Three.

July 24th, our sweet Lily turned 3...

It's truly amazing to me that she's already three. It's like we blinked and she went from our baby to this little girl who asks inquisitive questions, remembers things that shock us, and that she knows and understands concepts that surprise us every single day when she shares her world. 

She challenges me in ways that are unexpected. I sometimes have to remind myself that that strong-will she possesses will serve her in so many positive ways in her life.  She's definitely her own person----independent, yet still loves her connection time with both Mama and Daddy differently.  She thinks her big brother is the greatest ever and I'm so grateful that even though there is a 10 year difference between them, they are very close.  That's all my Andrew.  He's so good with her.  I have so much gratitude for him. I hope that they always stay close.

We spent Lily's birthday celebrating her!

 

We put balloons in her room while she was sleeping so she'd wake up and see her favorite pink balloons! Well, around 3:00am, she woke up crying because they scared her in her room. So almost 28 week pregnant, half asleep Mama was scooping 30 something balloons out into the hall and trying to calm Lily.  Not quite what I had in mind.   Of course when she woke up in the morning and opened her door, she was super excited to see all the pink balloons in the hallway so we put them back in her room. :)

Next up, it was my plan to make her pink number 3 pancakes.  She wanted Lucky Charms.  Of course, she did.  I gave her a little bowl of Lucky Charms while I made her pancakes.   We started out in the kitchen eating and then moved out to the back porch to finish up since the weather was so awesome! It was 64 degrees, no humidity --just gorgeous out!

After breakfast, we hung out at home and played for awhile before we headed off to the bakery to get her cupcake.  We decided to try a different bakery near our new house and it was a bust, so we headed off to the one we've always gone to.  The only downside was it ended up being during naptime and she had fallen asleep on the way which means we were trying to keep grumpy girl at bay.  She chose three little pink thumbprint cookies and a cupcake before heading home to nap a little bit.

 

Lily has been asking Daddy for a fishing pole, a pink camping chair and to go fishing, so we decided her birthday was the perfect day! Her daddy loves fishing and I'm so excited that it's something even at this age that she wants to share with him. ♥

There's a pond right down the street from us that's stocked with fish and perfect for easy fishing with little ones.  I love watching them together.  Lily wanted to put her pole in the water and not just the line, kept wanting to throw sticks into the ponds, and she squealed a lot. Not ideal for fishing, but definitely Lily.

When they caught their fish, she was pretty funny about it.  She was excited at first then it flopped a little bit and scared her, so she came running over to me screaming. I couldn't stop laughing!  Daddy kept trying to get her to kiss the fish and she wanted no part of it.

 

 



After fishing, we stopped by George's parents' house for a few minutes to drop something off. Lily twirled in the front yard.

 

We left and headed to get Lily her choice supper of Chic-Fil-A before we went home to sing "Happy Birthday" and let her blow out her candle.  She kept saying it, "Do it again."  So we did.  Three times.

Happy Birthday, Lily!

We love you more than life! You make us laugh, you try our patience, we adore your empathetic ways, love how much you love music, are proud of how smart you are... Keep impressing us, testing us, and teaching us.  We are better people for you being our daughter. It is one of the greatest blessings of my life that I was given the gift of you.