Happy Birthday Ella!

Dear Ella,

My precious girl! I am so excited to celebrate this day with you! You are my favorite little girl! I love who you are growing up to be. Today we can do things we couldn’t 3 years ago. We can play and dance and sing. We can do puzzles and play games, and even have a tea party. You have developed a sense of humor and love to joke around with me and daddy. You now have your own thoughts and opinions and have proven that you can be just as stubborn as your mom is. You want to choose your own clothes, and if you don’t feel like wearing pink flowers, you won’t. You want to walk where you want to walk and eat what you want to eat.

Right now your favorite activity is going to the library for story time. You and Boppie go each day and when I get home from work the first thing you do is tell me all about your day; what stories you read, what songs you sang, and most importantly, you show me the craft you made. Your favorite books are by Dr. Seuss. You have the entire book of “Green Eggs and Ham” memorized and will often insist that you need to eat green eggs and ham for breakfast. You love to read and will read 5-6 books at one time. In fact, you have recently decided that having mommy and daddy read to you is not enough. You want to read. So we read a page, then you repeat it as though you're reading it yourself.

You are extremely shy. This is probably the most puzzling thing for me, and, in all honesty, this has been harder for me to accept than your EB. Your dad and I have never been known for being shy, yet here we have been given a shy child. For a long time I blamed myself for not getting you out more and not taking you more places when you were a baby, but recently have I begun to accept that this is just who you are. You’re different than daddy and me, and that’s ok. And although you’re shy, you are just who God made you to be. I often think of Moses and how he told God that he wasn’t an “eloquent speaker.” Maybe he, too, was shy…yet God used him to do amazing things, just as He will use you to do amazing things.

You have been given some incredible gifts by your grandparents:

From your Paw Paw you got your love of music. Music is in your heart and you sing all the time! You correct daddy when he sings the wrong words and often will tell him that you don’t want him to sing with you…you prefer to perform solo. I am positive that there is no greater sound than hearing your precious voice bellow out song after song. Whether you’re singing a song you already know, or you’re making up the words to your own song, music is in your heart. I envision you singing in Carnegie Hall, or starring on Broadway.

From your GiGi you got your love of art and color. Our dining room has turned into your art gallery. No sooner do I clean up the paint and paint brushes, then you decide you have yet another masterpiece to create. If I had enough space I would hang your paintings all over the house. When you paint you use a lot of color and show your various techniques of circles, triangles, straight lines and squiggly lines.

From your Grammy you got your love of cooking. You are my little helper and no matter what I’m making you want to pull the chair right up to the counter to help me pour, stir or taste. Baked goods are your specialty because you, like your mommy, have a sweet tooth. I think birthdays are your favorite because you get to help make the cake as well as help eat it, although you typically just eat the frosting off the top and leave all the cake.

In September you will head to preschool. The thought of this brings me to tears. On one hand I want to keep you close. I want to spend our days together playing, just you and me. On the other hand, I know in my heart that it’s time…it’s time for you to venture out and experience new things. There is an entire world beyond our house, and it’s time for you to see it. Preschool will be so good for you.

Ella, you are my heart. Just when I think it’s impossible to love you more, I wake up the next morning and there it is, I love you even more. You make me a better person. Thank you for who you are and for all that you have taught me. I am thankful for each and every day God has given us and I look forward to all that the future holds. I love you my sweet girl.

Love,

Mommy