First of all I’m sorry for being lazy… I haven’t posted anything in a while. Somehow between work and everything else I just let the blog slide. Then again family is more important than the blog!

I bet by now many of you have the holiday decorating done, your homes are filled with beautiful & festive decorations, and you’re just about ready for the holidays! Right? Well, I’m not. I just got out some of the decorations. There’s no tree and we can’t even decide if we are getting a real one or just throwing up the fake one this year!

You’re probably wondering what’s up with her! Well, here’s the deal. I have a beautiful daughter who just had a birthday and I hate to combine it with the holidays.

I’ve spent the last 15 years making sure that she had her special day. That meant that there were no holiday decorations up at her birthday party, her gifts are always wrapped in birthday paper, she is never shorted on gifts, and she has the same opportunities for a great birthday as all the other kids. It’s not her fault that her birthday is close to Christmas.

Now my baby is 15 years old. I’ve watched her grow and change into an incredibly smart, beautiful, and fun person that I’m very proud of. Sometimes I wonder where all the time has gone and if I missed something really important even though I’ve always been there.

She looks so happy visiting with Santa. Now she doesn’t believe in him (even though many of her gifts are from Santa) and I don’t think that I could get her to sit with Santa for a picture unless her life depended on it!

Isn’t she cute!! Why is it that when they’re younger they’re happy and willing to look at the camera and smile?

And now she’s grown up. Every day is a reminder of the the adult that she’s turning into and the little girl that she isn’t anymore.

Now if I were a good mom I’d have some of the cutest baby pictures ever of her here as well, but since that was way before digital cameras I have to pull out the scanner, plug it in, and scan them all! I’ll save that for another day!

Now that all the birthday fun has passed the festive holiday season can start! I love decorating and this year Cait is helping me get things done!