Ava is Three!

Today our baby Ava is 3 years old!  Even as I type it I can't believe it.  This 6 pound 13 ounce gift changed our lives three years ago today.  She became our world.  And now even as our 27 pound 3 year old she still is our world.

I remember so much about Ava's birthday and I hope to always remember it with such clarity.  I remember both Jeff and I crying when we heard her cry and saw her seconds later. 

I remember nurses from all departments of the hospital coming by to see the "baby that looks just like her daddy."  Some said they had never seen such likeness in all their years of work! 

I remember how tiny but how strong she was.  The evening of her birthday she finally woke up for a while and lifted her head and looked around the room!  Everyone in the room gasped and commented that dynamite comes in small packages.  And wow, were they right!  She is still strong willed and bursting with energy. 

I remember the three of us laying in my hospital bed that night while we watched a movie.  It was amazing; a new happiness we had never felt before. 

I remember the days following her birthday, like Jeff driving us home from the hospital with hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel, traveling at an average speed of 40 mph the whole way home. That didn't last for long.  Ha!

I remember us checking on her almost every hour as she slept in her basinet next to us.  We would use the light of our cell phones to shine over her and make sure she was still breathing.  I don't think we slept for days! Life would never be the same for us. We still check on our baby in the middle of the night.  And we love her even more than we did back then.

Look at how our Ava has grown!

Newborn

1 Year

2 years

3 years old!

A look at birthdays passed........

Happy 1st

Happy 2nd

And Happy 3rd sweet Ava!  You are still our sweet baby only now you talk and run and sing and dance.  You are three! And every day with you the last three years has been a gift.  We love you so much!