Oh those pre-teen years...

How did they sneak up on me? I could have sworn that it wasn't that long ago that Julia was my little princess who loved having braids and skirts. She was into puppies and dinosaurs (mainly cause that's what her best bud, Ben, played with). Then came Harry Potter--dressing up as him every Halloween. But somewhere along the road, her attention shifted. She was still into Harry Potter, but now she's more into "Who's the guy that plays him? Is his name Dan? And Emma and Rupert play Hermione and Ron?" I should have seen it coming then....

I clearly remember laughing to myself (while I was in shock) at the last birthday celebration that I attended for Amber Grandon. She received a card that had a Hannah Montana song in it and she and Kimberlie went crazy when she opened it. They both started dancing and singing along while I watched in wonder thinking, "When did they grow up into teenagers?" Tiff just laughed and replied, "Oh just wait til it happens to YOU."

Uh, Tiff? I think my wait is over.

Now I'm finding Selena Gomez pictures all over Julia's room. Julia loves seeing Mitchell Musso on TV. She has debates with her Dad over Team Edward and Team Jacob (she's Jacob ALL THE WAY). She sings to all the songs on the radio and is always connected to her mp3 player (her favorite singers at the moment is Justin Bieber and Chris Daughtry). She has to pick out her own clothing--I can't just buy something at the store that I think looks cute anymore. She likes polos and REFUSES to wear skirts to school. And I'm not allowed to do her hair anymore--for the most part. She just likes to have it parted to the side and left down. She and her friends get hyper over music, ripsticks, and each other. High-pitched squealing is now commonly heard coming from her room when her friends are over (which is every day). Ryan watched New Moon with Julia, her friend, and I--he kept rolling his eyes as the girls were squealing/laughing LOUD, burying their faces when they were like "EWWWWWWW, they're kissing!!!" And the fact that she and her friend talked and giggled throughout the entire movie. Julia threw a very teenagerish "OH MY GOSH! They DID NOT end the movie there! But, wait! What does she say?! What happens next?!" Did I mention that she constantly talks our ears off, too? (I believe that is some severly deserved payback to me for my teenagers years)

Ryan is in absolute shock over our daughter's changes. He's quietly told me that he doesn't think that he's going to survive her teenage years. :)

The best was today when she asked if I knew what "The Jerk" is and if I know how to do it.

"Say what?"

"The Jerk, Mom! Come on! Everyone in 4th and 5th grade know how to do it! Don't you?" (You would've had to have been there to hear her tone. It was like, hellllllloooo? Don't you know this? I think Mom's getting old fashioned!)

Check out the videos below to find out what exactly "The Jerk" is:

In case you don't understand, this is the newest dance move--kinda like a backwards running man. She says that it's best to do it along with "Fire Burning" by Sean Kingston. !!!!!!!!