3 Years

Molly Grace, you are 3 years old! I just can't believe it! You are the best little thing to ever come into our lives. We love you to the moon and back, forever and ever. You are our little monkey and have brought so much joy and laughter to our home. We prayed and yearned for you for 5 years...you were worth every second of the wait, worth each and every month of disappointment, worth every pill, every bloodwork, every IUI, every tear...you were worth it all and so much more! There's never a night that I don't rock you and thank God for you. I hope you know deep in your heart, every day, how much you are loved and how much you are wanted.

I am so very proud of the little girl you are becoming. You have changed right before my eyes into a beautiful little girl - inside and out. My favorite thing about you is your compassion. You have such a loving heart. You care if someone is sick, you care if someone is hurt or sad. The worst punishment for you is knowing that you have made us sad. I hope you carry this trait with you your entire life. I hope you use your compassionate heart to make a huge difference in the world. I know you will, and I know you will do great things.

Have I ever mentioned how funny you are? You keep us laughing. You say and do some of the funniest things. Your facial expressions and hand gestures crack me up on a daily basis.

You are the smartest little girl I've ever met! No surprise there, though! You are so creative and a have the best vocabulary. You think of so many ideas and you're so fun to have a conversations with now. You talk our ears off!

Sometimes, little girl, you like to rule the roost! You like to keep us in line and tell us what needs to be done. If Daddy or I forget to pick something up or put something away, you let us know about it!

You love all things Princess right now. Your favorite today is Sleeping Beauty, but your all time favorite is Little Mermaid. She was your first favorite.

Your favorite thing to play right now is play-doh. If keeps you busy for the longest time. You make us lots of cookies and cakes.

You still love to be rocked before bed...I hope you always do. I'll be glad to still be rocking you at 16! Ha! You will not go to sleep without hearing 3 songs and they have to be in the right order: Twinkle Twinkle, Bye-O Bye-O Molly, and Jesus Loves Me. Then we have to pray. Sometimes you pray and sometimes you make me. You have to have your white blankie, a sparkly piece of elastic you made Granny buy at Walmart, all your animals, a book under your pillow and now the new Cinderella blanket Granny got you for Christmas. Since your tonsils came out, you sleep all night in your own bed and don't even fight us. It's wonderful!

This year you have grown and changed so much. It just amazes me. You want to do everything for yourself, you're so independent. You're pretty stubborn and headstrong. You like things your way - not sure where you get that! You're a pretty amazing negotiator! You will make deals and try to get your way one way or another!

You love to check our ears and usually say "nope, no tubes"! Bless your little heart, you've been through a lot with your stinkin' ears.

Your favorite thing you did this year was the zoo. You talk about the zoo all the time. My favorite memory from this year was our trip to St. Louis. You, me and Daddy had 4 straight days together doing fun stuff!

You love books...which makes your momma very happy! You love to be read to, but you also like to just sit and look at a book.

You love watching movies. I always swore my child wouldn't watch tv, but you love it so much and you're still really active, so it's OK!

You ask for a brother or sister several times a week. I don't think you really know what you're asking for, though! You love babies when we see them in public.

Daddy said to add that you are very sassy. And that you are! You just have a sassy walk and talk! I love it. I pray that you are always a little sassy!

Molly Grace, I love you so very much. You are the little girl I always dreamed of. I wouldn't change a single thing about you or a single moment we've had together. Happy Birthday sweet girl.

Happy Birthday

I have a 3 year old!! I don't know how it happened, but it happened...I don't have a baby anymore. I don't even have a toddler. I have a little girl!

I'm a day late with my post, but who has time on Birthday Fun Day to stop and blog?! Ha! We had a busy day and all had a blast. It's so fun to spend time just our little family and celebrating our little girl.

We started off the day with a cupcake breakfast. When it's your birthday and you're a special little girl, you can eat whatever you want for breakfast! So we started off with singing, candles and cupcakes.

What can top a cupcake breakfast? Only 1 thing...a Chuck E. Cheese lunch! My child loves Chuck E. Cheese!! Well, not the actual character of CEC...she hates him! She loves the games, tokens, tickets and prizes! We played for a couple hours, got our picture made, and ate some fairly yummy pizza!

