As you know, Della started high school this year, our first foray into the world of truly big kids. And I’m not gonna lie, it’s horrifying. I know full well what high schoolers do when left to their own devices sometimes, so I’m just putting full faith that we’re steering her in the right direction at all times possible and she’s actually listening and taking our advice to heart. Hey, a girl can dream, right?! 😆
But anyway… It prompted me to make some pretty cute comparison photos that I wanted to share for posterity. Here are her first days of elementary and middle school plus last day of 8th grade, then first days of all three. I’ll make them for last day of high school, too. Those will be crazy!
Della just turned 14 and I’m sorry, but that just sounds crazy – 14?! However, the day she was born does feel like eons ago…
ETA – we had her 14-year checkup at the end of August, and here are her official stats:
Height: 5′ 7.6″ (95%)
Weight: 117 lbs. 12.8 oz. (65%)
BMI: 18.12 (32%)
Blood Pressure: 120/60
Not only is she now a full-blown teenager, she’s off to high school! We’re going to be in 3 different schools now for the next 5 years, so that’ll be fun. 😀
Last night of 13!
She remains the unshakable leader of the Rau kids, and we are beyond lucky that she is. The poise and responsibility she shows when she’s in charge is amazing, and the way she makes sure her siblings are 100% ok and everything is taken care of is incredible.
She’s also a wonderful friend, and I’m so happy that she has had such a great group of girlfriends for a number of years now. It gives me comfort that they’re all going into their high school years together – strengh in numbers, right? I’m going to keep telling myself that, anyway, as all of these big-kid years and stressors come our way.
She’s still loving lacrosse and plans to play on the high school team next spring. She’s taken lessons from an upperclasswoman on the team all summer and will be doing some skills clinics with her coach from this spring in the next couple weeks before school starts, so hopefully we can keep her stick in her hands over the fall and winter, too, to get ready for the big leagues on the high school team.
It was cute – she and I were getting her school supplies ready today and ordering the ones she needs, and she already has her color scheme of corresponding notebooks, folders, and binders for each class picked out and ready to go.
Happy 14th birthday, Della Jolee! We love you so much, and the pride we feel watching you grow into this outstanding young woman is immeasurable. Thank you for who you are and everything you do – like I always say, never change for anyone. Here’s to a fantastic year ahead and many, many more birthdays to celebrate!
Della turned 13 a few weeks ago, and it just sounds so crazy to say that we have a teenager in the house now! I always consider myself extremely lucky, though, because time still seems to be going just right. Like the day she was born doesn’t seem like yesterday to me. I don’t feel like life with her has rushed by to get to this point. It’s gone just right, and I cherish every day.
The little tiny girl with the biggest heart I’ve ever known is just growing into a bigger physical version of that self, which I absolutely adore. She is the most incredible oldest sister to this crew of Goonies, even with the bickering with one younger brother in particular that has become much more constant this summer. Ahem. Morrison.
Last sleep as a 12 year oldLast night of 12!
ETA: We had her 13-year checkup on August 22, and here are her official stats, healthy again!
Height: 5′ 6.54″ (96%)
Weight: 111 lbs. 4 oz. (67%)
BMI: 17.67 (34%)
Blood pressure: 112/60
She’s smart, loves to read, wears the big chunky white Converse high-tops that all the teenage girls love right now, yet still plays with her siblings daily. They’ve invented a new game called “Whack and Capture” that sends them racing around our big back yard, chasing each other with a canvas reading pod that you hang from our swing, trying to bonk each other on the head with it then stuff each other inside the pod. Ridiculous, but it keeps them happy, laughing, and running for full evenings on end. My heart fills every time I see it, even though I constantly tell them to stop hurting each other.
Canada fun!
She’ll be in 8th grade this year, her final year of middle school, and we were excited to learn that she got into Algebra for math. Her best friend made it in, too, so I know she’s happy to be in that class together. She’s going to run cross country again this fall, but I don’t know if she’ll run track in the spring again or not. She and Lana still take piano lessons together, but she is stopping band this year so Lana can take over the flute. She loves babysitting for the neighborhood kids, and their parents can’t say enough good things about her.
The beginning of life as a teenager…
This one. Our beautiful first born, the leader of our pack. We love you to the stars and back, my little peanut. Squeaker. Happy 13th birthday, our amazing Della Jolee!!! May you celebrate SO many more. We are so fantastically proud of you, and I can’t wait to see all the wonder you’ll bring to this world!
These past pics and posts are starting to add up! Here are all 13 for this amazing little lady…
Della turned 12 earlier this month, and she’s turning into such a grown-up kid! Notice I say “grown-up kid” instead of just “grown up.” 😉 Plus she’s creeping closer to me in height daily, which is beyond weird.
