Three years ago today my life was forever changed.  You made me a mommy and the way I thought about everything in life was completely rearranged.  No longer was my life about me, it was about you. Everything I do and every decision I make- it’s all about you.  The love I have for you is not something I can put into words- it’s a feeling I didn’t understand before I was a mom.  It is very overwhelming.

This last year has had its ups and downs.  Fortunately it’s had a lot more ups than downs.  Some of the downs have been you having pneumonia, which was very scary.  The headaches that you complained about for a while- which turned out to be nothing but made me do a lot of worrying.  You were also supposed to have surgery for your trigger thumb but right around the time you were supposed to have surgery the trigger thumb went away and we were able to cancel your surgery, which made us very happy!  We are so thankful that God has kept you safe and healthy!  The biggest thing that happened in this last year is that we moved.  We now live closer to your grandparents because being close to family is very important to us.  Instead of a 3 hour drive, we have a 10 minute drive to visit.

You are such a fun little person!  Your personality is great and you certainly have a mind of your own. You are beautiful, kind, funny, concerned about how others are feeling, silly, smart and very independent. You love to do art projects with me every day and reading books is still one of your favorite activities. You have such an active imagination- one day everyone has to call you Cinderella and the next day you’re Captain Hook.  You keep me smiling and laughing!

You’ve grown up so much in the last year!  When I look at pictures from a year ago you look like a little toddler. And now you seem so grown up at 3 years old.  You sleep in a big girl bed now, you are wearing underwear instead of pull-ups, you sit in a big chair at the table and you want to do everything by yourself.

I can’t wait to see what this year will bring for you.  I love watching you grow up and I love seeing the little girl you are becoming.  I love you my Little Miss… more than you will ever know.  Happy 3rd Birthday!

Love,
Mommy

After a nice relaxing evening at the pool on day 4 we started our 5th day at Magic Kingdom.

I love this picture- we’re all looking at the camera and we’re all smiling!

We got on the train when we entered the park- and Hailey was so excited!

Then we went to listen to Story Time with Belle.  It’s funny because before I had Hailey I remember thinking “who would want to go to story time with Belle?”  Well- Hailey really, really wanted to go- and so did lots of other kids her age.  So I guess that’s who wants to go.  But the story was really cute and Hailey loved it.

Hailey was thrilled to get to meet Belle and talk to her for a couple of minutes.

After story time we decided to take Hailey on her first roller coaster- Goofy’s Barnstormer.

She was excited to go on it, but also a little nervous.

As you can see- she didn’t like it.  She said it was too fast and scary.  And it was a lot faster than I thought it would be.  I knew it was a roller coaster but since kids only had to be 35 inches to ride I thought it would be a bit slower than it was.  The ride didn’t last very long, but the speed was pretty fast and obviously Hailey isn’t a fan of roller coasters yet.

After the traumatic experience on the roller coaster we went to play at Donald Ducks boat for a while.

At first Hailey tried to stay away from the water.  But, it was really hot out and once she realized how good it felt she didn’t want to leave.

Hailey loved this- it was perfect for cooling off- she got nice and wet which kept her cool for a while.

Then Hailey was thrilled to get to meet Tinkerbell!

When Hailey met Alice in Wonderland, Hailey told her that her name was Lilo (from Lilo and Stitch).  So, Alice played along and told her a story about when Stitch hid in one of her tea pots and when it was time for tea, Stitch jumped out and made a mess of everything.  It was so cute and Hailey just loved her story!

Hailey and Rich had to go on the Mad Tea Party ride after Alice in Wonderland told Hailey how much fun it was.  I can not do rides like that, but Rich was brave and went with Hailey.

We enjoyed watching the Dream-Along with Mickey show- Hailey loved it!

Hailey posed with Rafiki.

The Celebrate a Dream Come True Parade was great!  We had a perfect spot right in the front and Hailey was so excited to see all of her favorite characters.

Mickey and Minnie

Hailey loves the Cinderella story and always asks about the stepmother and the stepsisters.  She started asking the day we arrived in Disney World if the stepmother would be there.  So, Hailey was very excited when she saw the stepmother in the parade.  And since we had such a good spot the stepmother even stopped and talked to Hailey and told her, “That’s a mighty fine carriage you have there.”

Hailey in her “mighty fine carriage” watching the parade.

After the parade it was time for our dinner reservation at the Crystal Palace.

The first character to stop by our table was Tigger- Hailey had a big hug ready for him!

Hailey and Eeyore.

Hailey and Piglet.

Hailey and Pooh.

Just before we left, Tigger stopped by again for a hug.  Hailey asked Tigger to bounce with her and they did some bouncing together too.

That evening Animal Kingdom had their Extra Magic Hours for the people staying at a Disney Resort.  The park closed at 5pm but people staying at Disney could stay until 8pm.  So, we went over to Animal Kingdom for the Extra Magic Hours.

Posing for a quick picture on our way into the park.  Hailey was getting tired of all of the stopping for pictures.

We played in Dinoland U.S.A. for a while and went on the TriceraTop Spin.

Since Hailey had renamed herself Lilo (soon after she became the proud owner of a Stitch stuffed animal the night before) she was soooo excited to get to her picture taken with Lilo and Stitch.

