Isabelle Naomi | A Moody 13th Birthday Session in Red | Washington
I can feel it.
My season of parenthood is changing as I speak. Today, I become the mother of a teenager.
Wait, really?
Aren’t I too young for this?
Weren’t we just pacing the halls of the hospital, waiting for her arrival, like last week?
No, no I guess not. I am 34 now and that hospital thing really was 13 years ago. Wow.
I sure miss those squishy baby cheeks and that adorable tiny mohawk she had for the whole first year. When Dora the Explorer and Little Einsteins were her favorite things. When she said things like, “lellow” instead of yellow and “merote” instead of remote. When she could play with those Fisher Price Little People for hours.
Yes, child Isabelle was precious and sweet and squishy. But teenage Isabelle is amazing too.
Now she plays basketball, we share books, we enjoy the same tv shows and movies, and she borrows my clothes. She babysits her sister, she does dishes and her own laundry, she gets her own snacks, she texts me funny things, and she tells me which shoes to wear with my outfit.
She scoops the cat litter, y’all. Hallelujah!
She burns through Rick Riordan books, her favorite band is The Fray, she has a MAJOR sweet tooth, she’s got attitude for days, she loves to watch Star Wars, The Princess Bride, The Hobbit, The Goonies, and Avengers.
She still listens to Justin Bieber and sleeps with “Big Bunny”, but shhh don’t tell her I told you that!
She is absolutely beautiful. Like, lock-her-in-a-tower-for-all-of-time-so-no-boys-can-ever-find-her beautiful.
She is kind and moral. Smart and funny. Talented and curious.
But most of all, she is a really great kid. And she is becoming an amazing human that I’m fortunate to share life with.
Happy 13th Birthday Isabelle Naomi.
Here’s to no longer being able to order off the kid’s menu, paying the adult price for admittance to the zoo, and to having to take your shoes off at the airport!
26 EVERGREEN PHOTOGRAPHY 
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