The Years Go by So Fast

My good friend, Lara, quoted someone by saying, "When you are the mom of young children, the days can feel VERY long, but the years go by SO fast."  And isn't that the truth?  It feels like only yesterday that I was in the hospital giving birth to my oldest daughter, Savannah Rose, but somehow she is already three years old!

This past Saturday was Savannah's 3rd birthday and this was truly the best one yet!  We had a small family party this year (as opposed to our obscene 60 person 2nd birthday last year).  Savannah was very particular about what she wanted for her party.  She wanted a princess party with chocolate cake and ice cream.  She also wanted to make the cake herself (which she did, with a little help from Mama).

I have to tell you this story.  I decided to take Savannah to the party store to pick out her decorations for the princess party.  I took her all by herself and left her baby sister, Matilda, at home with Daddy.  I thought this would be a special thing for her since we don't get a ton of one-on-one time these days.

We walked up to the store and there were these giant plastic M&M guys (the ones in the commercials that are life-like with the eyes and feet) at the front of the store.  Savannah said, "I don't like those guys".  I said, "it's ok, sweetie, we'll walk by them quickly".  So we did.  But little did we know that these guys (approximately 3 feet tall) were ALL around the entire store.  Savannah had a full on heart-attack thinking they were going to get her.  Every where we turned these guys were there.  She start crying and had me carry her around the store. 

I told her that we had to go by the guys at the front of the store to pay and get out the door.  She agreed to let me walk up that direction though she was upset.  Once I got to the red M&M at the front of the store, I knocked on him really hard to show her he wasn't real.  And all of a sudden, Savannah was fine once she realized they couldn't get her.  So she made me walk around the entire store and knock on every single M&M to make sure they weren't real - let me just say that we got some pretty funny looks from people.  

This event took place over two weeks ago and she will tell anyone who will listen about this traumatic experience.  She says, "I scared of those guys, but we knock on them and they not real".  We have to explain to people that she is talking about plastic M&M's and not real people.  Luckily after all the drama, I took her to get a chocolate milk shake and all seemed to be ok.  It's definitely something I think she will remember for a long time.  It didn't turn out to be the lovely mother-daughter experience I had hoped for, but it was an experience nevertheless.

My little Savannah is such a character and there are a few things I would like to tell her about what she is like today.........

• You love your sister.  You protect her, hug her, and care for her.  You tell us all the time how you don't need any friends because you have your sister Matilda, your best friend EVER!
• You love to try to fix things.  You got a tool set for your birthday and somehow pretty much knew how to use everything.  Including knowing what nuts and bolts were.......who knew?
• You are sugar and spice and everything nice.  Though you know how to push your Mama's buttons by coloring on the walls, ect........at the end of the day, you are truly one of these most loving little girls I have ever met.
• You love to dress up.  You have an eclectic style.  A princess dress, paired with a hard-hat........you are cutting edge, my dear.
• You are really into movies right now.  Little Mermaid is your favorite with Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast following close behind.
• You like Calliou, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Barney and Sesame Street.
• You sleep with your beloved Elmo every night.  One of his arms has almost fallen off and he definitely shows signs of being well-loved.
• You say funny things, like "Mission command has everything under control".
• You say sweet things, like "Asleep in my heart" (though I don't know where you got that) and "I love you, Mama, Matilda and Daddy".  And it just melts my heart when you say, "Mama, you and Matilda are my girls".
• You love your Daddy and look forward to the weekends when you can have "Daddy fun days!".
• Your Daddy and I could not have asked for a more beautiful, caring, sweet, spunky, unique, funny and loving daughter.  We love you SO much!!

Happy 3rd Birthday, Miss Savannah Rose!