Mommy's Moment: The Birthday Girl

Here she is, the birthday girl. It's hard to believe she is already three. And what was supposed to be an AWESOME day has turned out to be a bit disappointing....more for me than for her! This morning, instead of waking up to her brand new, red tricycle that I so diligently saved my Amazon gift cards for, she woke up to a book and dvd (from Grant). I had visions of squeals and excitement followed by hours of fun outside riding her tricycle on the sidewalk. However, because the wonderful tricycle company failed to include all the parts required to assemble her birthday treasure we did nothing of that sort. I'm thankful her expectations are simple. . .really non existant at this stage in life. My expectations were high. Thankfully I can return the tricycle. I called the manufacturer who said the parts are on back order until November. There's no way I'm waiting until November. So I was on a mission today to find her a birthday trike. Unfortunately, no retailer sells a nice metal bike. They are all plastic, what I didn't want. But, I wanted Hannah to have a special birthday gift and she's talked about a tricycle for months now. So we headed to Walmart and after MUCH deliberation, got her a Barbie Princess Tough Trike. It was the only trike that was age appropriate. And so, the last hour and a half I've put together this trike (based on the reviews it was a cinch to put together...hmmm....where did I go wrong?). So now, take two. Hannah is napping and I promised her when she woke up she'd have a tricycle. ..granted it has wobbly wheels (Daddy's job tonight to fix) but seems safe to take a spin on around the cul-de-sac. And, good news, her basket fits nicely on the front and actually matches much better with this trike than the red trike. But, all that to say, it's just a toy. It's not a big deal. I just love making birthdays a big deal. I like their days to be special. I know growing up my parents always made our birthdays feel special and so we felt special. I want to pass that same feeling on to my children. What a celebration of life. I am so thankful for Hannah and the blessing she is to our family. She has changed our lives dramatically since she came into this world 3 years ago. She is sweet, compassionate, goofy, hard headed at times, somewhat of a cry baby, and quite the talker. I find myself so grateful the Lord allowed John and me to take part in raising her and teaching her about Him and His glorious gospel. What an awesome responsibility. So even if her day didn't go as I had planned...it's still a great day for celebration. I pray the Lord would draw her to Himself early and that He would bless her with many more years and birthdays. I pray He would draw others to Himself through her and that she would love Him with all of her heart. Thank you Lord for this child. She is a blessing. Happy Birthday Sweet Hannah!