twelve

Happy birthday, Karsen! You are TWELVE! (?!?!?!) One more year until you are officially a teen, however the teenage angst is already here in our house daily! Sixth grade. Middle school. Things are a' changing!

Just yesterday we went shopping, and we did not agree on a shirt. You loved it, and I hated it. You said "Don't dull my sparkle, Mom". LOL I cracked up. It hurt my feelings for a second, and then it just made me laugh. I think this is foreshadowing of the years that are to come.

As IF anyone could dull your sparkle...

You loved performing in the 5th grade play last year, but you refuse to let me record you singing! You love to sing even more than you did when you were little. BUT you refuse to sing on command. Absolutely not. Only when you want to of course!

 

This is my favorite pic of you from this past summer.

This year you loved soccer, and you decided maybe you didn't want to do gymnastics anymore. That was tough for me to swallow, but I realized I just wanted you to have fun no matter which sport you chose. And you happened to have quite a foot on you when it came to soccer. Yay!

 

 

You don't believe in Santa anymore. And you said this would probably be the last year you dressed  up for Halloween.

 

 

However, you have fleeting moments when are definitely still your Daddy's little girl.

 

 

Funny enough, you are probably the person in our house with the MOST common sense, and I love that about you.  Math is your favorite class in school and this last report card you made all A's, with averages higher than 97% in each subject. The Principal's List. So proud.

 

You are definitely in between. You now raid my closet, and find things that I don't tend to wear or I'd forgotten were in there. On your birthday Dad took you shopping and you decided you did not want hot chocolate, you wanted a hot caramel mocha latte. Dad took this picture of you in my scarf  :) with your big girl coffee. Oh my. Be still my heart. Slow down, sweet girl.

 

 

Yep, times are a' changin'. Not so much a little girl anymore. At this last pediatrician appointment for 11/12 year old well check-up you were:

 

Height-62 inches or 5 foot 2 in at 90% height on growth chart

Weight- 90 lbs or 40% weight on growth chart

(yes, you gained 20 lbs in the last year!) WOW!

We are very close to being the same size in most clothes suddenly!

 

And here is your 6th grade, middle school school pic!

 

Happy 12th birthday, Karsen Grace!

Karsen, you are a light in our lives. I love your spirit and your quiet (and sometimes not so quiet) strength and determination. We love you to the moon and back! Don't ever let anyone dull your sparkle! Love, Mom


Looking back over the years....
eleven
ten
nine
eight
 

fourteen

 

Happy 14th birthday to our first born.

We can not believe you are 14, Dylan!

You are such a daily joy in our lives. Your quick wit and sarcasm still make us laugh (and sometime shake our heads) every.single.day.of.our.lives. Sometimes I am just blown away by your insightfulness. You truly are an old soul. Check out your "Save Ferris" shirt. Clearly you are several decades ahead of your time.

 

 

Marching to the beat of your own drum is something you do with ease now. No worries about what anyone else thinks. Your confidence has grown by leaps and bounds in the last few years. And that makes my heart happy.

Glasses were a new look for you this past year. At the end of 8th grade you happened to mention that "sometimes no matter where you sit in class, you can't see"! I got you in to the doctor within a few weeks and was shocked to find out you were blind! The glasses took care of that though, and I think they just add to your charm. Rather Clark Kent-esque if you don't mind my saying. :)

Your recent 13/14 year old stats at the pediatrician's appointment were:

Height- 73 inches, or  6 foot 1 in tall and 95% on growth chart

Weight- 118 lbs or 50% on growth chart  

Tall and skinny.

It goes without saying that it is truly a challenge to find blue jeans that fit right now. Sigh.

You are our resident movie critic and pop culture connoisseur. One of your favorite movies all time is "Pan's Labyrinth" directed by Guillermo del Torro.  One of the things you asked for your birthday was a painting of the fawn from the movie. Your Dad surprised you with the above painting on your birthday. Your reaction was priceless (and captured on my iPhone). However, I have promised you to "not post it on any form of social media". So, I will honor your request. :) (for now) just so you know that contract expires when you go away to college.

 

When we moved back to NC this Fall, I thought it was  important to get you involved in activities right away. I signed you up for golf, and who would've guessed it, but you were a natural. Your 3 man team won 1st place in the division this year, and you even got your first birdie! Way to go, Dylan! I had fun going with you to your tournaments and watching you act like your golf club was a light saber in between holes. :)

Here is your 9th grade school picture. You definitely changed so much in the past year. You can't see it here, but you have a Captain America shirt on underneath your collared shirt. This picture epitomizes where you are in life right now. You look and sound like a grown man in so many ways, but you are still so little boy underneath all of that knowledge and vocabulary....I still see glimpses of the boy that stole my heart 14 years ago. I am so excited to see where your path may lead.

Happy 14th birthday, Pa!

We are so proud of you every single day, and I count it a blessing to be your Momma!

 

Looking back over the years...

 

thirteen

twelve

eleven

ten