She’s going to be in 7th grade this year, and I swear some days it seems like she could be about a junior in high school. Not because of an attitude, thankfully not yet!, but because of the level of responsibility and self-awareness she possesses. She is 100% the leader of the Rau pack of kids, and we could NOT be luckier that she is!
An early birthday party in Canada this summer – lucky girl!Reading all the compliments we wrote for her on the letters of HAPPY BIRTHDAY…
She loves playing outside with her siblings and the block friends, the little walking “field trips” that same group has gone on for the first time this summer, swimming, tubing, riding her bike, watching souped-up crafting shows with Lana and Morrison on YouTube, Harry Potter, Legos, reading, earrings, mystery nights at the museum, making quizzes for us on her tablet, Pete’s Pops, and sparkling water. Her favorite color is blue, and her favorite food is BLTs.
She’s looking forward to 7th grade, but not to anything in particular about it. She’s going to run cross country again this fall, which I know she’s excited about. I hope I can make it to her meets again with my new job, because I love watching her pride grow as she gets better and better.
The handprint quilt is finished!
Happy 12th birthday, our amazing, incredible, beautiful, smart, kind Della Jolee!! My little peanut sweet pea is getting so big! May you get everything you want and work for in life, my love, because you deserve it. We love you SO, so much!
ETA, we had her 12-year well check on Sept. 21, and here are her official 12-year stats:
Della just turned 11, and I truly don’t think I know a better human being.
ETA to add her official 11-year well check stats from August 31:
Height: 60.75″ (90%) – she’s over 5 feet tall!
Weight: 85.3 lbs. (55%)
BMI: 16.2 kg/m2 (28%)
Blood pressure: 120/80
She’s beautiful inside and out, smart, creative, caring, and has always had a heart of gold. She just babysat a couple of her siblings for the first time the other day, and I could tell how seriously she took it and how proud she was.
Last night of 10!Last sleep as a 10 year old
She is definitely the leader of the Rau kids clan, and they would all follow her to the ends of the earth and back. Thankfully, they could not have asked for a better role model in their oldest sister.
She loves reading, stickers, playing with the friends on the block (she and a couple of the neighbor girls her age just started a jewelry-making operation, and she is having so much fun organizing, designing, and creating little rings and stuff for the younger kids. she even gets paid from the profits!), doing their crafting and building game on their tablets with Lana and Morrison, dogs and babies, and just being a kid. She’s excited for middle school next year even though it’s giving me anxiety ;), and she did great getting back into swim lessons this summer. She and Lana both passed level 4 after just 1 session.
A toast to the birthday girl and the farmers market flowers she choseFruit pizza by request again for the girl who doesn’t like cake!
We got a beautiful sunny day for her birthday this year – Mother Nature definitely matched the day to Della.
I will never forget the day she was born – it changed my entire being forever. I had never been a girl who dreamed of being a mom, and I actually never thought I’d be a good one because I didn’t particularly like kids. But as soon as the pain and adrenaline and fear of the unknown of that first delivery, completely unmedicated and almost immediate (she was born 20 minutes after we got to the hospital!), was over and I was holding her in my arms back in the mom and baby recovery room, the only thing I wanted from that moment forward was to stay home and take care of her forever. And have like 8 or 9 more babies! That second part was obviously due to the post-delivery hormones coursing through my brain, but the overwhelming love and instant attachment I felt to that tiny baby girl was undeniable. And that is something I know will never change.
Too many fingers old to hold up now!
Happy 11th birthday, our amazing Della Jolee! The universe gave us one of the greatest gifts possible the day you were born, and every day just continues to prove that more and more. You are a gorgeous creature through and through, and I know you’re going to do great things. We all love you so much, my little peanut sweet pea!!
For those who like to read, here are her yearly posts:
I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, and I know I can’t stop saying it, but I STILL can’t believe that Della is finished with elementary school. Our school year ended in June, and the notion that she’ll never be walking back to that school with us again just keeps boggling my mind.
As you know, we went back to in-person school for the fourth and final quarter of this school year. It was, by far, the best decision for us. I was perfectly happy with all 3 staying virtual and at home for the first 3 quarters, but by the time that last spring quarter rolled around and the school week switched to 4 days in person with 1 asynchronous day and the COVID-19 cases didn’t skyrocket and the nice weather started to arrive and the cabin fever started to set in, I was ready to send them back. They were ready to go back, too. And we were SO fortunate that Della and Morrison got to keep their teachers, whom we all loved, because they both went back in person, too. Lana’s virtual teacher ended up not even having her own classroom for fourth quarter so Lana couldn’t have kept her anyway, but she did start helping out with reading groups in Morrison’s class! Plus Lana loved the new teacher she got for that quarter, so win-win-win.
