A journey.

4 years ago, at this very moment, I was awake in bed, trying to pretend like I wasn't really going into labor.  

Nature was not to be stifled, however.  Some 20 hours later, I was holding a gorgeous new baby girl in my arms.

She was quiet and curious those first hours (as I hear newborns generally are).  She was content peering about and examining her bright new circumstance.

Someone decided we seemed like we could be trusted with a shiny new human and sent her home with us. (That date is terribly incorrect- I think this was closer to 01/11/08.)

Months began to pass and suddenly she was a chubby-cheeked, gap-toothed little lady with a penchant for Ritz crackers.

And I don't know how it happened, but somehow she continued to grow- all the way until she was one year old.

She learned to walk and talk.  She learned to play, to reason, to tease.

Another year passed.  And then she was two.

She grew a whole lot that year.

She became potty trained, she learned to recognize some letters.

And then she was three.

She had her first surgery.

She learned to write her name.

She had swimming lessons.

And mostly, she spent the year three being really, really cute.

But now, she is turning four.

And suddenly she is all long limbs and intelligent questions.

I keep thinking she can't get any better, but then she does.

Happy Birthday, Olivia Scout!