For quite some time now, I have been telling you at random that “I thank God for you every day”.  It’s just another way to let you know how special you are to me and just how very much I love you.  Well, the other day out of nowhere you said Mom…which you say a lot :-), and when I said yes honey you said it to me – “I thank God for you every day”.  It was probably the most precious moment I’ve shared with you since you were born.  It simply melted my heart.

You only have one more year before you head off to Pre-school….that is so hard for me to fathom.  It’s equally as hard to believe just how stinkin’ smart you are!  You know all your months of the year, all the colors of the rainbow, you can count to 100 by tens, you know all 5 senses, and you know all your colors in Spanish!  You’re one smart cookie and you make us proud each and every day!

You are one of the kindest and most caring people we know.  You love animals and people and are such a gentle and loving soul.

Some might call it bossy, but we like to think you are just headstrong and know what you want.  You are quick to tell us, and others, what you want them to do in any given situation.  For example: sing/don’t sing, point/don’t point, sit up/lay down, stop/go, etc.  You are super inquisitive and just can’t seem to get enough information to fill your smart little head.

You are still a super star big sister.  You help me sooooo much when it comes to watching Brady and making sure he is staying out of trouble – like when he has something in his mouth he shouldn’t, or he is about to go somewhere he shouldn’t.  You still love to play with him but have a super bad habit of always taking from him the toy he is playing with.  He is holding his own though – and you might be in BIG trouble a couple of years from now when he’s bigger than you and can really fight back.

You have become quite adventurous thanks to your father.  He has taken you on many “adventures” around our neighborhood:  thorough the forest, over the waterfall, through the brush, and on top of the hills.  You’ve even taken a liking to bug catching and bugs in general – who would have thought!?  You are a big fan of the outdoors and even love eating outside on the patio.

It’s been WAY too long since mommy or daddy posted an update to your blog.  To say life has been a bit hectic is an understatement…

You have matured so much in the past couple of months.  You are learning opposites like near/far, big/small, etc.  You can count to 40 unassisted.  You have taken an interest in road signs, especially speed limit signs, and can even decipher the numbers – 35, 45, etc.  We have started introducing you to the God and the Bible.  Luli lets you play Bible games on her iPad and mommy & daddy read your “My First Bible” book to you.  We also attended a kid friendly church service with Grandpa and Abby – there was lots of singing and lessons and you really seemed to enjoy it!

Speaking of singing, you love, love, love music!  Your first ever favorite song was Carley Rae Jepson’s “Call Me”, but you have since moved onto Pink’s “Try”.  You call it “our song”!  🙂  You not only enjoy the music & singing along (especially the chorus), but you listen very intently to every word.  So far, that song has taught you the meaning of deceiving and ruined.  You also pick up on the emotions – you always want to know why she sounds sad at the end of the song.  Oh, and you recognize different instruments – pointing out the piano and even making note of the background singers – asking if I can “hear her girlfriends singing”.  It’s pretty impressive and makes me wonder how big a role music will play in your life.

You are still smitten with your brother and show him some token of love and affection on a daily basis.  You are one of the few, even maybe the only, people who can make him belly laugh!  Even without trying you will do things that just tickle his funny bone.  He loves to watch you and learn from you – I hope that the two of you will always enjoy the special bond you share.  We always joke that we are “living in the house of crazy” because things just seem to always be hectic…but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

You are an awesome eater!  You love cottage cheese, raw green beans, cucumbers, edamame, mushrooms, salad, olives, and even pesto!  Like your mom, you tend to shy away from meats a bit.  Although you will tear up a talapia fish stick and like the occasional hot dog.  You are great about trying new things – always with the understanding you can spit it out if you don’t like it.  Hopefully you will continue to be an adventurous eater!

It is so very difficult to fathom how it can possibly be time to start thinking about school for you!  But, the time has come.  Our school district offers an awesome Pre-K program at a few of the public schools.  It is a paid program and children are chosen for attendance based on a lottery system.  I am hoping all the times we’ve been unlucky before was just because we were saving up our luck for this one drawing!  🙂

The program would mean you would no longer be in daycare.  Instead, you would spend your day at the public elementary school in a class of 20 children – all your age.  There are 2 teachers to the class and you get to go to the library, the computer lab, field trips, and all kinds of fun things!  It’s an amazing pre-cursor to Kindergarten and provides a wonderful opportunity to ease the stress of the transition from daycare to public school.

