**I meant to publish this on Saturday! I wrote it Friday, but couldn’t figure out how to set it up to publish later. **

Somehow, eleven years has passed since I first met this soul…

Seriously? HOW!!

Someone trying to sell me something recently asked if I was over 25. I nearly said no, and I really meant it. Then it occurred to me that, no, I’m not under 25, and not barely… I’m seven years past that mark. It was a weird moment. For some reason, Shelby’s birthdays are even weirder to me than my own. At first motherhood was such an uncomfortable suit to wear. But it grew on me and became my skin. I wouldn’t know who I was without the lessons she has taught me. I’m such a different person than I would be without the lessons she taught me as we’ve taken this journey. It took more patience and selflessness than I thought I could ever muster. And more self-restraint. Not because she’s a difficult child… quite the opposite! But parenting is crazy. It’s been an amazing journey at each turn.

The latest turn, one I was really not expecting, is finding out that this girl is really, really funny. She’s always had a great sense of humor and been quite clever, but now her humor is real… not kid humor, but stuff that I find myself laughing at as if she was a peer. What a delightful surprise!

I’m really hoping that the upcoming journey to middle school is full of only delightful surprises…