today, our little olive turned 2 years old. instinctually, as a parent, you tend to say, “wow, i can’t believe she’s already 2”, but we were talking a couple days ago and for us, we can’t believe she’s only 2. we really can’t remember a time when olive wasn’t here and that’s probably the ultimate statement of how much of an impact she’s had on our lives.

as cliché as it sounds, it really does seem like just yesterday that we were taking off for the hospital at 1:30 in the morning and seeing olive for the first time just a little after 5 a.m. (you can read the overview of those events here). time does fly when you have a sweet little girl that turns 2 without you realizing that even a day or a week has passed.

but without dwelling on too many of the overused descriptors, i thought i would offer a few thoughts on our little olive. the picture above really is the quintessential picture of olive. she’s hilarious and literally no one makes me laugh more regularly than olive. as her vocabulary grows, she’s begun saying such hilarious things.

one of the funny (yet equally frightening) things she’s started doing lately is repeating everything lucy says. now, as parenthetically stated, it’s definitely scary to think she’s a mirror of lucy, but it also attests to the fact of how much she loves her big sister.

more than anything, though, olive is just beautiful. i know every parent thinks this, but there’s just some spark in olive’s little eyes that makes you melt when she looks at you. whether she’s laughing or crying, olive is a beautiful reminder that she’s a reflection of all of god’s beauty and created perfection.

so, little olive, on your 2nd birthday, i love you. you have made my life more full and complete. you’re a reflection of your beautiful big sister and stunning mother and you help me to see what max can be. you remind me to laugh when i don’t feel like laughing and to cry tears of joy in those moments when nothing around me seems joyous. you melt my heart and repair it all at once.

i love you olive. happy birthday.