Happy Birthday Kristen!

Today Kristen turns 3 years old. My little girl is growing up so fast. She has brought so much joy to our lives. It does sadden me because everyday it seems as if she needs me less than the day before. I love her so so much. It is hard to believe that in just 2 1/2 years she will be starting school. This September she will start in the AWANA cubbies at church and I just smile when I think about her carrying her little bag and learning the songs and pledges. While I am enjoying watching her grow, I do miss the little things, like having to cover her up at night. Now when I go in there she is always under the covers because she can do it "All by myself" as she says. Having to hold her hand on the stairs, having to put her shoes on, helping her down the slide, helping her into the chair to eat dinner. Everyday she gets more and more independent and while I know that is good, I still miss my little girl who needs me. She can now say her ABC's, count to 13, knows all of her colors and some of her shapes, knows her full name, knows how to operate every electronic gadget in our house better than me, and is using the potty like a pro! She loves the Disney Princesses, she likes to wear dresses, she likes to play hide-n-seek, she likes to read and is memorizing some of her favorite books, she loves her EET (her blanket), she likes listening to music and dancing, she likes organizing things into lines and helping me do things around the house, she likes to feel important and needed, her favorite food is pizza and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and she likes bossing our dog Degas around. She has grown so much over the past three years and is developing into such a unique little person and I am so proud to be her mother.