Your father and I have already toured one of the schools that offers the program and we are scheduled to tour another one in a couple of weeks.  And yes, I’ll admit it – I started to cry in the middle of the Pre-K room right in front of the teacher during our tour!  I am just having trouble wrapping my brain around the fact that it’s been almost 4 amazingly awesome years since we brought you into this world!  You’ve already turned into such a kind, loving, considerate, passionate, beautiful young girl.  We thank God everyday for all of our blessings.

Well, we got you all dolled up in your pretty holiday dress and talked all the way to the mall about how excited we were to see Santa.  Even in the line you were ready to tell him that you wanted a bike.  Then it was our turn…and the outcome was the same as in year’s past….your cried…A LOT.  But you are a strong little girl…you can squirm with the best of them.  Last year, Santa kept commenting on how strong you were (you were 2) and this year he kept yelling “HURRY UP!” at the picture taker.  We ended up discussing the fact that you never got to tell Santa what you wanted for Xmas!  So we got back in line…and did it all over again!  It was an improvement – there were no visible tears but you were in no way, shape, or form enjoying yourself!  But mommy & daddy were happy because we got a picture of you and Brady together with Santa…and we were able to let him know you wanted a bike for Christmas!  Success!

Luli and Papaw came in town this weekend for an early Christmas – since Luli has to work on the holiday.  Friday night we went to Interlochen and looked at Xmas lights, we had a delicious and fun turkey dinner Saturday night, and this morning we woke up early and headed to Rainforest Cafe for breakfast with Santa!  You were a bit intimidated by all the moving (fake) animals at first…but you did a great job of being brave and ended up really enjoying the experience.

We had a buffet breakfast and then got to go take pictures with Santa…and guess what?!?!?!  You didn’t cry!!!  Afterwards, we continued our annual Build-a-Bear tradition.  You got an Elephant (Ollie) and Brady got a Giraffe (George).  Elephants are daddy’s favorite animal!  Luli and Papaw even got you a super cute elephant cup to match Ollie!  We had a wonderful time and they were so glad to have shared the experience with us.

You have a new hobby – collecting acorns for mom & dad!

It was so cute…about 2 weeks ago you proudly presented me with 3 acorns when I picked you up from school.  I am guessing you found them on the playground during recess.  My hands were full, and I was not quite sure what to do with them, so I put them in my pocket.  As I was tucking you into bed that night you asked me where the acorns were.  I was sure glad you did because they were still in my pants pocket, in the dirty clothes, awaiting their imminent trip to the washing machine.  I promptly took them out and put them on top of the bathroom vanity.

The next morning one of the first things you asked me was the whereabouts of said acorns!  You don’t forget a thing.  I proudly grabbed them from the vanity and showed them to you…thinking that would be the end of that.  Boy was I wrong.  You proceeded to instruct me to take them to work so I could show the acorns to all my friends.  Ha!

I began to wonder when I would be able, if ever, to part with these acorns.  Thinking quickly….like I seldom do….I told you that my friends may be sad that they don’t have any acorns and asked if it would be okay if I shared my acorns with them.  The immediate response was No!  Mommy those are your acorns!

Needless to say…those 3 acorns are still on my bathroom vanity….wondering what their final destination will be…and when they might get there.

Not to worry though – knowing those 3 are safe and sound, you’ve now begun collecting acorns for daddy!  I am sure glad he’s not going to miss out on all the fun. Ha!  We love you monkey!

You love music, dancing, and singing!  Your current favorite song is Carly Rae Jepson’s “Call me Maybe”…it’s an upbeat number with fun lyrics!  You are also big into the Christmas music right now.  Anytime we get in the car you ask for it to be turned on!

Like me, you love to make up songs and will often time just bust out singing for no apparent reason.  You will often ask me to sing about something random…the fan, the dresser, the trees, the lights.  I of course, willingly oblige by making up silly lyrics to a funny tune.  Though the lyrics are not altered, one of my personal favorites is the rap version of Row, Row, Row Your Boat, that I came up with.  It never fails to get a giggle out of you!  We have so much fun singing together!

We just celebrated an amazing Thanksgiving weekend.  Grandma Karen flew down from Iowa and spent the week with us.  We went to Tim and Sherrie’s for Thanksgiving day and you had a ton of fun playing with all the other kids.  We even took the bounce house and the brand new Wii U.  Everyone had a great time and it was a blessing to be surrounded with so much love on such a special day.

We also got to join Colton, Jordan, and Emerson at the Allen Event Center for Disney on Ice!  You wore your Princess dress – you were Rapunzel from Tangled, and had a blast.  It was a little loud in parts but your favorite parts of the show were Rapunzel and Tinkerbell!

