Happy 3rd birthday to our beautiful little girl...

Aspen turned THREE years old on the 12th (yeah, i know i'm behind in this post. story of my life!) I can't believe three years has gone by so quickly. I remember holding her in my arms the moment she was born just like it was yesterday. I am so so so grateful to her birthmom for allowing Malo and I to be such a big part of her "birth" day. For suggesting that I be the one to "catch" Aspen when she was born, for allowing Malo to cut the cord, the dad's best job. ;) I am just so grateful for her and for everything that she sacrificed for our Aspen. Words can never express the love I feel for her for her decision to place Aspen with Malo and I. We felt the strongest love I'd known until that point instantaneously. Aspen is an amazing little girl. So quirky and fun. So sweet. So perfect for our family.

Anyway, my friend Emily does birthday interviews with her kids each year and I always think that's such a great idea, but the kids haven't really been old enough to do them until Aspen this year. But its a fun idea. So here is Aspen's interview for her big #3. (Oh its so cute...she keeps saying "I be three on mine birthday!" even though its been almost two weeks...i love her.) Ok - and these are the answers she gave...I may or may not add in a few sidenotes. ;)

1. Height and weight: 38 1/4 inches, 32 lbs.
2. Favorite Color: "Green and pink"
3. Favorite Food: "Green eggs and ham." (she has never actually had green eggs and ham...she just likes the book.) "TACOS!" "Happy Birthday Cake!"
4. Favorite movie: "Tinkerbell and The Little Mermaid."
5. Favorite game: "Hide and Seek." and then after a minute, she said "um, the castle game." (its CandyLand Castle game...matching shapes and colors...really cute little game.)
6. Favorite book: "Brown Bear" "Princess" (I am not sure what the princess is that she is talking about.)
7. Favorite treat: "POPSICLES!!! Please can I have a popsicle feel my better??"
8. Favorite toy: "blocks and necklaces"
9. Favorite Activity: "when daddy comes home. and jump on trampoline." and "exercising with mommy" (don't let that fool you into thinking I actually exercise! ha!)
10. Favorite Outfit: "beautiful dream come true dress." (she loves dresses! she loves ones she can twirl and dance in. and she is so balanced because she will play outside in the sandbox or dig in the dirt and look at bugs, all in her pretty dresses.)
11. What makes you happy? "when daddy comes home." and "mommy runs with me." (she likes being chased, specifically around the island in the kitchen...she calls that "run with me!")
12. What makes you sad? "i can't have popsicles."
13. Best friend(s): "daddy friend and mommy friend and mia friend and baby isaac friend. and abby. and scott."
14. Your testimony: (she needed a little help with this, she doesn't quite understand what a testimony is quite yet, but she said she knows Heavenly Father and Jesus love her."
15. Personality Traits: Sweet, funny, fun, slightly manipulative (as in you know how to work people to get what you want. :) ), helpful, kind, serious, cautious, analytical, contemplative, silly, very friendly and outgoing, loving and very affectionate.
16. Our thoughts about you from the last year: Oh my goodness, where to even start? Aspen, you were a miracle sent to our family. We prayed so long for you and were so so so so happy and ecstatic to finally have you in our lives and in our family. You won our hearts from the moment you were born and you are so so so perfect for our family. There is not a day that goes by that we don't thank our Heavenly Father for you and for your siblings. We are so blessed to have all three of you.

You start most days the same way...waking me up asking for food. ;) You always try to get ice cream or popsicles first thing in the morning, and all day long, really. Most nights you come get in bed with mommy and daddy around 3am. You snuggle up as close as humanly possible.

You are very much a daddy's girl, you always have been. You know when I start making dinner that daddy is almost home and you and Mia start watching out the front window for him to pull up in his truck. And the squeals of delight once he walks in that door are music to my ears. :) You love for him to play with you, to throw you up in the air (just not too high), to wrestle with you and tickle you. You also really know how to "work" him to get what you want. He loves it. Often you will stop what you are doing in the middle of the day and say "I'm real real sad. because. because i miss my daddy." And on nights when he works late, you don't think we should eat dinner without him. In fact, you usually get really mad if we try to eat without him. When he's home, its hard for you to leave his side, whether he's mowing the lawn, working on the cars, dinking around in the garage or just sitting on the couch.

You are such a great balance between girly-girl and getting dirty girl. You love LOVE to be outside and getting dirty, and you also love to dress up in pretty dresses and fancy shoes and put on as many bracelets as you can fit on your arms. You love the water and you have always taken to it quickly. You are very cautious in many areas, but the water you have always been comfortable in. You are getting very good on your little tricycle and we're starting to think it might be time to move you up to a bigger kid bike - yikes!

Your have a great vocabulary base and are getting a good grasp on sentence structure and grammar. And you say some of the funniest things you don't expect to come out of a two, er uh, three year old. You make us laugh everyday. You love to read and be read to. Recently you've started reading to Isaac and Mia, usually "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you see?" You also really love us to tell you stories, especially The Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs. And you loooooooooooooooooooooooove music, singing and dancing. You can sing quite well and there are several songs you can sing all by yourself now, but the ones you do most are "A Female Dear" (doe, a deer, a female dear, ray, a drop of golden sun....etc. you always ask for "a female dear" and it took me awhile to figure out you were asking for what grandma sang with you every night she was here after Isaac was born), Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, and I am a Child of God.

You are very social and friendly. Quick to say hello and welcoming of people. You make new friends easily. You and Mia play really well together (and also fight like crazy!) and you are gentle with your baby brother. You have a great imagination and use it often. You like to color and paint. You also really like our little science experiments. You like to figure out how things work, how they fit together, how they come apart. You really like measuring stuff when we're cooking. You've always been my little helper in the kitchen. :)

You pick up on things VERY quickly. You were potty trained in one day back in November. One morning we put you in big girl undies, you had about 6 accidents in the morning and that was it. After that, you went in the potty. Still, you rarely have accidents. :)

I could go on and on forever about you, my sweet Aspen, but I am going to end with this. You are so loved, Aspen, by everyone you come in contact with. There are so many people in your life who would do anything for you and love you with all of their hearts. Especially your Heavenly Father. He loves you enough that he helped your birthmom make a very hard decision to place you with a loving mommy and daddy. He loves you so much and has a plan for you. And He sent you to a loving home, with a mommy and a daddy who love you with all their hearts and who will always make sure you have everything you need and you will always be loved. We love you, sweet girl.