It’s April and my oldest daughter, Ellary, turns seven at the end of the month. I know it sounds corny to say, but here it is: I literally do NOT know how we hit seven. Seven sounds so old. Riding bikes in the neighborhood old. Drop-off party old.  Gaining independence old. My girl is a complicated jumble of contradictions. She can be so jealous of not being the center of attention, but, when left on her own on a Saturday morning, you’ll most likely find her reading to her baby sister. She rages and screams “you’re the worst mom ever!” when she doesn’t get her way, but pulls my blanket up and kisses my forehead if I’ve gone to bed with a migraine. She is my greatest challenge and, along with her tiny follow-along sister, my greatest joy.

We have seen and learned a lot in our seven years of parenting. From the funny, to the gut wrenching, to the in-between; some lessons learned…

Read the lessons at East Valley Mom Blogs.