

When she sees letters, she will tell me what they stand for. She knows E is for Ella Reese, an D is for Dean-o, A for apple and other ones. And she always looks for an E. And if she can't find it she will say, "where is E for me?".

She has started a stuffed animal obsession. She MUST sleep with her 6 stuffed animals. So when i tuck her in at night, I have to arrange them all in a certain way to make room for them all, her two pillows she sleeps with along with her head. It is a sight to see her little head snuggled in between all the toys. There is her beloved panda, a bunny, a wind up giraffe from Nana Smith, a girl bear and a tom and jerry toys ( who she calls them both her animals and not Tom and Jerry). After singing her a good night song, I give her a kiss and a Eskimo kiss (a nose kiss) and she will almost always ask me to nose kiss all her toys too. Sometimes I give in and do it.
We started potty training again! And it is a success this time around! yea! Success means 75% of the time I put her on the toilet, she goes. And there are still times that she wets herself of course. But as the days pass, she is doing better and better! It is encouraging and not so bad as I thought it would be. But the first three days was pretty bad. ER, Dean and myself were in that bathroom all day long. We were in there while she sat on the potty singing songs, reading books, anything to keep her on the potty. Now she will just go once I put her on the toilet. So after three weeks I am happy with her progress. Today at Target, she told me she had to go potty. And at the moment I did not want to take her cause Dean was sleepy and fussy, my cart was overflowing with things falling out (literally) and I was hungry. So I almost told her to just go in her pull-ups and decided to make the effort to get her in the bathroom along with Dean in his car seat. But it was worth it cause she went! We were so excited. It was a single bathroom , and instead of hauling dean and my purse into the bathroom, I put Dean in his car seat on the floor to keep the door open, and put her on the potty. When she went we both clapped and excited said "you did it!" and sang the Dora song. And all the ladies at the pharmacy outside the bathroom (who told me where the bathroom was ) were either 1)annoyed that I did not take my children INTO the bathroom but instead propped the door open with my baby, or 2)were just as excited as we were. I did not look at their faces as we strolled past them, so I will never know. But I was so excited with ER's potty success that I did not care!

She has started to ask me over and over the same questions. "Mom, what you doin?" I anwser. "oh." she replies. "Mom, what Dean doin?". Dean is next to her and it is obvious what he is doing. I reply. "oh." she says. " What Dad doin?". I reply. "What Ella doin?". I reply. " oh, sure." (she says oh sure a lot) Then she starts it all over again. "Mom, what you doin?".
Some of you may know of the bit of a struggle Ryan and I have had with ER with certain issues of disobedience the past 2 months. Well, after seeking the Lord and crying out for his help we have seen a difference! Finally! So those of you who have been thinking of us and praying for us...thank you! I think that over all the Lord has impressed upon my heart how HE disciplines us, his children, and how HE seeks to forgive us and how HIS love is so GREAT and steadfast for Me (his child). Revisiting those truths now in light of disciplining my own child, has opened my eyes to how the Lord loves me and how he desires me to love and forgive Ella Reese.

She has started to ask me over and over the same questions. "Mom, what you doin?" I anwser. "oh." she replies. "Mom, what Dean doin?". Dean is next to her and it is obvious what he is doing. I reply. "oh." she says. " What Dad doin?". I reply. "What Ella doin?". I reply. " oh, sure." (she says oh sure a lot) Then she starts it all over again. "Mom, what you doin?".
And on some days she will ask all those same questions, then after I answer she will repeat my answer. Then ask the question again. It is so cute to hear her little voice. She pronounces her words pretty well that Ryan and I think sometimes she sounds like either a Chinese or Russian person who has come to America and their English is broken.

Some of you may know of the bit of a struggle Ryan and I have had with ER with certain issues of disobedience the past 2 months. Well, after seeking the Lord and crying out for his help we have seen a difference! Finally! So those of you who have been thinking of us and praying for us...thank you! I think that over all the Lord has impressed upon my heart how HE disciplines us, his children, and how HE seeks to forgive us and how HIS love is so GREAT and steadfast for Me (his child). Revisiting those truths now in light of disciplining my own child, has opened my eyes to how the Lord loves me and how he desires me to love and forgive Ella Reese.










































