maggie mae

The other night as I was driving home, Rod Stewart's "Maggie Mae" came on the radio.

All of a sudden, it was three years ago and I literally gasped as a memory came over me so hard that I was in tears in mere seconds.

When I was pregnant, car rides were some of my favorite times. I would crank up the radio, open the sun roof, and let the music detox my soul from the day. What was really cool was there were a few songs that Baby Girl also seemed to really enjoy. "Maggie Mae" was one of them.

One time driving home, that song came on and I cranked it up (because one should always crank up Rod Stewart) and instantly my belly started shaking and moving and I laughed as I felt my sweet girl show a love for music that she had to get from her Mama. It was one of the times that I felt so connected to that sweet baby in my belly. And as I listened to that same song some three years later, my heart literally ached at how fast time has gone by.

That baby bump turns three tomorrow. Three. Every single day there is less and less baby, heck, less and less toddler and more and more big girl. Like a real kid.

What amazes me most about this whole parenthood thing, is by welcoming this little creature into our lives three years ago, we really gained three new lives, not one.

Baby Girl stormed into our world and absolutely rocked it. And I mean in the best way possible.

While there are times where tempers are super short and patience is non-existent, most of the time, our times with her are filled with pure joy and so much love and laughter.

I know, I know, I am super cheesy. But she's turning three y'all. How on Earth did this happen so quickly?!?

For weeks it rained on and off here. It was gross and humid and destroyed my hair. It left things muggy and sticky in the afternoon. Just blah. Our backyard was a disaster. A lake.

One afternoon, BG and I got home and went to the let the dogs out. As we were watching them, I could see her eyeing the puddles. One toe kept dipping into the water as she watched me closely out of the corner of her eye.

The next thing I knew, I was allowing her to jump headlong into said puddle. My OCD, afraid of messes self, watched as my kid tore through the puddles, jumping, kicking, and laughing her head off.
She absolutely loved it. And if I could bottle up the sound of that laughter, I would. Because it's amazing and I would do anything to hear it over and over again.

In three years, she's wrecked us. She absolutely took our worlds and flipped them upside down. We try to see things in her way now. In a fresh, different way where rain puddles are not annoyances, a drizzle is not a nuisance, and where even traffic becomes a reason to turn the radio up and dance to a few extra songs instead of a reason to rant and moan.

Her view of the world has completely flipped ours. And I love it. I love seeing things through her eyes. I love watching my baby grow.

But I can't lie, I really, really miss the dancing baby in my belly. I wish we could slow it down just a tad.....