The only logical stop after Chuck E. Cheese is Build-A-Bear. We went last year on her bday and she built "Fluffy". I knew which animal she was going to pick as soon as I saw it...a horse! Sure enough, as soon as she saw it, that's what she wanted and there was no changing her mind! She was still pretty painfully shy this year, but definitely more into it than last year. She pushed the pedal by herself to fill him up and even got the heart and put it in the horse herself. I was pretty proud of her! She gave the horse a bath, we made her a birth certificate and MG officially named her horse "Alice" from Alice and Wonderland (her new obsession).

She played on the playground, got a cookie then took a nap!

MG is such a sweet child! She's thankful for every present, instead of ripping one present after another open, she opens one and really plays with it for awhile. We always get a thank you and a smile. I hope she's always so grateful and appreciative.

Molly Grace and "Alice" resting from our big day!

This is the night it all began...3 years ago

It all began 3 years ago on this night. I was 33 weeks pregnant with the baby I had prayed and prayed for. My mom and I spent the day shopping (I'm sure we bought way too many pink outfits, blankets and bows!). I was horribly uncomfortable all day, but just assumed it was normal pregnancy stuff. Later, the whole family sat at Pizza Inn laughing and talking - you know, normal family dinner stuff! Had this not been my first pregnancy, I would have known what was going on. Or had I read past the 33 weeks point in my "What to Expect..." book! But, it wasn't and I didn't!

I remember thinking that a hot bath would fix it all. I can still vividly remember sitting awkwardly in the tub, looking at my belly sticking out of the water and thinking what a miracle was going on in my body! What a blessing! Knowing now how that evening would end, I'm so glad I took the time to really soak in being pregnant. If we're being totally honest, it's probably the last time I will ever have a baby belly to see. So I'm glad that moment, that memory and that image is engrained in my head. I also should add that it's a miracle that I decided to shave my legs that night! HA!

Fresh out of the tub, smelling like my new Victoria Secret lotion I had treated myself to, and snug in my jammies, I sat at the computer making my list of things I needed to register for.

I can see it in my mind like it happened this morning. I know exactly what happened. I know exactly what Jamey and I said to each other. I haven't forgotten a think about this night, 3 years ago. I may not remember what I'm at Walmart to pick up, but I remember every sound, word and action from that night.

Anyway...as I'm sitting and registering for baby stuff, I experienced the scariest (and weirdest) feeling of my life. My water broke. It was so strange because in my head, I knew exactly what was happening. But it was so unexpected and out of the "plan" that it really couldn't sink in. I ran (yes, really ran!) into the living room and told Jamey what happened. We just stood there staring at each other. I remember it being such a surreal moment. Neither of us was panicked yet, but we shared this moment, this look that spoke a thousand words at once. Our eyes and our hearts were communicating what our brains and our mouths just couldn't. I don't know who finally broke the stare and the silence. But somehow Jamey ended up with the phone to call my Dr. I almost made him hang up because I was afraid maybe I had just peed on myself. My oh-so-practical husband quickly snapped me out of it by telling me there was no way I could have peed that much! Yep! That's the words of comfort he said! Ha!

So our journey began (or really just continued in a huge, scary way). I've typed this story before - I'm sure this is the 3rd time! But we ended up at our local hospital. They confirmed that I was, in fact, in labor. I was dilated to a 2. There was no way to stop my labor and it was best if I went to Little Rock or Memphis where there was a higher level NICU...just in case. The 3 words I did not want to hear.

Never in my life have I been so scared, yet peaceful and excited. I was scared of what was going to happen and how my life was changing. But at the same time, I just had this peace. This overwhelming calmness. I knew that my God was holding me. He had already written this chapter of my story, already walked it, and it would be OK. I just knew it!

