Ellie is Three

Somehow I blinked and my sweet Luella Faith is 3 years old!! I have no idea how that happened so quickly but I wouldn't trade a minute of it.  She is the sweetest little girl, full of so much spunk and spirit, the kindest heart, and belly full of giggles.  She loves to laugh (and cry), her animals, her pacifier and most of all she loves her sister "Too Much"!  

I don't know how we got so lucky to have this little doll all to ourselves but I thank the Lord every single day for her.  I never could have imagined that the sweet little babe they brought into our hospital room 3 years ago was going to grow up to be such a wonderful girl.  My heart explodes on the daily with an overwhelming feeling of love for her.

Even though this sweet girl getting to be so big, she is still super small and I couldn't love that more about her. She still wears a lot of her 2T clothes and I even put her in a few 18 month sizes.  I know that she can wear the 3T sizes but sometimes the pants (waistband) are too big.  I would like to say she is about 85% potty trained and finally has the concept down.  We have had ups and downs with the potty training journey, probably just like everyone else. She has had days where she is on top of it and other days that are full of accidents.  At first she got marshmallows, then we stopped because she was having too many accidents.  When we tried it back up again, we just gave lots of praise (and monies for her piggy bank).  She was doing great and then we had a regression so we went back to marshmallows and we have more days that are successful than not.  Her favorite reward is to get a quick bath immediately following a successful #2 on the potty.  There have been a few occasions where we had to forego the bath but overall she is doing really well.

Ellie got to choose her party theme this year and after going up and down the aisles at Party City a dozen times she decided on Frozen.  You can read all about her party here. 

Some pictures with our girl the night before she turned 3

We also went to the doctor a few days after her birthday and now that Ellie is three she gets to change into an exam robe...

She was a wild girl jumping onto the stool while waiting for the doctor but she did great and got to have her very first lollipop while we were waiting for Finnley to get her shot. And in true Ellie form she is still in 40th percentile for height and weight.  I love my tiny girl so much!

Ellie is a doting sister always so excited for when Finnley is awake, great at getting Finnley a paci when "needed" and is always trying to give her hugs and kisses.  She was so concerned that Finnley doesn't have her own Bitty Baby that she said "that's okay I will share with her". 

Girlfriend is extremely active and loves all of her "friends", which basically means anytime she sees a kid around her age they're her friend - so sweet.  She loves to go to gymnastics and try out all the equipment. I am so excited that she is finally 3 so that she can now go into a more structured class.  She also goes to swimming lessons - the parent/child variety.  While she loves to splash around in the pool, it's not her favorite activity. Her least favorite thing to do is to dunk her head under water - so that is going to be our biggest feat.  I am pretty sure that once she gets over that we will have a little fish on our hands.

My sweet Ellie Faith, you are a shining light in my life and I am so grateful that God chose me to be your Mama.  I have loved watching you grow and learn this past year and I can't wait to see your personality develop more and to see what new things you do!!

I love you babe!!

♥ Ashley

Ellie's 3rd Birthday Party

Ellie is 2

Ellie's 2nd Birthday Party

Ellie is 1

Ellie's 1st Birthday Party