Ella Update

 In all the birthday craziness I never got to post Ella's stats from her one year check up and what she's been up to lately so here they are along with her one year photo shoot taken by Sarah Long (she's amazing and took all these adorable pics in a matter of about 15 minutes!!!).
- Ella weighs 22 lbs (72%) and is in the 87% for height.  She seems so short to me so I was surprised by that!
- Had her shots and cried just a little bit and then she was fine.  Over the course of the year she has been sick twice, each time she had an ear infection in her left ear.
- Has four teeth (two top, two bottom)
- Loves anything electronic.  She's like a magnet to the remote, iPad, iPhone, laptop, ect.
- Really likes to play with balls and trains and pretty much shoves her baby dolls out of the way to get to her "boy toys"
- Is in another "mommy" phase when I'm around she wants me (or Jason) to hold her, but will still go to the nursery at the gym and church just fine
- Is creeping along the furniture and loves to walk while holding our fingers or behind her walker.  She's a fast crawler but I'm in no hurry for her to walk!!
- Such a cuddle bug and loves to lay her head on your shoulder and gives lots of hugs and kisses..LOVE this!
- Drinks whole milk now (yea for no more formula)!  This month has been insanely busy so we haven't completely cut the bottle our but she's down to 2 bottles of milk a day (morning and night)
- Eats mostly finger foods but still loves her squeeze baby food.  She's not too picky but prefers softer textures.  HATES anything sweet as you'll see in the last picture!
- LOVES to be the center of attention and I think she'll be our social butterfly with a big personality!
- Loves to clap and wave
- Can say mamma, dada, uh oh, ball, vrooom and recently she's added wow and whoa which is pretty hilarious.  Anytime she sees or hears something new she looks at us and says "WOOOOW" or "WHOOOOA".
I can't believe how much our baby girl is growing and changing.  It's kind of funny because with Griffin I couldn't wait for him to meet his next milestone.  Now with Ella being our last baby, I just want to freeze time and keep my baby girl squishy and cuddly. We love you sweet Ella Belle!

 Love this one...shows her little drama queen side

Told you she hates cake!  Poor baby but I still think this pic is priceless!

Happy 3rd Birthday Griffin!

Dear Griffin,
Happy birthday sweet boy!  You may think you're a big boy now, but you'll always be my baby.  You are such an important part of our family and we feel extremely blessed God chose us to be your parents.  You have made every day an adventure, full of love, laughter, and a few gray hairs!  You have changed so much this past year.  You are a big brother now, potty trained, an extreme tricycle rider, and you sleep in a big boy bed to name a few.  You are really smart, like sometimes scary smart, and you never forget anything.  You love learning new things, especially figuring out the way things work.  Everyone says you'll be an engineer when you grow up, but I don't care if you're a trash man, I'll love you all the same.  You're very sensitive and love to snuggle.  You are also all boy and love being rough and crazy with your friends.
Griffin, you are so very special and I know God has BIG plans for you.  I wish I could freeze, or at least slow down the passage of time so you don't grow up so fast.  No matter what, you'll always be my baby.  We love you Griffin Bear!
Mommy and Daddy

Five days old

 1 year

 2 years

3 years old!

Ella's 1st Birthday Brunch

 We hosted a family birthday brunch on Sunday for Ella's first birthday!  Everything turned out SO cute and it was a lot of fun to do a girly party after three years of all boy.  We had mini doughnuts, mini pancakes, little smokies, mini quiche, rainbow fruit, mimosa bar, and whole and chocolate milk bottles for the little ones.  The fruit loop necklaces and rock candy were a huge hit with the kids.  Ella was a little under the weather so she was pretty sleepy, but still had a great time.  I took her to the Dr. yesterday and she has an ear infection and a nasty cough.  Poor birthday baby :(.

Not a great picture, but I did strawberry cupcakes in a jar for her favors.  They turned out so cute and were delicious!  Thanks Pinterest (for all the ideas)!

 I made the ribbon runners and the mini doughnuts are on sticks in the pots, they were so cute!

 Mimosas, milk and OJ

 Sweet cousins, this was the best pic out of about 15!

 The kids loved the sprinkle doughnuts on a stick

 Nicole let me borrow Gracyn's birthday outfit and it was just perfect!  Thanks Cole!

 She was in awe of everyone singing to her

 A little concerned

 Ella doesn't like anything sweet (not sure how she can be my daughter) so when I put some icing in her mouth this is what she did.  Poor baby

 This little boy on the other hand LOVES sugar!

 Carson double fisted with a doughnut and rock candy

 Nana, Gigi, and Daddy

 Mimi and Pops with the sleepy birthday girl

Aunt Lala, Gigi, and Mommy

All Aboard

 This weekend we had Griffin and Ella's birthday parties!  Wow, I'm tired!!!  But, the parties were both so much fun.
Griffin's party was on Saturday at Westwood Gymnastics.  He wanted a choo choo birthday and that's exactly what we had.  The kids had so much fun bouncing, climbing, tumbling, swinging, and sliding!  Then they enjoyed popcorn, pizza, rainbow fruit skewers, and cupcakes.  Griff had the BEST time and had a huge smile on his face the entire party.  What more could you ask for?  The party was a success!!

 The table all set up before the party

 Lyndon and Pops

 Daddy and his baby girl

 Clayton and Travis came in town and were a huge help with the kids

 Jumping in the foam pit

 Carson and Aunt Lele

 Lyndon

 Jumping off the diving board

 Smile says it all

 Me, Ella, and Aunt Lala

 Cousin Jack had a great time

 CHEESE

 Griffin, Alex, and Aidan

 Most of the gang, or at least those willing to stop for a picture :)

 Ready for pizza

 Loved when we sang happy birthday

Blowing out the candles