I do remember the worst part was when the sweet nurse told me that my Dr. was probably going to send me somewhere else. I lost it at that point. My Dr. wasn't there yet and neither was any of my family. And I totally fell apart. I will never forget her, though. She took my hand and squeezed. She told me it was going to be fine. That girls are strong. Then she looked me in the eyes and told that there was absolutely nothing I could've done to cause this to happen. And that's what I needed to hear. I needed to know that my baby wasn't in danger because of something I had done.

So...that's how the best 3 years of my life began.

The most ironic thing is that at this moment - as I'm typing and as it was all happening 3 years ago - there's not a pregnant women in the bathtub...there's a very strong, stubborn, smart, sassy, beautiful, sweet, compassionate 3 year old girl playing and splashing and filling our house with the sounds of family.

Scariest night of my life? Yes! Would I do it again? Absolutely, 100 times over!

So tomorrow we will celebrate. We will celebrate the little miracle that took us by surprise and rocked our worlds from day 1!

Girls Day

I am loving my time off with MG. Things have been so hectic getting ready for Christmas then having Christmases that we haven't really had time for "girl time" together. Today was our day, though! I have to say, I love having a little girl. She's always been fun and awesome and amazing, but the older she gets the more fun she is just to hang out with. She's not a baby I take with me anymore, she's a little person I can have a conversation with. I love it. And in the same breath I hate it that she's not my baby anymore! But that's a different post! Ha!

We spent the morning laying around in bed being lazy and watching Peter Pan. Then we got out for a little bit. Our first stop...looking for bday cakes! She was so excited and knew exactly what she wanted (totally not practical, but she knew what she wanted!). I think she misunderstood a little, though, because she was NOT a happy camper when we left without a cake! In her little mind, we were there to bring a cake home with us right then! A little bribery goes a long way in parenting, though, and she was a happy camper by the time we got to the car!

Stop #2 was a lunch date, just me and her. We pick up food and eat at home together all the time, but she and I have very rarely gone out to eat just the 2 of us. Until recently that just wasn't realistic! It was so nice, though. We went to Subway. She told me exactly what she wanted then sat at the table by me like the big girl she is and we had a really nice lunch.

Stop #3 was a little pampering. MG was long over due for a haircut! She was such a big girl! Granted, I did bribe her with the promise of a really big sucker if she was good, but that's not the point! Ha! She sat up in that chair, let Ms. Brandi put the cape on her and got her little haircut. Not a single tear or whine. She very sweetly asked if I would hold her hand, so I did. I stood beside the chair and we held hands while she got a haircut. That's such a simple little pleasure!

Stop #4 was home for a much needed nap! Since it was our day, I rocked her an extra long time! She fell right asleep, but I just kept rocking and enjoying holding her in my arms. I think I must have rocked for about 45 minutes! Seeing what a big girl she was all day just made me want to hold her a little tighter a little longer!

Once Jamey got home our Girls Day turned into Family Time...the only thing that's just as much fun as Girl Time!

We went to my favorite restaurant, Fuji! Jamey and MG had never been there. My sister and family met us there, too. They cook your food right in front of you. MG was a little freaked out by the huge flames at first, but she loved the food as much as I do! We told them it was her bday so they sang and brought her a cupcake!

We left there and went to Walmart to get a few things. We let her spend her gift card from Grandma while we were there. She picked out the Princess Candyland game - I totally wanted her to have that!! I was really excited that she wanted it too! Reason #3,254 it's fun to have a girl...you get to play girly versions of popular games! Ha!

No fun day (or any day for MG) is complete without a HOT bath, so that's where she went first when we got home. Then we played a fun game of Candyland, watched Angelina Ballerina and rocked some more.

The BEST part of the day??? As we were rocking, she sat up and said "Momma, let's pray". Brought me to tears! I may make mistakes, but the fact that my child thinks to pray tells me that I am doing something right. She says the sweetest prayers! She stopped in the middle and said "what comes now?". Ha! I just love that little girl! I'm so thankful for this time with her.

Christmas 2012

Christmas Day didn't turn out at all like we planned, but sometimes it's the unplanned that makes the best memories...

