She is THREE!!!!

It's hard to believe that just three years ago, we welcomed this amazing little girl into our lives. I really can't imagine life without her, and life before her seems to all blur together. I think that my life has been divided into life before I was a mom, and life as a mom. I always knew I wanted children, but the impact they have had on my life has been overwhelmingly powerful, and makes it seem like my whole life before 2:15 on July 29, 2007 was just leading up to something more amazing than I ever expected.

We had a great day with our girl. We are saving the bigger festivities for after our vacation, but we made sure to have a lot of special moments today.

When I went to get her up this morning, I said, "Happy birthday, Mairead! It's your birthday!" She said, "mmm, cake, yummy." Then she added, "Balloons. Hats. Blow." Pretty good, I thought! I was so glad that she 'got' the whole birthday thing! The day was off to a good start!


First, a rare picture of Mom with Mairead.


Dave's mom had a really cute birthday tradition when Dave and Ry were growing up. She always did a breakfast present, a lunch present, and a dinner present. I love this idea, so Dave and I do this with our family as well. The breakfast present actually came courtesy of Grandma and Grandpa. They sent a huge box of goodies and we let Mairead and the boys dig into it this morning. I do have video of it that I will upload later, but the highlight of all the gifts was... of course... the box they came in.

Mairead decided the box was a train, so she put on her new hat, said, "Chug-a-chug-a, Choo choo!" and took off. The new baby doll was in the box, and Jack, ever Mairead's shadow, toddled along behind her."



They kids did love the actual gifts, too. Mairead seemed to like the hat best. Jack liked the red ball, and while Mairead and Jack were playing train, Ben was stealing all three of the new blankets.



My mother gave her a very exciting gift this morning, too. A bag of loose change. Since Mairead has recently discovered money and that money leads to shopping at Target, she was pretty excited.

This evening, Dave and I took Mairead out to dinner. I can't remember the last time it was just the three of us, so that was pretty nice. She LOVED it. She knew that something special was going on and she was so happy to have Mom and Daddy to herself. We then went to Hannfords and picked out a small cake. It had a ladybug on it. Mairead was beyond excited and was so proud to go to the checkout and give the lady some money.

The boys got to stay up late and sing Happy Birthday. We had to do it twice, actually, because she loved it so much the first time!

Mairead then spent some time with the very cool new playset that her Aunt Ry, Uncle Dave, and cousin, Rachael, sent. It is this little wooden doll set that includes magnetic clothing. Mairead LOVED it. She was rearranging all of the clothes and having a a great time.

Even though turning three is a scary thought for her parents, Mairead is taking it all in stride. Today, she was overflowing with novel phrases and was making connections like crazy. We are anxious about all of the changes and challenges that will come her way this year, but we are so happy to see her growing up as such an exuberant, loving, smart, sweet, and talented kid. It's hard, sometimes, not to focus on the things she can't do, or the areas in which she is 'behind,' but every single day... every hour, it seems, she is doing something new and amazing. I am sure that this year holds great things for our girl. We can't wait to see her new accomplishments!