The Power of Three

Thursday, January 26, 2006, was a very eventful day for our family; our Ella was born! She came into this world with vigor. We are so grateful for the joy that she has brought to us.

Three years later, she continues to bring joy to all of us. Ella was thrilled to have a birthday party with lots of friends. The festivities began with lunch at Izzy's. What could be better than party bags, goodies, pizza and ice cream!?

Ella made a haul! The smiles that she was giving us all day were so bright I couldn't help but be excited and smile with her.

The fun continued at home. Ella and I baked a cake together. It was made according to her specifications. She wanted a pink heart cake. After she ate her "piece of cake" (the frosting), she promptly asked for more frosting!

The gifts kept coming too. She was so excited over everything, it seemed like she was going in circles for a bit while she was deciding what she wanted to play with first.


I'm so grateful for my little girl, and I hope she will always know how important and special she is.

Potty Time

I am so proud of my little toots. It has been a week, and Ella has had no accidents. A few months ago, I attempted to begin potty training, and I failed miserably. I made some mistakes, and maybe (if you haven't already been through this process) if I share them, you won't make those same mistakes.
First: I started when I thought Ella should be ready.
Second: I had Ella go sit on the potty according to the schedule I thought was appropriate.
And Finally: I started this process when I was in the middle of my first trimester of my pregnancy.
With the wisdom that Landon gained from his father, he told me that "when you train a horse, sometimes things just don't work out. You then have to take some time off, and when you resume your training (when she's ready), the horse will remember what you taught them the first time, and progress without any trouble." Now, I'm not saying that my daughter is a horse, but the training theory seemed to be correct. For the months following the miserable failure, I would periodically ask Ella if she would like to go potty on her potty. For months the answer was no, but one day (a week ago), she agreed and was excited to put her big girl panties on. Since then, she has had no accidents. She even wakes up dry in the morning half the time, and wakes up from her naps dry every day. It's been fun to be excited with her. Now at the end of the day, she gets two coins for every "wet" she does in the potty and five coins for every "poopy." She then sits down and counts her coins as she puts them in her piggy bank (actually its a snail). She loves it when she gets "Lots and Lots of moneys."
Ella's getting to be such a big girl, and I am loving the thrill of being a part of her growth!