Three 3 Three 3!!!!!

Happy Birthday to my sweet little girl!

Alora is 3 years old today. This time 3 years ago, she was just under an hour old. I was sitting on my bed, holding this precious little girl who changed our little family of 3 into a family of 4.

Alora was definitely my “easiest” birth. Aidan was a very short, very intense labor, mostly all in the car on the way to the hospital. I couldn’t get comfortable, and by the time we were at the hospital, he was just 20 minutes from being with us, so I didn’t really feel like I was prepared for his arrival…he just came and I wasn’t ready, if that makes any sense. Aralyn was a longer birth, but intense with some back labor and she was so much bigger (1.5 pounds bigger than Aidan and Alora) that she was just harder to have.

Alora, however, was my “dream” labor and birth. I felt like I was able to get in a place where I could relax and enjoy the moment. I could feel that I was in this place of peace. It helped that I was able to have her at home, and labor in my garden tub. I remember that to talk or be talked to during my contractions was irritating…I couldn’t be where I needed to be if I had to converse, so it was a quiet labor and I really feel like, my body was guiding me. She was actually born in the water, my little water baby. She came all at once, just head and body and all, which surprised us all. I remember that I first saw her head and these fat white thighs! I couldn’t get over how fat her little thighs were. And, I knew she was a girl almost immediately, and I had wanted a girl, so badly! And here she was, the addition to our family, with me getting to pick her up out of the water, and look in her little eyes and welcome her to our home. It was so great. I hardly remember walking her to our bed to lie down, but I do remember, just sitting on the bed and holding this little bundle.

Aidan had only been awake for a few minutes and was able to come in and see his little sister. He was happy to see her, and happy that his Poppa was here to keep him company while we were busy with the midwife.

Alora is definitely our challenge when it comes to discipline. I think we just had it really easy when it came to Aidan, he is very laidback and all. Alora, on the other hand, is NOT! She is stubborn and hard headed and emotional and she yells and screams and holds a grudge, and her heart breaks so easily. It is a constant test of my patience to find ways to discipline her that help her to see what she is doing wrong and make positive strides in the future. It can be really hard to remain calm in the face of a crying child, especially when you know that they are upset about something that doesn’t matter at all, or when she just “thinks” that something has happened, or is going to happen, and it never has or will. It is like talking someone off a ledge. If you don’t approach her just the right way, then she jumps….you have to get to her and calmly try to explain what is happening and why. It can be funny though, and I am sure that it is teaching me all kinds of wonderful skills! I know that as she becomes better, which she is, that I am becoming a better mother!

She is so pretty! I love her curls and her bright blue eyes and her dimples! And her little giggle just warms my heart. I love that she loves her daddy. (I at least have Aralyn who hasn’t gone traitor on me…yet.) Alora is my little pistol! She has the funniest things to say sometimes, and a very vivid imagination. She loves music and has been telling us lately to “turn up the music some more” in the van so that she can clap along. Lincoln Brewster and Sara Groves are some of her favorites. She loves to sing too! Although lately, she has been singing “Santa Claus is Coming to Town”. Why? I don’t know, but she even sang that song to her family of mice that she got with her dollhouse for her birthday. I told her to sing a lullaby and she sat and thought a minute and said, “I will sing ‘Santa Claus’ cause that is a night-night song too!” She is always making me laugh!

I love her! She is my little princess and just all I ever hoped for in a daughter!

Happy birthday my sweet girl!

We are headed to the zoo today for her birthday. It is supposed to rain and possibly thunderstorm, so I guess I will be coming up with a back up plan soon. Here is a picture of her cake that I made yesterday, hopefully it will survive the trip in the car.