Getting Older and Making Good Choices

Saturday was my 36th birthday. It was a wonderful day full of all of my favorite things, but I can't get past the ideas of being 36!!!!! How in the world did that happen??? How did I all of a sudden take a huge step toward 40 and what in the world is happening to my body? Ok, so don't answer the second part of that question for me, but, seriously, I can hardly get up off of the floor after playing with Ella. My mind says, "Move already," but my body just won't cooperate. I'd just rather ignore the whole birthday thing all together, but Ella thinks that getting older is the greatest thing ever. It's just another excuse to eat cake, buy presents and eat good food...all of her favorite things, by the way. In fact, about half way through the day, she asked me if my birthday was "still here." She didn't want it to go away. I can't avoid them, so I might as well enjoy them I suppose!

We've been trying to talk to Ella about making good choices. We feel like it's important to use certain situations as teaching tools to prepare her for the future. She seems to understand and process what we tell her, and we can see her "use" some of the knowledge we've given her. Yesterday afternoon Ella and I were talking about random things. She looked at me and said, "I've been making a lot of good choices lately." I just have to laugh when she says things like that because she talks like she's 12 and is so serious and reserved at times. Then there are other times when she is so SILLY and can make us laugh hysterically. Here's a picture that kind of catches both sides of her at the same time. What a mess!!

Happy Mother's Day to Me!

Wow! I love Mother's Day so much!! I know that all mothers love this day, but I have to admit,it's one that I REALLY look forward to. Yes, I do love getting a special gift, but that's not all there is to it for me. Being a mother to Ella is the MOST wonderful job I've ever had.
I love hearing her say my name each day, and I cherish the smiles and hugs she gives me. I love when she asks for noodles "without any casserole on them," or when she says that she's almost grown into medium. I love when she belly laughs or when we share a private joke together. I love it when she asks me about God and the way she's ALWAYS worried about "where the mama is" whether it's a baby bird, a worm or the last piece of corn on her plate. Mother's Day for me, though, is also a day that I think about Ella's birth mother. I think about the sacrifice that she made so that our family could be complete. I think about how her tragedy was our miracle and about how she must have a hole in her heart. I think about a mother who carried her child to term only to then give her to another mother to raise and to love. I think about how without her I wouldn't be a mother. I'm grateful and thankful for this woman that I don't even know because she gave me the most precious gift, and I hope she knows in her heart how deeply and unconditionally Ella is loved. I love my sweet girl more than words could ever fully express, so, yes, I love the gifts and going out to dinner on Mother's Day, but what I love the most is celebrating the fact that I am Ella's mama forever.

Lawnmower Diva and Diets

Ella is such a funny and interesting little girl. Our pediatrician says she is well-rounded because she likes cars, trains, cooking and dollhouses. She really doesn't prefer one thing over another and isn't into one particular thing. Recently, she got a new doll as a gift and decided that she didn't want it. She decided she wanted a lawnmower instead...yes, a lawnmower. So, we returned the doll for a lawnmower, and now we have a little mowing DIVA. We did convince her to buy a pink mower, so that kind of made it all even, I guess. Check out the picture of her and her #1 man cutting the grass together.


I started a diet on Monday and am already going through carb withdrawl. I'm not sure how long this will last, but I'm really trying. I had planned to start a diet anyway but decided to do it sooner than planned when this happened: Ella climbed on my leg to ride the "horse". I said, "Climb on the horse," and she responded with, "No, mama, you're the cow." So, there you go. The diet started Monday!

I'll end on one little funny thing that Ella said. We were watching an animal show that featured flamingos. I told her that they had strange necks and that it looked funny the way they looped around. She said, "Don't worry, mama, that's just not normal."