Earlier this week, I went for my yearly eye appointment.  After the initial intake questions, the tech set me up to test my peripheral vision (I think?).  I stared straight ahead at a green focal point, pressing a clicker every time a dot appeared in the surrounding blackness.  The dots varied in size, brightness, color, location.  Some were obvious, some were pretty faint.  I was trying so hard to concentrate, but Liv sat beside me, happily chattering away as she colored with an app. on my phone.  “Don’t blink,” I told myself.  “Pay attention!  Don’t blink!“  But my mind kept wandering.  I fought the impulse to look away and check on Liv, staring straight ahead, and willing myself not to blink.  By the end of the two-maybe-three minute test, my eyes were burning.  (And I passed, ha!)

On Wednesday, I took Liv to her first dentist appointment, where I held her hand as she bravely let the dentist check her mouth full of beautiful teeth.  She sat still, opened “wide like a lion,” and helped the hygienist work the sucker and squirter as she polished away all the “sugar bugs,” as she called them.  I was overwhelmingly proud of her, and managed to snap a few pics, but found myself thinking about Tuesday’s eye test: “Don’t blink, don’t blink…”

You see, I could swear Liv was a newborn yesterday.  Then I blinked.  And now, she’s three years old (and four months)!  She’s a “big girl,” who wishes she was six, like her best friend, Shay, so she could write in cursive, wear a Hello Kitty watch, and go to sleepover parties.

Slow down, sweet girl, you’ll be six in the blink of an eye…

Right in step with life, I blinked, and it’s been three months since this blog’s seen any action.  What!?!  April, May, and June were jam-packed with visitors and travel, which I’ll recap in separate posts, but it’s been downright awesome to spend so much quality time with our family and friends.

In the meantime, I thought I’d pop in for a quick update — in an effort to take my own advice to slow down, catch my breath, and savor (a few of) the joys of three-year-old-Liv… who’s growing like a weed, amazing us with her incredible memory and big brain, and overflowing our hearts with her abundant joy (and sass!) every single day.

And shout out to this guy — the best daddy, and partner in life, who lifts me up, and keeps me in the moment.

And always, always, keeping us laughing!

More soon!