Wednesday, May 14, 2008



"it feels pretty good to be three"
-lily rodgers on her 3rd bday in line at starbucks with her daddo.


well... how do we sum up 3 years in just 250 characters? i guess you could always just go back and read my entire blog history- its there where you could find my anguish, frustration, delight and sheer joy in raising my daughter. however if you are reading this, chances are you already know.
lily can best be summed up as my everything. she is my pride, much as ozzy is brandon's. yet much as i try to make her my protege- my mini me, she continues to defy it.. or maybe just defy me. whatever the case, most days i wonder if anything i do or say even impacts her, as she really is her own person. but then i hear her say, "i'm all about ice cream," and i think- well at least she talks like me.
lily is truly a product of nature, not nurture. her undying love for everything and anything princess, dress-up, shoes, fashion, make-up, and babies continues to astonish me.
my once always naked and seemingly fearless toddler has ripened into a shy, quiet and reserved three year old. don't get me wrong she is still unnecessarily opinionated, but mostly only to me. she's very logical like dad, loves to problem solve... anytime i have an excuse or reason for not doing something, she comes up with a solution. i often feel like she's too smart for her own good.
i love that she'll play with her dollhouse and babies- imaginative play for hours- she's often very self-contained.
most days she's a great sister, loves to teach and boss ozzy. for how private both of the kids are, both sure are up in each others bid-ness all day.
for all her attributes, she reminds me how "girl" she is. from her basic bad attitude to whining, she definitely makes me frantic most days. it makes me crazy how i can go from so frustrated with her (as in breaking a wood spoon on her bunk bed) to being elated at just the thought of spending time with her. most days, i can't wait for her to grow up, but then i look at ozzy and delight thinking about lily at that age.
all i know is i love her- its intense, passionate, and strangely carefree- she's a gamut of emotions, tirelessly frustrating, to amazingly lovely- she's lily and she's all mine, and today (at least) i wouldn't have it any other way.
love ya girl. happy 3.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

ha! i just broke a wooden spoon out of frustration too. i don't like three. i want to punch three in the face. i hope three is easier for you than for us. i like 18 months though. so it's kind of a wash. four i hear is wonderful. like a nice warm wipe in the wintertime.

Anonymous said...

your making me cry on thursday morning at 9:27.

daddo

Jenn said...

so cute. i am sad we missed the party and sad you missed mine. trav threw the party, so be mad at him! oh, and by the way....what is a milf?

Kelly Meirik said...

all the emotions/adjectives you used pretty much sums up why kids & anything "hard" really is sooo good- things that come easy just don't do it for us- something about having eternity set inside our hearts I think. We were made for so much more than the easy, simple, no brain stuff.
while lily is all girl & brings all that entails (which you eloquently described by the way) noah is all boy thus far & has brought all that entails. & really Si you love 18 months- it's been my hardest so far...it seems to be getting a bit easier the last month or so.
holls- get your skinny no booty booty up this way- congrats on a pink "ant".

Jamie said...

Holly, so well spoken from the heart of a mom. I really think you should copy this post and save it for Lily someday. It will mean something to her. Like maybe on her wedding day...or 18th birthday...

Soderin Family said...

It has been so fun to watch Lily grow up into the little girl she is today. I think she is more like you Holls than you realize which is a great thing! I love the way she lights up to perform her latest trick and those beautiful eyes of hers are going to keep Brandon on his toes in the high school years.
She's smart, beautiful and as you said, 100% girl.

We love you Lily!
eric, drea and baby nono

zaiahbird said...

i've decided as much as my girl drives me completely bonkers ben said if we had another it'd be a girl and i can't wait!

Anonymous said...

i was wondering where that wooden spoon went si.
lily puts a big smile on my face. she cracks me up. we miss you guys. this week i came across our group photo in cabo and it made me really want another fun vacay with the rodgers!