and her animals and her friends with everything in her.
She loves to draw, sing, and dream of being famous someday.
She's messy, and has a huge problem with cleaning her room.
She likes to have the last word (hmmm, can't figure out who she got that from) and she tries to push her boundaries every now and then.
She is still her 'daddy's girl' and I have a feeling she always will be.
She is clumsy, and not-so-coordinated, but she is passionate about things that she is interested in.
She has a bond with her brother that makes me so proud. The whole great big sister thing? Yep, she has that down.
She loves fashion and is very into looking her best everyday (this means that even if we are just running to the post office to mail a letter - she has to get ready.) Drives me insane.
She is goofy, spunky, and silly, and I love that about her.
She cares about people and is respectful to others.
She wants to be friends with everyone, and because of that - people are drawn to her.
Her smile is contagious and her laugh makes me happy.
She is my little girl growing up way to fast - right  before my eyes.

Happy Birthday beautiful. 

The little swimmer.

Kay's first meet was on Thursday.
This is her first year on swim team so she isn't the fastest... yet.
However, she puts her heart and soul into it and that is an amazing thing to watch.
I love her determination and her desire to be great at something that she loves.
It just goes to show that she's no quitter - and that right there? Is something to be proud about.

The freckle face.

I have always tried to find features on Kaylee that might somehow 'link' us.
I have even found myself browsing my old baby books to see if I looked anything like her when I was younger and sadly, I haven't been able to come up with anything.
It might sound a little crazy but it actually does make me a little sad that my daughter looks nothing like me.

She's tall, I was short.
She's a blonde, I had darker hair.
She has dimples, I had chubby cheeks.

I have been told that Layton resembles me quite a few times and I can actually see it when I look at a picture of us together.
The kid was blessed with my nose and we have the same cheek bones.
But, Kaylee? Nada.

With this being said, I discovered something the other day when she hopped out of the pool.
The sun was shining perfectly on her cute little face and that's when I saw them... FRECKLES.
I litterally grabbed her by the cheeks to get a better look.
I couldn't believe it. My child had freckles.
[Who would have thought that something like this could actually make me so thrilled?]

Inside I was screaming 'Yay!! She has freckles just like I did at her age' but, when I pointed them out to her she just sighed and said: "Yeah, I've been noticing those."

I remember how I felt about mine when I was younger and it was pretty much the same as her.
I hated them.

But, as a mom who has been trying for 10 years to find something, anything that would make me feel like I actually passed on something from me to her - this discovery totally made my day (and quite possibly my entire year!)

Raw Ramen? Really?

Because according to Kaylee - it's what's for dinner.