A day in the life.

Dear Ella,

This was our day.

Hiking in our field

First time on a Deere!

Sale ad fun!

"Skating"

What can I say? You love being outside and you have a terrific imagination;)

Love,
Mommy

Mother's Day 2013

Dear Ella, 

You learned about a new holiday today. Maybe the best holiday every created. Mother's Day. 

I was showered with your sweet, "Happy Mother's Day, Mommy!", wishes all day long! Actually, this phrase was repeated for the next three days straight. It was amazing:)

Here is my beautiful card that you and daddy made me:)

And the sweet craft from church.

You took me out to eat at Omelette Parlor.

You and daddy also let me go on an hour long bike ride by myself!!

Thank you for the perfect day.

Love you Bug,

Mommy

I Scream, You Scream...

We all scream, "Happy Birthday!!!!!!".

My Love,

We celebrated two whole years that you've been in our lives today; my goodness!

It was a wonderful day celebrated with your closest friends. All of our families wished they could have been here. Here are the highlights.

Ice Cream Sundae Bar

Family Pic

Singing 'Happy Birthday'

Checking on the neighborhood

snacks

gifts

thank yous

shape sorting

bubbles

more bubbles!

Iris

Corbin

goof 

New trampoline

yard play

You seemed to have a lot of fun and loved the attention, as usual. I love you monkey.

Mommy

Because It's Funny

Celebrations

Dear Ella

We've had a lot to celebrate recently!

In early February, we celebrated Abby's 2nd birthday! She had a box fort, yummy cake, and lots of fun.  Abby even blew out her candle!

A few weeks later, we celebrated Millie's 2nd birthday! She had a Sesame Street party with games and yummy food. 

 

At the end of February, we flew to Iowa to see our family. We made it in time to celebrate Jacob's 5th birthday!  He had a Mario party and we all wore mustaches and ate Princess Peach-Os! 

Unfortunately, you had a terrible stomach bug from the moment we arrived. You pulled it together for cute pictures; but, felt terrible every time you ate anything :(. I hate when you are sick, but love cuddling you all day.

You love your baby Noah

We flew home a few days later, you were an angel on the flight. Thank goodness there was an extra seat for you. Aunt Diana gave you felt cupcakes which kept you busy for a long time!

I love you.

Mommy

Before you are 2

Dear Ella, 

As usual, my list of 'new' Ella-isms has been growing over the past month and I'm finally getting around to putting them on paper....er...on here. This is what my notepad looks like (I'll explain each in purple):

1) "hold you" (this is what you say when you want me to hold you)

2)"get cozy" (this is what you say when you want to unzip my jacket so you can lay on my chest without a zipper in the way)

3)baby's heartbeat ( You talk about listening to the baby's heartbeat at the doctor's office all-the-time.)

4)What we did and where we went ( Everyday I used to ask you "what did we do today?", now you ask me "What we do today, mommy?")

5) ABC's and counting ( you attempt to sing your ABC's and can rote count from 1-6!)

6) Who is ____ dog? ( When I ask you "who is Evie's dog?", you are able to name Bagby. This goes for Hudson and Alice's dog too. Then you ask "who Ella's dog?" -Adorable!)

7) absurdities (If I say a silly statement (a cat says "moo") you make sure to correct me:)

8)You are able to "show me" a word (sign) or say a word (verbal). It's fun to watch you switch between two languages so easily.

9) first spontaneous " I love you mommy" ( just like it reads. You told me you love me. First.)

10) Sings recognizable songs on own ( Mostly Wheels on the Bus, Jesus Loves Me, Adelweiss, and Jingle Bells)

11) You LOVE babies, especially ours ( You kiss my belly a lot, you know the baby's name, and you ask to hold every baby you know :)

Swim Lessons

Dear Ella,

You started swim lessons this week. From the moment we arrived at Donna's Dolphin's Swim School you were so excited! We got in the pool and, although you clung to me tightly, I could tell you were excited and curious. First we kicked, then we dipped our ears, and finally our faces into the water. You were a champ! I think it helped that you watched the other kids do it first.

I think you're going to be a good swimmer. Maybe one day you'll swim with your Aunt Rae!

Love, Mom