I bet you are wondering...

Well, today is the day... Please view the beautiful artwork our daughter, Rachel is permanently displaying on her body.

(the redness will go down soon)

After much thought and consideration, we surprised Rachel today with her first (and maybe only?) trip to the tattoo shop. Tomorrow is Rachel's 17th Birthday and the thing she wanted most was a tattoo. We talked, we listened, we debated, we asked for advice and what it came down to is that Rachel is a very good kid and we really have had very little to worry about with her - she gets awesome grades, she stays out of trouble, she is kind to everyone around her, she is a wonderful big sister and role model... basically she has earned the priveledge of proving to us that she is deserving of us breaking the parental rules for her.

I have struggled with this so much, but in the end I left the decision up to Brian. He is after all her dad. I told him that I would support him with whatever decision he made on this topic. He finally decided a couple of days ago that he would allow her to get it. He has a good friend that has a tattoo shop in Lakewood and called and talked to him, getting more advice and information. He said that he would only allow his best guy to work on her, so we were able to make an appointment for today.

We told Rachel that we had dinner reservations and headed down there, she had no idea (at least not that she let on ). We pulled up and she was smiling ear to ear just seeing the word "TATTOO" on the store front. We headed in and she met Shawn, her new best friend. He and all of the people in the shop took the time to talk with her about this being a big decision, where she should get it, how big it should be, etc. I really appreciated all of their help. It's one thing when dad and the step-monster tell you stuff, but when it's coming from people who are living with having tattoos all over their bodies, it's another.

So, she decided on putting the tattoo on her upper back/shoulder area. She still got the stars that represent her brothers and all of her cousins - boys are black, girls are pink, and one red one for her cousin with a heart defect.

She held tough, and of course being the dorky mom that I am, I had to take pictures for the blog and her scrapbook. Hey, I'm still a mom, even if I am trying to be a semi-cool one. I would have to say that to see her smiling that beautiful smile of hers all night made it worth it. I hope she enjoys it for the rest of her life (well I guess she'll have to won't she).