Fifteen?!?!

Jordan turns 15 today.

FIFTEEN!!!

How did that happen?

She has grown into a lovely young woman.

But I am not going to lie...

This last year was rough, and there were moments I didn't think one of us (or any of us, for that matter) was going to make it out alive.

For real.

The snark factor was at an all time high and there were points in time that I think all of said, "sometimes, ya just gotta love them" cuz liking each other was not possible, at the moment.

We made it through and all came out better because if it....or something like that.

I mean really, better because of the struggle and tears and heartache?

It's possible.

We are most def appreciating the good times we are sharing now, so it's possible we are all better because of it.

Most of my readers are moms who have little ones.

Brace yourself ladies...it doesn't get easier once the get older. Parenting teenagers is not for wimps.

But I will tell you this...they have their days that make your heart swell and you can say to yourself, "yep, she is a good kid."

and pat yourself on the back...

either cuz you know you had a hand in that awesomeness

OR

because you are proud of yourself for not killing her.

Just keeping it real folks.

You know me, I HATE when people complain about their kids! Seriosuly, I have actually "hidden" friends on Facebook for constantly complaining about their kids...for being kids.

Count your blessings ladies...count your blessings.

So this is all just a little tongue in cheek talk about the kid, she knows it and honestly we all kind of laugh about it now. Total waste of time those few months of teenage weirdness.

Fishful Thinking had a few really great activities that helped us open some new lines of communication like The Silver Lining Game, What Would You Do? and If You Feel It, Talk About It. I also found a few really good articles that helped us understand our teenager better like "Why Teenagers Act Weird" and one about Dealing with Disrespect.

All really good things to get us up and over the funk and back to truly enjoying be around each other.

Anyway...on to a little bit of J goodness...

J recently got fitted for contacts and she looks even older now without her glasses.

She was soooo excited and has been wanting to ditch her glasses for a while. She has quite a sunglass collection that she hasn't been able to wear since she started wearing glasses a year ago.

And you know J, the girl likes to accessorize.

We were in the Dr. Office for about 3 hrs. Both Big Daddy and I got our yearly check up as well.

J went first and spent the time she was waiting for us practicing taking her contacts out and putting them back in with the help of one of the nurses.

The Dr. told her that he was not going to let her go home with contact lenses until she was able to do it on her own.

That was all the incentive she needed.

It took her a good week to really get it down and once I watched how she was doing it I was able to give her a few tips and she was able to get them in her eyes in seconds. Then she said, "Why didn't anyone tell me that?" I just assumed they had.

No bother, she is a pro now and loving her "new look".

Her first 2 weeks of High School went great! She is so excited about the whole environment and the buzz and energy that surrounds High School and even enjoys being a "Freshy". We were able to get her on a fantastic IEP for her special needs and love they way they do things for High School years. She is not in any special classes but she has extra support, and that's awesome.

We love to hear her talk nonstop about her HS adventures and the friends that she is making.

It's really funny because Big Daddy picks her up after school on his way home from work. They have about a 10 min drive home and when he walks in the door the look on his face is priceless. He doesn't know what to make of this new teenage Jordan and the chatty-ness that comes with this new phase in life.

I told him we need to enjoy it...she could be ignoring us and not sharing a thing. He agrees.

We love our teenage girlie...Happy Birthday J-dizzle!