9 years old...oh my

Since Ella doesn't really like to have things shared about her, this post will be brief in words and abundant in pictures.  It is my hope that my pouring over the unending files of digital photo files, I have chosen some that convey the journey of our first love. 

Ella was the easiest baby in the world.  I remember Sandi's dad saying, "You will never have another child as easy as this."  I said, "Now, you never know... we might."  And then we had Maya.

Ella was a quiet and discerning child who liked to sleep, snuggle and be read to.  She didn't particularly like anyone beyond Sandi and I and would cry when we left her.  It took her a few years to really attach herself to anyone outside of us.  We could go anywhere with her.  We didn't have to worry about emotional upset until she was about three at which time she learned to put on showstopping tantrums that she took her time perfecting. 

Ella was our first baby.  I cut my teeth on her, so to speak, and the learning curve of motherhood was as sheer as a rock face for me.  She cracked my heart open, showed me I knew little of love until I experienced my love for her.  Becoming her's, and then Maya's, mother rocketed me on a journey of self exploration that has been unparalleled in my life.  Since she came to be my daughter, I've strived (and often failed) to be and do better for her.  It is a gross understatement but I have no other words with which to say it: I have been transformed by being a mother.

I have also fallen more infinitely in love with Sandi watching her mother our children.  She is the perfect balance for me in almost every regard and parenting is where we shine.  I think that together we make a stellar team.  She is yielding where I am not, is more generous with opportunities for our kids to prove themselves and grow independent and is always full of creative ideas to make life more fun.  I simply love and admire her and parenting alongside her has been one of the biggest blessing of my life.  There is absolutely no one else I would have wanted to take this journey with. 

From serious, contented baby to more outgoing, self-confident girl it has been a joy to watch Ella grow into herself.  She has learned to be more flexible, find the joy in the small things and is slowly learning how to value love and time more than stuff.  She has taught herself gymnastics and just got invited to the more advanced gymnastics class, the dynamites.  She loves to read and can eat up a book in a handful of hours in the chair by the fire.  Ella still loves for us to be by her side when she is doing nearly anything but more and more lately she is stepping out into safe parts of the world on her own two feet.  

I adore who she is becoming and it is a privilege to witness. 

Ella has always and forever liked to make "nests."  She still sleeps under a pile of blankets.

 

(Photo by Amanda Burse - La Bella Vita Photography)

Happy Birthday to our beautiful first girl.  Thanks for being so patient with us as your moms and for teaching us so much.