HAPPY BIRTHDAY LILY!!

Today my Lily Bug turns 3 years old.  I REALLY can't believe this!  It has flown by SOOO fast and has been so wonderful.  I love Lily so much.  And this is going to be a big "Lily, you are so special" post that really isn't intended for your entertainment (sorry), it is just for Lily when she gets bigger.  Another Dear Diary post, or in this case Dear Lily.  I have some pictures from the last week and another short blog about it all coming soon, but today is the day I celebrate Lily, so here goes!

I am so happy that Lily is part of our family.  I am not sure what I did to earn the extra special blessing of having her in our family, but I will never thank the Lord enough for her being my first daughter.  She has such a sweet and kind nature, she is incredibly loving and the best big sister and friend to Isabel.  She is full of hugs and kisses and snuggles.  She is smart.  Her ability to memorize things, pick up on new things and speak her mind amazes me.  She is cautious and pretty good at following the rules (for a three year old!) :)

Right now she LOVES to make believe.  We are constantly being told what characters from a movie we are all supposed to be, or what kind of animal she is.  I love to watch her talk and sing to her self and I love to see her include Izzie in her play, dressing her up, handing her toys, even though Izzie is too young and has no clue what is going on.

She loves going to Gymnastics each week at Miss Katie's.  She doesn't really have much natural aptitude for it, but she tries and gets better each week.  She loves it, and it is so nice to see her work hard and get better each week.  She has always been a very cautios little girl and gymnastics is helping her be more comfortable physically.

What I love so much about Lily at this age is that she really is a little person.  Capable of learning and understanding at an alarming rate, expressing herself and doing lots of things for herself (putting on shoes, getting dressed, going potty, etc).  But she is still unspoiled by the world.  She is still sweet and kind and open minded.  I am so scared as she gets older and will be more open to outside influence.  She is such a good (and sensitive) girl, and it is going to be hard for me when she starts caring about what other people think of her or as she has friends that she spends time with, and especially when she starts school.  I never thought I would be, but I have found that I am one of those parents who wishes they could wrap their children in a nice cozy bubble and always watch over them.  Make sure the other kids play nicely and that adults behave kindly and responsibly, I want to be there to counsel her everytime a situation works out negatively for her or everytime her feelings get hurt (which I know I won't be able to) to make sure she doesn't lose her goodness.

I know that it is good for her that in the next couple of year whe will be exposed to lots of new situations and experiences, it just scares me.  Right now it is so easy to make her happy.  I know it won't always be so easy.  I wish that I could just freeze time and savor the moment a little longer.

I love this time, this phase in our life, where our girls are still so young and sweet.  It is flying before my eyes and I am just trying to savor it as much as possible.

I LOVE YOU LILY.  More than I knew it was possible to love.  Thanks you for blessing my life!