Saturday, January 30, 2010

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to my sweet husband! My world is a better place because you're in it. We make quite the team.....



Love ya! :)

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Ella's 1st slumber party

Ella's cousins are so good to her, and she truly loves them all for it. She loves playing with them every chance she gets. The week after Christmas, we kept my niece, Allie, overnight while she was off of school.

The evening started of with what else? The movie 'Up' and popcorn, in your jammies, of course!




When it was time to go to bed, both girls slept in Ella's room. She thought it was so cool to sleep in her sleeping bag. Both girls were pretty excited about what the next day would bring.



The next morning, as I was getting ready, the girls were having a blast using Ella's stroller to race up and down the hallway.



Ready to head out! We had given Allie a gift certificate for Christmas to use at Build-A-Bear and I had promised I would take her, so Ella could get her first one with her. So, it was gonna be a fun-filled day of animal stuffing, lunch at the food court, and, of course, the Merry-go-Round. What kid wouldn't be excited?



First stop was Build-A-bear. It took a lot of thought and contemplation on picking out the perfect animal. Allie finally decided on a dog, and Ella on a cat. Here they are waiting their turn to get stuffed. Ella's still not quite sure what's going on, at one point she was ready to run out of the store to play with her very unstuffed and flat kitty.



Ella got a lesson on getting the heart ready to put inside the kitty as it was being stuffed.

First, you pat it to get the heart pumping.....



Then, you've got to give it a big kiss to put some love in that kitty. :)




The girls gave their animals a bath, so they were ready for the real world!




They made them birth certificates and the last step was to pick out some clothes. Allie had no problem finding something for hers, but Ella was not interested in clothes. At all. She prefers all her animals and babies at home to be naked, so I wasn't pushing the issue. Why spend money on clothes when they'd be lost under her bed in no time? And she's been perfectly happy with her naked kitty.:)

While I stood in line to pay for everything, Brad took the girls outside of the store to some little rides that are in the middle of the mall. About every time we go to the mall, Ella loves to play on them. We have never paid for her to ride them, but she's perfectly content to just go from one to the other, playing around in them.



After lunch, we rode the infamous merry-go-round.....twice! Am I a nice aunt, or what? ;)



Then, because it was a special day and because Allie had some money burning a hole in her pocket, we let the girls play some games at the arcade. It was purely all for the kids, Brad and I didn't enjoy our friendly competition of air hockey at all. (For the record, I believe I won....)




After leaving the mall, we needed to stop at Sam's Club for a few things before taking Allie back. This last picture makes me laugh. The backstory: Kids get free cookies at Sam's..did you know that? Well, they do..and it's a great tactic for keeping Ella quiet for atleast half the store. :) So, they're munching on their cookies and Allie, being her sweet, thoughtful self, asks if she can buy something for her mom and dad. I'm thinking to myself, "What is she going to buy them here? An economy size package of TP or a gallon of peanut butter?" As we're walking through the produce section, she sees the watermelon and decides she would like to buy one. Ok, I decide, could be a lot worse things to spend money on. In the end, she also ends up with some flowers to take home; her parents were having a party the next day and she wanted to help decorate. Isn't she the sweetest little girl? I sure hope Ella is that thoughtful when she gets older.....she'll be the one coming home with the gallon of pb. ;)



All in all, the girls had a great time. Ella still talks about it a month later. I'm hoping she has the opportunity to make many more memories like this with her cousins in the future. Family is so important, and I hope she always stays close to them all.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Christmas catch-up

Because I've been such a slacker on this blogging,and it would take an eternity to bring you up to speed on the Holidays until current with our family, I'm going to pretty much just do a "picture post." You're going to see tons of pics, I'm warning you now!

This is the picture we chose to use for our Christmas card this year....I just felt like being a little creative. :)





The caption underneath the picture was "Finally a Silent Night". Most people loved it, though there were a few who didn't recognize the humor...let me know what you think!

Ella's cousin Addie stopped over one day close to Christmas and the girls had a ball "dressing up!"



We took Ella to the Festival of Trees this year, and she loved it, especially all the dancing that was going on in the theater. Here she is posing with one of the trees.