We’ve always heard the 3’s are worse than the 2’s….it’s true.  You have been super whiney and fussy lately.  Not about anything in particular just about things in general.  It’s particularly bad when you are tired.  You’ve also taken to a pretty early wake-up time recently – 6:15 to 6:30am, which I am sure is not helping.  

You are doing great with your glasses!  You wear them almost all of the time.  Understandably you get sick of them sometimes but for the most part you are good about keeping them on!  It helps that you look absolutely precious in them.  

You still adore your baby brother and have a knack for making him laugh.  We put him in the shopping cart for the first time last week.  It was at Sam’s where they have the double wide carts so you were able to sit next to him…you both loved every minute of it!  You love to do silly things to make him laugh like throw yourself on the floor or make funny sounds.  When you get him going he actually belly laughs…not just a baby giggle…it’s a full on crack up session!

It’s hard to believe how fast you are growing.  You are so mature and when compared to other children of your age the comments are usually the same – “she’s so well spoken”, “she’s so smart”, “she’s so grown up”!

You are on the fast track to being bi-lingual.  You already know how to count to 10 in Spanish and your dad took it upon himself to teach you all of the colors as well.  You not only took to it, you seemed to really enjoy it.  So, we are moving on to other things like animals and foods.  Fun, fun!

Grandma Karen and Grandpa Bruce came to visit us over the Labor Day weekend!  We did lots of fun things with them but the one we all enjoyed the most was our visit to Sea Life Aquarium in Grapevine Mills Mall.  What a fun first experience for us all!  Probably made more fun by the fact that we went on a weekday to avoid the crowd.  We got to see all kinds of fish, turtles, starfish, seahorses, and other sea animals.  You had a great time and Brady was mesmerized by all the sights, sounds, and colors.

The weekend also marked another first – this one not so happy.  You had your first screaming fit in a restaurant.  You were jumping around the booth, not sitting on your bottom, grabbing at things across the table, and just being ornery.   When I attempted to pull you out of the booth so you and I could go have a little off-site chat you began screaming at the top of your lungs.  It was loud…and embarrassing!  I was thankful you calmed down enough to let me get you out of the booth and in to the lobby area so we could chat.

After reminding you that you would be more successful at getting the things you want if you would just use your words and talk to mommy and daddy, as opposed to screaming and yelling, we both agreed that your behavior had not been acceptable.  We went back to the table where you proceeded to apologize to grandma, grandpa, and daddy and then we all enjoyed a nice dinner.

Unfortunately, the very same thing happened the following night while we were out to dinner at a different restaurant.  This time, we went outside and had another little chat about acceptable behavior (and the fact that screaming is not included in that definition), came back in and apologized to everyone at the table, and then enjoyed the rest of our dinner.  Oh the joys of parenting an almost always very well behaved 3 year old!  🙂

Oh and we have decided you have bionic hearing – you don’t miss a thing!  Not one!   And we know this because anytime we say anything you are questioning it.  Mommy and daddy’s conversations are about to become a lot more boring.

Well, you left the security of Ms. Kelsea’s class and started in your new room this week.  You are officially in Ms. Nadia’s Pre-K class.  That’s right, the pre-cursor to kindergarten!  Where has the time gone?!  

Fortunately, many of your friends from Ms. Kelsea’s class moved up to your new room, too – so you still get to play with Addison, Olivia, and Lauren every day!

Though you were anxious at the thought of leaving your comfort zone at first, you’ve done rather well with the transition!  In preparation, Ms. Kelsea would take you to your new room to visit & you told her you were most excited about the baby dolls.  Not surprisingly, you are often found playing in that corner of the room – baby dolls, kitchen supplies, doll house, etc.  It’s fair to say your first week in your new room has been a success!   

We went to your cousin, Carys’, 4^th birthday party last Saturday – it was at a trampoline park in Southlake.  It ended up being girls day out as daddy stayed home with Brady so he could nap.  

Given your cautious nature, I was preparing myself for a day full of hesitancy and lots of observation.  Much to my (pleasant) surprise you were as eager as ever to get onto the trampolines!  You even jumped into the foam pit – a 3 foot drop off into a pit full of foam blocks!  After you chickened out the first time on that one I was certain you would not make it back.  But you surprised me again when you wanted to get in line a second time and followed through!  

I have to admit, I was a bit hesitant myself (not sure where you get it from 🙂 ), but I ended up having a great time jumping on the trampolines with you.  I am pretty sure you did too since you’ve told me a few times since then that you had fun with me at the trampolines.  You made me feel like a kid again!