Happy birthday to Ella!

Ella has successfully made it through a year, but more importantly, Brian and I are still sane one year later.  We like to call Ella "our little surprise" because really there isn't anything more surprising than to find out you are pregnant when your birth control has a 99.9% success rate.  So, we figure God must have brought Ella into our lives to teach us something.  I believe that something was to figure out just how little sleep you can survive on in one year.  Or maybe how long you can listen to a screaming baby before you absolutely feel like you are going to lose your mind?  Perhaps for us to strengthen our upper bodies with constant holding, rocking, and bouncing?  All were strong lessons we've learned in the last year.  Lucky us, we even got an extra day in her first year thanks to the Leap Year!

I do feel guilty from time to time because I feel like I don't brag on Ella too much.  For a long time, Brian and I agreed that if Ella had been our first child, she would have been our last child because there is no way would be crazy enough to subject ourselves to this special kind of torture again.  When it became apparent that Ella was a colicky baby, I was hopeful she would outgrow it by three or four months.  When I was at her six month appointment and mentioned to her doctor she was still not a happy kid, he said that for some kids it doesn't subside until nine months.  At her nine month appointment, I wanted to stick a tongue depressor in his eye when he said for some kids it takes a year.  Thankfully, it does seem like she has turned a corner in the last six weeks or so.

I am hopeful that another year from now, I won't remember the screaming, clingy Ella.  I did, however, take pictures of her in this fun state to remind me if I ever begin dreaming about holding an infant again.  I prefer to look back on this time and think about what a highly interactive and engaged baby Ella has been.  She is super curious and does not want to miss out on anything.  Whenever she hears people talking, she cranes her neck to see who it is and listen in.  She crawls frantically after us if we leave her in the room alone.  She wants to be with us all the time. She loves to look at books and play with her sisters.  Most of all, she loves to be outside.  Maybe her calling in life is to save the environment?

Happy birthday to our little Ella! We love you and appreciate all the life lessons you have taught us in one year.  We can't wait to see the amazing little person you will become in the next year.  

The Ella we know and love!

Looking all sweet and innocent on day one.

One Year Later

 Ella's First Birthday Cake....a Purple Elephant

Ella knew exactly what to do with her cake.

My sweet baby

Brain Activity

Long after the girls should have been asleep for the night...

Emma: Mom, can I ask you a question?

Me: Yes, Emma.  (Yes, I sounded annoyed.)

Emma: Where do wolves live?

Me: They live in forests and mountains.  They don't live where we are.

Emma:  Wolves scare me.

Me: Well, stop thinking about them.  I've told you before they don't live here and they aren't going to get you.

Emma: Well, I just can't stop thinking about them.

Charlotte: Well, you need to turn your brain off. When I go to bed, I turn my brain off.  Then, I just don't dream about wolves or anything.

Emma: Well, I'm not you and I can't turn my brain off.

Charlotte: Well, when I get in bed, I turn my brain off.  When I get up in the morning, I turn my brain on for learning when I go to school.  When I get home, I turn my brain on for lollipops.  Then, when I'm watching something, I turn it off.

This is proof that TV kills brain cells....if a five year old realizes she turns her brain off when she is watching something.

When kids make you feel old

Kids have a special way of making you feel old. Just the other day at dinner, Emma asked me if there was TV when I was a kid or still just radio?  Seriously?  Yes, Emma, I was born after the invention of the television.  I should be glad that she didn't ask me if I came over on the Mayflower.  She reserved that question for Brian.  This story below made me realize how quickly slang moves in and out of our vocabulary.

After bedtime stories, the girls say their prayers and then I will say a little prayer for them.  I really use it as a time to imprint in their little heads the kind of women I want them to grow up to be.  I will also make special requests if they are feeling sick or are out of sorts about something.  So, last week, I added a special note in the prayer for Emma to be brave when she gave her class presentation on Rosa Parks.  Here is the conversation that took place afterwards...

Emma: Mom, you know, sometimes I just get so nervous when I'm in front of the class.

Me: Emma, if you get nervous, just close your eyes for a second and imagine me and Daddy cheering you on.  (Singing) Go, Emma with your bad self! Go, Em-

Emma: Did you just call me bad?  I'm not bad.

Me: No, it means cool....like a good thing....like you're so cool....that's so bad...

Emma: What?  That doesn't make any sense.

Me: When I was a kid, if something was cool, you would say it was bad.

Emma: That doesn't make any sense.  If it is bad, it's bad.  I don't like that cheer.

Me: Okay, well, just imagine we are cheering for you.

The next night, Brian put the girls to bed and Emma asked him, "When you were born, way back then, did you used to say a cheer like - Go Emma with your bad self! Go Emma, and the bad meant good?  Because if you did, then that just doesn't make any sense."  I hadn't told Brian about my little cheer session the night before, so he was caught off guard by this one!