Ellie's Happa Birday!

(Said with a smile by Ayla)

Our girls get a friend birthday party every other birthday.  (Ellie picked a Tinkerbell theme.) And believe me, after Ellie's 5th birthday this year, I will keep that tradition going.  She had over 10 friends come and it was a screaming, running, yelling time.  Ellie was already running on little sleep from the two nights before, you add some sugar and you have over 2 hours of ....fun?!?  Well, the point is that Ellie had a great time and wanted to have another one the very next day, since that was her real birthday.  She didn't quite understand why we couldn't do it all over again.

We just love our Ellie Ana so much.  She is getting easier to take on errands with me.  We just drive along in peace down the road.  A little talking here and there, but we are both in our thoughts most of the time.  She loves going to "seco therapy" with me (physical therapy) and observe all my exercises for my knee.

Being one who has liked to wander too much in the stores we go to, last night I took her to Penney's with me.  While I looked at the curtains, she looked at the ornaments right by the curtains.  I'd check on her and we'd get eye-contact every few minutes.  Well, she came over to the curtain area with me and then I was trying to locate her after a few minutes.  I went over to the ornament area and she wasn't there.  I then headed back into the curtains and I could hear a lady saying, "Have you lost your mommy?"  And there she was surrounded by mommas and grammas choking back her tears.  She could hardly talk.  I felt so bad.  That is the first time that I can remember her ever showing fear at a store out of my sight.  I always feel bad when my kids go through a fear like that.  And I am also thankful for seeing that cautiousness grow in them when it needs to. 

All this to say that I love my Ellie.  As her name means, she is truly a light in our lives.  She loves to do flips on the couch, without arms, which terrifies Sienna every time she does it.  And she can run and run and ride her bike and be the quiet one in the van while her sisters fight for the spotlight to share their stories from Awana.  I have to stop them and ask Ellie if she has anything she would like to share about her class at Awana.  "No", she says.  So then I ask if they colored or heard a story or had snacks.  Then she will open up and start talking once she has a direction.  As my mom says, she is a lot like me.  In more ways than one.  She has been my hardest to potty-train, which I was for my parents.  But now, she has got it down.  And her reasons for taking so long, I think were the same as mine.  Not wanting to stop playing...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEET DAUGHTER OF MINE!