When your baby turns 3 you….

Set up balloons in the house and have that “birthday girl” tiara waiting because this is the first year she actually understands that this is her special day!
Wonder how did we get here? How did these 3 years go by in the blink of an eye?! It feels like just yesterday that we brought home this precious baby girl with a beautiful head of dark hair!

Once again mourn the newborn baby phase. With each year that passes you get further away from “what was” and it’s sad. You slowly start to forget all of those things you promised yourself you would remember.

Thank God for the blessing of this child. You thank him for her health, for all of the hugs, and kisses, but you also thank him for the gentle reminders to slow down and enjoy the moments even now. You thank him for creating her, and all that IS her. She is the sweetest and most strong willed little girl I’ve ever known, but she melts my heart and I wouldn’t trade her for the world – even when she refuses to wear a life jacket on the boat!

Question how much longer you should hold on to the last of the baby items!? That question begins to surface, “are we really done”. It seems so hard to start over with a newborn, but then so devastating to think we are closing that chapter of our lives. The move from 2 years old to 3 years old is very monumental!
Can actually start to have full on conversations and understand what she is saying! Sure, she butchers her words and I giggle at her use of context, but WE are having conversations. It is no longer the beauty of baby jabber.
Relish that phrase “Mommy hold chu” much more than ever! It won’t be too much longer that I can comfortably hold her, and rock her. Someday she will stop asking, and just like that I’ll never hear that sweet phrase ever again.

Begin to love the simplicity of having young children this age. With a 3 year old and an almost 6 year old, life gets easier in many ways but now we are faced with new challenges as they learn and grow. We may get more sleep than we did in the newborn phase, but we are teaching and developing little people who we want to go out in the world with respect and kindness! You remember the parenting mistakes and hope that she doesn’t remember them! We are learning and growing as parents too.
Prepare for a day filled with friends at her favorite spot MONKEY JOES! It just isn’t a birthday party at the Green house without a trip to MJ’s!

Wishing this sweet girl a wonderful year of “3”. The year of the “Three-nager”. Pray for me dear friends!

xo,

Jena