In Only Seven Short Years

My first picture with Elise

August 16th marks Elise's 7th birthday. What an amazing, terrifying, and humbling ride it has been! I recently had the thought that I would write this post, but had no idea the true difficulty it would give me. There have been a lot of good and a lot of bad in that seven year journey. There are no guides to help us as parents maneuver these waters, and each day brings new surprises in one way or another. After combing through the photos several things have been pretty evident to me. 1) We sure looked a lot younger only 7 years ago. 2) There was a lot less grey hair then as well. 3) There were no shortage of pictures with people smiling. I believe #3 is the most important in all of this. No matter if the day has given us lemons or lemonade, Elise has always found a way to bring a smile to our face and left us in awe of the things she has been capable of.

Elise opening a present on her 1st birthday

Elise has always been inquisitive and persistent. We have come to appreciate her persistence in ways we didn't even know were possible. From the beginning she would focus all of her energy on a task and continue with it until she could figure out how to do it. She was rarely frustrated, but always determined!

Finishing off some cake on her 2nd birthday

Fortunately for us, we never really experienced the "terrible 2's" with Elise. She was always up for being a bit ornery, but well short of terrible. As you can see by that smile, she was always planning something to push the boundaries a little bit.

Elise sitting on her Tinkerbell couch for her 3rd birthday

Little did we know, her 3rd birthday was the start of one of her most difficult years. She got to "enjoy" her 3rd birthday in the local hospital. She was experiencing some odd and unexplainable symptoms that would later turn out to be leukemia. As you can tell from the bandage on her arm, she had just been released from the hospital the day this was taken. That didn't keep her from putting on a big smile as she opened her gifts!

Celebrating her 4th birthday

A lot less hair, but a lot more to be thankful for on birthday number 4. There were many times over that year when we weren't sure she was going to make it to this day. But when she did, it was certainly cause to celebrate!

Elise on her 5th birthday

Many more challenges in year #4, but we were impressed by some of the progress that was made in that year as well. This was the year that seizures began to show and we learned that she would need to "medically accessorize" with the cool pink helmet.

Making a mess for birthday # 6

Elise didn't have much interest in eating this year, but she was always up for making a mess! Kelly spent a long time working on some special cupcakes that she could eat being on the Ketogenic diet for seizures. The diet didn't work and unfortunately, the cupcakes weren't much of a hit with Elise either.

Now, as another year has passed, I can look back and see the many changes that have taken place over the year. Some are so subtle that we barely even notice them until looking back at pictures and events, and some are evident to us every time we go out into the world for whatever the day happens to bring us. As you can see from the pictures above, the one constant in each picture was the smile on her face, and the smile on the faces of those around her. With all she has faced, if she can still look life in the eye and smile, there is no reason that we can't do the same. She has taught us that each day can be tough, but we still need to get up, put a smile on our face, and find someone who needs to have a little ray of sunshine in their lives. I look forward to seeing that smiling face in the morning and am glad that I have that little ray of sunshine each day.

Happy 7th birthday Elise! I can only hope that she truly knows how much her parents love her.