Happy Birthday Eliana Joy!!!
I can't believe that you are 2 years old! It just doesn’t seem possible. In some ways it seems like a much longer period of time and in other ways it has flown. The first year was difficult in a lot of ways - feeding struggles, heart failure, open-heart surgery, salmonella, feeding tubes and more.
And yet, the joy is also overwhelming. I don’t know that I can ever convey what an incredible blessing Eliana is to our family. And not just our family – she brings joy to so many others. I watch people who are just taken with her sweet personality (and she is incredibly cute too!)
When she was born, I wondered how we would handle having a child with special needs. Would our lives be changed in ways that I didn't like? Would we ever find "normal" again? I found that having a child with special needs caused me to depend more on God - the One who could help us. It meant changing the way that we lived. It also meant that we would be changed - our priorities, our views and our values. I'm so very thankful for that!
Eliana is such a joy! (What a great middle name for her!) She is loving and forgiving - incredibly so. We can all learn from her example. She is curious and smart and funny. I love her sense of humor, her independence and her love of music. I love her giggle and her smile and her signs. I love watching her siblings love on her and have fun with her. I love the changes I've seen because of her.
Thank you God for blessing our family so richly two years ago. I didn't realize then what an amazing gift you were giving us. I'm so glad that You knew better than we did.
Here are some photos during her first few days. 
This is her first birthday.
This is a picture of Eliana on Sunday.
I'll post birthday pictures as soon as I'm able to. We are planning a low-key party - ice cream and music are sure to be on the agenda.
Happy Birthday my beautiful Eliana.
I love you so very much,
Mommy
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