Niah's 13th Birthday

First off, I have to say that it's very hard for me to believe that my little baby is now 13 years old. She is no longer a baby--in fact, she is no longer a child. She is now a young lady. . . a BEAUTIFUL young lady. We couldn't be more proud of her.

For her birthday, Niah wanted to return to the Jasmine Moran Children's Museum in Seminole, OK. When she was in kindergarten, her class took a field trip to the museum. This was one of the few school field trips that I was able to attend. I was 8 1/2 months pregnant with Aliya., and I distinctly remember that walking around the museum was a challenge!!

Niah wanted to go back to the museum because she remembered it being such a BIG and FUN PLACE! I knew that it wasn't going to be exactly as she REMEMBERED it because this time she would be seeing the museum through eyes of REALITY vs. eyes of IMAGINATION.

She did get to witness the power or imagination with Aliya, Kiahna, and even Isaiah. Niah enjoyed watching them play in all the different areas because to them, the museum was as REAL as it gets!!! Aliya and Kiahna were convinced that all of the stuff was EXACTLY like it was in the GROWN UP world.

Even though Niah is no longer a child, she still enjoyed exploring and trying out some things in each of the different exhibits. Kiahna dragged Niah into the nursery to "play" with all the babies! This was heaven for Kiahna--she LOVES babies!!!

Aliya and Kiahna spent a lot of time at the grocery store. Aliya was a very serious shopper. She probably would have paid with coupons if they let her!!! Unfortunately, there wasn't a store manager on duty, and the cashier didn't know what she was doing.

Kiahna filled her cart with donuts, cookies, cakes, etc. SOMEONE has a little sweet tooth--which led her to the next section...

Kiahna spent lots of time at the dentist's office. For the past 2 years, Kiahna has claimed that she has a loose tooth--at any moment, it could fall out! Of course, this all stems from watching Aliya loose her teeth one by one over the last 2 years. It has nothing to do with the fact that Aliya got MONEY for her teeth. Nope...not related at all.

Years ago when Niah was getting ready to lose her first tooth, she was scared that it was going to hurt. She didn't want to pull on it--she wanted us to pull it out instead. Her tooth was hanging by a thread, and we knew that she could easily pull it out. We also knew that she would be thrilled and proud of herself once she did. SO....to encourage her to pull it out, we told her that the price per tooth doubles if removed WITHOUT parental assistance. She walked out of the room and within a few minutes, she had a tooth in her hand! She has been ripping out her teeth ever since.

The day was winding down. It was almost time for us to leave. While Kiahna and Niah were playing dentist, TJ went to the front desk to tell them it was Niah's 13th birthday today. She was surprised when she heard this...

Niah, we hope that you enjoyed your special day. YOU are VERY special to us--all of us!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!

Daddy, Momma, Aliya, Kiahna, & Isaiah