Officially a Teenager

(March 4th, 2022 & 2023)

My baby is 13 and that means no more younger kids in the house...only teenagers. Please pray for Tyler and me. But we need to go back in time briefly and celebrate our Peapod twice since we missed last year. 

2022

We didn't do anything big for Pearl's birthday last year, probably because we had just gotten back from horseback riding for Ivory's birthday. But it was still an important birthday for Pearl. She finally got her ears pierced! It was still during masking time, so she had to wear a mask, but they could still reach her ears. One last look at a holeless ear.

She was pro. No tears or squeaks. Just smiles actually, even though you can't see them.

Balloons of course.

And presents. I'm noticing that Daisy is an interesting wrapper. She wrapped a candy bar in yarn.

Pearl really wanted a phone. (She mentions it every year.) We got her a Gabb watch instead. She could make calls from it and answer texts although not very well. But it was a start. 

Maybe one of the best gifts was getting to see June. At the time, June was in the Oregon mission and allowed to call on siblings birthdays.

Tyler was doing lunch bags for her every day, but he did a special one for her birthday.

She got measured. Still one of the taller sisters. Looks like she's about Grandma Dargan height.

 We made a raspberry cake for her. She looks so peaceful listening to us sing. She didn't quite get all the candles in one go, but we make our own wishes come true. 

2023

Things were pretty similar this year. We got to decorate her locker, since she's in Junior High now. It was Daisy's idea. We got her some fun things and filled her locker and wrapped it up.

Unfortunately, we did too good a job and Pearl couldn't open it. Apparently, we taped the moving mechanism so it couldn't go up and down. Oopsies. Luckily, Tyler happened to be on site and he man-handled it until it opened. Then I got Pearl out of class and she was able to enjoy the locker swag.

Balloons of course.

Pearl got some fun gifts. Want to guess who wrapped that weird green and white gift? Yep, Daisy.

And even though we told Pearl a million times, she was NOT getting a phone, we actually got one for her. It was time. She's a very responsible kiddo. The first things she downloaded were Duolingo and the Gospel library apps.

She got measured yet again. She made up some good ground. She is now my height. But she won't stop there. There are bigger and taller things in her future.

And we made a candy bar cake for her. This time, all the candles were blown out in one go. Maybe her lung capacity has grown as well. 

We also celebrated by going to Sea Quest, but that was so epic, it needs a post of its own. So I'll blog about that later.

Happy Birthday cutie P! We love having you in the family.