Laylah's 11th Birthday!

I have an 11 year old! It is pretty weird. Next month I'll have two kids in the double digits, so that is even weirder. 

Laylah had a great birthday. She is so easy-going and low-key that we just celebrated her and her sweet little personality and had us a great day.

We started off the day with her birthday breakfast and our traditional one gift opening. She chose scones, eggs, bacon, berries, and oj. She got an outfit, earrings, and sandals for her first gift.

I love that her feet are almost as big as mine. I intentionally got her a size 8 shoe (even though she is about a 7-7 1/2) so that I could share them with her. Hey, she borrows my shoes all the time. That's the perk of having a mommy/daughter relationship!

She went to school and took her favorite treat ever: maple butter-cream donuts from Harmon's. At lunch time I went and picked her up and took her to Rubio's for lunch.

I had to go to work after that, so I dropped her back off at school. My sweet sister Rachel made her her birthday treat for her party with family (she had a friend party last year). She chose a s'mores pie. I got home from work and made dinner. She had chosen homemade vegetarian pizza, salad, grapes, and lemonade. After dinner we did a quick clean up and decorated the family room for her party. All of her grandparents showed up and we got busy opening gifts.

Laylah got a bunch of cards (and $$) from grandparents, aunts, and uncles. From Andy and me she got new clothes, swimsuit, cover-up, and a fully stocked sewing kit. She got new clothes and jewelry from grandma Claudia and Papa Bry, more sewing stuff and jewelry from Gma and Gpa Collette, and a swim bag full of all sorts of fun stuff (jewelry, makeup, perfume, soaps, lotion, etc.) from Grandma Darlene. Lots of fun stuff. She got a bunch of money and is so excited because she finally has enough to buy an ipod 5. She has been saving for a long, long time.

We sang Happy Birthday and ate some pie and ice cream. It was so yummy and I forgot to take a photo of the pie before we ate it, but Rachel did a great job and it was super delicious.

Laylah had a fabulous birthday and I am so happy to be this little gal's mom. I sure am lucky.

Laylah at 11:

Laylah loves fashion. She loves clothes, loves getting dolled up, loves having her hair done, and loves to look her best. She carefully selects her clothing each day, and makes sure her shoes match perfectly, as well as her earrings. She almost always tucks in her shirt and wears a belt. She paints her nails (and toenails!) every Sunday. She has just started wearing little bits of make-up/and perfume (mostly gloss and body spritz.) She's really not allowed to wear makeup until she is 12 years old. And even then, just small amounts and nothing crazy. She is growing up so much. 

Laylah does amazingly well in school. She had straight A's this year in school, as well as perfect citizenship. She earned the Principal's Award for the 2nd year in a row (only 4 kids per grade receive it). She is definitely a people pleaser. Her teacher goes on and on about how wonderful she is during Parent Teacher Conferences and about how all the girls want to be her friend and how all the boys have a crush on Laylah. It kind of drives me crazy that her teacher would say these things in front of Laylah because I don't want her getting a big head and thinking that she's just soooo wonderful.  She has had some boys call the house a few times and also leaves things on her desk at school or on our doorstep and ring the bell and run. She is slightly boy crazy and has lots of crushes, but she always tells me she knows that she isn't allowed to have a boyfriend. Phew! I am just relieved that we have such a great relationship and she feels like she can always talk to me about anything. She has also experienced her first real issues with "girl drama" this year. I am not a fan. I'm just constantly telling her to be kind to everyone, include everyone, and always be the bigger person.

Laylah has such an amazing testimony. She is very service oriented and loves to help others. She reads her scriptures and loves to learn about the gospel in primary. I can hardly believe she will be going into Young Women's next year. Too crazy. She is always asking me about certain scripture stories and wanting to know more. She amazes me.

Laylah is responsible. She has been babysitting our kids for over a year and she has been asked to babysit other people's kids several times. Laylah ADORES children and babies. We joke that she is the Baby Whisperer because she can get any kid to like her, even the most clingy. It's amazing. She will make up games and hold a baby for hours. Laylah is also a great cleaner. She loves to help cook and clean whenever she can. She vacuums, folds laundry, cleans the bathroom, weeds the yard, and makes sure her room stays clean. She will cook dinner when asked (usually pancakes, eggs, or mac and cheese) but she is a good little baker too. She knows how to follow a recipe and tries new things all the time. She recently had a cupcake stand and made $15 selling homemade cupcakes.

Laylah loves to shop. She loves to play (or, "hang-out" as she now calls it) with her friends. She likes to play night games, rollerblade, play outside, swim, run, make movies, play piano, sew, ride her bike, play school, and be in charge. She can be bossy and will still throw little fits when she doesn't get her way. She and Daphne are close friends, but they are very different and have drifted a little ways apart over the last year. She and Jonah are very close and sometimes gang up on Daphne and tease her. Laylah is an amazing big sister to her two baby brothers. She will read to them, play with them, and is generally pretty sweet to them. She is a very talented singer and my grandmother has offered to give her voice lessons when she turns 12. On top of that, Laylah's all time favorite thing is to dance. She is quite the little performer and dances all around the house all day long. I love it.

I know I paint my kids to be the perfect child in their birthday posts. The truth is, they definitely are not. Laylah has many faults and we often clash (usually because we are EXACTLY alike) and there are plenty of things she is working on and plenty of things that drive me crazy about her. She is always late (ummm, like me), she pouts and throws fits when I ask her to do things she doesn't want to do, and when she asks me repeatedly to do something I don't want to do.  But the truth is, I love remembering the good things. And I simply adore this girl that I get to have for my daughter. She is one amazing little lady.

Happy #11 Laylah-girl.