Happy Birthday!

Last Friday Rachel turned three! It's so hard to believe that my baby is three. Because she really has no concept of time, she had forgotten it was her birthday until she came downstairs and saw balloons and decorations all over the living room. She was elated!

In honor of the big day we visited her very favorite place on earth - "Warmart." She got to choose a present with her birthday money and is now the VERY proud owner of "Twelve Dancing Princesses" and "Barbie Island Princess." (Thanks, Grandpa!) We went all wild and crazy and even got her a "happy meal" for lunch. That evening we had her birthday dinner with her Logan cousins.

It's crazy to think that our Rachel has been with us for 3 years. She is such a sweet and tender little girl, and also so strong and stubborn. We waited for her for 5 years (doing every test under the sun and being told there really was no apparent reason we couldn't get pregnant). We were literally just about to give up and that is when we found out we were pregnant. Rachel was born on September 12 and named for a great grandmother and a dear aunt. She had kind of a rough start, as she had horrible colic and reflux. (The poor baby screamed for about a year). Still, though, she was a sweet baby. People say that you can tell a person's temperment and personality from infancy -- I believe it. Rachel is so strong willed and can have such a temper, but at the same time, she is such a loving and delightful little girl. She loves to rough-house with her boy cousins and has been known to fight them for the superman cape. She is also such a "girly" girl. She loves to dress up in her princess dresses and "dance like a princess in a castle." Our Rachel is an incredible little girl and she is so worth the wait.

I let the Birthday Girl stay up a little late to wait for her Daddy to come home from work. She didn't quite make it. Happy Birthday, Rachel. We love you so much!