Right? Right.
This is Mandy, and I'm here to post all kinds of nice things about Ellyn, because she's turning 28 tomorrow. Am I not supposed to tell you her age? Whatever, I hacked into her account; clearly I have no scruples. I might as well go all out.
Lovely Ellyn, I wasn't kidding the other day when I commented that you are so classy. Also? Wasn't kidding when I said I was going to make that your new tagline for your next blog design.
Just look at you!
You kind of sicken the rest of us, to be honest with you.Your size-four-while-seven-months-pregnant waist and your perfect-while-both-straight-and-curly hair combined with your super-amazing personality and witty-without-even-thinking sense of humor make you pretty much the girl we would all love to hate if we didn't love you so darn much.
And we do. We do love you.
You make us laugh with your silly stories of parenthood and we all have the same "I want to give you a hug right now right now right noooooowwwwww!" feeling when you pour your broken heart out. You are real, honest, and raw, but you still do your best not to talk bad about anybody.
You have such a big heart, Ellyn. You use your blog for the good of others and spend what little time you have helping others as a car safety technician.
What an awesome testament to Eli, Ellyn. (Yes, that's why she does it!) And speaking of Eli, thanks to you, so many of us who haven't experienced such a horrific event have some idea of what to say or how to help a family or mom who has experienced the loss of a precious child.
You honor his memory every day, Ellyn, and he has changed lives because of you. Thank you for sharing his story with us.
And by the way, your kids? Sickeningly adorable.
What's the deal, McCall? Do you have some super-secret chemical you feed these kids that makes them so adorable that women all over the world want to toss their birth control and procreate immediately? Because this is unfair to those of us who are waiting a while to have kids. Stop with all the cute, mmmkay?
Nobody can deny that you're an incredible mother. Five kids and you still have the energy to play, cart them around everywhere they need to go, get them the medical help they need, and even home-school them. Where is your cape, woman??
And sure, there are times when you want to rip your gorgeous hair out, but you just keep persevering. You get your kids what they need no matter what and most of the time, you even do it with a smile.
Life has handed you all kinds of crap. Ridiculous amounts of it, actually. I get mad just thinking about it, but you've used all of that suffering as a shining testimony of God's grace and provision in your life despite the bad stuff. You have accomplished more in your not-even 30 years than many people do in their whole lives.
You are beautiful. Inside and out.
Having you as a friend is such a great privilege. You brighten my day every time I see a new blog entry from you in my reader, e-mail from you in my inbox, or call from you on Skype.
You are fun to be around. You are a great friend. And you are an incredible woman.
All the time.
And I'm really glad you were born.
Happy birthday, beautiful friend! We all love you.
(Like, a lot.)
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*I should add that she's not actually going to the bathroom while we Skype. At least, I hope not... there's only so much I can see of her from the webcam. She claims it's the only place in the house that's far enough from the kids' rooms that she can talk without waking them. Or maybe it's that it's the only place in the house where they won't look for her and at this point she's just scared. I don't know. I don't blame her for either. I do, however, blame her for eating while sitting on the (closed) toilet. YES. She eats in the bathroom. Someone please back me up and tell her that this is very, very wrong.
