A THREE-rrific Birthday!

Merritt turned 3 today! She amazes me everyday with what a lovely little lady she is becoming and how much joy she has brought into our lives. Beau and I always say, "We can't even remember our life without her in it." A few things about our little lady on this 3-erriffic day... She loves nature, this includes animals, plants, and flowers. She can name almost any animal and she loves to show off what noise the animal makes! Her lion roar will put a smile on anyone's face on the darkest day. She has mastered her numbers 1-20 and we are working on her ABC's. Merritt has loved being read to her whole life, something this teacher/mommy is very proud of but recently because of her bedtime routines, she can now 'read' most of her books. She loves to count and is very organized, her toys, food, and art projects most be 'just so.' Yes, I believe she has some of my OCD tendencies but we are working on teaching her to relax and become more easy-going when things aren't perfect. She is very independent and has been for most of her life. She enjoys playing by herself and pretending with her animals and princess dolls. Her favorite thing to do right now is swing, she could swing for hours {and my arms have never looked better because of it}. She is very loyal to her friends {although she will tattle on them if they are not doing what they are supposed to}. On her birthday we took a trip to Austin Botanical Gardens and Zilker Park. We met her friends Quinn and Leah there - aren't the girls so cute on the butterfly chair! Merritt was excited to see the water gardens and explored the cave near the waterfall. She loved to tell anyone who would listen about the animals that live in the water and all the colors of the flowers she saw. We brought little cakes to celebrate Merritt's birthday with her friends. She had the biggest smile as the girls sang 'Happy Birthday' to her. While waiting to ride the train, we explored the park. She wanted to play on the swings, play on the playscapes, and play on the xylophones at the park. Our final stop was to ride on the Zilker Zephyr train. We enjoyed a strawberry snow cone and the breeze during the ride. My birthday girl had such a great day, she even cuddled up and took a little nap towards the end of the ride!

Happy Birthday to the most amazing daughter ever! I love you more and more each day!