Happy 12th Birthday to Our Olivia Cate!

Olivia,

You are twelve!!  Can you even believe that??  I cannot.  The countdown to the teenage years is on, and it’s hard to believe that you only have one more year to go.

This past year, you officially moved up from the lower school to middle school, and middle school looks so good on you, girl!!  You have done nothing but thrive in your sixth-grade year, and we are so proud of you.  You are navigating your first year of middle school with grace and ease, and your grades and your relationships reflect that.

You have the sweetest group of girlfriends, and this year, your group has grown even more with all the new students entering middle school.  You never hesitate to welcome new students and make them feel comfortable with their transition at a new place (you are the QUEEN of this!), and this year was no exception… you were quick to befriend a couple of new students this year, and y’all are all so close now.

But as much as you love all your girlfriends, your beloved Jacob is still your bestest bestie.  Every year that y’all get older, I think that you’ll start to grow apart at least a little bit, but you seem to only grow closer.  Your close friendship is truly my favorite thing. 

Your interests are so eclectic, and you are one of the most creative people I know… you like to try anything and everything.  You love to draw and paint, you love to make bracelets, you love listening to music and dissecting the lyrics, you love to sing (but only when you think no one is listening), you will pretty much do any kind of craft available to you, you love to write, you will devour a whole book in a day (but this happens rarely because you are extremely picky about what you like to read), and if there’s slime around, you can guarantee that you’ll have it in your hands.  This year you also taught yourself how to crochet (and you are GOOD!) and to create and edit videos on your iPad.  You also randomly decided that you wanted to learn French, so you downloaded Duolingo and you've been doing it daily for weeks.  Oh, and you loveeee to try new makeup tutorials.  You are still playing guitar and, of course, you are still taking seven different dance classes.  We also can’t forget how much you love to play video games.  Jacob got you started on Clash Royale and it’s pretty much the only thing the two of you talk about now.

Your guitar lessons are coming right along, and this past year, you had the courage to get up in front of a room full of people and do your very first guitar recital.  After being traumatized by singing in front of everyone at your voice recital a few years ago, I didn’t think you’d ever get on stage to perform alone again, but you blew us away.  Your rendition of the Interstellar theme song brought me to tears and you were the favorite of the whole recital by many.  Mr. Steve just loves you, and I love watching y’all together in your lessons.  It’s always such a treat for me to watch you do what you love.

You started your eighth year of dance lessons in the fall which is unbelievable, and you are taking seven dance classes again this year – ballet, tap, jazz, lyrical, musical theatre, hip hop, and pre-pointe.  I’m sure you would have added an eighth class this year if there was one, but you’re currently taking them all.  Haha.  You were awesome in your production of The Little Mermaid last May, and we can’t wait to watch you shine on stage this year in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (even though none of us are really excited about that theme – haha.). 

As for favorite things, here are a few that you have been loving this past year… Taylor Swift (always and forever), makeup and skincare items (especially from bougie Sephora) like Touchland hand sanitizer, lip masks, face masks, e.l.f. lip glosses, Ariana Grande Cloud Pink perfume, OPI nail polishes, and Loveshack Fancy perfume.  Gum, Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuits (or any regular biscuits in general), Culver’s, chicken fingers or nuggets with Chick-Fil-A sauce, big claw hair clips, big flowy hair ribbons, those little Yoplait yogurt cups that are Frozen (movie) themed, ice cream sundaes that you make yourself at Pop and Cokie’s house, water (it’s still literally the only thing you drink), Sheepie, Papa John’s cheese pizza, slime, Palm Pals, dirt cake (that Nana makes), goofing off with Jacob, Clash Royale, sleepovers, Facetiming with your friends, or hanging out with your friends in general.

You started wearing makeup daily this year.  It’s nothing major and you do a really great job of making it look natural thanks to the makeup tutorials you watch on YouTube, but it breaks my heart a little that you’re old enough to even think about wearing makeup.  You typically wear a little bit of mascara and lip gloss, a tiny bit of blush, and sometimes when you’re feeling fancy, a very neutral eye shadow that you can barely tell is there.  It’s always very tasteful, and you do a really great job with it! 

One thing that has changed this past year – you have become the tidiest little lady, and you love keeping your room neat and clean.  You make your bed every morning even though we have never asked you to do that, you tidy your room every single day, and you wipe down all the surfaces in your room and vacuum it almost every weekend.  You started doing all this on your own and I have no idea why (maybe Maren is rubbing off on you since she likes things tidy and clean?), but it’s awesome.  I honestly never thought I’d see the day that you cared about things being neat and tidy, but here we are.

Your love languages are quality time and physical touch.  You always want to be around someone, and you love to hug, hold hands, and give kisses… you are so affectionate and always have been.  At least once a day, you will come find me wherever I am, and you’ll randomly hold out your arms and say, “huggie?” and I’ll give you the biggest, longest hug.    

The older you get, the funnier, kinder, and jollier you get.

And the older you get, the more I love you. 

Happy twelfth birthday to my little bestie and jolly gal!  It is so easy to celebrate you!

Love,

Mommy