Double digits. My baby girl is now double digits ... a mind-blowing 10 years old. When I was holding Shelby in my arms for the first time that Saturday afternoon way back in 2004, I couldn't imagine making it past a whole week as her mother, let alone a whole decade. But here we are, 10 years later and I'm more grateful than ever the Lord trusted Shelby with me. She is without a doubt one of the best things that ever happened to me (or ever will).

My sweet girl,

At ten ... you are so stinking awesome. You're confident, funny, creative and super smart.

At ten ... you're really digging comic books. You could spend an entire Saturday sitting on the floor of our local comic book store reading through My Little Pony or Adventure Time comics.

At ten ... you love sushi more than anything else. If you get to pick dinner out, you always pick sushi. You're willing to try anything at least once and normally like whatever you try (yes to fish eggs).

At ten ... you are bonkers for One Direction. You know every odd piece of trivia about the band members like what their favorite colors are or what their favorite foods are. You can sing all there songs. You watch their concert DVD on repeat.

At ten ... you are a crusader for all animals. Just this week you found a little bird in our backyard. It was clearly hurt and you scooped it up to keep it from the jaws of our dog and took it to safety. You got it some seeds to eat – chia seeds since that's what we had – and fretted about its well being all the way to school. This summer you want to volunteer at an animal shelter rather than go to camp.

At ten ... you have a crush on a boy at school (I will not spill your secret). You told me you like him "not for his looks, but because he's super cool." I like that about you. You see people for who they really are on the inside and aren't distracted by superficial stuff. You dig deeper.

At ten ... you have some wonderful best friends – Mollie and Ava – and are incredibly loyal. You'll do anything for your friends and you adore them.

At ten ... you want to write children's books when you grow up or possibly be a singer (you're quite the little performer).

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I love you my girl. So, so much. Happy 10th Birthday!