Happy Birthday!

It is official all our kids are odd!  Well their ages are all odd, I mean their ages are all odd numbers.  Today Lauren turned 3.  It is the age I fear the most.  Inexperienced moms fear two.  But I would have you know two really is not that bad.  At least that was my opinion until my bouncing, 10lb 5oz, baby girl was pulled into my life!  She was a pretty easy going baby.  She had to be, Lauren has twin sisters that are 2 years older than her and were running in different directions, while she was strapped into a car seat, or stroller, or baby Bjorn...who am I kidding she was too heavy to cart around in the Bjorn!  Kidding again!  She was not that heavy.  Around one year we took her for her regular check up and we were actually told she was underweight and we needed to start putting oil on vegetables.  I might have followed that counsel, but she wouldn't eat those either.  After a year and a half of encouraging her to eat her vegetables, she will at times actually eat a serving.  Twos have been rough with her I will not lie or sugar coat it.  I just really hope threes are much better, if not better please don't let them be worse.

Lauren in a nutshell.  She is adorable. She has a great smile with personality due to thumb sucking.  Her eyes sparkle when she is in a good mood.  She dances and sings.  She loves to play by herself, but also be a part of the big girls club.  She watches her older sisters and tries to mimic them.  She gives really tight hugs, the kind that say "I think you are the best!"  Since she was born I always said she was my medicine, she can make me smile like no other.

On the flip side, you can pretty much guarantee that you will know what she is thinking, she is not one who beats around the bush.  Her mantra is "My way or the Highway!"  I kid you not she WILL be a leader, I just pray it is a good one.  If the way she sets Jackson up for getting into trouble is any indication I apologize now for all the kids she influences later in life.  She knows what "NO!" means and is not afraid to use it, with the emphasis of a foot stomp.  She can scream in decibels only audible to a dog, but just below that it is ear piercing to humans.  She has a powerful scowl, and a completely adorable pouty lip.  She is busy, she is a handful, she is sneaky, she is naughty, she is funny, she is delightful, she is creative, she is ingenious, she is unique.  When she cries her eyes hold more water than the great lakes.  She puts alligator tears to shame, and that makes it all forgivable!  The irony to it all is that I love her even more because of all these things. 

Today is her birthday, I thought I could let a few things slide like let her watch her favorite DVDs ALL DAY.  (Secretly it was a gift to me since it means she would be out of anything else.)  It didn't work, I still had to clean up dry erase marker all over the wall, put her on her bed, protect her from on coming traffic as she tried to put herself into the car, protect books from the special Lauren treatment (aka total destruction), amongst other things.  Needless to say I did bake a birthday cake that is sitting untouched on my stove.

Well it was at the beginning of the post before I added pictures.  This probably why she acts the way she does, for today my excuse is that it is her birthday.  Lauren you are one of a kind, the kind that is irreplaceable, and makes a momma's heart proud!