No Longer A Baby

Our Elliana Faith turned 3 years old today. I don't know what it is, but it seems like overnight my baby turned into a little girl.

I know many people would still consider 3 to very much be a toddler, and I would agree. However, when I look at and interact with Ellie, it seems that all traces of baby and toddler are gone.

Elliana speaks in full and complete sentences with ease, and she has for quite some time. She is so easy to communicate with, she expresses her thoughts and feelings so well these days. She's even become incredibly inquisitive, she wants to know EVERYTHING about the world around her. She probably asks hundreds of questions a day. She is pretty much potty trained and only wears a diaper during nap time and overnight.

Ellie is even looking older to me. Her legs are growing so long and I don't see any baby fat on her anymore. :(

When Elliana was a baby, I couldn't imagine her as a little girl. Now, I can barely remember Ellie as a baby. Thank God for home videos to remind me. :)

I wrote this about Ellie in our Christmas letter that we sent out to family and friends, and I thought it would be good to post it on here to remind myself of what Ellie was like at this age;

"Elliana- Ellie will be turning 3 this December! Crazy! Every day she is becoming more like a little girl and less like a toddler. Ellie is still small for her age, but she has grown a lot physically this year. Her personality is still WAY bigger than her size. She still keeps us laughing and chasing after her all of the time. She has taken to the role of big sister very well. She adores Ethan and can make him laugh like nobody else. Elliana is fascinated with older girls and is constantly reminding us that she’s a big girl now. Her favorite things are dressing up “like a princess”, dancing, singing, romantic scenes from Disney movies (she’s SUCH a girl!), coloring and painting, going to the park, being active, and building forts with her daddy."

Even though we're officially celebrating Ellie's birthday on Saturday, Caleb and I still wanted to do something special for her today. So tonight after dinner we gave her our gift and sang to her. She was so cute and SO excited! Even though she didn't know what her gift was at first, she was very quick to thank us. :)

Caleb caught it all on camera and I had to put the videos on here. Enjoy!




I can't even express how much Elliana means to us. She is the child we prayed for for so many years. She is our greatest challenge, yet she brings us more joy than we ever imagined. I'm so proud to be her mom!

If the first 3 years of her life went by this fast, then I can only imagine how fast the rest will go. I am so thankful for every day that I get to spend with her. Thank you Lord for our Elliana Faith.