11 years of blessed

Makayla is 11!!

 

On January 22nd, 11 years ago, I experienced having my first child. I'll admit it was extremely painful, there were lots of tears and emotions and I constantly had the thoughts, "What am I supposed to do with this little baby! How do I even take care of this thing?? What have I gotten myself into?" Life had thrown me a 6lb 11oz curve ball and my catcher's glove felt too tight and small.

 

 

Now that I'm pregnant with my 5th, I love and appreciate having Makayla as my firstborn child. She is fantastic!! She is a born leader and is very self-motivated. She wants to succeed in everything she does and has a love for life and people that is exceptional. She is great with her brothers and sister and is a life saver. She just does what she's supposed to do and I rarely have to remind her to do her jobs, practice, or do homework. Yup, she's one of those! In fact my father-in-law has told me on several occasions that if I could bottle her genes, I could be a billionaire! I couldn't agree more!

 

These past 11 years Makayla has helped shape me into a mother and taught me so much about what is important in life. I feel the roles have reversed with us. She has trained and brought me to a better place in life with love and patience all along the way. She is quick to forgive and loves me with a pure and innocence I never want her to lose. I am truly blessed!

 

Luckily Makayla's birthday always falls around MLK day so we plan her birthday party on that holiday Monday. She wanted to invite her group of friends over for a party and a movie. They all met at our home and we had pizza, presents and cake and ice cream within an hour. My mom and dad came over to help transport my kids to the movie with us. Mark still had to work so I needed an extra vehicle. We went and saw Hotel Transylvania at the dollar theatre and we all thought it was great. We came back after the movie and the girls hung out for a while longer and played with some of Makayla's new presents.

I promise there is more on that table than just chips! Ok, only pizza is there too... :)

Makayla and her buddies. She has a great group of friends!

My kids love to light their own birthday candles

Later that night, my family came over for dinner and a party. They are the best!

 

On Makayla's actual birthday, I brought cookies and milk to her class at school. They sang happy birthday to her and the kids all thought Jared was adorable :)

Later that night Jared and I took Makayla to several different stores so she could pick something out with her birthday money. We had dinner at her favorite place, Panda Express and she came home with a new Star Wars Legos Wii game, a reading light and a brush.

Happy Birthday Makayla!