for madeline.

on saturday

some of the most

important people in our

lives will be with

us as we

celebrate maddy's third birthday.

again.

(yeah, maddy's birthday sort of runs from her actual birthdate of march 24th to her estimated due date of mid may).

she and her friends

will be beating

a piñata,

eating cupcakes,

and throwing things

around our backyard

while the adults

laugh at them.

she'll probably

get a few gifts

(even though i asked people to donate to our favorite charity instead of giving gifts...some people will go ahead and do both as they have in years past).

(even i couldn't follow my directions...i bought her a mini drum kit).

but today is the day

that one of

my most important

gifts to her

goes public.

she's seen it already.

she's held it

in her hands.

i've asked her who

the little girl is

on the front.

(she yells, "maddy!").

i've showed her the

page that tells

the world exactly

who it's for

(the page says her name...she recognizes the m).

i've told her what

it is.

and what it means

to me.

but she's many years

away from

truly understanding.

at age 3 years

and a few weeks,

she just wants to

color on that mostly

empty page

dedicating my gift to her.

and she'd rather

read the book about space

that she insisted i

buy for her.

but someday

she'll get it...

and i hope

it means the world

to her.