MG slept in this morning (well, 8:30!) and still had to wake us up. She came into our bedroom. I asked her if she was ready to go look at her toys from Santa and she wasn't too excited. I asked, and she told me she had already looked at her toys! Ha! Little stink! It took her awhile to get woken up, but she never did get too thrilled about her gifts. After breakfast, as we were getting ready to head out, I found out why she was upset. We've been telling her for weeks not that Santa was coming to her house on Christmas Eve. She was mad because she really thought he was coming to her house to visit and play! I had one ticked off little girl because he came, brought presents and left without her getting to see him! That's how our morning went!

Here's a mad MG!

Jamey and I started dating in November 11 years ago. That first Christmas we were together we spent Christmas Day at his parents' house. And we have spent every single Christmas Day there ever since...until this year. They had been calling for a winter storm for a week or so before Christmas. This morning it turned into a Blizzard Warning...unheard of around here! We got ready, though, loaded up the car and headed that way. We only got about 15-20 minutes down the highway before we decided that it just wasn't worth the risk of getting stuck or hitting icy roads. So we turned around and came home. We spent the entire Christmas Day in our jammies, at home, playing with toys and waiting for the snow to fall!

Packed and ready to head to Mamaw's

We were all pretty bummed not to get to be at the annual family Christmas. MG was pretty upset, too. When we turned around, she asked where we were going. When I told her "home", she started crying because she wanted to go to Mamaw and Papaw's house. Broke my heart! But she got over it pretty quickly and had a great day at home.

Honestly, I think unplanned, unscheduled days at home are the best. We had tea parties, played playdoh, layed in bed watching a movie, played on her new LeapPad, made the train track she got, she took 2 hot baths with her new toys and played with Daisy. Today was a day of memories. As much as I hated it, I loved it!

As for that "Blizzard", it started raining in the early afternoon. It turned to sleet early evening-ish and just (10pm) turned into snow. MG will get to wake up to a white day after Christmas!

We are truly blessed. This may have been the best Christmas yet.

Christmas Through Her Eyes

This has, by far, been the best Christmas ever. And it's only Christmas Eve! I cannot even begin to express the joy and pure happiness being MG's momma brings me. Watching her tonight was almost more than I could handle! She is so full of life and energy. She is happiness, she is laughter and she is the magic of Christmas. Every single year with her (even the year she was in my belly) has been amazing. But this year tops them all! She has been so much fun. She loves every present and is so thankful. We've had a wonderful day.

We've kind of made it our tradition to let her open gifts throughout the day on Christmas Eve. She gets to open one, then gets to play with it for awhile before opening another. I really love doing it this way. It fills our whole day with her smiles and cheers! Hearing her squeal with excitement and say thank you was made my heart want to burst! She had the best time. MG is so energetic and fun these days anyway, but opening gifts definitely brings it out in tenfold!

After our day together, we headed to my parents for our annual Christmas Eve dinner and gifts. I LOVE Christmas Eve at my parents house. It's my very favorite day of the year. We have done the same thing for...I don't even know how many years! It IS Christmas to me! Family, together, laughing, loving...yep, pretty fabulous!

MG was in rare form over there tonight. She sang, she flipped, she ran, she totally put on a performance! But at the end of the night, she told us the story of Jesus' birth and told us that it was Jesus' birthday tomorrow...and that's the best gift.

I love hearing MG tell the Christmas story. She told us how Mary rode a camel and there was no room for them so they went to the barn and Baby Jesus was born. The wise men saw a biiiig star and followed it to see Baby Jesus. And they brought his surprises! I love the shopping and gifts, cookies and ornaments, but the one thing I want my baby girl to know is the real meaning of Christmas. I hope she always knows what a special story that is. I hope that story stays in her heart.

After coming home, I really thought she would crash, but she had to open her last gift from us...then she had to play with it "just for a minute"!

As I rocked MG tonight and tucked her into bed, the only thing I could really think of was how blessed I am.

Parental Backfire

MG had quite the attitude this morning so finally I said "well maybe you don't need those presents then, we'll just give them to some other little girls." Her response? "Yeah, we could share them!" Total backfire, but assured me that I must be doing something right! She has such a heart for others.