{a fresh spring breeze}: Another ONE... {Happy birthday, Elise!}

I said to Patrick as I laid Elise down for bed last night, "Can you believe our THIRD child is ONE?" He couldn't either. Of all the years of life I've lived, this one has been the fastest. And of all of the babies in the world, Elise is the sweetest.

It humbles me to think that with each child I prayed and cried and begged God to allow us to conceive. The same is true with Elise, but harder and deeper and more tears. That year of fertility treatments and those months of being told "no" another time. That year of people telling us, one by one by one, that they were pregnant easy peasy, smiling and being so glad for them...You can't know that pain until you feel it. That year of praying the deepest and most honest prayers I've ever prayed. That year of walking in scripture and soaking in the truth that God is my Rock, my Redeemer, my Plan Maker, my Worth and my Satisfaction. Oh man...that year was hard. But worth it.

So we prayed for a third child. We sought the face and will of God. And He answered us and gave to us. The answer to our prayers was Elise. Bless it! She's such a sweet gift to us. All of us. We didn't know for sure, but how can you, that our lives and our family were incomplete without her.

Here we are a year later! You can read her birth story, if you want. I enjoyed it ;) She came into the world easily and quickly. She has been so content and truly full of joy. She has brought countless smiles to our faces and usually has a grin on her face, too. I'm certain, though, that Elise wasn't just for us. She was a sweet baby that filled friends arms that were done with babies. She has been a delight to those who spend time with her. She has all kinds of people talking to her at the stores. She is this little light. And it's beautiful.

Elise is practically a giant. She is 90% percentile for height and weight and wears 12 or 18 month clothes. She enjoys eating. Some of her favorites are graham crackers, apples, sweet potatoes, yogurt, chicken, ice cream, bread, pizza, black beans, carrots, bananas and blueberries. Elise would eat blueberries ALL the days if she could.

She just started crawling about three weeks ago. She was crawling with her leg turned under her, so I took her to a friend who is a physical therapist and some vertebrae were rotated. A little fixing up there and she has been non.stop. It's really been a delight to see her explore and gain some freedom and independence! But she won't go too far and prefers for someone to be in sight. She also claps and waves and does other sweet baby things.

Elise loves to play and the boys dislike that she can move now, but only because she likes their toys. She LOVES balls. Loves them. She likes Little People things that make noise, mainly a helicopter. She also loves the baby dolls and stuffed animals in her bed. Elise takes two naps a day, but at least one is weird because of the boys school schedule. But she takes it like a champ and sleeps so great at night. {usually 7pm-6:45am -- give or take}

Elise enjoys dancing and will bounce and shake like it's her job when she hears music {or even when my cell phone rings. haha}. She likes when we sing to her and when we sing in the car. She has an awful squeal that is ear piercing and really radiates through your entire body. I'm pretty sure she's adapted to the noise level around and and realized early on that if she wanted to be heard, she would need to stand out :)

Elise babbles often and says several words: uh-oh and ball are the ones she says the most! Ball was her first word. She can say mama, dada, ball, uh-oh, cracker, blankie {which sounds like ba-ba}, all done {which is very hard to understand to the untrained ear}, she calls for the boys and they come to her and think she's saying "bubba". I don't buy it, but they do -- so she says that, too.

Elise doesn't have much of a whimper. She just has an all out, big crocodile tears, big pouty lip cry. And it's a loud cry, too. She's fairly sensitive and pretty opinionated. She does NOT like when you are holding her and put her down without her suggesting such a thing. Elise L.O.V.E.S her brothers. Seriously, she can't get enough of them and they love making her laugh and giving her toys {so she won't play with their toys}.

Elise does give sweet kisses and leans in so you can kiss her. I really love it. She use to be a great smuggler, but she's slowly finding that to be a little tedious. I'll just keep trying :) Elise really is a delight to us and we are so grateful that the Lord saw it fit that she would be ours. I can't believe {again} that this year went by so quickly! Sheesh!!! Here's to the next year and watching my baby girl grow and change and become a little lady!!!

Happy FIRST birthday, sweet Elise!!! We love you always and forever. You're a treasure, little girl!!!