Of Cupcakes and Butterflies: June 2014

Matt and I got married on September 4^th and by the beginning of October we learned that we were already expecting our first addition to the family! Wowza – what a way to kick off life as a newly married couple. We were pretty excited, to say the least.

After six months of horrid sickness finally ending, I finally felt able to really bond with this little life. We found out we were to have a girl and I was over the moon in love with her. I had grand ideas of our life together after her birth and all of her future milestones. I sobbed over the fact that I knew I’d have to take her to a sitter or have someone other than me watch her day in and day out. I begged and begged for us to find a way for me to not have to return to the dreaded work place and not observe every blink of an eye or twitch of a finger each and every day.

When she was finally here I had some of the biggest feelings I’ve ever had in my life. I had always heard people say that the love for a child is deeper and different than any other love out there. This is most definitely true for me. I have adored our three years together. When I see pictures of her from the past I get all nostalgic and remember how tiny she was then – I want to scoop her up and cuddle her all over again. I used to be pretty emotional with each milestone. I remember while I was on maternity-leave she turned 4 weeks old. I read something about baby development and how she was no longer considered a “newborn”. I cried over that! My baby was already growing too fast and I wanted to have more time to hold on to each and every precious moment.

Now as she’s growing and developing more and more with each passing week, I rejoice in her abilities and changes. I still have my sweet toddler that needs me to hold her. Sometimes during mass she’ll want me to hold her the entire time. I’ll soak it up! Someday she’ll be a too-cool-for-mom tween or teenager and maybe not want me to hold her.

In the middle of the night last night she came to my side of the bed and I pulled her in to snuggle. I have no idea how long she was with me, but during those moments she kept hugging me and grabbing my arms to have me hug her. Then after a few moments of silence she very clearly said, “I want to go back to my own bed.” She said it with such clarity that you’d not think she was just 3 years old. I smiled to myself in the dark and placed her back in her bed. I was happy knowing that at the ripe old age of 3 she knows she can come to me at any time. And my arms will forever be open to snuggle or hold, or whatever she needs.

So, my little girl; my Gabbers; Gabs; Gabi-goo; princess; has turned 3. Some of her favorite things are running in circles while singing made-up songs, spinning around and giggling, cutting paper into small pieces, tearing paper into smaller pieces, coloring, reading books, singing all the songs she knows over and over, showing people how to do things (with a temper a lot of the time – whooo! She’s so much like me with that Irish temper), holding hands, taking wagon rides, swinging, building things with blocks and Legos, snatching my phone and taking “selfies”, her baby sister, and laughing. I love her laughter!! You guys, you need to hear her giggles and her boisterous laughs – if ever I have a sad day or a frustrating day, all I need usually is to hear her sweet peals of laughter to know that all really is right with the world.

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

Oh, and here are some snapshots of her over these last few years. I have buckets of photos so I’ve tried my darnedest to only pick a few of my favorites. But who am I kidding – if I let myself I’d probably be THAT person showing you every single little picture I have of her. If this were life pre-smartphones and pictures online, I’d be the gal with a bazillion photos in my purse, just waiting to show this cutie off to y’all!