Happy 14th Birthday!

My sweet girl, my first born, turned 14 years old today!  How did that happen?  Where did that time go?  As my girls grow older, I sometimes miss them as the tiny infants they were, or the adorable little toddlers, but I also find that I can't dwell on the passage of time and need to enjoy every minute we have together!  My sweet girl is 14 and I am thoroughly enjoying this time in her life.  I love that she thinks of me as her friend and that she confides in me, asks for my opinion and advice, and enjoys following me around the house to tell me the stories of her day.  Recently, we enjoyed sitting at the island in the kitchen, me with my coffee, her with her hot cocoa, sitting and talking -- it practically could have been me and a friend at a coffee house!  I love the person she has become, smart, caring, funny, talented (I'm her mom, a little biased, but not too much!), pretty confident and comfortable in her own skin.  She has blossomed here in our new town, in her new school.  She had a wonderful birthday because she had close friends at school that made her day enjoyable and her loving family together with her tonight.  I look forward to many more years of long talks and laughter with her, and many, many, many more wonderful birthdays for her!

Happy birthday, Liv!!  XOXO