last night

we went through a phase before lucy was born when leslie would cry every night before bed because she was scared.  this would usually end with one of us giving in to snuggling with her until she fell asleep or with michael agreeing to sit outside her door.  for whatever reason, this phase just ended one night and she’s been fine about going to sleep on her own ever since…until last night.  as usual, michael took her upstairs, bathed her, and read her a few stories.  he came downstairs.  she cried.  she whined.  she yelled for her mommy.  mommy eventually gave in and went upstairs (and i am so glad i did!).  the encounter went something like this:

leslie:  mommy, i’m scared of monsters.

me:  remember, monsters aren’t real.  do you remember the song you can sing when you get scared?

leslie:  (does a rousing rendition of ‘god is bigger than the boogey man.’)  but i want jesus to come here.

me:  jesus is here, sweetie.  you just can’t see him.

leslie:  no mommy.  i mean, i want jesus to come out of my heart and snuggle with me.

me:  well, you can ask him to do that.

leslie:  okay, mommy.

so this morning, i asked her if jesus snuggled with her last night.  “yep!  he did!  and it was nice.”

i love that kid.

my sweet goose

tomorrow, my baby turns one.  it is so hard to believe that it’s already been a year since our sweet goose arrived in this world.  everybody always talks about how quickly time passes, but it seems like this year has literally flown by!  it’s been an amazing year.

dear lucy,

it is so hard to believe that you’re one!   you are my sweet, smiling girl.  you are content, easy-going, and a joy.  our family is complete since you came into it.  you are absolutely head-over-heels in love with your big sister, and i think the feeling is mutual.  one of my favorite things to hear is the sound of you and leslie laughing with each other.  your first year has been amazing.  i love watching you grow and change, even if it means you are too busy exploring to  snuggle with me.  i can’t wait to see what is in store for you.  whatever it is, one thing is for sure:  you were made for greatness.  i am so blessed to be your mommy.  i love you more than you’ll ever know.

love, mommy

preschool!

leslie loves her new school!  she started the day after labor day (i’m just a little late in posting…) and hasn’t complained once about missing playhouse disney.  her class has sixteen kiddos with two teachers.  on her second day, we were walking to school (we love less than 0.2 miles from the school – awesome!) and i asked her if she was excited to go play with her friends.  she kind of rolled her eyes and said, “mommy…we don’t play at school…we do important work there!”  i’m so relieved she likes it.  here are some pictures from her first day:

this i will remember always

i’m not going to lie.  being the mommy of a three-year-old is the hardest thing i’ve ever done.  my sweet girl tests my patience at least fourteen times every day.  she is bossy and tempermental.  she likes for things to go her way.  she thinks we should have pancakes for every meal.  she is not always nice to her baby sister.  she is three.  and three is hard.  for her and for me.

but then we have moments like this:

me: i love you to the sky and back.

leslie: mommy, i love you all the way to the princess castle and back.

me: that’s pretty far.

leslie: (cupping my face in her tiny hands) yeah, but i can love you that far because you’re my very best friend.

me: you’re my very best friend too.

leslie: yeah, i believe you mommy.  let’s always be best friends, okay?

me: okay.

dear leslie,

i know that it is hard to be three.  it is hard to be your mommy some days because you are three, but the thing i love about you right now is that your sweet spirit refuses to be overshadowed by your three-year-old self.  you are still my sweet, kind, loving princess-girl.  i couldn’t love you more and i promise that we will always be best friends.

i love you to the sky and back.