This is a pretty typical sight at our house. Ellie loving on Nichole. And Nichole looking like, "When is this girl going to stop hugging me and kissing me?" But I have to say, Nichole smiles every time Ellie is around, just not that much when she is stuck in a bear hug for what seems like hours (if you were a baby, you would think it was hours too!)
I love being a mom. If you could hear Ellie's sweet voice when she says' "Mommy." You could not help but smile. Many times, I have wondered if we have that same effect on our Heavenly Father. Maybe He smiles as soon as we utter the words "Father."
Ellie is in such a fun stage. She talks all day long, she has a big imagination, and she lives in her stories, having fun and playing all day (some might say she takes after her mother). She loves to hear stories, and she can make up her own, just as well as anyone else. You would be surprised that she is only two! She has started to pray on her own, and it is so sweet, she tells God stories as well. I can only picture His face beaming with pride as His little princess takes time to talk to Him, not just to go through a list of "please do this for me" or "thank you for such and such," but just to take the time and talk to Him, tell Him stories, be thankful and excited for the little things that happened during the day.
Nichole, well, I continue to be amazed by her. I know that when some people hear the words"Down syndrome," it seems that the Lord is taking us on a "tough road." Nothing could be farther from the truth. This is the sweetest road I have traveled. Not the road I would have willingly chosen, but now that I walk it, I would choose it a hundred times. This little baby girl can touch my heart like nobody else can. Her smiles, I believe, have a little bit of a "heaven tint." It is a beautiful road where we can stop and enjoy life, and discover, along the way, the true value and meaning of life. I pray that someday, the Lord will use me so that others can see, how beautiful it is to have a child with an extra chromosome. That maybe someday, as women hear a pre-natal diagnosis of Down syndrome, they will smile and say, "I am sooo lucky." Because I now know, that I am.
Here are some pictures of Nichole. She is now 6 months old.
"I am soooo confused"
"I guess I will take a bath if I have to"
Here are some pictures of our princess Ellie. I realize that I have no pictures of her wearing a princess crown, butterfly wings, a custom, or her Cinderella dress. I will post some later.
"I love chocolate" 
