lulu

Lulu. Sally. Laymie Cakes. Laynie Kaiten. Laynie Kate. She's a little sister to her siblings and also to my two boys. She's a cousin, best friend, sister-in-law, and the second best aunt in the world (I'm the best, if your wondering). She's a softball player, a deer hunter, a duck caller, and a skeet shooter. And unless she's shooting a bow, pink has always been her last favorite color.

yep, that's me with a towel on my head. i was getting ready for prom too.

Everyone was a bit surprised that she chose black and pink for her first prom dress.

 Her next big decision was what to do with her hair. She decided that she wanted to wear it the same way her sister-in-law Leah had worn hers during her wedding this past summer. Pretty simple since they both have very curly hair. The difficult part was finding a hair decoration. After several shopping trips, we took apart a headband, used those feathers behind another flower, and added some crystals. 

We had the whole crew there for the get ready party -Nannie, Mrs. Gaye, her momma, sister, sister-in-law, cousin, me, and Eli. He thought we were all there to see him, and he was entertaining everyone.

Lulu only got a little tired of the constant camera clicking. Leah kept reminding her that she did like it no matter what she was saying. Because this is what we know about Lu - she may not be a girly-girl, she may not wear makeup and nail polish, but the girl loves some glitter and sparkle.

 She is not  much on makeup - but neither am I. Her momma made her wear eyeshadow and blush for Dusty and Leah's wedding this summer. She had never had mascara on at all. And she doesn't have pierced ears - those clip on earrings might have pinched a bit when I first put them on, but I think her ear went numb after that and she couldn't feel them for the rest of the night.

Unfortunately, the rain started just before get ready time so there was no going outside and taking pictures. But almost everyone got in a picture with her before the date arrived.

Cousin Emily.

Mom and Dad.



Big sister and nephew.

Lots and lots with the nephew.

Eli just couldn't get over this new look his Lu had going on.

And he wanted to love her up. His lovings can get rough - when he kisses, those baby teeth hurt!

Because I was having to get ready myself, I missed some of the picture taking. And my phone was ringing constantly with one catastrophe or another, and I completely missed the flower exchange and the leaving.

I also missed her big brother coming in and questioning the date, the dates mom having a "moment" over her baby boy going to his senior prom, and the date holding her dress to keep it from getting wet as they ran for the truck in the driveway.

But because I was a prom sponsor, I got to see them at the prom.

I got to snap a few pictures with friends and teammates.

As I was coming in to write this post this morning, I noticed a picture that sits on my bookshelves. It was taken while we were building our house, and Laynie spent many, many days here while we worked.

I looked at the picture and thought, "Can this have been so many years ago?" And then I opened the computer and saw that she and the date were Facebook official. Whaaat?  I think I'll go back to bed now.