Happy Birthday

Dear Julianna,
Today, you are eight. Eight! I don't know how that's possible honestly, I feel like the last eight years is all a blur. I do know I love being your mommy and know it's my favorite job in all my life.

You are amazing. Truly. A force to reckon with. You're passionate and organized and loyal and responsible and loving and dependable and honest and many, many wonderful things all rolled up onto an amazing little girl.

Right now, you love school. You do well in school, always trying your best. You just finished your tree project, you chose to write a non-fiction book about the Weeping Cherry, and I was so impressed with your methodical, organized approach. You wanted to know exactly what you needed to do to get the best grade and then, you made sure you did it. Sure enough, you got the best grade, and I was so proud, I knew you worked hard for it and deserved it.

Finally, you embrace the pure joy that is reading. You've always been a good reader, but this past year has brought you the love of reading that will stay with you your whole life. You love reading in your bed after we read together and you'll read as long as you possibly can until you just have to give in and go to sleep. Right now you love reading dancing stories, the Shoes books being particular favorites.

You love all things dance. Ballet is especially your favorite. You used to say you wanted to be a doctor or a teacher. Now, you want to be a ballet teacher when you grow up. You practice your barre work often and love to put together ballet combinations over and over again. I'm so thankful we've been able to give you the gift of dance.

Your piano skills have improved vastly over the past year. You're able to play 'real' songs now and your confidence in your skills is growing. Right now you're hard at work learning to play A Tisket A Tasket so you can play it for your music class at school.

You love your Brownie troop and had a wonderful time at Girl Scout Day Camp last summer. I know you'll want to do it again next year and secretly I'm happy that you're not quite ready for sleep-away camp. You're growing up so fast, I'm not quite ready for you to take that step away from us.

You also love American Girl dolls. You read the stories and play with the dolls, dressing them and doing their hair, but also playing school for hours on end. School, either the real thing, or pretending, is definitely another of your favorite things.

Family is super-important to you, and as such it's been a little bit of a difficult time. You're loving having Jason, Lori, Matt & Lily so close and you relish anytime you get to spend with them. You even invited Jason to be your buddy at the upcoming buddy breakfast. It's very hard for you however to have your beloved sister so far away at college. I know you miss her dearly and can only hope that somehow you're able to achieve that balance of learning to not miss her quite so much when she's absent, but still enjoying her company as you grow. One of my biggest wishes for you is that you will always be close to your family.

Friendships have been a little rocky for you this year. There are two little girls in particular that have a bit of the "queen bee" about them. One of their favorite things is to keep others off balance with proclamations that 'they're not your friend anymore', or, almost worse, they just stop talking to you. You struggle with that and my heart aches for you. It's hard to see you hurting and know there's not much I can do besides encourage you to not chase after them begging them to tell you what's wrong, thereby giving them the power and attention they crave. I also work hard to make home your safe place, where you know you can expect love and kindness.

I've started working much more this year and it's been hard for you. I know you'd love for me to be the mommy who's at school weekly and in the lunchroom collecting money when you come through. I'd love that too sweetie, more than you know, but I'm very thankful that I do have a job that allows me to be home when you get home and when you need me, if you're sick or have a fun day off or for anything else that comes up.

Recently you got your palate expander and braces are the next step. That's been a difficult transition also and I am so proud of how brave you've been. You were so excited to get your palate expander, a fact that seemed like such a cruel joke that I was powerless to tell you the punchline. I had to let you discover on your own that braces were not all you thought they were going to be. We're almost to the end of the 'turning the key' part of the expander and I know you will be so happy when that's done. You need Advil almost every night, a fact that makes me more than a little irritated with the orthodontists office as they told me it didn't hurt at all and wouldn't bother you. It bothers you greatly, but you hold up well and I truly am in awe of your strength.

Well darling, I'm off to bake your birthday cake, chocolate cake with chocolate frosting served with chocolate ice cream. For your birthday dinner you requested BBQ ribs, a fact that I find quite amusing. You've recently discovered you enjoy a good chewy rib and the oriental wings I make are a big favorite too. You're having a bit of buyers remorse however and I know you're wishing you had chosen salmon as your main course instead. There's always next year. We're having baked potatoes, another love, plus broccoli. You also love pasta and asparagus and are existing at school right now on Spaghetti O's as they are easy for you to eat with your expander. I have a feeling that once your braces and expander come off you're never going to want to eat another Spaghetti O in your life.

I love you very much and while I often feel I fall short in being the mommy you deserve, I truly thank God every day for bringing me into your life. I hope you have a wonderful year sweetie and that it's full of growth and friendships and dreams coming true.

xoxo
Mommy