Seven Years Ago

I became a mom! In some ways, I feel like I can't believe it was that long ago, and in other ways, I feel like a real veteran parent - almost can't remember not being one.

Sometimes I can't even believe how lucky I am - Sadie has grown into the most amazing little girl. She is so kind and smart and funny... I love you, SadieBug! Happy Birthday, princess.

It has been a while since I posted any pictures, so here are some recent ones.

Excited for her first day of soccer practice (the pose was all her idea!).

"Surfing"


First Day of School

Getting pampered at her spa birthday party

Modeling matching PJs with Ruthie

Six Years Ago

Dear Sadie,

Six years ago today, I looked down at that tiny sleeping face, and tried to imagine the whole lifetime of things I would need to protect you from. I remember being simultaneously overjoyed and terrified at the prospect of raising this helpless baby. And to think, I really had no idea the amount of joy and pride and love you would bring me, nor did I really understand the levels of irritation, frustration, and hurt I could also feel - for and from you. I don't know how I couldn't have felt the vast emptiness in my life before you filled it...yet somehow, I didn't.

It's been a wild ride, Sadiebug...and I couldn't love you more if I tried. Six years have passed in what feels like a fraction of that time...somehow those long, sleepless nights which I thought would last forever, are such a distant memory that it is almost as though they never happened.

I walked behind you and Abby on the way to school this morning, I looked at you with your enormous (to you) backpack on and listened to you chirp to your best friend about the cupcakes you guys were going to be eating in school in honor of YOUR birthday, and was almost overcome with emotion and the knowledge that as fast as the past six years have gone, the next will fly by even faster.

I think tonight I'll linger just a little longer at bedtime and read you an extra story because unlike six years ago, I am now fully aware of just how fleeting and precious this time is, and how soon it will be gone.

Happy Birthday, Big Girl.

She's Five! (and, a minor rant about toys)

I can hardly believe that five years ago today (well, tonight, actually), my beautiful Sadie made her way into this world. Where has the time gone?!?!? I woke her up this morning by singing Happy Birthday, and the look on her face was just priceless. She said "I'm five! I'm five! I'm finally five!" as if she had been waiting her whole life to be five. I hope it isn't a letdown!

Tonight, we'll have our family celebration for her (her 'real' party is next weekend), and give her the gifts we have. Finding a gift for her was pretty difficult this year. Once I decided what I wanted to get her (a bigger set of Legos than the current, starter set she has now), I had a hard time finding just what I wanted - which is just a basic (read: non-themed) set of Legos. I was amazed to see that even Lego, that staple of generic childhood fun, has succumbed to the appeal of being branded with whatever movie or character is currently popular, and has a very decidedly gender-specific bent to it.

Anyone who has ever shopped for toys in Target knows that they divide the toy area into three distinct sections: Infant, Girls, and Boys. So, first I looked in the girls section, and nowhere, amid the masses of Disney Princess, Bratz, Dora, and Polly Pocket stuff could I find Legos. So, I headed over to the boys area. In my opinion, all the really fun toys were there. There were a ton of things I would have loved to pick up for her, including battery-operated cars and a model rocket. But, since none of them were pink and sparkly, I knew better than to get them, as she would just wrinkle up her nose and say, "those are boy toys." Anyway, lo and behold, Legos must be considered boys toys, too, because it is in this area that I found them. Now, Sadie, who, if you haven't figured it out already, is the girliest of girly girls, happens to love playing with Legos, so it is interesting to me that Target considers them boy toys. Though, once I saw the selection of sets, I realized that it isn't just Target, but Lego itself that has assigned a gender to them, as almost all of the available sets were superhero related.

Anyway, I did manage to find a regular set (though, it wasn't as extensive as I would have liked), and that's what we're giving her tonight. So, anyway, I realize that my rant has overtaken this entry, when the point of it was really to celebrate five amazing years of the Sadie Show. So, Happy Birthday, big girl! We are so lucky to have you in our lives.

Sadie is going to love this

Alyssa, Jim, and Kayleigh's birthday gift arrived yesterday - I'm going to wrap it and give it to Sadie on her birthday. She's been very interested in playing with our digital camera, and she's taken some pretty good shots, actually. I just know she's going to love it. And, I look forward to seeing what kinds of pictures she takes, given free reign over her own camera.

It is hard to imagine life without a digital camera anymore, isn't it? I know this blog wouldn't be half as interesting (it is interesting, isn't it? *insert worried, paranoid look here*) without the inclusion of the photos I take of the kids. In fact, until I invest in one of those digital picture frames I'm interested in, this place (and kodak gallery) are pretty much the only place I display them, since I rarely get prints made anymore.