Sydney's Three!

Three.  How is it that when you get older time just seems to speed up, and go faster, and faster, and faster?  Three years is how long high school is.  Those years just dragged on and on.  But these past three years have literally flown by.  I have heard it only gets worse the older you get.  I remember oh so well the day I had 3 years ago.  It was one of the best days of my life.  Matt and I went to the hospital bright and early, after laboring all night, ready to move on to the next phase of our lives.  I was so excited to meet this little, active, baby girl, and yet so nervous about the kind of mother I would be able to be.  Would I be able to teach her the things she needed to know?  Would I be able to adequately take care of her?  Sometimes I still worry about those things.  Whether I was ready or not, our little baby was ready to enter life in the world, and I needed to step up and be the best mother I could be.  I have learned a lot from Sydney.  She has taught me how to love on a whole different level.  A level only another mother would understand.  I have learned that doing hard things makes us better people.  Not only was November 8, 2007 one of the best days of my life, it was also one of the hardest days.  It was hard work to get that baby here.  It has also been hard work every day since.  But, it has been the most rewarding work of my life.  I love to look at Sydney and see the little girl she has become in 3 short years.  As Sydney turns 3, some of the things that I love about her are:

How much she loves her little brother.  She loves to play with him, but she likes to choose which toys he should play with- her idea of sharing is letting him play with her toys, but it has to be a toy of her choosing.  She is a good big sister.  When Cooper wakes up from naps, she goes in his room and gives him toys in his crib, so he can be happy until I come in and get him.  Sometimes she even climbs in his crib to play with him.  She will often say, "I love him so much, he's so cute!"

Sydney is a little perfectionist in the making.  She likes to have her dolls dresses lay flat, and have their shoes match, and is very particular in many things.  She is such a great "mommy" and takes such good care of her babies, giving them blankets and kisses before they go to sleep.  Her favorite toy at this age is her Toy Story Jessie doll.  She carries that doll everywhere with her and even sleeps with her.

Sydney loves birthdays.  She always asks who's birthday is next, and has been so excited that hers is next, for a while.  We planned a "ladybug" birthday party for her, which she is so excited about.  Yesterday she danced around the house singing, "it's my birthday, it's my birthday!"

Sydney can be such a nice little girl.  She often tells me she loves me.  She will grab my face and say, "mommy, you're so beautiful!"  She always knows how to make me feel good, and is so forgiving of my shortcomings.  She likes to call me or Cooper "sweetheart" and "honey", which is so cute in her cute little voice.

One thing I have learned as a mother, is how much birthdays mean to moms.  I never realized how much I would treasure my kid's birthdays, because it reminds me of the special day that they were born.  It gives me a chance to remember that my daughter is a special gift, that came from my Father in Heaven.  I am so thankful for such a precious and amazing gift!