Yesterday the Gebhards' clan could all be seen running around the Sports Complex here in our neck of the woods. We had a great day. Reilly had a basketball game there so we all watched his game, ate some snacks, then ran around on the park for a while. There's something about the park... the little ones can't seem to break away. So Kurt and I decided to try a little "experiment" of sorts. When we decided it was time to go, Macy absolutely refused to come. So I started dialoguing with her.
"Macy, we are all going now. See all the kids? They're all going to the car."
"No!! I no wanna go!!!"
"Macy, we're going home. See? All of the kids are in the car now. Let's get your shoes on. Are you going to come with us?" She's turning her back to me, heading toward the structure. She would not comply. So Kurt and I chatted quietly for a minute.
"Okay Macy, we're leaving now. You wanna stay here? We'll come back later and pick you up."
I headed to the car, where Kurt and the kids were now waiting.
"Bye Macy!"
"Bye!" she replied, waving. No kidding. No flinching, she wanted to stay.
So I got into the car, and we shut all the doors. She had turned her back on us once again, and was climbing on the structure. We backed out of our space, and rolled down the windows as we drove away (shouting and waving) to make sure she saw us.
"Bye Macy!" We all yelled. She turned, waved to us, and turned right back around to the slide. She had made up her mind.
Shall we say, fiercely independent? We drove off and around the entire parking lot (with our eyes still on her). She didn't look back at us once. Wow. She really wanted to stay, and had no concern for being there alone. By the time we got back to her, I had to pry her off of the structure, and she was not happy about going... but we all told her how much we love her and how we could never leave her there. She didn't care. She simply had one thing on her mind.
We were sitting at the dinner table tonight when I noticed the lighting outside at the unoccupied (and recently marked down!) house across the street from ours, then noticed that Macy's eyes about perfectly matched her new little Wal-Mart $5 dress that she got today. I swept her up before the sun went down completely and took some fun shots! She's a pretty good little poser too, I might add. 
silly tired girl hugging her "Littlest Pet Shop" toy
the happiest little three year-old alive
Macy's friends
"Laura". She has been correcting me non-stop if I call her Macy. We made a deal. As long as she was obeying me, I would call her Laura. As soon as she was not listening to me, I'd call her Macy. Laura doesn't disobey. And she smiles like that all day, mostly. I love it!
Today, our little princess turned 3!! We had a fun day with her, and tomorrow will celebrate with her friends. She LOVED her "Little House on the Prairie" dress that Grandma made- she wore it all day. I will have to get a good picture with her bonnet on tomorrow (SO precious!). She enjoyed opening a couple other family gifts we received in the mail too- thanks to aunt Maggie and uncle Chuck, Grandpapa and Granny Dee, and Grandma and Grandpa for all of the fun books, puzzles, and clothes! Her sweet little face lit up with delight as she opened each gift. We sang to her and ate cupcakes tonight and she crashed hard after a long day. We LOVE Macy Boo! Here are some reasons... 1) She is a joy machine. Smiles all day long. 2) She LOVES to give out smooches and hugs like no other! 3) She is sweeter than candy. I tell her all the time. 4) She loves everyone. She invites grown-ups to her birthday party! 5) She loves to make other people smile. 