My Three E's...

My Three E's proudly show off their Mother's Day Gift that was made for Mommy.

Oh my darling Three E's...

You have touched my life in so many ways. I feel so blessed to be a Mommy and yet to be a Mommy of such wonderful little ones is truly unbelievable to me. You are each so special and so dear to me and I can't believe that God has so graciously allowed me to have you in my life.

My very first E, my first favorite...You will never know how special you make my life on a day to day basis. You are the one who made me a Mommy and you will always hold a special place in my heart for that. We waited for what seemed so long for you and because of that we missed many of your firsts, which hurts my heart. But, I get to experience those first with you as I see the excitement and pride that you hold as you witness them in your brother and sister. You show such pride in them and everything that they do. You tell them daily, with comments like, "Good job, You're learning" as you rub them on their head and you are quick to tell strangers that we pass in the store that you have a brother and a sister. You have so much faith in God, which I can learn from. Soon after Ella and Elijah were born, we were riding down the road and you said, "I prayed and I prayed and I prayed for a baby and God gave us TWO!" I am so proud of you for the young boy that you are becoming. You are so inquisitive and curious about your surroundings and have such a love for learning! I pray that you never lose those qualities. You are kind and caring for others and are a good friend. It's hard to believe that you were once the shy timid little boy who looked up at us in the baby home with tears, shaking your head or the little boy who ran to the door to say "Baca" letting us know that you wanted to leave. But with love by our family and God's grace, that little boy only lasted about a day. You quickly ran to Momma and Poppa with hugs and security, and soon, it was to Mommy and Daddy. Our time in Russia, is time that only you will share with Mommy and Daddy, time that we can never lose. That shy, timid little boy has become a rambucious almost 5 year old big boy, who loves adventure and all things either dangerous or dirty...and if you find something that qualifies as both, well that's even better. I am thankful for my first E, every single day!

My newest E's, who came at the same time are my favorites too. The two of you complete our family (for now anyway, unless we adopt again someday when we're old and gray). The joy and happiness that you bring to our family is amazing. Yes, at first it was very difficult and still can be quite overwhelming at times, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. You have both evolved so much in the 4 months and 2 weeks that you have been with us.

Ella, the oldest by less than a minute, something like 35 or so seconds. Is our one and only beautiful baby girl! Already so prissy and filled with wonderment, like your brother. You have started wanting to sit up so that you can see what's going on around you and really like your Bumbo chair. Boy, do you love your big brother. You have been laughing for about 2 weeks now, but so far, your big brother is the only one who can make you laugh. You giggled at Mommy a little bit but nothing like you do when you see your Big Brother. He makes you light up like no one else can. I can already see that there is going to be a very special bond between the two of you. You tend to have him wrapped around your little finger just like you do your Daddy. When it's time for bed, you snuggle down in my arms so sweetly and when you wake up you are all smiles. If you need something when you are in your crib I have to walk way around, careful for you not to see me because if you do, nap time is through for it's all smiles from you and it's so hard to resist. For the most part, you are quite content with life in general and are in no hurry to do anything new. From your point of view things are pretty good right now so why change it?

I love you, my sweet baby girl.

Baby Lije, I worried about you when you were born. One week in the NICU, a WIMP, they called you for White Infant Male Preemie, but there's no way you can be called that now. You are going to be so much like you big brother, as you study his every move. I can just see you now, following him everywhere an wanting to imitate him. In the beginning of your life you were our squeaky wheel, you were our crier for sure. (but then Ella soon followed, as you were both pretty colicky for about a month. You both screamed from your dinner time feeding to your first night time feeding every night.) If you were awake, you were crying, but then we got your formula figured out (about $149/week now for you both) and you became such a happy little baby. You have more of a ready simile now but when you first started smiling we had to really work for it. Our little judge, we called you, so serious and stern. Now, when you smile it looks like you are just laughing so hard yet, usually there's no sound. You have started giggling a little bit though, most at Mommy when I sing to you. You love to hear Mommy sing so I do it often and your face just lights up. You are so strong, rolling over, standing in our laps, and reaching and grabbing everything in your reach.

I love you my baby Lije!

God has blessed us with good children in may ways. One of which I am particularly thankful for is when it comes to sleeping and please Lord, may it continue!! Evan, you are such a good sleeper and always have been. Every night our routine is the same, Mommy and Daddy take turns, each taking a night, one after the other. We read a book, talk, and say your prayers and it's off to sleep you go and boy, do you sleep hard. Every night, Mommy and Daddy come into your room and kiss you again, making sure you are covered up, often one of us will lay down and cuddle with you for just a minute and you don't even move, you never know we are there. Ella, you started sleeping through the night just before you turned 3 months and Elijah, you were right behind her. At night, around 8:30 Mommy and Daddy take you both up, we turn on your white noise, rock you both and give you your bottle. You get sleepy but we lay you down awake, most nights you don't make a sound. We usually wake you both up around 7:00 though Elijah often wakes up a little before and it's time to eat. You both sleep completely through the night!!! You are both adapting very well to nap time as well. Napping at 9 am and again around 1:30, but don't ever forget your blankies!! You both love your blankies so much!

Thank you Lord for all of my blessings thank you especially for my three E's. Amen.

Mother's Day 2008