My girl is growing up

Two birthdays in 8 days! Craziness! What are the chances that I might be able to talk Brandon and Natalie into sharing a birthday party one of these years? Slim, I'd imagine. If I didn't do it this year I guess it's very unlikely to happen at any time down the road. It's difficult to combine a princess party theme with any boy party theme.

Last year Natalie's second birthday was a fly-by-night affair squeezed in eight days after her baby brother was born, six days after we came home from the hospital, the day before my mom had to leave to go back to Virginia. Natalie was suffering from her first illness of any sort, she wasn't sleeping well, and she was miserable with a new baby in the house. Despite her fiercely independent streak, my girl was still so much of a baby herself at the time that she didn't understand why her mommy had a new baby.

I look at Natalie now and I can't figure out at what point during the last year my baby girl grew up, but she did. She's not a baby. She's not even a toddler. She's a preschooler now, I guess. She's my beautiful little girl.

*Another sigh--much like last week's sigh over Brandon's first birthday.*

Why didn't someone warn me that motherhood, once it begins, is a life-long exercise in letting go? Why can't I wrap these little people up in plastic wrap and preserve them just as they are right now? Okay, I say that, but, in truth, I honestly can't wait for the days where they can put on all their own clothing, go to the bathroom by themselves, and buckle their own car seats. At the same time it's so nice to have them here, safe in my protective little bubble, requiring nothing more than construction paper, glue sticks, a little Dora the Explorer, and my love to keep them happy.

Here are some pictures of my Natalie to celebrate her upcoming third birthday.

I think my favorite part is watching the curl progression!