A 3 year old

Today this little 3 day old baby...

is a 3 year old baby. 

(and also the hardest child in the world to get a good pic of)

Please excuse me while I indulge myself with baby pics of her.

Was she really ever this tiny?! 

Dearest Olivia,

Happy 3rd birthday! You are such a handful these days, but also such a joy. You are the absolute sweetest big sister a girl could ever ask for. You are so smart and so mature for your age, so I guess I should actually thank you for throwing tantrums from time to time so that I can still feel like you need me as a parent. Sometimes you act like a teenager already and you want nothing to do with me. In all honesty, it breaks my heart. You tell me Scarlett wants to play with you and when I lay her next to you, you say "go" and point to the door. You tell me to "go over there" when you want to be with Daddy and slam the door in my face when you see I'm coming. You're still learning how to be tactful (ha), and I'm still learning that you really don't need me all the time anymore. In the future I know that sometimes you really will just need Daddy and sometimes you'll just want Scarlett or Grammy or Grampy, but I just didn't know it would already be happening. I wasn't quite ready to let go and let others be such a big part of you life, but (like I said) I am learning and you are teaching me that its okay. Sweet girl, I pray that you will always be happy and never sad or heartbroken or discouraged, but (sadly) I know you will experience those feelings, and when you do I am thankful that you have all these wonderful people in your life to go to when I'm just not the person that can make you feel better. When you randomly say to me during the day "Mommy loves me so much" it makes me feel like I'm doing at least one thing right, and you really do listen when I tell you those words every night. I love doing activities during the day with you, especially when you say "this is fun mama, tanks mama". Or when you see I have a bug bite and say, "you have a owie? I sorry mama" in such a sweet way. What a caring and sweet girl you are. Its so hard to get you to hold still for 2 seconds, but I try to get you to look me in the eyes at least once a day, and when you do (even though it really is only for 2 seconds) I am blown away with how absolutely gorgeous you are. I hope you always know that you are beautiful. Above all I hope you will always remember that Mommy does love you, sooo much it hurts. I never understood that expression until I met you...on this very day 3 years ago. That magical day you made me a Mother.