Ella and I took a road trip to Valporaiso University with my grandma and niece to see my cousin sing in a Christmas program. It was beautiful and professional, something I'm not quite sure is suited for a 2 yr old. We were seated in the FRONT row, with an orchestra not 2 feet from us. I though it would be ok, all the music and action would keep her nice and distracted. Well, at the very beginning of the concert, when everyone quieted down from warming up and the conductor brought his hand up to silence everyone....guess who yelled out....yep, my darling daughter. I was beet red; the conductor turned slowly around to us while I sank further into the pew....and...he smiled. I was so thankful that he was understanding. I spent most of the performance praying that she would stay quiet! And, she did, for the most part. :)
Here's a pic of us in Randi's dorm room, before we headed to our hotel for the weekend.



We went and saw Santa Claus, she was pretty leery at first. It took a lot of persuading; she finally sat on his lap so she could shake his jingle bells.



This was from our Christmas program at church. Ella dressed up as Mary. I'm going to be nice and not show the picture of Brad as the sheep. :)



We have a Secret Santa exchange at work every year, and this year I was so excited to get this apron. It made my day! I wore it every chance I had until I had to sadly put it away until next year.



First Christmas present of the year! My sister and her family got Ella this great table and chairs set. It's perfect for her playdough she got for Christmas too! She uses it all the time...calls it her "table and rocking chairs."



Ella and I did just a little baking together, here's a pic I couldn't resist. Definitely the fun part of baking!



Christmas Eve was spent at Brad's parents. Ella had a great time hanging with her cousins and opening presents.



Did ya get it all, El?



Addie and Ella modeling the aprons and hats Grandma made for them. Aren't they cute??



Our humble little Christmas tree bogged down with presents. I got this tree when Ella was an infant and I didn't want a real tree in the house. It was just supposed to be temporary, but it's so quick to put up and easy to decorate, I can't part with it!



Christmas morning at our house. I was sooo excited this year to see the joy on Ella's face; it is priceless time together that I'm looking forward to for years to come.




Here she is using her new baby bathtub as a sled. Sitting behind her is a gift I received from my neice. She drew this picture of Ella from her 1 year photo and it was entered in a contest. I had seen it hanging in the school and was pretty impressed, so she wrapped it up and gave it to me. I was pretty excited; it's hanging in her room and it looks perfect. :)



After our morning at home, we got around to head to my Dad's. Ella was very excited to put on her Santa dress.





So excited about her princess tea set! I don't understand how little girls are just drawn to princess things, I think it's just in the DNA.



My brother, Ella, and my dad. 3 generations of orneriness. (Is that a word?)



The day after Christmas; getting recharged. They were so peaceful sleeping together.



Off to my grandparents for a White elephant Christmas! So fun! Ella takes a moment to stop running around and/or eating for a photo op with cousin Megan.



My niece Carlee (that drew the picture), and my cousins Megan, Randi (that sings at Valpo), and Kalee. Aren't they beautiful? :)



And so begins the opening of the gifts....

My dad received a wig




Megan got some great cowboy boots (compliments of me)




Carlee got some awesome potholders




Everyone was jealous of my Aunt Bec's mannequin head!



Ella and Megan's husband Josh sporting the "doo rags." I didn't even know what those actually were until then!



We got a few days reprieve, then headed over to Warsaw to my grandparents (mom's side) to spend some time with them. A few of my cousins that I hadn't seen in years came by with their children. Ella was in heaven with all the kids!



We had a great Christmas this year, and if you made it through all those photos and you're still reading, I'm proud of you! I warned you there were a lot! I'll try to do better at posting more often, so this doesn't happen again too often. ;)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Coming soon

I've heard from a few people now that I have waited too long to update....so I will have some new posts coming soon! (That means I atleast have a couple people reading this! ha) Since the holidays, I just haven't gotten back on track, but I will!
Because I can't post without a picture, I'll leave you with a family pic from shortly after midnight on New Year's. Yes, Ella stayed up...barely. Wasn't long after this photo was taken that she was out like a light!