My baby girl turns 3

Another year goes by and I sit here wondering, where did the time go?  How come my sweet baby girl is already turning 3 years old?  Why do I LOVE her birthday SO much (well I guess that's obvious...), is there any way that I can freeze time RIGHT NOW, so it can be this day, forever?  I guess my way of dealing with the fact that a birthday 'day' just comes and goes way too fast is to celebrate it for many days, in many different ways.  First, the party planning.  Because there simply must be a party (with the kitty jump, again, of course!).  This year was a bit different...a sign of things to come and a change...this year, we invited Marea's friends.  Maddie, Madison, Jack, Mia and Sean, Bella,  and of course her faves, Jackie and Emily.  So planning the party was like a warm up for the big day.  There was jumping, snow cones, pizza and cake, great presents like hungry hungry hippos, and my special hand made goodie bags with Marea's Mix and a ribbon stick.  I think the best part was that we celebrated it on my birthday, a Saturday.  Marea's birthday landed on Tuesday, so for the few days between the party and her actual birthday, things were still in a celebratory mode.  For me, at least. Because honestly, Marea is still a bit young to understand that one day was the party, and one day was the 'real' birthday.  But I felt the anticipation of the day to come, because I knew that I wanted to make it special.  And I think it was a success!  On Tuesday, we woke up and gave her the present from Mommy and Daddy, Bunny Treehouse.  Which we played with all morning, after we ate chocolate chip pancakes and looked at pictures from when she was born.  Then Grandma Carole came over to give Marea her gift (boogie board!) and play for a while.  Then it was off to Grandma Susan's for swimming.  Daddy came home early and we hit the pool for a swim session with the new boogie board, followed by Jackie and Emily arriving, a popsicle, a bag of cheetos, and to top it off, an ice cream cone.  On the ride home, both girls fell asleep.  Marea must of been wiped out, because she slept for 2 hours on the couch!  And now....a bath, a daddy after bath 'fly by', and finally, a little bit of a movie while cuddling with me on the couch.  But I think the BEST part of the day was cuddling with her on the couch earlier and admiring all those little parts, once again.  The feet, legs, arms, hands, face, that are all still so very tiny, so very soft and kissable, still so very mine to love.  The hand that reaches for a chunk of my hair, her sucking on that damn pacifier which I don't have the heart to take away.  And now it's time to go.  It's movie time and my girl wants to cuddle with her mama.  I get to savor it one more time before bed.  Today, tomorrow, and hopefully for many more days and birthdays.