i've spent 7 years "past heaven"...

it is truly hard to comprehend that our ella will be 7 years old today...at 2 o'clock. yep, it was at that exact moment seven years ago that our ella blinked her way into our world and our hearts. i can still recall every detail of every moment...and every feeling that i had when they placed her on my chest. i'm not sure i had ever cried more tears of joy.

the hole that had been in my heart forever was instantly filled. i was a mommy to a beautiful and healthy baby girl. she was perfection in a tiny little 6 lb 4 oz package.

we were definitely feeling the love.

and still are. on this special day of her birth. and all days.

ella was a very happy little baby...she could turn on the charm...and smiled at everybody! she was also a handful when she wanted to be...and extremely opinionated about most things! she had an amazing vocabulary from a very young age (still does, really)...i just found a list of all of her "words" and she was saying over 100 of them at 16 months! things like "touch it", "there you go", "mamen" (amen), "sing" (swing), & "memma" (emma)! she weighed 18 pounds at her 1st birthday and nursed until she was almost 16 months old.

every bit of her 220,898,482 seconds of life has made me proud. and happy to be her mother.

she's an amazing big sister and a wonderful friend. she's curious and intuitive. she's concerned about others. she still has the most precious freckles a mommy could ever have the opportunity of kissing. she still sucks her two fingers when she's "simmering down".

and...

she still blows me away.

in the blink of my eye, she'll be walking to get her diploma or walking down the aisle...and this day will seem like ancient history.

the day when at seven years old, she loved spaghetti, coloring on anything and everything, eating strawberries by the bushel, holding my hand, having her fingernails painted different colors, riding her bike without training wheels, cuddling after dinner...at the table!, asking questions like only a 7 year old could, swinging and singing...

most of the time, with that huge, squinty eyed grin on her face!

ella...you can't begin to understand the depth of my love...but i certainly hope you feel it. each day with you is a gift. april 26th at 2 o'clock is certainly on my list of most treasured blessings.

i love you, sweet girl.

i love you past heaven.