If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.

 Today we celebrate Pyper - this girl is 17!!!   Hello 17!  Gosh darn where has the time gone child!  You have grown and changed so much over just the last year.  Inside and out you continue to grow and meet each life challenge and situation with smile and at time tears.  You are my watery Pisces to the core - filled with a soft version of love that embraces and haunts you at the same time.  You are so watery and spicey its hard to tell where one ends and the other begins, but it is a great combination for you and your sassy butt.  You love with dreamy eyes and a heart so open it invites everyone in, by the same token you hurt to the point it makes you cry for days and exhaust your head and heart.   You are attempting to teach me to be softer when it comes to the tone of love, relationships and the heart.  I thank you for that - I don't always understand your tears and days upon days of it, but in the same manner you find such joy in the same items that sustain you from the inside

I can hardly choke out the words, 20. You are 20!   Like on purpose.  Like we made it, both of us.   You were my first and my learning curve, every error and success you have been a part of for the last 20 years. There are have plenty of tears, but I hope you look back and recall all the joy, adventure and laughter. I hope you can look back and see a foundation of faith, love, support and hope. I pray you see the importance of friends, family and building a foundation that brings you support and joy at all twist and turns. We no longer have to have discussions of surgeries or walk the halls of children's hospital.   We no longer have to see the orthodontist once a month and let a team of 6 pokes you.   We no longer have to hold our breath about what is next. I know this journey has been stressful and beyond frustrating at times, but dear god you have not idea how inspiring it has been.  When I think of warriors and the things they are made of, you funnel to the top. When

To day is the day we celebrate the midget. Which is hard to say now that she is almost as tall as I am. Daily she stands next to me to remind me that she almost there. 15! What a big year for you. What a big year for all of us as we continue to transition into this new life of ours. I drag you to happy hours, travel adventures, day trips, work adventures and family and friends. You transition so well with all the movement in my world and I could not be prouder of you. You travel between my house, your dads and Katies on a weekly basis. Having 3 places to land, acclimate to and attempt to call home. 3 different beds, 3 different rooms and 3 different houses to transition into, and you do it with such ease and grace. I have tried to fill your space with people to love you, make you laugh and when needed protect you. I have tried to fill your space with strong women, who hustle and smile at the same time. I have tried to fill with your space with men that will make you

With the chaos of the world today I am not sure where to start.. Its interesting to me that I remember being pregnant with you when 911 hit, I was driving into work at a software company in Ladue when I heard it on the radio. I was already so terrified about having a baby, let alone a cleft baby and now a terrorist attack? I remember writing you a letter and placing it in your baby book for you to read when you turned 18. I read it when we packed our stuff and moved out of the house you grew up in. I read it and I cried, tears of sadness, joy and just an overwhelming sense of love. From the beginning my son, have been a great source of compassion and love. You have been a fighter, in a fight you didn't even know you had to fight. You became an example to friends and family, and example of strength and compassion - you never even knew you were setting the tone. You became a baby of a generation of families breaking apart, parents broken on the inside and trying to find

We have migrated from the days of needing me to rock you to sleep, wipe your butt and wipe your tears to her telling me to stand next to her 10 times a day because she swears she is taller than me. For the record she is not, but she is close and perhaps in 6 mths she maybe. When did all of this happen? I have taken the this whole parent thing in stride, basically I am winging it and there are days I am terrible at it. There are days when I wonder whose kids are these and when are their parents coming to get them? Hence, here they are still staring at me daily asking me to be their mom. And I show up, being a mom without a a handbook or real guidelines. I am a mom that has found her self saying she is sorry more than not. I am the mom that hates teenage girls most of the times and wonder what purpose they serve at times other than to remind me that I too was this age and perhaps an asshat. Then I am reminded that teenage girls are stuck in a world of being told they need

Ohh dear gawd we made it to 18! Que the music, Que the balloons, Que the tears, Que the drinks n streamers eight freakn' teen is here!! Senior Graduation is HERE! Excuse me while I turn up the music, jump for joy, hit the bottle, and hug this kid till his arms fall off! Then I'm gonna turn right around and send him on his way, out into the big world. Get ready world here he comes. So I said something to Lance about planning a graduation party for Rylan, and his response to be me was "you don't get a party for doing something you are expected to do, YOU are expected to graduate high school." Well, clearly he can kick rocks. Another gentle reminder of why we are divorced and we see each other in small spurts. This time last year we were bracing for jaw surgery, emotions were running high as Ry was letting me he didn't want to do it, Im telling him he has too. His dad is telling me to wait another year. Blah, blah, blah. Guess what, we had surgery, i