TWELVE.

Cassidy turned 12 today. I can’t believe that my baby has one year left till she’s an official TEENAGER.

HELP!

We had a pretty kick back day of pizza and homemade pineapple upside down cake with some friends that came over. She originally asked for Reid Family Tacos™ but then decided to have them on Friday when she had her Birthday Sleepover Extravaganza instead. She also wants enchiladas. And Aebleskivers for breakfast. And bacon. Girl likes her food.

I think her most favorite gift so far is a pajama set that my dad and step-mom got her with a shirt that says “If you knew my mom you’d understand”.

Seriously.

My PARENTS gave her that. I looked past the back handed burn and think it’s actually KIND OF funny. Of course, Ben and Cassidy both think it’s REALLY HILARIOUS.

This evening after I had the put the cake into the oven she plopped herself onto the counter and started cleaning out the batter bowl. For a split second she was four again and had those adorable little curls and no front teeth… and then she burped loud enough to shake the pictures off the walls and BAM! Back to tween.

And I have to admit, I kind of like the tween.

I guess 12 is not too old to sit on the counter in your PJs and eat cake batter out of the bowl.

Happy birthday, Princess.<3

80085

Last week Cassidy was sitting at the kitchen table eating a bowl of cereal and playing with a calculator. She suddenly popped her head up and yelled “MOM! I totally just spelled hello with the calculator! LOOK!” I was like, “That’s pretty cool, right?! Did you know you can spell BOOBS too?!” I didn’t tell her how but she figured it out pretty quickly.

I am a horrible influence.

But I do think that it’s really important to start conversations about things like BOOBS at a young age. I have a friend that is a breast cancer survivor. I also have a friend that is really involved with her local Walk for the Cure campaign. I know a lot of people that have been effected by breast cancer and I think it’s so important to take the time to do something as simple as a weekly breast exam.

I never wrote about it here because I seemed to be in a blogging funk at the time, but about two months ago I was doing a breast exam in the shower and found that one of my lymph nodes was really swollen. A trip to the doctor that afternoon alleviated my worst fear and it turned out that they were doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing and preventing an infection from getting out of hand.

I’ve turned aflux pink for October for the 3rd year in a row. One month to remind women everywhere that it’s SO IMPORTANT to take that minute or two once a week to lather up and check those girls out. One minute of your time can literally mean the difference between life and death.

Also, if you have the time and the means, there are some links over there in the sidebar where you can read more about how to help the cause and learn more about preventative actions as well as ways you can help fight the good fight.