Monkey girl turns 12!

It's so hard to believe that my little peanut, my monkey girl turned twelve today. We celebrated today with a special breakfast (challah french toast, hash browns and strawberries) cards and presents, a house filled with decorations, our second annual mom and daughter birthday pedicures and dinner out of her choosing.

Although there are days where I swear we are never going to survive the teenage years,(and we still have another year until we get there!) to know my sweet Dahlia is to love her.

She is a smart, funny, gorgeous and sensitive young lady. She is always thinking about how she can help others. I see her in the school yard with her friends and with the younger students, my heart fills with pride and joy at the kind of person she has become. She is a mensch.

She couldn't wait to turn 12 so she could sit in the front seat. I have to admit that I have been ooking forward to it. It will be nice to have company in the car. She was beaming as we drove to get our pedicures. Although Noah asked here if she would sometimes sit in the back on the way to school because he'll miss her. (Definitely, a glad you are their mother moment!)

I always tell her that she is the best birthday present I ever got. She was born the day before mine!

Dahlia, my sweet, I wish you only good things. May all the birthday wishes you made today come true for you. You deserve it! We love you very much!

Do you have any birthday traditions?