Last time wearing her last-day-of-school dressLast walk home from school all together 🙁One last pass by the dinosaur and purple giraffe house with all of them
I absolutely love our elementary school. Della has had nothing but wonderful days and experiences there, and I’m so sad it’s over for her. Our middle school seems pretty amazing, though, and I know she’s looking forward to her days ahead there. I just can’t wrap my heart around the fact that we’re splitting up. We won’t all be together anymore. She’ll be going there while the rest of us still go the other way. It’s just a fact of life, I’m fully aware, but it still tugs at me. The first piece of my heart is growing up and walking right away from me before my eyes.
Last walk to school together…
Thankfully the school calendar for next year is going to allow us to take Della the first couple of days before Lana and Morrison start. I already promised I wouldn’t get too close if she doesn’t want me to, wheeling the stroller with the twins right up to the 6th-grade waiting area. 😀 Once I have just those first couple dropoffs with her under my belt, I think I’ll be ok. My heart will get those few little moments to keep it full. The start and end timing of the different school days is just close enough that I wouldn’t be able to drop her off first and get over to the elementary school in time walking with everyone. I think if we drove we’d make it, but the walks to/from school are important to me. Believe it or not, I learn a lot in those short times together with all my kids.
Through those doors for the last time…
I’m going to miss her terribly. I know she’s not actually going anywhere and will be home right after us each day, but still. She’s mine, and I miss her when she’s not with me. I think it’ll be weird for the other kids, too, not having their leader with us. I told Lana she has an important role now as the biggest Rau kid at the elementary school. She’ll be in charge of getting Morrison at his door on those winter days when I drive to pick them up and they have to come meet me at the car. And she’ll have to help him get to his door on those same mornings. I hope she’s up to the task!
Oh, my sweet little peanut. I canNOT believe you’re a big middle schooler now, and I hate the fact that our school-days gang is breaking up. But, being the amazingly beautiful person you are, I can’t wait to see where this life takes you. Dream big, my love – you’ll do incredible things. ❤
Della turned 10 a few weeks ago, and I can’t believe she’s in double digits! I always say it, but since we’ve had kids, to me it doesn’t feel like time has flown or stood still. It feels like it’s gone just right. Yes, I can remember the day she was born like it was yesterday, but it doesn’t feel like it was yesterday. It feels like we have known her for 10 years.
She is an absolute dream. (Sidenote: For some reason, it just dawned on me that I think I used to write these age update posts in the first person, like I was talking to each of the kids. Or the direct voice? Whatever that’s called. Geez, I’m embarrassing myself as an editor here. But anyway, I like this descriptive tone better, so I’m sticking with it.) She has a humongous heart, and we could not have ordered a better oldest sibling for the rest of our brood. She cares like a mother, and she takes care of the other 4 without even being asked.
She has become quite the chef! I keep telling her I love to see this, because I have never ever liked to cook, especially as young as the big 3 are. She can make a full meal, dessert and all. They get a monthly kids’ cooking box from America’s Test Kitchen Kids, and she’s all about it. Just the other night she made pan-seared brined chicken breasts with a chimichurri sauce (Morrison got to help with the sauce), chocolate semifreddo for dessert, and Lana made salted green beans with a lemon dressing and zucchini muffins. We were so impressed, because not only did they do it all themselves but it was delicious!
Ryan combined it all and put it over noodles, but that wasn’t how their gourmet meal was originally served. I just didn’t get a picture of the chefs in action. 😉
She’s definitely looking forward to 5th grade this year, and I just really, really hope she gets to spend some of it back in the building since it’s her last year at their elementary school. We’re starting the big 3 at home virtually for the first quarter of this school year, so I can see how everything pans out with COVID-19. If everyone stays healthy and properly distanced and school stays open, we will all be happy for them to go back to the classrooms with their teachers and friends. There’s just no way I want them to be the guinea pigs for it all. Plus, if one of us catches this miserable virus, we don’t have an extra room for quarantining! None of them relished the thought of spending 2 weeks alone in the basement. 😉
She picked up the 4th Harry Potter book again at the beginning of summer, then blew through the rest of the series within a matter of weeks. She loved it! Now we get to work through the movies, which I’m loving, too. I had only watched up through the 3rd one, so I’m enjoying them as much as she is. Math isn’t quite as high on her enjoyment list as reading is, but that’s not exactly surprising. She still loves to ride her bike, play outside, read in her new pod that hangs from the swingset, and play with friends. She’s starting to get to the point where she doesn’t want to play what Lana and Morrison are playing all the time, which makes them and me sad – I don’t want them all to grow up! But every now and then she joins right back in, which they adore. Especially now that she’s read all the Harry Potter books, their trio is back together more often.
Happy 10th birthday, our incredible Della Jolee! You gave me the surprise of a lifetime the day you were born, 8 days early, and my love for you has grown ever since. You are a fantastic kid, peanut, and I know life has wonderful things in store for you. We love you so much!!
