My Little KatieBug Is Thirteen!

This is my beautiful daughter, Katie.  While on my blogging break, she became a teenager.  Maybe that's why it has taken me so long to getting around to posting about her birthday...hmmm.  Denial, maybe? 

Anyway, I still haven't completed turning all of my old photos digital, so this is the earliest picture of I have of Katie.  It was taken on her second birthday.  She was so little!! 

What a sweetheart she has always been!  I've said this before, but I always knew that I was going to be a mom and when Katie came along, it felt so right.  I am so proud of the young woman she is turning into. 

Here is a quick snapshot of Kaitlyn Denise at age thirteen.....

--Katie is very musical.  She has ALWAYS loved to sing.  I remember when she was little, I would be pushing her around in the shopping cart at the grocery store and people would just chuckle as they walked past us.  I would then realize that Katie was singing quite loudly.  She sang so much, that I sometimes didn't even notice!  She also loves to play the piano and act. This is her in the Shrek play she was in a few years ago. 

She sang a solo in her singing group just last month.  She was Elphaba and sang "The Wizard and I".  I told her I was so jealous!!  She was singing to Wicked on stage at age 13!!  She did a great job and I know she will go far musically.  Not great pictures, but you get the idea.  She really sounded wonderful.

--Katie is a wonderful student.  In her first year of Junior High, she received a 4.0 GPA every semester!!  She is a very hard worker when it comes to school work and I'm very proud of her accomplishments (now if we could get her to work that hard on keeping her room clean!).  I know she loves school and I love to hear about what she is learning.

--Katie is very funny.  She has quite the sense of humor.  She is witty and bright.  She has been begging me to let her get a facebook account and I told her when she was thirteen.  I was nervous about how she would conduct herself on a site like that, but she has been very mature about it and her comments and posts are quite funny and cute.  It is fun to see that side of her.  I need to pay attention to all of my kids more and not just focus on the mom's list of dos and don'ts.  This is her and Kaylee being silly at Disneyland.

--Katie is a good big sister.  She may not always be thrilled to help out and take care of things, but she is a life saver and a good friend to all of her siblings.  Lauren and Katie are getting along better and it warms my heart to see them taking good care of each other.  She is also an excellent babysitter.  I think she has more "clients" than anyone in our neighborhood, and that's really saying something because there are at least ten other girls her age.  The moms love her and she is great with the kids.  I'm so proud of her for how responsible she is becoming.

--Katie is an awesome friend.  She has been best friends with Kaylee Hepworth since they were five years old and it is fun to see them grow up together.  At her birthday party, she had so many darling friends from Junior High come so I could finally meet them.  It seems that they have a great time whenever they are together.

So, on with the birthday fun...The day of the festivities were fun. It's always one huge party because Katie was born on her Dad's birthday (yes, we really like to share birthdays in our family).  Katie and I went to lunch, and we enjoyed our one on one time together.  We then ended up at The Spaghetti Factory for dinner, like most birthdays. 

We had a great time and the boys had a contest with their aunts on who could keep a spoon on their nose the longest...I think Ethan won.

It's so fun to have these two share a birthday...I love them both more than I can say.  I hope there are many more birthdays to come.  Happy Birthday!!