"My baby's all grown up and *sniffle*.. and saving China"

When Teagan was little, her favorite movie was Mulan. She loved Mushu the best. She would giggle at his quotes, like when he called Mulan's horse a cow, or when he explained that he was little because he was just 'travel-sized, for your convenience.' I loved the movie, too, but saw it from a little older point of view. I saw the girl who was torn between being true to herself or becoming what everyone expected of her, and of the power that you can find when you trust in yourself. One of my favorite quotes was when Mushu was sending Mulan off to train for the war and he watches her run off and says, "My baby's all grown up and *sniffle* ... and saving China." I knew that one day I would be feeling the same way... minus the saving China part!
With her being our first born, we wondered what kind of parents we should be to help raise her to be as strong as she would need to be in the world she was brought into. What sort of person was she going to grow up into? Would she be headstrong and immovable and solid in her beliefs? Would she be timid and shy and need to be taught to stand up for herself? What did her future have in store for this beautiful little angel Heavenly Father had sent to our family?
As we watched her grow into her personality, we learned just how wonderfully wise Heavenly Father is in sending these children during these last days. She was strong-willed from the get-go. She had her own time schedule, her own ideas of what she wanted, and her own likes and dislikes - all from the time she was tee-tiny! As she was old enough to walk and talk, we saw what a fun personality she had. She loved being the center of attention and loved smiling and making others smile too. She still liked making up the rules of games and dictating what was going on, but she also loved to follow the lead of those she played with. She was a natural star at everything and easily acquired whatever skill she attempted. She was walking by 8 months, talking by a year, reading by the time she was 4...it seemed like everything came easy for her. But there was one characteristic that worried me... Teagan would absorb the personality of whoever she was playing with. If she was with shy kids, that's what she would become. If she played with loud and wild friends, well, that would be who she was for a few days too. It always took a couple of days home alone with mom and dad to 'deprogram' her into being her normal self again. I worried how she would fare when she was older if this kept up.
Here she is today, on her twelfth birthday, and even though I still worry about that trait in her a little bit, she has come a long way from the days when she had to be deprogrammed after playing with friends!

She is still a strong willed little girl, but has learned where to direct it and it isn't used in a bull-headed sense of the term. She knows what goals she has and barrels towards them full speed. She is determined, and jovial, and outgoing. She still loves to smile and giggle and make others happy. Often times she is so excited tears come to her eyes!

She is also to that stage in growing up where you get really goofy at times! She thinks the silliest things are funny and loves to be different and unique. There are days when she goes around the house calling herself "Bob."

She is still a social butterfly and loves to be around her friends, but in the past few years she has picked up a nervous/shy streak as well - I think it comes from being around me too much because it comes in the same situations when I introvert as well.I've tried to teach her to be strong and brave, but I guess my example has also done some teaching in the other direction! Sorry, Tig!

She is so strong and so beautiful and so sure of herself. I worried if she would have issues with her body like all young girls do, but it has never been even a dot on her map. (Sometimes I wish it were a little more of a concern though, she never worries about how she's dressed or what her hair looks like, or when the last time she washed her hair... at six it was fine, but now at 12, we're having to lay the rules down kinda thick! No stripes and polka dots, no green does not match purple, hair needs to be washed every other day....) Teagan continues to absorb knowledge like a thirsty sponge. It amazes me how quickly she understands new concepts and how little explanation she needs to grasp things. She is a year ahead of her friends in school and still just blows through pre-algebra like it was a fluff class.

Her heart is just as full of kindness and love as her head is full of new ideas. I have enjoyed having her in my little family and as my best friend for the past 12 years. I couldn't have imagined a better match for our family!

Having gushed all that... she is still a 12 year old girl! She is indecisive and stuck between the world of playing with Littlest Pet Shop Animals or painting her nails. She wants to watch Magic School Bus cartoons and Disney Channel tweeny shows at the same time. She makes me glad that I am past that part of life - where you have one foot in both worlds and want the best of both but don't know quite how to make it work. I love watching her grow up and seeing how she faces all the challenges life brings her... she's a lot stronger than I was at her age, and I am sure glad of that!

We had a family birthday party for her to celebrate this special day. She chose scones and honey butter and OJ for breakfast, BLT soup and soda pop for lunch, and a spaghetti pig-out for dinner (but we were all so full from lunch that we just opted for a lighter dinner instead of the spaghetti!)

Here are some pictures from her little party:

Daddy lighting her candles before we opened presents.

Emmy was overly excited for her to blow out her candles and was 'helping' from across the table

Tig showing off some of her gifts. She got a subscription to the New Era, some modeling clay from Granny, the book The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan, and some polka-dotted knee socks from Granny. She also got the movie MegaMind from Garrett and Owen and a Lego game from Mom and Dad. She loved all of her gifts and has already finished her 557 paged book!

The other kids loved the 'un-birthday' gifts from granny, too. Emmett really loved the light up, spikey, squishy, air-filled ball the best!

I LOVE YOU, TEAGAN RUTHIE!!!!