Can You Believe Amelia is Fourteen?!

Fourteen years ago I was lying in a hospital bed, munching on toast, chatting with the sweetest labor and delivery nurse I've ever met. I had no idea how much my life would change in just a few hours.

Later that evening, at 9:11 pm, I was blessed with the most beautiful, caring, talented, loving, smart, funny, determined, and kind-hearted 8 lb. 6 oz. girl I know. And everyone else who meets her agrees with me. :-)  She went from this:

To this:

 While she weighs more than 8lbs now, not much else has changed. She still has an amazing smile, eyes that twinkle with happiness and at times mischief, and is an absolute blessing in our lives. She is dependable, kind to others, a confident little sweetheart and I'm blessed to be her mother.

 LOVE YOU, AMELIA!! Happy 14th birthday! I'm so happy you're not a sullen teenager.....yet) ! 😄 

Here she is over the years:

March Happenings

The month of March was a fun one.  Cooper had a choir concert, Amelia spoke in church, and Cooper had DARE graduation. Most importantly, Amelia had her 14th birthday, but I'll do a separate post for that. :-)

First, Cooper has his second choir concert. He did a wonderful job and it's hard to believe he's finishing up his 5th grade year. It seems like after my kiddos pass the 4th grade the years speed up! Here's a pic:

Cooper is gaining on Amelia height-wise. I think he'll pass her this year. All Amelia said about it was, "Guess I'll need more high heels."

Here is his DARE graduation picture. Amelia loved seeing all her old teachers!

Amelia had another orchestra concert. I'll try to post a video of them playing "Pirates of the Caribbean." She did a great job. Here she is with her friend (who is NOT shorter than Amelia, Amelia is just wearing heels) and a photobomber friend:

We also visited family a bunch:

That's it! After birthdays we get into the craziness of school ending. I can't believe another summer is almost here. We have girls camp, youth conference (she's 14 now!), scout day camp, family reunions, swimming lessons, and lots of sleeping in!

Umm, Where Did January and February Go?!

Wow.  I didn't realize how long it's been since I posted until I downloaded a few, and I mean few pictures to put on. Where did January go?! I can say we were very, very busy with all the after-holiday settling into a routine. Lessons, school, projects, parent teacher conferences, New Beginnings, Scout cake auctions, well-checks, eye exams, etc. Unfortunately, not many of those are picture-worthy. Here's a quick summary of Amelia and Cooper's check-ups though:

Amelia: 20% in height and weight.
              EXCELLING in school, ballet, and violin.
              Braces will be on another 6-9 months, but she's progressing well.
              She still doesn't need glasses....yet. Probably next year.
              She's holding on to a little over an inch in height on Cooper.

Cooper: 90% for height and weight.
              Getting better at his guitar.
              Straight A's in all subjects at school.
              Got new glasses, but his prescription isn't as strong because his eyes are growing along with                the rest of him.
              1 1/2 inches shorter than Amelia, but a shoe size bigger.

A few pictures I did get:

Our Super Blue Blood Moon Eclipse.

Amelia used her Christmas gift card to get highlights for the first time. They look really cute! I'll try to get a picture of her with her curls. 

She always has the hairdresser straighten her hair because it's so hard and time-consuming we don't do it during the week usually.

Amelia working on her driving. LESS THAN A YEAR people. She'll be behind the wheel! 

We also visited family a lot. We had a new member of the family--a chocolate lab named Clyde. Cooper was in heaven!

We also had Valentine's Day. Cooper's can for the valentines was a toilet. He giggled all day long.

For the long weekend we went the movie Greatest Showman, and I have to admit--I wasn't really thrilled about going, but it ended up being a really good show! Of course, having the star be Hugh Jackman didn't hurt! Onto March and allllll the craziness of birthdays. Amelia will be FOURTEEN and Cooper will be ELEVEN. Can you believe it?!

Christmas and Beyond!

Whew! Christmas is over! The holiday season is always fun, and full of crazy busy fun things to do. Here's a couple highlights:

I took Cooper and Amelia's picture for the Christmas letter--guess which one I chose?:

Amelia had her orchestra Christmas concert. I am amazed at the progress she has made. She works hard and practices most of the time I ask! :-) 

She also had her recital, but the video is so big I'm having trouble posting it. Here she is with her teacher:

Our family Christmas party:

And, of course, CHRISTMAS! 

For Christmas from Nana and Grandpa, Amelia and Cooper received jump passes for the Gravity Factory:

That's it! We had a fun New Year's Eve, and are ready to tackle 2018!