It seems like only Yesterday...

that I brought my baby Jackson home from the hospital...

And now he's THREE!!!

Sometimes it seems as if he has been around forever, while at others, I can't even believe he's been around for 3 years.

I was looking back at some pictures of when I was pregnant with him, and that girl I was could have never imagined how much the little person she was carrying around inside of her would change her life. I was not fully prepared (I don't think anyone is) for the way my life would change. Having a baby is HARD. I don't think anyone ever tells you that, and even if they did, we don't care or pay attention because we just see the happiness that we think of when we see babies. I would never go back to life before him. He truly changed my life for good!

I often called Jackson by "practice" baby. I had no idea what I was doing, and we figured it all out together. I couldn't have gotten a better baby to practice on. He was so good, and so sweet, and SOOOOO cute. I got compliments everywhere we went. Cameron worked ALOT back then, and Jackson was my little buddy. We did everything together. That was the thing I missed the most when Caroline came along.

He has done so much in his short life. He's been so many places and has had so many fun experiences. He is my world traveler. Not really, but thats what I call him. He has been up and down the east coast, to Georgia, Florida, Philadelphia, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Hampshire. He'll experience Maine this summer... it is an experience. He has been San Francisco, and Salt Lake City. He has been so good and had so much fun through it all. I think of all the things he has done in these three short years... the sitting up, the crawling, the walking, the running, the talking, the shapes and colors, the animal sounds, the potty-training... all before he was 3.

He is so lucky to have so many people around him who love him. And he is truly loved. His grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends. He has no strangers. He is loved by people at church. From the moment we first went to church, I walk in with him and walk out with him, but don't often have him during those three hours. For his friend Dawn at church, who I think loves him more than I do. All who know him feel of his sweet spirit... not only is he loved, but he truly loves those around him. He always asks about his friends and their moms (my friends). He asks about his "Nanay", his "Grindad" and "Diamme and the Doggies", his "Papa's and Greema's" (he has two sets) and his aunts, uncles and cousins.

He is the best baby boy I could have hoped for. Even after three years, I sometimes find it hard to believe that my Father in Heaven trusted me and loved me enough to have this special for my very own. How blessed I feel. He is such a good son, and such a good big brother. Even as we have entered the "terrible threes" (I'm convinced there is no such thing as the terrible-twos) I am thankful for him every day.

I look forward to the next three years, and the three after that, and the three after that. I look even more forward the fact that he will still be mine long after we pass from the earth. How grateful I am for the knowledge I have of eternal familes, and how grateful I am to be apart of one.

Thank you, my Jackson, for being my sweet boy. I'm so lucky!!!