It's Official - My Baby Girl is Growing Up!

I know, I know...I haven't blogged in forever, so I have a lot of catching up to do. There's been a lot going on in my life lately, so expect a bunch of catch-up blog posts from me in the next week or so. :) Now, on to my story...

September 23, 2005 - The day my life changed forever...the day I experienced every emotion known to man...the day I became a Mommy for the first time.

I never knew such a love existed, or how a person can be overwhelmed with joy yet terrified at the same time (and more recently how you could love someone so much yet at the same time want to chuck them out the window...lol). As the saying goes - I never knew what it was like to have my heart walking around outside my body. And then my precious baby girl was born and she changed all that. She's brought me so much love, joy, pain, fear, and PRIDE. And now she's growing up. She turned 3 last week...MY GOD how the time has flown! It seems like just yesterday I was carrying her around inside me...then on my hip...and now she's a walking, talking, independant 3 year old who is going-on at least 13. Not only did she just turn 3 - a big enough milestone - but she also started preschool last month, and soccer, and dance class. She's got more of a life than I do! I feel like her personal chauffeur. But, she's doing great with school - she absolutely loves it. She had one rough day where the teacher said she didn't want to play and was following her around whining for me. But, other than that I've gotten nothing but good reports. Here she is on her first day:

Soccer is a bit of a challenge. It's a program run almost entirely of volunteer coaches. The pee wee league had 50+ kids sign up. Of those 100 (give or take) parents, only 4 volunteered to help coach. So.....Josh and I are coaching Ryleigh's soccer team. It's tough! Picture 15 3 and 4 year olds with about 30 second attention spans, all with a soccer ball running around and attempting to be coached by 2 volunteer parents who never even played the game themselves. Lets just say the first few practices were very interesting. ;-) And, our kid is the worst on the team - lol. She rolled around and cried the entire first practice and every practice since then has made no attempt to follow Coach Mommy and Daddy's instructions. I don't think she was quite ready for soccer....she's also the youngest on the team. We should have waited until next year. Oh well...

And, then there's dance. She really enjoys dance class, but again...has a little trouble following directions. However, most of the other kids in her class seem to have the same problem. lol...she'll be having a recital in June. I can't wait to see how she does! It'll be adorable no matter what, I'm sure. I think they'll be doing a 'Good Ship Lollipop' number. How sweet! I can't wait to see the costumes! :)

We celebrated Ryleigh's 3rd birthday twice. Once on her actual birthday - just a small gathering with the immediate family. I let her pick out what she wanted for her birthday dinner and dessert....chicken nuggets and chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Mmmmmm....lol. And then she got to open her gifts from us. Then, on Saturday the 27th we had a big birthday party for her and her baby brother who will be 1 on the 5th of October.

OH...and how could I forget to mention the birthday t-shirt that I made for her! Doesn't she look happy about it?!?!?!? Happy 3rd Birthday, Ryleigh! I love you baby girl!

*Bracelet in this pic made by Melanie from Whimsical Creations: http://www.melaniescrafts.etsy.com/