A Letter to you on your 18th Birthday

 I wanted to take a moment from my posts to write Jaina's letter since yesterday was her actual birthday. I'm still about a month behind on all of my posts but I will eventually catch up. 

My oh my where in the world has 18 years gone?!?!?

I just can't believe it's already here. It literally went by in a blink of an eye. It seems so long ago that you were born, you were a baby and a toddler but on the other hand it seems just like yesterday. I can still remember us together at the old house and all of the fun activities we would do when you were little. It's bittersweet and makes me sad to reminisce. But on the other hand, I'm so excited to see this next stage of your life and all the choices you will make and where the Lord will lead you. 

I think your dad and I did a great job raising you. I know we tried our best, I know we tried to provide you with a safe environment, a loving home, a bedroom full of toys and all the things you wanted, we tried to teach you and give you as much advice as we could when you faced challenges, we did a lot fun crafts and went to a lot of places over the years and many, many family vacations. I always wanted to fill you with memories instead of material things. I always wanted you to feel confident in what you were doing. We tried to instill kindness, patience, tolerance, sharing, giving back, and always have a loving heart. We taught you to look out for yourself, choose wisely, make good choices, use critical thinking, to be independent and never depend on someone else. We taught you about the Lord as much as we could although we didn't go to church like I wanted us to I still made sure we listened to church sermons in the morning going to school, you attended VBS in the summer, we taught about prayer, and to always put your faith in God. 

We are not perfect, but I think that shows that marriage isn't always perfect. We have made mistakes along the way and I'm sure there are some things you would like to change about both of us. But we always want you to know the moment you graced us with your presence on October 21, 2008, at 8:10am we have never stopped loving you. It was love at first sight. You taught me and Dad a lot along the way too. You made us parents for the first time.

As you know my labor with you was not easy. I was in labor for over 23 hours, pushed for 4 solid hours, and nearly lost my life but I would have gone through it over and over again. You changed both me and Dad's life for the better and we are forever thankful to the Lord to be able to be your parents.

I started this blog 18 years ago! Can yall believe that?! I have always loved to write, write out my thoughts and write stories. 18 years ago, blogging was the thing to do, everyone had a blog. A few friends of mine wrote blogs so I tried it out. Little did I know I would still be writing my blog and our life story out here on this little platform. I have literally documented you and your sisters lives for the last 18 years. That's crazy! I am soooooo beyond happy I stuck with it and you will one day have all these memories to look back on. I know as you leave and go off to college, I won't be writing as much about you in my blog because you will have your own life but I'm sure you will tend to pop up in this blog from time to time. But for now, I'm sharing as many posts and photos as I can until that day comes when you move out of the house for college.  

Now that you are officially an 18 Dad and I can rest just a tiny bit. We can sit back and watch you make your own adult choices and we are very excited to see you do that. We are always here for you, a home to come home to and a phone call away. We love you more than you will ever know. We hope you had a wonderful "last" birthday party and enjoyed your dinner out tonight. We all love you and can't wait for this next chapter. Cheers to being an adult!

So, this will be my last "So what are you like at 18, you might ask"

At 18 you are sweet, kind, nice, caring, and loving. You are very mature, smart and beautiful. 

You have a good head on your shoulders. You know you want a career in the medical field. You would like to be a gynecologist, that is your goal or you said something in women's health.

You are fun, and like to go, go, go (just like me) You are also quiet and reserved at times. 

Your hobbies include scrapbooking and hanging out with friends. You work as a nanny sometimes getting up at 4:30 am to go babysit. 

You make all A's and Bs in school. Your best friend is Storie and your boyfriend is Dylan. 

Your favorite snacks are Goldfish Blast, Chex Mix, and your favorite candy is any Albanese gummies and sour skittles. 

You still love all things girlie, you like dressing up and taking photos, you like watching murder mysteries and documentaries, your favorite shows being Dexter, Stranger Things and now your binge watching Breaking Bad. You also love all things news and social media. You are the first one to tell me if something major is going on in the news. You are also a lover of Kendra Scott, Lululemon, Coach, and anything trendy. You definitely stay on top of what is trendy. You have always been a little fashionista! 

And those are just a few things about you!

 We love you, Jaina Alexandria 

 Happy 18th Birthday!