Happy 17th to My One and Only

You know me.  I am the lady with lots of kids.  Well five...kind of lots these days, I guess.  But of the five, only one of these children sports the XX.  One lone girl.  And today, she turns 17!  I can scarcely believe it!

Here is Girlie Girl getting her little name tagged pinned on for her first day of preschool.  That makes her about 3½ in this photo. 

I remember the day Girlie Girl was born very well.   It was a Monday and I was just returning the two oldest boys to school following winter break.  Kick Back Dude was in first grade, Secret Agent Man was a Kindergartner, and Social Animal was just 3 and still at home.  Everyone had a little laugh that I was still pregnant and I was told I didn't look too hot.  Well, I wasn't feeling so hot that morning.  I took Social Animal and went to my sister's house.  We had arranged a playdate for SA and my nephew.  Soon it became clear that new baby was on the way, so my sister drove us all off to the hospital.  I don't remember a lot about the drive and checking in, but I do remember Social Animals little face when they whisked me away in my wheelchair.  My sister told me he said, "My mom is coming back, right?"  Aw!

Ah, well, the baby came along, as babies do.  Pregnancy and delivery were never an issue for me.  Some would say more's the pity.  Perhaps a little trouble would have slowed me down.  But Girlie Girl came into the world in the best kind of uneventful way, about four hours after I was admitted to the hospital.  We had been told that we were probably having a girl...when they did the one sonogram that you were allowed back in those days, they didn't see any boys parts...that was as much as they'd commit to.  haha!  It was extra exciting having a girl following three of a kind.  Everyone in the extended family had the grace and generosity to be quite happy, in spite of the fact that she was number four.  :-)

Girlie Girl has turned out to be more of a blessing than I could have predicted.  She and I are very different people, but as she's grown up we've become friends.  Of course, I am a mom first, but we really have a good relationship.  I admire her strong sense of self, her ease with people, and her quick, hilarious sense of humor.  Having four brothers hasn't always been easy for her.  She wasn't really looked on as a little princess by her brothers.  She was just another kid to do battle with, really.  And she gives as good as she gets.  I can't help but think that it will serve her well in life, in general.  Boys are no mystery to her, as they were and sometimes still are to me.   I cannot wait to see what she will decide to do with her life.  Right now, she is very interested in Nursing.  She goes to work with her uncle several times a year to his job as a Trauma Nurse in a large county hospital and LOVES it.  I think she'd be good at it, but who knows what the future will bring.  She really can do whatever she wants.

 

Here is Girlie Girl on the first day of school this year.  She is a Junior.  Still cute, blonde, and ready to take on whatever is sent her way.

Happy Birthday to my one and only Girlie Girl.  I want to be just like her when I grow up.