Boo boo turns 3

A week from today our little baby turns 3. I can hardly believe it. It truly seems like yesterday since that little 6 pound peanut arrived three weeks early into our lives. Ellie has brought us so much joy in these past three years.
This year has been one of lots of growth for our little girl. Ellie is our little blondie and her eyes have become more green than blue. They are big and expressive. Ellie has many faces and expressions. She loves to give you looks when she is feeling pretty much any emotion. Her speech skills ,which were severely delayed, have finally caught up. She did qualify for a special speech program through the public schools here and will be beginning a preschool program that focuses on speech skills in a week. Ellie will go to preschool four mornings a week, on a bus! I can't even imagine what she will look like on a bus! Like last year, she will go to daycare while mommy is at school and internship. She gets to move up to another room which has a preschool curriculum as well. I am sure Ellie will love it. She loves to learn new songs and skills. Of all of the kids, Ellie is the one that actually seems to play with her toys. She has a pretty vivid imagination and loves dolls. She is also an artist like her big sister. Speaking of big sister, Ellie is now sharing a room with Caroline. We decided to take her out of her crib in the middle of the summer, so we wouldn't have to worry about the transition when school had begun. I am very glad we did this because it was a tough transition. But, all seems well now and she is happy to be with her sharing with Caroline. Caroline and Ellie have also discovered that they like to hang out with each other. Caroline can usually wrangle Ellie up to play school, house, babies, store or they often color with each other. It isn't always smooth sailing between them! One of Ellie's favorite things to say to Caroline is "MEANIE!:" whenever she isn't getting her way. Other cute things Ellie says is: Me do it! Why? Calling Caroline her nickname, Squeaky, she is always saying, SQUEAKY? when she can't find her.. Me want running huggy. My big now! Although she refuses to let us potty train her. She will go on the potty but if you try and get her to wear underwear she says,  No underwears, me wear diapers!
Ellie has developed her strong willed muscles this year. Our easy breezy two year old has become a more defiant three year old. She can be challenging and exhausting sometimes.
Because of all of her throat infections this past winter, Ellie had her tonsils out at the beginning of August. It was a rough week of recovery but she is doing fine now!
It has been another great year for our littlest girl. We are so blessed to have such a sweet little girl in our lives. She brings us so much joy and laughter, even in her naughty moments. I told Jeff the other day that  Ellie and her "surprising" arrival into our lives, three years ago,  is one of the best surprises we've ever received. We can't imagine our lives with out our Ellie Bellie, Boo boo girl! Happy Birthday Ellie Jane!

Offense

Offending and being offended have been on my mind this week. I realized that someone who I knew I offended a few years ago, was still offended by my Christian beliefs. I won't go into all the hairy details but basically this tends to happen, a lot, in our world of having  non-Christian friends. They simply do not believe what we believe. That can be very difficult to reconcile when difficult conversations come up. In this particular situation alcohol was involved which is never a good thing when discussing passionate topics. I regret that what I said came across in a offensve manner. I regret that I didn't make more of a concerted effort to talk it through after the fact.
But here's the thing, I felt very strongly that throughout this week of feeling bad about how what my friends have said and thought about me, that God was saying to me, " Why do you never care about offending me?" Ouch. It's so true. I care very much how I am perceived and what people think about me. But when it comes to God's perception, that often goes to the wayside. Why?
I met with a friend and mentor this week to discuss some of the recent struggles I have been having. We talked a lot about this subject and she said something that struck me deeply. My friend said that once we become a Christian we have the holy spirit living within us. When we choose to be sinful, we take along the spirit of God with us. When we speak hatred, when we drink too much, when we scream at our kids, when we're inpatient and angry toward our spouses, when we covet what others have, when we lust, when we watch t/v shows or read books that are inappropriate, the Spirit of God is taken along for all of it. Yuck. Talk about offensive.
I am ashamed that I have let my faith and relationship get so lack luster that I wasn't even recognizing the pain I was causing my God. I am ashamed that I care more about friendships than I do the God who sent His only Son to live a perfect blameless life and be beaten, berated and crucified for me.
Again ,I am in awe of the grace and redemption that God always offers, every single time that I mess up. I know he must think to himself, "Oh dear, sweet girl,will you ever see the errors of your ways and make it right once and for all?" The beauty and crux of this faith of mine, that I am not ashamed of, is that He is always willing to help me mend it. He is always able to help me pick up the pieces of my brokenness and make it beautiful.

Regrouping

We're finishing up summer around these parts. Trying to get back into normal sleeping routines, school supply shopping, school clothes shopping and figuring out our schedules, etc. The kids are excited to meet their new teachers and new classmates. Ellie had her tonsils out and despite a very rough seven days, survived. I begin my internship this week and next with orientation. School begins for all of us after Labor Day.
We are still church shopping ,but I think we've found one that we like and where we think we should establish ourselves for now. I had no idea how much not having a church would negatively impact our lives. I know there was no way around it and am confident in our decision that we made to leave our other church ,but it has been hard.
I am hopeful that with the new season that is approaching that a new season in our lives will begin as well. I have been tremendously convicted as of late about many things and know that now is the time to make changes. Life can spin out of control pretty darn quickly if you're not careful. I am hopeful that as we seek God through our new church and in our daily lives that He will be able to help us establish a more fruitful way of living.