A Sister for Ella

Growing up with two brothers, I always wanted a sister.  Don't get me wrong--I love my brothers, but it always seemed like there was such a unique bond between sisters that I may have missed out on.  It looks like Ella will get to have the sister that I always wanted. 

I admit that a part of me was hoping for a boy--I know that my husband hopes for a son at some point to carry on the family name (as old and traditional as that sounds), and I wanted to mix things up a bit (please don't judge me for my honesty--I feel bad enough that I was hoping one way or the other in the first place).  But I'm thrilled that--first and foremost--this baby girl is healthy, and that I saved most of Ella's old clothes, and that Ella will have the chance to have the sister-relationship that I always wanted. 

Now that we know that we're having another girl, we can start planning and decorating Ella's new room.  The plan is to keep her nursery as it is for the new baby girl, and move her next door over to the guest room where we have a full-sized bed.  She was so excited to learn yesterday that she will get a new big bed that she insisted on sleeping in it last night--and did just great!  Talk about an easy transition!  I'm afraid that the hard part is going to be asking her to return to her little toddler-bed for a couple of nights so that we can paint the room and spruce up some of the furniture before we fully move her into her new room. 

So, it looks like the only thing we'll actually "need" for this new baby girl is a new double-jogging stroller.  I lent my sister-in-law some clothes earlier on when my niece was born, so I'll have to try to get those back too.  And perhaps I should invest in some good laundry detergent to get some of those lingering stains out of Ella's old clothes.  Other than that, I guess we're pretty much ready to welcome Baby Girl #2 in early August!

Today's blessing was watching Ella's excitement over Valentine's Day.  Yes, I admit that she's mostly excited about eating chocolate; but when we talked about how it's a special day to tell our friends how much we love and appreciate them, she declared that she loves her friend Madelyn the most--and then marched into school to tell her so.  It's such a blessing to see her "get it" these days as she learns and applies new things.