Who the Hell Decided to Trust Me with a Kid?!

Nine. Wow. I've been a mom for 9 years. Who the hell decided to trust me with a kid?!

Nine years ago, my water broke blah blah, labor, blah blah, emergency c-section, blah blah. It all led to this beautiful girl coming into my life:

2003

Looking at her baby pictures definitely turns me into a blubbering, teary mess of a person. Especially when I look at her pictures now. 

This was taken April of last year.

Taken yesterday. 

It's an amazing range of emotions I have gone through the last several days. My baby girl is growing up. It's a cliche to say "it's happening so fast." But it seems like it is. Every day, she's less a little girl and more a young woman. Okay, every other day. This is a weird age, you know. One minute she is quite the mature 9 year old. The next she's throwing a hissy the same as she did when she was 3. It's like "whooooooa! hang on to this roller coaster ride of emotional outbursts!" Then I realize I can't criticize her too much. I am her mother, after all. She didn't have a chance in the world for emotional stability. 

We went to get pedicures on Saturday and after, I surprised her by taking her to get her ears pierced. She's been wanting her ears pierced for forever! I finally decided to let her do it. 

"it only hurt, but not enough to make me cry."

I have to say, spending that time with her, just me and her and doing these girly things was the best. I love it when it's just me and my girl. It reminded me of when it was just me and her when she was a baby. 

"It's happening so fast." And yet, I have to tell you. I don't miss changing diapers. I don't miss formula spit up. I don't miss the screaming baby thing. Although, I will admit that some days it would be preferable to the snarky, little pissy attitude she can have at times. I do miss the baby smell - when she wasn't covered in spit up or poo. I do love she's more independent now. Hey....call me whatever you want, but that one morning she made waffles in the toaster for her and her brother so I could sleep until 8 a.m....that was awesome. I really need to teach her how to mix drinks. (I wouldn't really. The liquor cabinet is too high and I wouldn't want her to drop anything.) 

 You know what though? I guess it isn't just the amazing journey of watching her grow, but it's also the incredible ways she inspires me and helps me to grow. 

My girl and me.