A few thoughts as Ellie turns three...

Whenever the kids celebrate a birthday I find myself (as you probably do too) musing about WHO they are, how far they've come, and how glad I am that God decided (out of kazillions of possibilities) for exactly ELLIE and JOSH to be our kids. He sure knows how to pick 'em!

To try and keep this short and sweet, here are three things that bless me the most about three year old Ellie:

1. Her EBULLIENCE. She is super cheerful (90% of the time :) and full of energy! From day one she had lungs and at three weeks a killer smile. At 4 months she had strangers at the grocery store stopping in their tracks because her happy shriek was so incredibly loud that she sounded like a sort of prehistoric bird. By six 1/2 months she was talking. At 10 months she'd yell "HI!" to anyone who'd listen, and by a year she had over 2 dozen words...and hasn't slowed down since. There are a few negatives to her talkative nature (teaching her to not to interrupt adults, my daily SANITY, etc.) but mostly it's been hilarious and way too fun - especially since I'm chatty too. Ellie sees the positive side of almost anything, and reminds me a lot of my favourite classic Disney personality - Pollyanna.

2. Another one of my favourite qualities in Ellie is her heart to encourage others. She will often lean over towards a friend and say, "Wow, that's a really beautiful picture you colored!". Today at biblestudy group when her favourite toddler, Benjamin, smiled at her she quipped, "That's a great smile, Benjamin! Great smiling!" Or sitting at the table in the morning she will spontaneously say things like, "You are my best mommy in the whole world!" The day before Ellie's birthday we decided to take her out for pizza as a special treat. After we had finished our pizza and paid our bill we were about to head out the door. Ellie had about 3 old ladies in the waiting area asking her questions and giggling at her answers when suddenly Ellie looked up and gasped, "OH! I forgot to tell the lady she made great pizza!!" So we had to go back to find our teenage waitress and Ellie shouted over the noise, "You make great pizza!!" That sure earned her a fast lollipop!
3. A third beautiful quality in Ellie is her quickness to forgive - and apologize. She's suddenly come to the point where if we're having a tough morning, and I say, "Boy, it's a tough morning Ellie, hey?" She'll go, "Mommy, I'm really sorry I...(fill in blank)" and she's always dead on with something she did that wasn't obedient, etc.. And it's very rare that I ask her for forgiveness for something that I've done that she doesn't come up with something to apologize about too. It's a wonderful place to be at - both of us knowing we can fail each other, but that there's always grace and forgiveness to be found. Of course as we forge ahead into year three there are many new challenges that are arising (I am not oblivious to the kids' flaws by any means!), but the point of this post is to bless. These are some of the things that make Rob and I get teary-eyed at night as we think of Ellie growing up and getting hurt and leaving home etc.. Three year old Ellie is a treasure to behold, a gift from God, and she fills our hearts to overflowing every day. Happy Birthday, Sweetie!