I love the smell of gourds in the fall...

it smells like paint.

Next Stop...Double Digits

Nine years ago I was sleep deprived, bloated and holding a baby I wasn't sure I was ever going to have. Today, I am still sleep deprived, still a little bloated but looking at a beautiful nine year old girl I am so lucky to have. Alyssa was born early, less than five pounds, but healthy and I was tired, scared and excited. As a baby, she was calm and happy. Little did I know that if you never set her down, she really didn't have anything to be unhappy about! I remember holding her and eating straight out of the pan on the stove and holding her while sleeping soundly in what could have been the most uncomfortable position ever and holding her at times when a normal person would just put the baby down for pete's sake!! When I wasn't holding her, someone else was, it seemed normal and totally OK with me. I took the "not able to spoil a baby" thing very seriously! I remember telling the doctor that she wasn't rolling over and I was getting kinda freaked out by it and he asked me if I ever put her down to actually try and roll over and it dawned on me that I probably didn't! But what did he know? Eventually she rolled over, just don't tell him she was two at the time! Just kidding!

Alyssa has always been an old soul, someone who gave you the impression that they had emotional knowledge you just couldn't understand. She's always been quiet, a deep thinker and pretty freaking rational. I'm not sure where that comes from, but I can honestly say, it ain't from either side of her family! I chalk it up to communication. I was one of those freaks who talked to her baby in the grocery store about what to make and what isle we were trying to find. That constant communication has been an integral part of relationship and I think it's made it much more open. I have always thought that if people took the time to explain things to their kids, they'd have a lot fewer problems. I rarely played the radio in the car so that we could talk about things or just enjoy the scenery. She used to sit and look out the window on long drives and seem so distant...deep in thoughts I couldn't understand. I often think she was planning her life or contemplating her last one. I really don't know. I just knew she wasn't simply staring off into space.

That would be Harry Potter next to her. Over the years she has become a beautiful young lady who makes me proud and I feel honored to be her mother. We are close and I am happy about that. I know the teenage years will be stressful and thinking they won't be would be ignorant on my part, but I believe that we share a bond that will take us through those rough times and we'll come out stronger on the other side. She's confident, yet cautious, polite, but not a doormat and has insight that some adults can't claim. Here are a few fun facts about her that you might not know...

She loves the Dungeons and Dragons role playing game and is now campaigning and running two characters at the same time. She has an elven fighter and a human mage, but she is considering creating a cleric to move in and out of adventures. So much fun is had during our adventures!

She is having a great time exploring different kinds of music and her new iPod. A favorite? Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band. Love it. Her iPod is filled with Metallica AND country favorites like Shania Twain. We are an equal opportunity musical household!

On Saturdays she likes to go roller skating at the Skatehouse...many bruises, lotsa fun! We don't get to go often enough. One Saturday I rented skates for myself and had tons of fun skating like I was a kid again. I bet it had been 20 plus years since I had been on skates, one of my favorite activities as a kid. Many weekends were spent at the skating rink, many a babysitting dollar too! I'm glad Alyssa is enjoying it as much as I do!

She is a foodie. She has baked and decorated several of her own birthday cakes as well as cakes for other people. She is creative here and I see lots of fun baking in our future.

Oh yeah, and she loves to beat horses with a small bat, well, paper horses anyway.