Joanna Gaines has been documenting her daughter's final days at their Texas home ahead of her huge move.
The mom-of-five has gone through a whole range of emotions as she bids farewell to Ella, who is leaving for college.
In her latest snap, Joanna posted the scene inside her home where Ella's suitcases and bags were lined up at the bottom of the stairs.
She captioned the Instagram post: "Our little girl, all grown up," but despite her comment, there was a cuddly toy placed on top of the luggage as a nod to her childhood.
Joanna and her husband Chip are waving their son, Drake, back off to college for his third year, but it's Ella's first.
While her brother opted to stay close to home and attend further education in Texas, Ella had her "heart captured by a university even farther away."
Fresh start
In the new issue of Magnolia Journal, Joanna recalled her advice as Ella enters her new era.
"The best advice I’m offering myself this season is to be there for them the same way I always have: surely and steadily," wrote Joanna in the editor's note of the fall issue.
"For Drake and Ella, it might look like experimenting: care packages with their favorite cookies and surprise visits for an afternoon coffee. But it will also look the same way it always has: a listening ear, texts that let them know I’m here."
She continued: "Because the hope, I think, is that my children will know—no matter how far or near they are—that proximity isn’t what truly connects us."
Out of the spotlight
Joanna rarely shares photos of her children, preferring to keep them out of the spotlight. But on the rare occasions she's given glimpses of Ella, it's clear she's just like her mom.
During a recent family trip to Universal Studios, Joanna shared a snapshot of her holding hands with her oldest daughter and they twinned with their long, raven locks.
Joanna previously mentioned that her daughter is also most like her when it comes to picking up skills for design, home improvement, lifestyle and aesthetics and Ella even interned at Magnolia with her mom.
"One of my favorite moments that was so pivotal for me as a mother, but also as a business owner, was my daughter, my oldest daughter, was in on a lot of these conversations before our break in June, that I was having with the team," Joanna explained during an appearance on the Business of Home podcast.
"She was interning with me, so she'd be in these meetings where I was like, y'all, I need vision," she continued. "Like, we need to get back to why we're doing what we're doing. And so she was listening and she was interested."