Today, is an auspicious day.  Three years ago today, T and I waited in the hospital for The Bean to enter this world so much earlier than she should have. 

She changed us from the moment we began yearning for her, from our first knowledge of her, from that first breath that she drew, from the first time we held her.  Every day that she’s here, she changes us with her smile and her laugh and her spirit.  

We’ve learned more about who we are in the three years she’s been here than the lifetime before her arrival.  Kids do that to you, you know.

But I wouldn’t have it any other way.  Apparently, neither would she.

We walked into her room singing Happy Birthday this morning.  She smiled her beautiful smile and answered, “I’m very, very excited.” 

Then she looked at me and said, “Happy Birthday, Mommy.” 

How did she know that, in a way, on this momentus day three years ago, she gave birth to me too.  

She transformed me into a mother. 

Happy Birthday, My Sweet Bean.