I'm 18 years old today!

 

Well as you can guess, we got a dog.  Finally my dream came true.  This has been a very eventful year besides my turning an adult.  I continued diving and pole vaulting.  I even hit a PR at 9'9".  I'll be going to the Barrett Honor's college at ASU studying Biological Sciences (Conservation Biology & Ecology).  Luckily my parents can take Bear for walks on the campus so I can still see him.  This will probably be the end of my birthday chair photos.  Can you believe I've done 18 years of this?  

I'm 17 years old today!

 

Another year has gone by and it feels like I've been driving forever.  I'm really good at driving a stick now too and in fact, I'd like my first car to be a stick.  I've been driving to school this whole past year which is probably why I'm so good now.  I switched to Diving instead of Swimming and I did pole vault and javelin for Track this year.  I'll probably continue both sports next year.  I can't believe next year will be my senior year.  My parents might give in and finally get us a dog.  Stay tuned for next year's post.  

I'm 16 years old today!

 

Yes I'm finally 16 and that means I can get my driver's license.  I take my driving test tomorrow and if all goes well, I'll have my license.  I'm still not great at driving a manual but I'll be practicing more once I get my license.  This past year, I did swimming and track and field again.  I added javelin and high jump to the field events besides pole vaulting.  I can't believe I'm half way done with high school already.  Before you know it, I'll be a senior and graduating.  I'm also taller than my mom but shorter than Cole.    

I'm 15 years old today!

 

Yes it happened!  I finally got my cell phone.  I still can only text on it but baby steps.  This past year we returned to in-person schooling for my freshman year.  I did swimming and track and field pole vaulting for sports.  I don't really have much more to say other than I got a cell phone!  Oh and I might have caught covid for my birthday.  We'll see what the PCR tests say but fingers crossed.  

I'm 14 years old today!

 

Not sure if you can tell but I just got my braces off!  Just in time before I enter high school.  This has definitely been one strange past year.  I took all my classes online which was great because I could wake up late, roll out of bed, and still make it to class on time.  I did a lot of puzzles, reading, swimming, and push-ups this past year.  Oh and I also got really good at the rubik's cube.  My fastest time is just under a minutes.  Oh one thing that I didn't get this year was a cell phone.  I'm thinking maybe next year for high school but we'll see.   

I'm 13 years old today!

Finally I'm a teenager now. In 3 short years, I can start driving but first I need to get a cellphone. I thought I might get one this birthday but sadly no. One of these days it'll happen. In the meantime, this has been an interesting past year. Luckily we did a ton of traveling at the end of last year with trips to Hawaii, New York, Seattle, and Disney World because the past few months we have been sheltering in place at home. I've been busy with school assignments, playing games with my family, and giving Chester, our cat, lots of love. I also got braces on again for phase 2 and hopefully the last time. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to show you a cellphone in next year's photo. :)

I'm 12 years old today!

My last year before becoming an official teenager. I still didn't get a cell phone this year and supposedly according to my parents, I won't be getting one till I'm 21 or something. I finished my first year in public school and despite homework and tests, it wasn't too bad. My parents had a harder time adjusting than I did. I also tried track and field. I did hurdles, high jump, and 4 x 100 relay. Some practices I had to be at school by 6:30 in the morning. After taking some time off from swimming, I'll be doing a summer swim team. My favorite event is still butterfly.

I'm 11 years old today!

Finally the last day of school wasn't on my birthday. This is my last year at a Montessori school as I'll be switching over to a public middle school. The days of no homework are over. I'm still doing gymnastics and swimming but I dropped chess this past year. I went mountain biking for the 1st time too. Hopefully I'll be able to go more when it cools down. No cell phone this year. One day. I am happy to report that we are going to Hawaii this year but it wasn't a birthday present. My grandparents are celebrating their 50th anniversary.

I'm 10 years old today!

