My Sabrina will be a senior this coming fall, and I still can't get over it. She was always the little girl with the huge blue eyes and the wispy, strawberry hair that wouldn't stay in place… she was the buck-toothed toddler bc of her love of thumb-sucking, the too-tall middle-schooler who had a -2 sized waist (and could never shop in the popular 'tween stores the way her friends did bc everything was too big on her)… she was a balm to my soul, and her lisp when she spoke made my life that much more enjoyable.

I'll never forget how she would come home from preschool and I'd have a little conversation with her…

Me: "How was school, sweet girl?"

Little Sabrina: "Good!"

Me: "What did you have for a snack?"

Little Sabrina: "Duht and wuhmth."

Me: "Umm…. what?"

Little Sabrina: "Duht and wuhmth, Mom!"

Upon explanation, I realized this was a snack made of crushed Oreos and gummy worms, placed in a plastic cup with a spoon.

Dirt and Worms. 

Another time, she ran up behind me and threw her arms around my waist, as high as she could reach…

Little Sabrina: "Hey Mom, geth [guess] what I'm doing?"

Me: "Hmmm…. are you giving me a hug?"

Little Sabrina: (giggling) "Nope! I'm thmellin' you butt-cwack!"

I'll leave you to translate that one.

Oh, at the fun my family has had at Sabrina's expense… she has been – and continues to be – a delight. (Okay, I don't exactly speak for her sisters.) She's outgrown the lisp, can now fit into the popular 'tween stores' clothing (although she doesn't care to shop there any more), and prefers sniffing perfumes to butt cwacks. (Thank you, Lord.)

She's now my Big Sabrina, and since she'll be a big senior this year, it was time to get her photos done.

When I first posted a practice photo of her, some of you asked if we were responsible for taking our own senior pictures. The answer is no, we don't have to take our own; there are plenty of studios around here to take senior portraits – and I plan on getting her yearbook photo done at one of them. But Sabrina decided she wanted to pay me a huge compliment by asking me to do them myself. I was honored! Flattered! My goodness, what teenager wants their mom to do their photo shoot?

So we headed out for some practice photos, to see if I could really do it and to see if what I came up with would be satisfactory to her. (I gave her the option of getting a professional studio to do them in case it didn't work out, and promised her my feelings would not be hurt in the least.)

It was a really fun day, and we traveled all over the city to find interesting places to shoot. She was very patient with me, and for that I'm grateful. Photography is certainly a mighty huge subject to learn, and I've got a long way to go.

Here are some of the photos we took that day… and of all the lovely things I remember about my Little Sabrina, there's one thing about Big Sabrina that I'll never forget: she is never without chewing gum (or chipped blue nail polish). Of course, I didn't realize this until I looked at all the photos on the computer monitor. Aaargh!

This one was out of focus, but I still loved her expression…

When the weather isn't so muggy out (which causes my camera lens to fog up horribly), we're going to head back out for the real thing. (I've also been making Breanna help me practice as well, bc Sophie and the dogs run the other way when they see me holding my camera.)

If you're still reading this far down, I'd like to thank you so much for bearing with me while I gush about my girl. As the middle child, she's usually the one who has to float along with what others want to do, and sometimes feels a little forgotten in the chaos. I'm proud of the young woman she's becoming, and that all that chaos has made her the calm in the eye of the tornado.

Either that, or she's still got gummy worms stuck in her teeth and can't speak to argue with the rest of us.

Check back tomorrow to see who won the Giveaway in the previous post. There's still time to enter!