I have been trying to write about each child here on my blog, so I can remember all about them at this time in their life. I have already shared about Tess and Isaac.
Now it is the second child’s turn.
Stella is almost 11 years old. I am not sure where the time went.
About 12 years ago when we were contemplating having another baby, I had a dream about her.
In my dream, I saw this beautiful baby girl named Grace.
When I got pregnant just a few weeks later, I knew we were having a girl.
When she was born, we named her Stella Grace. She was born in Utah, while her dad was away at school in the Caribbean. She decided to come a little early, and he didn’t make it in time.
I think she knew she had to come. The cord was wrapped around her neck 2 times and was choking her when she would turn her head. I knew then that we had a smart, strong, brave, little cookie on our hands.
Stella met her dad for the first time in the SLC airport when she was 1 week old.
That has not stopped them from having a close relationship.
Stella and Jonathan share a special bond.
Stella loves to have lots of friends, and is all about having fun. She has always enjoyed having lots of friends.
She is also very free-spirited, and doesn’t worry much about time or working quickly. This has been some what of a struggle for me, because I always have my time mapped out and work very fast.
We have learned not to let it get in our way. We are learning to meet in the middle. I slow down some, and she will speed up a little. There are many times I wish I was a little more carefree like Stella.
Stella came knowing what she wants. She has always been very opinionated.
She always knows what she wants things to look like. She always knows what she wants her birthday cakes to look like. Every year, I have to work hard to replicate her ideas.
She has always wanted to pick out her clothes, and has in mind how she wants everything to be. For example, she usually has her Halloween costume picked out 6 months in advance.
She was not very excited last year when I made her be Anna, because Isaac and Tess were being Olaf and Elsa.
We took a trip to Disney for the Disney Halloween party, and I wanted them to have coordinating costumes.
She was not!, however, being Anna for Halloween at home!! This was a battle for us because I put so much time in to making her costume. Once again, we compromised. She wore Anna to school, and borrowed Batgirl from a friend for her evening with friends.
I am learning with kids, it’s all about the compromise.
Stella discovered last year that she loves to run. She took second place in the North Park Mile for our school. She has such long pretty legs, and makes such a good runner.
This year, she let discouragement overtake her during the race. She had to fight her way to the front in the beginning and wore herself out very quickly. Then she psyched herself out over it, and decided that she couldn’t do it. She literally stopped when she was right in the front about 2/3rd of the way through. My friend Emily grabbed her and helped her keep going, and she still finished in 5th place.
She learned that day that she can do hard things. This saying hangs in her room to remind her that she is awesome, and she has to remember that.
I think that can be hard for young girls to remember.
Stella loves to bake.
I started teaching her when she was three and she is pretty self-sufficient in the kitchen now.
Last year, she baked with her friends for several days.
Then they put on a bake sale. It was fun to see her work so hard for something.
She is a delicious baker.
We recently went to the public library. All she checked out were cookbooks. That’s what she wants to be when she grows up.
She has always loved being a mommy. She loved both times we brought new babies home.
When Tess was born, Stella was 5.
She would hold Tess on her lap when she was a newborn for hours. I would make dinner and Stella would sit and hold Tessa. She tries to be the mother figure a lot with the kids, and I think it’s because she is the oldest girl. It is so helpful when I’m not around or I need her help.
The little kids don’t like it though when I am around. They think she is being bossy. I think she will be a wonderful mother. She is very interested in babysitting for other people now.
She has been very good to help take care of her nieces and nephews.
Stella came to our house tough. She rarely cries. She is not the type of girl that wants to open up about girl problems or something bothering her, and just let it all out.
If she does, then she will cry!! I mean really cry. When she finally lets it all out, she can cry hard. I just let her lay on my lap when that happens and cry it out. I think she cried the hardest when she moved from Kindergarten to 1st grade and didn’t get to see her Kindergarten teacher every day.
She just sobbed because she missed her so much.
Stella had her tonsils out at 5, and was so tough.
Since then, she has broken 2 bones.
The last bone was her foot. She came over to me with tears on her cheeks. She wasn’t sobbing. She just let the tears roll, not making a sound. I knew immediately that she had broken a bone, because she doesn’t cry when she gets hurt. I knew it must be bad enough if she was going to cry.
Jex has always been her best friend.
They share a special bond.
One of her favorite things to do is just have mom all to herself. She wants to go shopping with me, or just chill on the couch and watch a girl show. She loves watching HGTV with me, or talking about house design with me.
Stella loves comfortable clothes. She doesn’t care to be all dressed up. She loves to be comfortable. You will usually see her in running shorts with her hair in a pony. This love of comfort also adds to her opinions about what clothes she wants. She has always been this way. At a very early age, she would ask me to cut the tags out of her clothes because she couldn’t stand them rubbing against her.
Stella has become an awesome photographer.
She has a very good eye for composition. However, she hates to edit pictures or deal with unloading them on her computer. I’m helping her learn to love it.
She wants to start her own photography business. She might have to train her brother to edit for her.
Stella is very creative, and always wants to be working on some sort of project.
She comes up with some great ideas. When she plans FHE she puts lots of thought into it. This is her photo booth she set-up for Family Home Evening one night.
Stella also likes to be funny, the life of the party and very sarcastic. She is very witty.
Her favorite food is salad. She really doesn’t like to eat unhealthy things; unless it’s cotton candy of course.
Stella started taking dance when she was really little.
After a few years she decided that she didn’t want to do it anymore.
Now, she has taken it up again, and has had to work really hard to learn all the stuff she missed during those years that she took off.
I am very proud of her. She worked hard this year, and made a competitive team.
There is only one thing in life that Stella really wants, and that is a Dog. She has been begging us since she was so little. She is thrilled that we finally caved and gave in.
We hope that Saba settles in, and I pray that Stella can do all the potty training.
Stella has picked up skiing beautifully, and has turned into someone who can keep up with her dad on skis.
Stella adds so much to our family. We are so blessed to have her in our home.
I pray she continues to grow up to be such a fun, spunky, brave, and amazing girl.
I pray that as her mother, I can give her what she needs and embellish the beautiful qualities that she possesses.
…and that is a little bit about Stella.
