Nola's 3

I am actually not at all sure how we have gotten to the point where we no longer have any babies living under our roof??? And I'm not talking about the fact that time passes all to quickly, my babies are all grown...blah blah. I'm ACTUALLY unsure how we LITERALLY survived? Are my children the only carnivores around?? Eat you alive, spit you back out and then mama bird what's left of you to the other one. I kid...Or do !?

Strangely enough I wouldn't change it for the world. Or would I? I kid...

Nola is 3.

I'm pretty used to her not being a baby actually since that stage lasted about 6 months. Since then she's been telling me how it is and, quite honestly, I just let her cause - "ain't nobody got time for that." This child can literally both simultaneously be the light, love and laughter of the home AS WELL AS the rage, anger and "oh-Lord-please-send-me-help-strength-serenity-and-wine" of the house as well.

No but seriously, she is funny almost all the time - a solid 95% of the time. Sometimes she is intentional with her humour and sometimes it's just the innocent comments that she makes on a daily basis. Once this girl hears something once, she files it in the, "I'm-gonna-pull-this-out-when-it-makes-my-parents-look-like-total-failures" part of her brain and she always nails the delivery. Usually we just laugh along side her, further ensuring the #failureparenting status. BUT SHE'S JUST SO FUNNY!!!!

A few of her favourite things are HAZEL!!!! Hazel and Hazel. Did I mention Hazel. When we pick her up from school she can barely contain herself. The second she sees her she runs to her, open arms and they hug so tight. Then she runs off and fulfills her own agenda, usually playing on the school playground, running away from me and basically doing whatever she wants at all times. She's not herself at home or at preschool these days, she's too lost without her sister around. 

Her favourite movie is Secret Life Of Pets, and any princess movie, with Horton Hears A Who close behind. Songs are The Hum (still), Fatboy Slim, "Praise You" and any princess song. She wears about 3-5 different dress-up dresses every single day. She picks out all her own outfits and gets really mad if I try to skip this step and just put her clothes on. Shoes - Forget it!! She's the most picky person ever. They have to look right, and feel right for her to wear them. She loves to paint, cut, write, have tea parties, pretend to make coffee, help me in the kitchen, be outside, go for walks. She loves to spend time with real live babies (who she usually tries to breast feed - no joke), her friends, and her cousins. 

Nola is an extremely challenging child to raise. Always testing the limits, wanting everything the exact way she wants it. She is far beyond her years in the scamming and working the system department. She knows that if Matt says no then she just comes to ask me. When I say no she wants to talk to her Nonna or Nana. The struggle is real. She's working on her negotiating skills and they are already on point. Good thing one of our mottos in this house is to, "not negotiate with terrorists." Most of the time she asks and receives cause I can't think of an argument that makes sense against hers. And most of the time I really don't care to argue about the small stuff. We have enough battles to fight teaching the girls to fundamentally good people so I tend to stick to those battles. 

Honestly, she is pretty amazing. She literally keeps the energy level up every single day in our home. She's always excited, or ready to be excited about just about anything. She's full of light, love and positivity. She loves to do everything! She loves to receive ANY gift - ANYTHING!!! She loves when ANYONE comes to visit! She tells us all she's proud of us all the time. She cheers so BIG and so LOUD for anything Hazel accomplishes, even if it's something she can already do. She's the kind of kid that wants to experience everything life has to offer her. She doesn't let any opportunity pass her by (even if it's naughty).

Her zest for life and her curiosity for the world is totally contagious. I want to go places with her, show her things, hold her hand (if she lets me, which is like, never). I want to watch her little mind be blown, her heart explode and her mind expand with each life experience she logs on her "childhood memories" meter. This year we decided that instead of a 'gift' gift that we would have her favourite princess come to the house and spend an hour with her. It was magic!!! Like pure joy and happiness for every single person regardless of their age.

We all got totally sucked into the moment watching Nola's little face light up with love and belief that Sleeping Beauty was real and was there to sing and dance with her. I think all our hearts were bursting with happiness and joy as we watched them sing and twirl around the living room together. I am telling you it was absolute MAGIC!! I could actually see this leaving a permanent mark on her soul. Maybe she doesn't remember it super clearly when she's older but it did leave a mark. It will present itself somehow in her heart as she grows. I know when she's way older, she'll come across a photo of this moment, hear a song, see a little girl wearing a princess dress, and her heart will feel all warm and fuzzy. She will remember. She will feel love. She will have a desire for magic.

And we do LOVE her so very much. Love seem like an understatement actually. There is not a child out there who gets more kisses, hugs, or snuggles than Nola. She's a very affectionate little lady. As the calendar pages keep turning, my hope is that we can provide her with experiences in life that satisfy her love of all things, we can teach her to be a compassionate human being and guide her to a life that is full of all the joy and happiness a person could ask for. While not ignoring the hard, sad times that are inevitable. For those we will be there to support her and watch them turn her into the person she is becoming. In the meantime, I plan to hug her and kiss her A LOT! Cause time is a jerk and it's taking away my babies. 

Happy 3rd Birthday sweet, smart, funny, loving, beautiful NOLA!!!! xo

My children were both kind enough to be born during the daytime hours so now for the rest of their lives I can take a picture of them (or 10) at the exact moment they start their next year of life. 

This is Nola on November 9th, 2016 at 11:02 am...