Happy Birthday sweet pea

   Happy New Year everyone. And with a new year among us it means that everyone around us is making new Years Resolutions, I will give you one of mine, which I normally keep very personal, but since it may excite some of you I will share. This year I resolve to blog more often. My goal is once a week minimum, which I often have ideas of things I would like to write about more often than that, just don't get around to the follow through part. Feel free to yell at me if I slip up. Hunt me down, post on my Facebook wall, text me, or stroll in the house and say.. hey you.. with the sweatpants... get off of Pinterest and do something productive. Seriously about once a week someone should do that anyways.
   A new year in my house is about more than a resolution, which can happen any day you want it to, for us it is the proximity to another very important day that is much more exciting. Ellie's birthday!! For those of you who know me well, Ellie is a test of my patience, she is the unexpected baby that decided that she would hold on to that concept and integrate it into her personality. She makes me want to both pull my hair out and laugh every single day.
  Year 2 for her has brought me a lot of laughs, she remains a strong opponent to clothing at home, She consumes more Nutella than anyone I know, and she has more sass than a whole cheerleading squad. Year 3 should be fun.
  I cant imagine life without her though. Even when she is trying to conquer my very last nerve, she is teaching me a lesson. She teaches me how to bite my tongue when I am angry, she teaches me how to step away when I am allowing my emotions to lead me, she teaches me how to laugh at things even when I don't want to, and to chose my battles. She teaches me daily to look at the world through the eyes of a child, to be excited over the little things, how important the small steps are, to be fearless.
   I joke about how hard it is to deal with myself as a 2 year old, but truth be told, I wish I had the strength and resilience that she does. I wish that I could let things go the way she can, be as unwilling to give up on the things I want, and as clever as she is, as curious as she is.
   I am working on learning to embrace her strengths instead of try to change them simply because I am not strong enough to confront them daily. I welcome year 3 for her, because it gives me a second chance. A chance to be the mother to her that she needs, one that can step out of my own comfort zone enough to let her grow into the unique and spirited individual that she is meant to be.
   So as the weekend approaches and we get a day closer to her birthday, I get a little bit closer to telling her...

      Happy Birthday Ell 'Raine. I love you more than I ever thought possible, Bring on the trouble and challenges, bring on the crazy. But most of all, Thank you for being the most amazing little girl I have ever met, and I thank God daily for being so blessed to be your Mommy. Here is to another year of memories, and a few days of questioning my sanity.