Samantha is 3

Yes, seriously! This grown up looking little girl is 3 years old today. I'm not sure how she grew up so fast already, and I am afraid that it will only get worse. It seems like I just looked away for a moment and she is already three. The next time I look, will she be going to school, graduating high school, going to college, getting married? Somebody tell me how to slow it down!

Samantha is a joy to be with (well most of the time, but what can I say? She is three, and she comes by her strong will very honestly...from BOTH sides of the family!) She loves to sing, play music, dance, read and play outside...whether in the sandbox, with the rocks in the driveway, or in the mud after it rains, it doesn't matter, she just loves everything about being outside. She can sing all of Baby Mine, Jesus Loves Me, Twinkle Twinkle, From the Rising of the Sun, You are my Sunshine and the ABC song. She knows most of many other songs and will sing along every time that I sing...even when she doesn't know the song at all.

She has gotten very interested in ballet because there was a Wonder Pets episode that had parts of "The Nutcracker" in it. When I told her that I had a CD with all of the nutcracker on it, she was very excited and she asks to listen to it over and over. Then Brent recorded the Bolshoi version of the Nutcracker on TV. Now she dances all over the place, "doing my ballet" just like she saw the dancers do on TV.

Samantha adores her baby brother and adores being a big sister...when she isn't telling me that she is the little brother. She tries to mother Jacob all the time, and we are regularly having to remind her that it is not her job to tell him what to do or to correct him. And now that he likes to walk all over the house holding onto someones hand, she thinks that the hand he should be holding should be hers. She is trying to convince her Daddy that she needs one more baby brother...not a sister, just another brother.

She has such a big heart. She sees when someone doesn't feel well and asks them about it. Then she will usually give a kiss to help things feel better. She loves to help with all things cleaning (Well, other than picking up her toys, but she even does that with a little encouragement.) and even gets excited about being able to sweep with her broom and dustpan. She loves to help cook and wash the dishes.

There are times that Samantha is still very shy, particularly in large crowds or in unfamiliar places, but she is very friendly and outgoing when she feels comfortable. Almost every time she sees a child she doesn't know, she will ask me what her new friend's name is. I love that she adds people to her friend circle without any worries or hesitation.

She loves to go to Bible class and church. She gets excited when it is Saturday night because she knows that she will be going to church the next morning. she loves the singing and sings along to every song...even the ones she doesn't know, by following along with me. She gets excited about Ladies Bible class the same way...even though she just sits at the table during my Bible class on those days. She is very vocal in saying amen at the end of a prayer...she isn't yelling, she is just confident in saying amen, and several ladies at our new church have told me that they are inspired by her enthusiasm. Every time she sees money, she tells me that she needs to give it to God. It makes my heart smile.

She started out so tiny!
One year old.
Loving her new brother.
A two year old big girl.
Samantha, I am so glad that God chose me to be your Mommy. I have learned so much from you about patience, joy, laughter, silliness and most of all love. I thank God all the time for putting you in my life and my heart.