I have a teenage daugther, how did that happen?

My chubby, 8  pound, red-head baby girl turned 13 this summer. She's a teenager. Not a pre-teen, or a tween, but an actual teenager.

How did this happen.

But more importantly...how do I make it stop?

When you have a baby, everyone...and I do mean everyone, tells you to cherish this time. That they grow up way too fast. But when you have a 5 month old baby who's teething, won't sleep and cries when you even hint at the possibility of putting her down...its hard to cherish it.

But its true. They do grow up fast. Too fast, I'm afraid.

I tried to cherish it all. The newborn days, the toddler years, the pre-school times. I was lucky enough to be home with my kids for most of their youngest years. I miss those days, and sometimes just look at my kids and think...you used to need me for everything, and look at you now. So grown up, so independent. So much their own person.

Then came the school years. At first I cried when school started, now its possible that I count down the days until school starts. But every year, we make it through. There have been struggles, sure, but we get past them. And we cherish these years as well. We've made it through first crushes, fights with best friends, training bras and the ever fun first period. Good times.

Now, my baby is about to leave me for 3 days. She's flying to DC for a class trip, without me. Yeah, I could have went along, but I chose not too. I'm letting her have this time to grow, and be more independent....as if she wasn't independent enough, right?

So I have to let her fly and hope she's been cherished enough. This is the hard part. The teething and sleepless nights...seem so far away now. All I remember is the good stuff.

Now, just let us make it through these teenage years. I know someday I'll look back and be glad I cherished these years as well.

Yes, its my first post...so welcome!

Well, I'm back to the blogging world, and it feels great(so far!). I have a lot to say most days, but not a lot of time to write about it. I'm hoping to change that.

Who am I, you ask? Well, I'm just mom, really. Actually I'm a busy mom of two children, one of those being a teenage daughter whose main job it seems right now is to make my life as hard as possible. A tween-age(this is a real word, I've been told) son, who is responsible for at least half of my grey hair problem. I've been a work at home mom for 10+ years, and while I love my job, I'm ready for a career change...like yesterday! I've been married for almost 10 years, to a man child whom I love dearly but most days, I consider him my third child.

I get my kicks by playing games online, and zoning out to the boob tube when I can steal the remote away from one of the others living here. I also like to read, and recently I've been obsessed with twitter parties. I fill the voids in my life by entering(and sometimes winning) online contest.

That's about it. Come back often.