I am the mother of a teenager today!

My sweet Emma is 13 today. Wow... thirteen is a milestone birthday and I am wondering how it came to be that I have a child that old. The years certainly seem to fly by when you experience reflective days like today.

We went out to dinner last night to one of our favorite restaurants, FireBirds, and we told Emma about the day she was born. We do this every year and the girls love to hear about their birth story. Of course, we can never get through the story without talking about all of the amazing hair Emma had when she was born. It was dark, thick and everywhere. Here are two photos that show off her dark locks. I am sure she would kill me knowing these are out here in cyberspace now. The photos are a bit muted in color since I took photos of the photos from her scrapbook. The digital age was just beginning 13 years ago and I wasn't quite on board yet.

The facial expression and triple chins is more than enough to make me laugh out loud in that bottom photo. What a sweet fat baby she was. She continues to have beautiful hair today. Definitely one her best features.

So as I mentioned, to celebrate Emma's birthday we went out to dinner. It was fabulous and the manager, not even knowing it was Emmy's birthday, came over to buy us two appetizers. He was so gracious and then he sent out dessert after he learned that we were celebrating. I love when you get such great service like that.

One of the birthday gifts we gave Emma last night was a custom painting from our friend Jelene. Jelene is a wonderful artist from S. Carolina that has a really colorful and whimsical style of 'pop' art. She is featured in art galleries across the country and is a respected painter. We have two of her paintings up in the attic, where the girls have their playroom. They brighten up the space and are so fun. While in Memphis, Jelene sent so many goodies to the girls and Emma really loves her style. I thought a custom Jelene painting would be a big hit and it was.

yup, that's Kanye in the middle of the ugly dolls. too cute!

Happy Birthday Emma Mikayla. We are so proud of you and love you very much. I am praying you will be easy on us now that you are officially a teenager. I am sure Grandma Marilyn and Grandma Shirley are both laughing at that statement knowing what is likely in store for us over the next few years. What is that called... karma. :)