They say that a son has your heart and a daughter your soul. As days go by, I understand more and more the validity of that very statement. Cale grabbed my heart the second he was born and I am so in love with him with a kind of love I have never had the privilege of feeling up until this point. I guess it has something to do with carrying, growing and then having a “mini” part of the man that you married. Now, to clarify, I love both my children with my whole heart and with everything that I have. I love them equally. But, I love them differently.
Ella is part of me. Don’t get me wrong, she looks a lot like Matt, at times she acts a lot like Matt, but there are parts of us that are one and the same. There is a quote that goes, “A son is a son till he takes a wife, but a daughter’s a daughter all of her life.” She is not now, but will always be mine in that way. She won’t replace me when she makes best friends or when she gets married - that little part of her that is me and vice versa that part of me that is her will always be. She is my daughter, my love and one day my friend-forever. She is a part of my soul.
With that said, let me introduce to you my heart-
This little booger is the happiest, most content little piece of heaven. Matt and I have discussed on several occasions how much easier the second child is. Now, whether it’s just because he is easier or we are just better at it has yet to be determined. Breakfast is his FAVORITE time of day. He squeals and kicks through the entire meal, so much so that it is seemingly difficult to get the spoon in his mouth without displacing cereal EVERYWHERE! I LOVE watching him eat and the noises he makes while doing so. He opens his mouth wide open when he’s ready for his next bite-I giggle through the meal! The boy likes to sleep. He’s not a napper, he likes to sleep. At 8 or 9 ish he is ready for bed. Once he is in the bed we don’t hear from him until 9 ish the next morning…see what I mean. Yay, for the second baby!! He loves a bath and now loves to hang out in his birthday suit-this wasn’t always the case. He grins at everyone we meet. And, he still gives me wide-open mouth kisses, which I could sit around and take all day. At his last check up (4 months) he was still in the 90th percentile for height and weight. He is my big “little” boy!
And…part of my soul-
This one is sassy made over. She has an opinion all her own for EVERYTHING and she is the epitome of strong-willed and s-t-u-b-b-o-r-n! She brings out love in me that is sent from above and frustration in me that I didn’t know I had. Well, I take that back, sometimes I see that same frustration with Matt. So, I guess it’s true what they say that the people you love the most can also make you the most aggravated! Sometimes I feel as if she and I fight like sisters and it’s VERY easy sometimes to forget who actually is the boss. She is my biggest accountability and she doesn’t even know it. I can see myself in her so often and those are usually the moments when I call my own mother to apologize. She uses words like “supposedly”, “regardless” and “actually,” which all together make me forget that she is still only three. Her imagination is unreal and sometimes I might actually wonder when the line of “normal imagination” is crossed? She can actually take on a completely different persona (hence the wigs, I guess.) If she is pretending to be Ariel, you have to call her Ariel and she won’t respond to Ella or anything else. She tells me she loves me with “the rest of her heart” and “I very love you!” I VERY love her too-with ALL of my heart and soul!
Ella is part of me. Don’t get me wrong, she looks a lot like Matt, at times she acts a lot like Matt, but there are parts of us that are one and the same. There is a quote that goes, “A son is a son till he takes a wife, but a daughter’s a daughter all of her life.” She is not now, but will always be mine in that way. She won’t replace me when she makes best friends or when she gets married - that little part of her that is me and vice versa that part of me that is her will always be. She is my daughter, my love and one day my friend-forever. She is a part of my soul.
With that said, let me introduce to you my heart-
This little booger is the happiest, most content little piece of heaven. Matt and I have discussed on several occasions how much easier the second child is. Now, whether it’s just because he is easier or we are just better at it has yet to be determined. Breakfast is his FAVORITE time of day. He squeals and kicks through the entire meal, so much so that it is seemingly difficult to get the spoon in his mouth without displacing cereal EVERYWHERE! I LOVE watching him eat and the noises he makes while doing so. He opens his mouth wide open when he’s ready for his next bite-I giggle through the meal! The boy likes to sleep. He’s not a napper, he likes to sleep. At 8 or 9 ish he is ready for bed. Once he is in the bed we don’t hear from him until 9 ish the next morning…see what I mean. Yay, for the second baby!! He loves a bath and now loves to hang out in his birthday suit-this wasn’t always the case. He grins at everyone we meet. And, he still gives me wide-open mouth kisses, which I could sit around and take all day. At his last check up (4 months) he was still in the 90th percentile for height and weight. He is my big “little” boy!And…part of my soul-
This one is sassy made over. She has an opinion all her own for EVERYTHING and she is the epitome of strong-willed and s-t-u-b-b-o-r-n! She brings out love in me that is sent from above and frustration in me that I didn’t know I had. Well, I take that back, sometimes I see that same frustration with Matt. So, I guess it’s true what they say that the people you love the most can also make you the most aggravated! Sometimes I feel as if she and I fight like sisters and it’s VERY easy sometimes to forget who actually is the boss. She is my biggest accountability and she doesn’t even know it. I can see myself in her so often and those are usually the moments when I call my own mother to apologize. She uses words like “supposedly”, “regardless” and “actually,” which all together make me forget that she is still only three. Her imagination is unreal and sometimes I might actually wonder when the line of “normal imagination” is crossed? She can actually take on a completely different persona (hence the wigs, I guess.) If she is pretending to be Ariel, you have to call her Ariel and she won’t respond to Ella or anything else. She tells me she loves me with “the rest of her heart” and “I very love you!” I VERY love her too-with ALL of my heart and soul! 
Christmas night Honey and Ella baked a cake for Jesus' birthday and we all sang "Happy Birthday" to Him. 
Belle outside her house...my mom bought Ella the Belle and Sleeping Beauty princess wigs. It's SO much more fun dressing up with the hair to go with it!
Ella and Papa's ever-faithful sidekick, Phoenix
