Kiana, The Ugly Phase, And Me

My little sister, Kiana, insists that she's the only person who reads my blog and that, accordingly, I should devote an entire post to her awesomeness.

Things About Kiana That Rock:

1. Don't be fooled by the blonde hair! Kiki is really intelligent
2. She's an awesome clogger
3. Fantastic singer
4. Has a great sense of humor
5. Great actress! I'm so sad I haven't been able to come to any of her plays :(
6. Her fashion sense is tres chic!
7. She's undoubtedly the kindest person I know
8. She never excludes anybody and makes everyone feel so good about themselves
9. She's great at doing her own makeup and hair
10. Awesome older sister to Caden and Connor
11. Awesome younger sister to everyone else!
12. She's the daughter my mother always wishes she had . . .

My mom always wanted a Kiana. But, as they say, you can't know the sweet until you've tasted the bitter, so instead she got me. The girl who hated wearing bras (TO MY CREDIT: My mother bought me 32AAAAAAs when I needed 34AAAAAAs), who thought acne was "cool" ("Everybody has it!"), who literally didn't think about matching her clothes until eighth grade when a friend made an offhand comment about matching, who wore neon green eyeshadow in family pictures . . .

Oh, people. The list goes on. But my dear mother stuck through it and was rewarded with a daughter who has glided over The Ugly Phase like a ballerina through the air. Things weren't always so dire for me, however. I did have the occasional shining moment where I was more photogenic than Kiana.

This, unfortunately, was not the norm. Kiana won the cuteness game time and time again.

Here below is Kiana at age 14 (she's the blonde). Note the perfectly coiffed hair, trendy Hollister attire, confident pose, and bright smile.

This is me at 14.

It was before a ballet recital. I think I kind of look like a velociraptor.

Exhibit B: My 13th birthday party. My mom thought it would be fun for us to have a girls' night and do mud masks. Becky and I thought it would be fun to put raisins in our teeth and look demented in said masks.

Kiana, I love you so, so much. Mom, I'm glad you're finally happy.