Little Miss 3!

Wow!

She's 3. 

3 years ago I had no idea. I had no idea the gifts that would continually unfold in my life by knowing this perfect being. I know I've said it before, and I'll say it again, but this girl is my teacher. I have learned more about myself and who I want to be in knowing her, than I ever did when I was actively searching for the answers to those questions.

I'm so blessed to be given the gift of being her mother.

Look at this little giggle girl. 

Those smiles came from me asking: "who's birthday is it today?!"

(click on any photo to enlarge)

To make this day special...we found balloons with her name on them! 

and spent time in the party store picking out just the right things. PINK streamers, pink blowers, pink frosting, pink sprinkles and a gi-normous princess balloon!

and then we went to town decorating the house!! 

we baked a chocolate cake together...

and I wish I could tell you that we frosted it together too, but sadly, that's all me. 

I think I'll stick to photography. 

It was disastrous. The more I tried to spread the frosting, the more the cake came up into it. It was one of those days where it felt like nothing was going the way I wanted it to, but as I was scowling at the cake a sudden urge to laugh out loud came over me, thankfully. 

Ava loved the cake and it tasted great, more than great, so no harm done. 

I wonder what she'll say to me as an adult when she sees these photos. 

I don't want to know! :)

from the top it doesn't look so bad :)

 You can beat that smile. 

(for all of you who called her and sang to her... this is the smile she had on while she was listening)

This is the truest, most genuine smile she wears!

then, on to...presents in the laundry basket. The tradition lives on. Someone please buy me a nicer basket :)! Mom, how about the one you have (wink, wink).

 Our birthday party guests were Grandma, Grandpa and Lily. So fun to have you there!! Thanks for all your Easter and birthday love, Grandma and Grandpa! We love you SO much!

 Grandma's beautifully wrapped gifts for Ava. 

It was hard for me to watch her tear them to shreds.

On the actual day, I took Ava out to shoot her big girl-ness. I couldn't get her to wear the cute skirt we had picked up just for her birthday (that's the last time I do that), but instead something even sweeter happened. She saw what I was wearing for the day and went into her room to find something as similar as possible. She came back with a hand knit sweater from Nana and asked me, "is this sweater like yours  mama? I want to wear jeans like you and a sweater like you". I was more than flattered. 

(she likes to sit in this tree a lot.)

By the time we took these photos she was "too hot" as she usually is. I swear, this girl wants to be naked ALL the time. Sound familiar mom?! I only let her take off her sweater :)

we saw a Angelina outside who was happy to wish Ava Happy Birthday and show her the caterpillar and rolly poly bugs she caught . Angelina is very sweet. She lives across the green belt from us and I hear her mom yelling at her too too much :( 

Just proof that kids are resilient, and look for the light.

So, It's official. She's 3. 

Thank you to everyone who called, messaged, sent cards and presents. She appreciated it all and felt extremely loved, as did I. 

(opening her card from Great Grandma Green)

What I can tell you about who she is today? I'll just tell you a few of my favorite things:

She's rarely not in some form of what she calls a "pincess dess" (princess dress).

She's usually wrapped up in her imagination, telling us "sto-wies" (stories) about a combination of real and imagined things. 

(telling Daddy a story)

She has an imaginary friend named "Ka-Te" who says mean things, like "I no like you" or "I'm not sharing". When I begin to express my disappointment Ava reassures me, "not me, mama, Ka-Te said that."

She still wants all the attention on her ALL the time

She loves hiding. Hide and seek is a favorite. She tells us where to hide and to count to 4.

She still loves the villains. Her latest The Queen Of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland.

She blows us kisses and waves as we leave the room after putting her to bed. Then we hear her little voice say "I yuve you too. Goodnight". And it melts our hearts. every time.

She has over 8 babies. Oh, Lord! And she takes care of them all, feeding them, holding, walking, talking to them. That's when I get to hear the things I'm doing right repeated back to me AND how I sound when I'm disciplining. She practices saying it all right back to those babies. :)

She rides her scooter like no body's business and can now ride her tricycle all by herself (videos to follow in the next blog post).

She can't pronounce the letter "s" yet in certain words, so replaces it with "f".

I think that's Brad and my favorite thing. We never want that to go away, but then again, we don't want her to be made fun of either. hmmm?
Examples: farkly (sparkly)
                     feetest (sweetest)

need I say more? How cute is that alone?!

Here are some things that she's said that I've made note of because I never want to forget:

on a windy day she asked "is it winding mommy? Look at my hair! It's winding away!"

When one of her friends was sick with chicken pox she asked:
Ava: "does Ayla have chicken pox?"
me: no, there are gone
Ava: "where did she put them?
me: they just disappear
Ava: "did they go to the sky?"
me: maybe
Ava: (looking around) "I can't see them anywhere!"


Passing a store front with a manikin in it modeling a bathing suit, Ava says :"look mommy! It's Barbie!"


On our way to Pilates class, driving down 280 in lots of traffic, Ava says :"Lots of people are going to pilates today!"


One last moment in the car:
Ava was staring out the window. I asked her what she was thinking about. She said:
A: "oh, I'm just thinking about Daddy"
me: Oh yeah? what about him?
A: "about how he loves me. he loves me a lot." 
me: yes. he does.

I could not be a more proud, more in love, mama. 

Happy 3 years of Ava to me, to you and to Ava!