My Daughter

I write this post not to brag or to sound prideful, but to let my daughter (and anyone else reading) know how much I love her.

Kaylee is my oldest daughter. She made me a mom, she was the first. I can hardly believe that she is nearly 13 years old already.

Lately Kaylee and I have been fighting quite a bit. In some ways I think we are too much alike for our own good. We seem to butt heads sometimes, and we are both too stubborn to back down. I want to let her know that despite these confrontations, she means the world to me. I am proud of her and I love her very, very much. I could not imagine my life or our family without her in it.

She is growing into such a beautiful young woman. Look at these pictures I took of her yesterday.

This week Kaylee had a bit of a disappointment. She tried out for the varsity volleyball team and though she has become really good at the sport and improved her skills a great deal, she did not make the team again this year. She worked so hard and was pretty upset about getting cut from the team, but she is highly motivated and is already talking about how hard she will work on the intramural team this year. I am so proud of her.

Kaylee is a very self motivated person. She does really well in school with very little help from me. She works very hard to get good grades and even ended her sixth grade year with a 4.0 GPA. What more could a mom ask for? Let me tell you.

She is a big help to me, willing to babysit at a moment's notice. She is excited to learn to cook and is eager for more opportunities in this area to come her way. (I just need to be less of a control freak and actually give her more chances to learn.)

She loves her brothers and sisters and is a great example to them. She keeps her room tidy, most of the time, and does most of her chores very willingly. She hates doing dishes, but who doesn't hate that job? She mowed the lawn every week this summer as part of a contact made between us at the beginning of the season. I never had to get on her to get that job done, she always did it of her own accord.

She is willing to try many things. Last year she decided to go out for the track team, something she had never really had much interest in before. She found she really enjoyed running on the team and did very well especially in the 200 meter sprint and on the relay team.

Kaylee reaches out to others and is a great friend to many, many people. She is loved for her spunk and personality. People enjoy being around her. She is also a very loyal friend.

I am so proud of my daughter and the young woman she is becoming. I am sure I could go on longer but I think this post is getting long enough. This picture is my favorite that we took yesterday. She is looking so grown up. (by the way she is almost as tall as me now too)The final picture here is one taken at girl's camp this year. It was so fun to be there with her. I hope she felt the same way. If you are interested in checking out what Kaylee is up to, you can read her blog . Keep in mind that she has given all of her friends nicknames to "protect their identities". She is so funny. Leave her a comment and let her know you stopped by. I am sure it will make her day.