nine?!?!?!

My little bitty, teeny weeny, boo bear is stinkin NINE years old!!! What the heck happened? I remember the day well when I found out I was carrying my second little girl and I was scared. Was there room in my heart for another little girl? Would I love her the way I loved M? Would they look alike or even like each other? Would M be jealous? Seriously, I was terrified. Most of my questions were answered on September 15th, 2000. Yes, there was more than enough room for this princess and no, I do not love her the same way I love M, they are not the same person so how could I? I love her for the smart, funny, beautiful, strong willed, determined drama queen she is. She is so much more like me than her sister is and while now this is a good thing, I am aware that may lead to friction when adolescence sets in but for now, I will enjoy that I "get" her. And in the spirit of honesty, I sometimes feel a little left out with how much of a Daddy's girl M is but I take solace in the fact that L is a Mommy's girl and balance is restored. Do I love her more, absolutely not, me & T make a point to love our children for the people they are and in the way that best meets their needs not with measurements of more or less because there is no limit to our love for each of them. I do have to say that though that all my children are cuddlers and I hope they always will be, L is my very sensitive, attached child who will wake up crying at 3:00 am if she didn't get her hugs & kisses. Now, the rest of my questions have answered themselves along the way with the answers being as fluid and ever changing as the girls themselves. They look absolutely nothing alike and as for getting along, they are at the age now when competition and jealousies, tattling and control have reared their heads and though I can't say that they are bffs 100% of the time, but at the end of the day, nobody better mess with M's little sister and that's exactly as it should be.

This year L's birthday list was short. Only a webkin and a cell phone though me and daddy decided she wasn't quite ready for the cell phone and she was ok with that. Instead, she had a list of birthday requirements in lieu of stuff. The first of which was that we were to have lunch with her at school and buy her classmates ice cream passes. Check. We were to have twirly pasta with salad for dinner. Check. Later, she wanted cupcakes for all her cheer friends at the end of practice. Check. For the Saturday following her birthday, she wanted to go out to dinner with both grandparents to Olive Garden but later decided on BJ's since the wait was more than an hour at the Olive Garden. Check.

She always reads the cards.

Probably her favorite gift, Granny finished the dress she has been working on for about a year taking great care to make sure it was perfect.

I love that C is in the background blowing too.

Then on Sunday, she wanted her cousins to come over and see "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs" and have cake, specifically, the Barbie cake she saw at a specific Kroger. Check.

The last on her birthday list are a slumber party which will wait until the end of Saturday morning football games and a girls' lunch at the Cupcake Boutique which will wait until Granny's knee is better.