happy birthday to you...

precious maddie boo boo!!!

in honor of our sweet girls' special day, i thought i would share some of my favorite things about her:

i love the way she doesn't pronounce her "r's"

i love how nurturing she is to her baby sister...when ava "speaks", maddie listens

i love the way it looks like she cut her own bangs...even though she didn't!!!

i love the song in her heart...and i mean S.o.N.G. people...this sweetie wakes up singing...name that tune lately - "go tell it on the mountain"

i love the way she repeats everything ella does and says

i love the way she actually thinks candy is a breakfast food...and asks very seriously in the mornings if she can eat some

i love taking her to run errands with me...she is so easy to be with...and when she asks me things like "mommy, are those decorations?" - it melts my heart!

i love the fact that she knows all the words to john denver's "country roads" and plans on singing it this weekend at her birthday party!!!!

i love how kind and generous she is...she is truly the peace maker of the family. she will gladly give up her seat, a bite of something, or share a toy if she knows it will make the other person happy.

i love the fact that she is not afraid to say when she is sad (aka mommy, or daddy, or ella - "you make me sad")

i love, love, love this child's sense of humor

i love the way she ranks her "na's"...the one with the pink monogram is definitely used "only in case of emergency"!!!!

i love that while she truly has a sweet tooth, she loves to eat cottage cheese, edemame, guacamole, lima beans, & broccoli

i love the way her lips pucker when she says certain words

i love the way that the only letter she recognizes or knows how to write is "m"

i love that every time she counts to ten she leaves out the number 5

i love that she is fiercely independent...insists on washing her own hair in the tub, buttoning up her own clothes, putting on her own socks and shoes, getting her own water out of the fridge...this list would truly be endless!!!!

i love the way she stubs her toes more than any human should (disclaimer: i certainly don't WANT her to stub her toes...but i do think it's a strange phenomenon how much she actually does it!!!)

i love the way she sucks her thumb every time she eats a piece of chocolate because she likes the way it tastes when she does

i love the fact that she must be part irish...she uses phrases such as "where is me na?" and "i want to go to me bed"

i love the fact that she says "no it is" for "no it isn't" and "no it will" for "no it won't"

i love the fact that this time last year...this little girl wasn't hardly saying anything...boy, has she come a long way!!!!!

we love everything about you, madeline! your beautiful "cindy lou who" eyes bring tears to mine and i will never ever forget the day you were born. i was so very afraid that i wouldn't know how to love you as much...but in an instant - you taught me that a mother's love doesn't divide...it multiplies...abundantly.

you add everything good to this family...and i love the fact that we made a "maddie sandwich"...God knew just what he was doing when he placed you in the middle!

we look forward to what your third little year will bring...no doubt, lots of laughs and new adventures! you are an angel and we are SO very proud of you!