Ella’s third year

If I have to sum up this year it would be family and friends. We did a LOT of stuff with my family. They still lived in town at this point and we lived so close and it was perfect for the kids…and adults. Then there is my church family, most of whom has moved away by now, but they were our constant.

We did play dates, food place playgrounds and get-togethers. We spent A LOT of time at my house and in our playroom. Being plugged into a church community literally saved my sanity these years of motherhood and especially navigating a different motherhood than my friends. They lived every second of the hard right alongside us. Joe and I have spoken on this point many times, but the pictures and my blog posts prove that it was true…they were my village.

I also learned that 2-year-old birthday parties with a handicapped little girl were going to be hard and I might need to be very selective about what we said “yes” to…just for my heart. I juggled a newborn (William) and Ella going to therapy at a downtown hospital 4 days a week. I did hard things and SURVIVED and somehow thrived with joy most days!! (I’ve giving myself a lot of parenting credit after reading my old posts)

THEN we got smart and hired Kristie Thornton as our first full-time attendant and realized that the gift of respite was glorious. Never more apparent than the morning in April of 2009 when Kristie found Ella seizing for the first time since the NICU and we managed the 911 and ambulance ride and “what’s next” moments until Joe could arrive. And that was how we entered her 3rd birthday. Grateful she was alive and with us, and only slightly prepared for the next years that would rock our world.