thankful (twenty)

"it will be gone before you know it.

the fingerprints on the wall appear higher and higher.

then suddenly they disappear."

(dorothy evslin)

malena turned 4 today. i have a four year old daughter. wow. i can remember vividly the second my water broke, and we knew she was on her way. i can remember the moment she entered the world, and i became a mom. i can remember how much my world shifted in that minute when i first laid my eyes on her. what a wonderful ride it has been for the last four years, i have loved every single second. i have watched her grow and i have grown right along with her. i am not the same person i was four years and one day ago. so today, i am thankful for my daughter and all of the joy she has brought to my life. she is my best accomplishment, my strongest inspiration, and my proudest legacy.

on this twentieth day of the month, in addition to malena's four years of life, i am thankful for:

+++ getting to celebrate our dear friend kadeena's birthday as she starts another awesome decade. her and malena share their special day. getting to celebrate with two birthday girls in one day. awesome. wouldn't have had it any other way.

+++ mickey mouse pancakes for breakfast

+++ gluten free swedish pancakes with lingonberry butter. so, so good.
+++ fun at the aquarium, how excited malena gets to see animals of all shapes and sizes

+++ playing tourist and going for a ride on the great wheel, and the weather breaking for us so that we had a little blue sky and sunshine on our trips around the wheel

+++ the happiness a new big girl kitchen can bring. barrett and i ate about a million different dinner and desserts today.

+++ the birthday notes that malena gets each year on her birthday. at my baby shower, each person wrote a letter for her to open on her birthday from her first through her seventeenth birthday. this year's letter was from our good friend kimberly. starting her birthday each year with the opening of those letters is such a special tradition for me. i love getting to read the wishes that were made for her before she even arrived, and how much she is loved by so many great women.
+++ red mango frozen yogurt with m&ms
+++ a day full of fun and love. perfect.

sidenotes:
+++ i am totally drooling over and inspired to make one of these 2013 calendars
+++ love these gift ideas, already have two and am making one for christmas - woohoo!