Happy #28 to My Girl!

Today is my beautiful, talented, smart, sassy, funny, sweet girl's 28th Birthday!  This girl is my heart.  She is my other female half.  She is my sounding board, my encouraging word and most of all, my best friend.  What an amazing gift God gave me when He packed her in 8 pounds and 11 ounces of love.  Crowned with a ton of black hair, the girl was the baby of my dreams.  She filled a place in my heart I didn't know I had.  Oh how I love you, beautiful one. 

In your honor, I thought we'd have a little photo fun.  What a journey these last 28 years have been.  You have made my life so much better.

2004

2008

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2011

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2012

I adore this photo - look at that face! 

Love you more ....

She's 25 Today!

My first born is 25 years old today! A quarter of a century old! She was born at exactly 2:00 p.m. which is just like her to born precisely on the hour. It's just easier if you keep things in nice round numbers that way.

This girl stole my heart from the very beginning and has never let it go. She is joy, a pleasure and a treasure.

Today she is half way around the world on a trip of a lifetime! But I hold her close in my heart - today and always!

The 25th Birthday Celebration!

Last Wednesday night was the big birthday celebration at the Wiley house - in honor of our girl's 25th! The grandparents came over and I cooked a big Mexican fiesta; she opened presents; blew out her candles and we all ate a piece of cake and before it was all over a fun time was had by all!

Here is our traditional birthday picture. When anyone in our family has a birthday it seems at some point in the evening, we all have to line up in front of the fireplace. I guess that would be my idea.

Yes, I am the shortest in this picture and I had on heels except my heels were just not as tall as E's. I think hers were about 4" which gave her the definite height advantage.


My Birthday Girl! It occurs to me that I am not possibly old enough to be this child's mother!

You gotta admit this cake is pretty cute!

Happy Birthday, baby girl!

It's My Girl's Birthday!

Happy Birthday to E! Happy Birthday to E! Happy Birthday dear Ee-ee! Happy Birthday to E!

10 Reasons I Love My Girl Today and Always!

Ten. She is just like her momma with song lyrics – we just make up our own! We will never let her forget, we even sing it wrong in her honor, that she manipulated those famous Doobie Brothers lyrics of “Drift Away.” Now and forever that song will be sung in our family as “Give me the beach boys and free my soul, I wanna get lost in your rock and roll, and drift away,” Either our girl just wants the beach or maybe it is the Beach Boys she likes – not sure, in any case, give her the beach - boys!
Nine. She is a girl. And she is a girly girl to this girly momma. Since birth, her momma put the biggest hair bows imaginable (that matched her clothes, socks and shoes perfectly I might add) on the top of her head and she never complained, until she got to middle school and that was the end of that. And she likes to shop with me. She likes to go to Panera with me. She walks around Target aimlessly with me. She can order for me without even asking me. She likes the things I like. Oh, do we ever have fun together.
Eight. She has her daddy’s eyes. Big, brown, and beautiful.
Seven. She loves her little, but much bigger, brother who always has looked up to her even when he began to look down.
Six. We share a common history. Only she and I have the memory of playing Candy Land, playing with dolls; doing school work together; talking about school, outfits, friends, and boys; going on vacations as a family or our girl trips with the grandmothers and/or aunts; and seeing her in a wedding dress for the fist time. Those memories are uniquely ours.
Five. She is patient and kind. Is she ever.
Four. She is smart. The girl is amazing with details and numbers. Wow, how I’ve learned to rely on her to catch even the smallest thing that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Three. She is considerate of me. If she is coming into town to meet me, she sends me a text to ask if I want something to drink. She sends me texts to tell me even the most random of things. She asks my opinion on certain decisions. Oh Lord, please give me wisdom to give her good advice when she asks.
Two. She is loyal to her family. Heaven forbid someone says something negative about her family and/or their business. Oh, dear mercy. She has got a spunk about her that I don’t want to cross. She is little but I sure wouldn’t want to mess with her when she’s mad.
One. She is a treasured child of God. She was entrusted to me by the One who loves her with an everlasting love and He sent her from heaven just for me. I am overwhelmed with joy that He did.

I love you sweet angel!
Mom

My Darling Daughter

Have I told you about the best friend a mom can have? Well, she’s my girl. Now, we haven’t always been the best of friends. Middle school and high school about did us in. But we survived and came out on the other side better people for it. We both matured and realized that there might be something enjoyable about this whole mother/daughter relationship. This happened about the time she went away to college. While I always knew she was very special, I realized quickly what a fabulous young woman she had become – independent, capable, smart, creative and beautiful on the inside and out. And maybe, just maybe she realized I really wasn’t a tyrant or trying to ruin her life. Maybe I did know a few things. Maybe we could enjoy the same things. Maybe we could be friends.
Now I am a firm believer that you are a parent before you are a friend. All of my children’s formative years, I knew I had to protect them, discipline them, and teach them. They had plenty of friends to fill that role. I had to sometimes be the bad guy, the voice of reason. No, I didn’t like it but that’s what the job required. Then, like letting go of a rope, I loosened my grip. Ever so slowly, little by little. And that’s when the fun began. I could truly enjoy who my daughter had become.
Let me tell you a few things about my girl: This young woman has the most tender heart you’ll ever find. She has a deep love and compassion for others. While she was in high school, we delivered Meals on Wheels together. She would walk right into the home of an elderly person and before long, she knew all about them. She listened . . . and she cared. She served in Guatemala for several years, giving up her Spring Break to love those who many found unlovable. And she loves her family. She thinks her dad is just the best. (and by the way, he is equally as crazy about her). One memory I have seared in my mind is when she and her dad took the floor for the “Father-Daughter Dance” at her wedding reception. D and I had been so busy preparing for the wedding, I’m not sure we were prepared for this moment. Waves of emotion rushed over me. During that three minute dance, I reached back into my memory bank and saw vividly the most beautiful baby I had ever seen 22 years earlier. With a head full of black hair, she captured my heart forever. I saw her in pig tails and crooked bangs (because I cut them myself once . . . and vowed right then and there never to put her through that again). I saw the girl whose constant companion was a baby doll named Claudia, who we still have to this day. I saw a girl who loved her baby brother who was as different from her as night and day. I saw a girl who had struggled through middle school, braces and all the awkwardness that comes with that. I saw a girl who, throughout the years, has made her family a priority in her life. I saw a girl who loves her parents, her brother, her grandparents and now . . . her husband.
Another thing about my girl . . . she can make me laugh. We have the same quirky sense of humor. Things that are funny to us are not funny to anyone else including the men in our family. They just don’t get us sometimes. But that’s okay because we get each other. And we can do us some serious talking let me tell you. If we haven’t seen each other in a few days, it is non-stop conversation. No one can get a word in. The men have learned to not even try.
And can I just tell you how much fun she is? We have the privilege of owning a business together. We work hard but when you are doing something you enjoy, it doesn’t seem like work. We meet weekly for “staff meetings” (it’s just the two of us) at our local sandwich shop that has wireless internet. We have sat there for hours. Would you believe me if I told you we have had breakfast and lunch there all in the same day? But time just flies by when I’m with her. She continues to bring me immeasurable joy. As a parent, I cannot ask for more. So today, I am thanking God for the amazing blessing her life has brought me. I’m thanking Him for His amazing grace and mercy that covers my mistakes as a mother. For the friendship I thought might never be possible. For the love a mother can only have for her child. I love you, darling girl!