Do you ever look at or think about your kids and just feel overwhelmed with love and pride? I’ve had a lot of those days lately… Looking at pictures of the kids or even just thinking about them, I’ll find myself filled with awe and getting choked up over what wonderful people they are growing up into, thinking “Wow… I helped make and raise that person. That’s amazing.”

I became a mom at just 20 years old. I was still a kid, myself, and I had to learn how to be a mother.

My own childhood had its difficulties… My mom went a little bit AWOL for a few years after my parents divorced when I was 9, so my dad had a lot of help from my grandma and other relatives to raise my sister and me. My mom did eventually come back into my life, and even though my childhood was not “normal” at times, I was raised with a lot of love and I was excited to become a mom- even though it happened a lot sooner than I wanted it to. 😉

From the moment Emily arrived, she was the best kid. She was a happy go lucky child, who hardly ever cried or complained, and she was was always making us laugh with her goofy sense of humor and her contagious giggle.

Over the years, that personality has not changed; Emmy is still my most playful child, and she’s very chill and laid back most of the time. Her sense of humor is slightly more warped (she gets that honest, from me) but she is still so funny and a blast to be around. More than that, she has always shown a maturity and wisdom beyond her years, and her loving sense of care and responsibility have always blown me away. Now that she’s entered her young adult years, our relationship has morphed and now she’s not only my daughter but one of my best friends and favorite people to be around.

One of my favorite moments in this life so far was the day Emily found out she was going to be a big sister. Her dad and I had been trying for a long time to get pregnant, and we had almost given up hope that it was going to happen for us, when it finally did. Emily was over the moon and immediately began “practicing” to be a big sister:

Emily is actually the one who picked Caitlyn’s name (after her favorite character on the show 6Teen). The moment Caitlyn arrived, she was absolutely smitten. She was constantly asking to help take care of her, and their sister bond developed quickly; Caitlyn loved Emmy just as much as Emmy loved her. Through the years they’ve fought like sisters do, but they are growing up to be very close, and I absolutely love watching their relationship grow and change.

I knew when Sawyer arrived, Emily would be just as wonderful with him. What I didn’t foresee was the incredibly close knit bond they would have. From the very beginning, Emily and Sawyer have been inseparable; he absolutely adores her and she loves him like he’s her child instead of her brother. I’ve written before about the girls’ fierce love and sense of protection for Sawyer, and it’s beautiful to see, but Emily’s bond with Sawyer is so deep and different than the bond he shares with Caitlyn; family dynamics are fascinating that way, and so precious to me. He gets so excited when she comes home from college, and she goes out of her way to spend time with him and do things for him. Last year when he was depressed over bullying at school, Emily recruited some of her friends at college and threw him a party just for being him; that’s just one of many precious moments of their relationship.

Over the years I’ve watched as Emily has stepped into the role of “little mama”, as I call her sometimes, most of the time without ever having been asked. Responsible and mature beyond her years from the start, she went through a lot during her childhood that most kids don’t and it forced her to grow up a little too fast. She has lived through multiple deployments, her parents’ divorce, and losing her grandparents at a young age. After my divorce, I depended on her for help a lot, and now I regret leaning on her so much; she didn’t deserve to have so much pressure put on her at such a young age. However all that trauma and responsibility have helped shape her into the incredible young woman she is today and every time I think I couldn’t be more proud of her, she proves me wrong.

Emily is an art major in college, which is no shock to anyone who has known her. She has always loved art in all its forms, and she’s shown mind-blowing creativity and talent over and over through the years. From her design work being featured at the state level for Beta Club in high school, to her incredible drawings, paintings, and sculptures she’s created in her college courses, to being asked to design the room keys for her school, her talent is obvious to everyone and I can’t wait to see how far she will go in her chosen career as a ceramicist. To see more of Emmy’s work, follow her art page on Instagram!

Emily is deeply loving and caring, and she has a deep-rooted desire to help people whenever she can. She is a natural caretaker; just yesterday she paid for a little boy’s snacks at a gas station because his cash wasn’t working at the self checkout kiosk, and she didn’t want him to have to put his treats back. Her giving nature gets the best of her sometimes, because she often puts others’ needs in front of her own and works herself to the point of burnout in her jobs because she wants to go above and beyond to do her job and do it well. Emily’s heart is as soft as her beautiful curly hair, and its as big as those gorgeous brown eyes of hers. I look forward to seeing her have her own children one day because I have no doubt she’ll transition from being the best big sister ever to the best mom ever. She will be an incredible mom, and her children will be blessed to have her, just as I am so blessed and proud to be her mom. ♥