Wow! How did that happen?

13 years ago, I had this beautiful baby girl.  In one quick moment, I was suddenly a mother who was about to bring a tiny 4 lb 10 oz beautiful bundle of sweetness home to love.

From this:

To this:

One year later, in 2003, we celebrated our first year together.  I could not have loved this little girl more!

And this is Princess Belle with her best friend (who will be celebrating her 13th birthday with her this weekend!

This is a picture from 2004 of Princess Belle at 2, hugging me.  She was so tall and slender and obviously going to grow up to be a beautiful girl!

In 2005, at three my girl loved to pick flowers for me, thus starting my love of dandelions.  She was so sweet and curious. 

In 2006, at four years old, Princess Belle was a fun and energetic girl.  Don't you love her beautiful smile?

When she was five in 2007, she entered kindergarten.  I loved her joyful spirit.  This was the year that we began our search which ended up with us discovering that she had high-functioning autism.

2008 was a fun year for six year old Princess Belle.  This was the year she finally became a big sister!  She was thrilled.

At Seven, in 2009, Princess Belle was a dedicated big sister.  She loved her little sister and was thrilled at the end of the year when we welcomed another little girl to our family.

In 2010, at eight years old Princess Belle loved spending time with her baby sisters in our little cabin in the woods.

In 2011, she was nine and starting to be really creative.  She loved all things that she could do with her hands.

When she turned ten in 2012, she was a smart cookie who had ideas on how she wanted to be homeschooled.  She was so excited when we welcomed a baby boy into our family.

In 2013, when she was 11, she had a Harry Potter birthday which was a LOT of fun.

2014, at 12 years old, she was becoming a really cool young lady.  She is so much fun and I loved spending time with her and seeing who she was becoming as she grew up.   She has this cool combination of having fun spending time with her little sisters and brother while also liking big people movies with me and her daddy.

Now today, she is THIRTEEN years old.  My baby girl who came in to this world as a tiny 4 lb baby is now a teenager!  She is a great girl who loves to help me out, who loves her siblings, whose room is always a mess, who loves music, movies, pink, and all things Monster High.