201/365 (Tuesday, July 20th)

Dear Shelby,

you made it.

we made it.

for the most part

all in one piece.

18 years old.

wow.

an adult in the eye of the law.

ready to take on the world

but still the little girl with the

curly hair and purple spandex pants

in my heart.

As you have been told

numerous times since you were four,

my job was not to be your BFF,

that there would be MANY many times

that you would not like me,

but my goal was not a popularity contest

it was to get you to 18 years old

not pregnant, out of jail and not on drugs,

you throw in a high school diploma when

we were told it would not be possible

I think we will mark this down as a success

and the best part of it all?

we still like and LOVE each other.

for now I am still the "cool" mom.

To be honest you probably helped us

grow up and be who we are today

as much as we may have helped you

do the same thing.

We (you, me, your dad) have been been

very fortunate to have a supportive network of

friends and family.

I am not sure we would be sane

(or at least somewhat sane)

without them.

I know you are scared

not sure what the future holds

or what you should do when you grow up

but know, that I am scared too

I have never been a mom to an adult before

you may not have noticed this about me

but I can be a bit of a control freak and a worrier

and I can tell you this for sure

just like you do not receive a copy

of "being a mommy for dummies" book

no one just flips a switch that stops

me from worrying and wanting to protect you.

At this point though I have to take

that leap of faith that your dad and I

have prepared you and provided

you with as many tools as possible

to be successful

and when I say successful, you need to know

that success is defined by your rules

not someone elses.

You are the boss of you and no one can

tell you what you need to think and believe.

No matter what,

you need to know and

UNDERSTAND that your dad and I LOVE you

with all of our being and will always be here for you

and we are very VERY proud of who you have

become...

even if you can be bossy sometimes!

love mom and dad

ps. remember to make good choices during this birthday week extravaganza.

bonus pictures from her birthday party at Matt's grandparent's farm:

her present from Matt,

Chunky the Sock monkey