Mickel Clement: Untitled: 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.