Hailey waiting to go into the It’s Tough to Be a Bug show in the Tree of Life.  While we were waiting for the show to start one of the Disney workers asked Hailey if she’d like to help her.  So Hailey went with her up to the front of the show.  I had no idea what Hailey would do because she is usually really quiet and shy around people she doesn’t know.  But when the lady held the microphone up to Hailey’s mouth, Hailey said, “Let’s start the show!”  It was soooo cute!

And that was the end of our fun filled day 5!  We headed off to bed with plans to sleep in a bit in the morning after a long day and Rich’s throat was starting to feel scratchy

On day 4 we decided to sleep in and take it easy in the morning.  We had an 11am reservation for lunch at Hollywood and Vine in Hollywood Studios.  We decided to arrive at the park just before our lunch reservation.

We posed for a picture as we entered the park.

Then we went to our lunch reservation with Leo and June from The Little Einsteins and Jo Jo and Goliath from Jo Jo’s circus.

Leo and Hailey pose for a picture.

Hailey was so excited to meet June!

Jo Jo gives Hailey a kiss.

Hailey loved when it was time to get up and dance with the characters.

After the dancing was over Jo Jo walked with Hailey back to our seat.

We ate for a little while and then it was time for more dancing.

Then Goliath stopped by our table for a visit.

Just as we were getting ready to leave, all of the characters stopped by again.

A hug for Leo.

A big hug for June.

A hug for Jo Jo.

Instead of a hug, Hailey decided to tickle Goliath.

Then we went to watch Playhouse Disney live on stage.  This was definitely Hailey’s favorite show of everything we saw the whole week.  She LOVED it!!

Hailey enjoying the show.

Mickey, Donald, Goofy and Daisy on stage planning how to surprise Minnie for her birthday.  All of the Playhouse characters were in the show- Little Einsteins and Handy Manny too.

After the show Hailey got to meet some more characters:

Hailey with Handy Manny.

Hailey gave Quincy a big hug.

Then we went on some rides and saw some more shows.

Hailey was hot and tired during the Backstage Studio Tour.

But when she saw Sulley after we finished the Backstage Studio Tour she was all smiles again.

Hailey posing with Stinky Pete.

Hailey was very impressed with Buzz and Woody.  We were all kind of surprised about how tall Woody was- Hailey told Buzz he looked small next to Woody.

We enjoyed the Block Party Bash with lots of fun characters.

We went to some more rides and attractions.  We actually waited the longest we waited in any line for the new Toy Story ride- Toy Story Midway Mania.  For the most part we didn’t really wait in any lines for more than 5-10 minutes for our entire trip (this time of year is a great time to go!).  We had a Fastpass for this ride and waited about 15 minutes- otherwise it would have been an hour long wait.  I didn’t get any pictures of this ride but it was a lot of fun!  But other than than Toy Story Midway Mania we didn’t see many rides with wait long times.

We went back to our hotel and had dinner and then relaxed at the pool.

Hailey was ready to get in!

Hailey and Rich in the pool.

Hailey playing in the kiddy pool.

And that was the end of a fun filled day 4!

On our 3rd day at Disney we got started bright and early at Epcot.  We were there when the park opened for a breakfast reservation at Akershus- a breakfast where princesses stop by your table while you’re eating to visit you.

We posed for a quick picture on our way into the park.  Then we headed right for our breakfast reservation.

Hailey and Belle smile for a picture on our way into the restaurant.

Hailey and Sleeping Beauty.

Hailey and Snow White.

Hailey and Cinderella.

Hailey and Ariel.  Notice Hailey’s scrunched up nose in all of her pictures?  That is how she smiles these days

After breakfast we made our way around the World Showcase to check out the various countries.

We found Mulan (I think?) in China and Hailey wanted her picture with her.  None of us were actually sure who she was, but my guess was Mulan.

Me and Hailey in Germany.

Then we spotted Snow White with no line, so Hailey had to stop and give her a quick hug.

The three of us in Morocco.

We have this spray bottle that is also a fan that was supposed to keep us cool.  Hailey loved using it to water all of the flowers.

Then we saw Sleeping Beauty again and Hailey had to stop and talk to her.  Here Hailey was explaining that her name was Justin, not Hailey.  Sleeping Beauty played along and said that she also went by more than one name.

Then we were off to Future World in Epcot.  There is so much interactive stuff to do in this section and Hailey had such a blast.  We didn’t get many pictures of that though.

We found this one line that was only for people who have the Disney Visa credit card.  You could get in line and then go behind a curtain to see a surprise character, then get a free 5×7 picture.  So, we waited to see who it was.

Here is the look on Hailey’s face when she finally saw who she was going to get to meet (and me getting her autograph book ready).

Hailey was so excited that she got to see Goofy, Minnie and Mickey.

Hailey loved the Nemo ride and she loved standing here by the entrance.  Every once in a while the seagulls would all start saying, “Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!”  and Hailey would just giggle and giggle.  Then a splash of water would get her a little bit wet.  She just loved it!

After the ride Hailey insisted on getting her picture with Nemo.  I wasn’t really sure if she was supposed to be standing in the display so we had to get a quick shot!

Hailey loved this little dancing area and got a lot of energy out trying to jump on the squares as they lit up.

We spent the rest of the day and evening at Epcot going on lots of rides and seeing all sorts of attractions.  The crowds were so light that we got to do everything we wanted to do with very little waiting time.