springdellgirl

Happy 12th Birthday Reilly!!

This picture was taken of Reilly earlier this year in Primary by Sister Alger.

Yesterday was Reilly's birthday. She has been waiting and waiting for #12 to come along so that she could FINALLY go to Young Womens and be done with Primary. At last the big day arrived. We are really proud of Reilly. She worked hard and finished her Faith in God and left Primary with all her goals accomplished.

Reilly's first day as a new Beehive in Young Womens.

These pictures were only taken about 6 months or so apart but the growth and change in her is amazing. Bye Bye little girl...hello teenager!!

A woman stopped me in the bathroom on Sunday and was marveling that Reilly was already 12 (she has known her for years in Primary) she asked me how it felt to have a 12 year-old. I told her that it just felt like time was flying by. It reminded me of a conversation I had with a wise friend of mine, Sharon, whose children are grown and always has such great perspective on life. We were talking about how Reilly's 12th birthday was approaching and I said how I felt like Reilly was just 2 years old and I blinked and now she's almost 12. Sharon told me that the next time I blink my grandchildren will be 12 and that it is just so important to enjoy the small moments and try to really be "present" in them because life doesn't slow down. One of the reasons I love blogging is that not only do I record small moments, big moments and milestones but I feel like I look for these moments each and every day.

Reilly picked for her birthday dinner: Broccoli Divan, 7-layer dip and chips, Cold Duck Sparkling Grape Juice, homemade pecan pie, and homemade cherry pie with whipped cream and ice cream.



11 1/2 to 12 years old has been a VERY emotional roller coaster. Mood swings left and right. Laughter, tears, sullen grump, pleasant daughter...you just never know. Her birthday dinner was no different. Fraught with highs and lows.

Reilly with her very favorite gift: Mascara. If we only knew how happy a little pink and green tube was going to make her we would've saved our money on everything else. I remember when I turned 12 and my mother allowed me to wear mascara. BIG EXCITEMENT!! All other make-up will have to wait until further down the road of life for Reilly just like it did for me.

While on partial bed rest it has given me and Reilly lots of chat time. One day she was complaining about how mean I am and how I don't understand what it's like to be in 6th grade and how there's no way I could understand what she is going through. So we found my old journals from 6th and 7th grade. We were laughing our heads off reading them. My complaints about my parents, always having to babysit, hating to always have to do chores when none of my other friends had to do them, boys I liked and how much I liked them and on and on. I sounded just like Reilly!! We also found out that in 6th grade we both had piano lessons on Tuesdays and a few other fun facts. Reilly had a great time mocking me and my 12 year old self but she did say "Oh Mom if you were in my class we would be best friends!!" That is a huge compliment from a 12 year old!! ;)

Reilly also wanted me to read her what I wrote in my journal about the day she was born and read all that was going on while I was pregnant with her. Even Kameron was quite interested in listening to my journal entries. It was better than TV. Yesterday Kameron brought to me a clump of papers he had stapled together into a journal. He told me he was going to start keeping a journal so that his kids would have something to read and laugh about. What a cutie!!

All in all Reilly's birthday was a lot of fun and it is so neat to see her making her way toward womanhood. She is a great girl who brings so much joy, laughter, heart and soul into our lives. We love you Reilly!!

Aunt Kelley, Reilly, Kameron and Ailey...who apparently all got the memo to wear brown. Or as Kameron called their little group "brown heaven"!! :)

Thanks to all the family who called to wish Reilly a Happy Birthday she loved it!!

Kameron and Ailey talking to Aunt Jordi after Reilly was done. Ailey got tired of waiting her turn as Kam was having quite a long and involved conversation with Jordin. Ailey thought she was pretty clever when she grabbed the other phone and started talking too.

Happy Birthday Rye!! We love you!!