Last day of school on my birthday again. 2 years in a row. No phone to show this year but any year now. :) I love to read, swimming 2x a week, doing gymnastics, and still playing chess. I can now do a back handspring with a spotter. I asked if I could go to Hawaii for my birthday but I have a feeling that wish isn't going to come true.

I'm 9 years old today!

Today was the last day of school for me. I finished 3 years in lower elementary with the same teacher and now I'm headed to upper elementary with a new teacher. One of these years I'm going to show you a new phone in these posts but until then I'm still swimming, doing gymnastics, and playing chess. I also got a new gear bike this birthday. Can't wait to try it out.

I'm 8 yrs old today!

I finally lost some of my baby teeth including my two front ones as you can tell. I'm dressed in my PJ's because it was Pajama day at school today. I'm also sporting some of the handmade jewelry I received for my birthday. I still love reading and would have finished the Harry Potter series if my parents didn't regulate which books I could read. I just read the 3rd book in the series and finished it in about a day. I still love my stuffed animal doggie and if I could have one wish, I'd wish for a dog despite being allergic to dogs.

I'm 7 years old today!

This has been the year where I really have gained my independence. I'm now in 1st grade and get to hang out with all the cool older kids, the 2nd and 3rd graders. I traveled to Camp Surf in San Diego with my class for 3 days and 2 nights without my parents. I even got to use my own disposable camera which I pretty much used up on the bus ride there. I took karate for the past year and have learned a multitude of self defense moves. I learned how to ride my bike without training wheels and I still have all my baby teeth. Okay that last one isn't a good example. I'm ready for my adult teeth and all the responsibilities being an adult brings. :)

I'm 6 years old today!

This year I had an old school birthday party at a bowling alley. Who knew bowling could be so much fun. This past year has been filled with firsts. I had my first graduation from Kindergarten. I traveled to my first international country, Canada. My parents still need to blog their sabbatical trip. I started Karate lessons for the first time, and finally I received my first cell phone. Okay that last one isn't true but one of these days, I'll get one.

I'm 5 years old today!

I'm so happy because I get to celebrate my birthday at Pump It Up! And I get to invite my closest 20 friends (future facebook material). A lot of things have happened this past year. I learned how to swim and I can swim across the pool all by myself now. I'm a regular at the rock wall. I've started taking ballet and tap dancing classes. I took vacations to the East Coast (here, here, and here) and to San Diego. I'm also the reigning 1st Grade and under hula hoop champion for the Mountain Park Ranch HOA.

I'm 4 yrs old today!

Turning 4 yrs old has been a pretty significant milestone in my life. 4 yr olds can do so much more but at the same time the expectations also increased. For example, I don't get any more bunny crackers when I use the potty. I also can do more things such as climb the rock wall at the YMCA.

I'm 3 yrs old now!

And here you thought I was done having my picture taken. I couldn't let Cole have all the fun. So much has happened over the past year. The biggest thing was finding out I'm allergic to peanuts. We also moved to a new house and I started in a Montessori school. I'm also totally potty trained. You'd think because of that, I would have gotten my new iPhone but sadly no.

Monthly Outtakes - Bear hug

After 2 years of taking monthly photos of Lauren, we have taken over 600 pictures just to get the 24 monthly ones. Here are some outtakes from those photo sessions. I never realized how much she liked to eat the bear.

3 months

6 months

7 months

9 months

10 months

I'm 2 years old now!

I can't believe I'm 2 years old now. I've finally transitioned from having my age measured in months to years now! Just a quick recap of the last 2 years.

Over 3500 diapers,
10 airplane rides,
8 states (AZ, DE, HI, NJ, NV, NY, PA, WA),
8 unscheduled visits to the doctor,
1 visit to the ER, and
0 boyfriends (who has time?).

I'm 23 months old now!

Can you believe I'm almost 2 yrs old now! My little brother still hasn't shown up yet but it feels like he's already moved in. If you didn't notice, he has taken over my chair. My stuff has been replaced with boy stuff. Although he can have my crib. I much rather have my big cozy bed. :)

I'm 22 months old now!

Cheeeeeeese!