Calling All Superheros!

 We decided to do a joint birthday party for Ella and Griffin this year (get away with it while we can type of thing)!  Honestly they have a lot of the same sibling friends and are so close in age that it worked out perfectly!  The party was at Westwood Gymnastics, their favorite place ever, on February 23rd (yes, I'm still behind).  Griffin is really into superheroes right now and Ella is basically into anything Griffin is into. :)  I wanted to make sure it was still appropriate for boys and girls so we had plenty of pink and purple, red and blue in the decor.  I made superhero capes for party favors (seemed like a good idea until we had 35 kids coming and only 2 who couldn't).  But, the kids LOVED them and they looked really cute during the party.  Several moms have told me their kids play with them all the time so I guess it was worth all the cutting and gluing!  My mom and I made the cupcakes and special little cakes for Griff and Ella, and I thought they turned out super cute.  The kids had a great time playing, running, tumbling, swinging, ect and eating pizza and cupcakes.  The party was a huge success and we are done for another year!  :)  After it was over both sides of our families came over for a pinata and to open presents.  The kids played till 9:30 and no one had a problem going to bed that night!!  WARNING...get ready for picture overload!

 These were the superhero capes, hearts for girls and stars for boys

                                 Griff and RJ                                                  Cousin Carson

They all love the foam pit

Miss Ella's outfit was out of control and she knew it!  She pranced around like she owned the place

Cousin Lyndon

Not much cuter than a leotard, tutu, chubby thighs, and leg warmers!

The whole crazy crew!

Time for pizza

Singing "Happy Birthday"

Think she liked her cake?  Actually this is Griffin's, she moved on to his after she demolished hers.  

She had us rolling with laughter!  

The "after party" and Ella's pink my little pony choo choo was a huge hit with all the cousins

Lego table from Gigi and Papa J

Let's take a bath...

A lovely, bubbly bath...

All you Disney Junior fans can thank me later!  Ha

I Scream, You Scream

On Griffin's birthday, when my parents were in town, we all headed to Brenham to tour the Bluebell Ice Cream Factory.  As I mentioned before, Griff is pretty obsessed with factories, and he loved every minute or the tour.  You couldn't take pictures inside the actual factory but it was pretty neat.  They showed the whole process for making their most popular flavors, popsicles, and ice cream sandwiches.  Ella loved that the workers down below were waving to her and giving her attention :).  At the end you got to choose a flavor for a free scoop of ice cream (my favorite part).  Not sure why, but it seemed so much better than the Bluebell you get at the store.  After the tour we went to the tiny Brenham airport where I had heard they had a cute little 50's diner.  The food was delicious and they had a juke box and waitresses in poodle skirts.  I didn't get any pictures of it, but I highly recommend a stop there if you visit the factory.  I think it was the perfect way to spend a special little boy's fourth birthday!

 They loved wearing their hats!

Cranking the old ice cream machine

 Mimi and Pops teaching Griff all about the history of Bluebell

How cute are these two?  They were the only kids on the tour and did great!  Griffin listened so intently and the lady talked A LOT!

Happy Birthday Griffin Bear!

Our sweet Griffin turned 4 on February 22nd (yes I'm a month behind and no I can't seem to stay caught up)!  My parents, Mimi and Pops, came to spend a week with us over his birthday and we had the BEST time.  We played, sang, took trips to the park, the ice cream factory, a 50's diner, read books, played baseball, had relay races, and had a super fun birthday party just to name a few!
This year we had a joint birthday party for Griffin and Ella since they both have birthday's in February. I'll do another post on that...but this one is all about Griffin!  It's pretty long so feel free to skip over this one, but I wanted to remember him at this precious age.
I can't believe my first born, baby boy is 4!  He has been such a joy from the beginning and we just cherish everyday we spend with him.  He's at such a great age and has become so "easy" and independent.  Griffin loves to "pretend" play and he has a wonderful imagination.  His favorite things in the world are machines, gears, motors, factories, engines...ect.  I know kids go through phases where they love dinosaurs, trains, princesses ect. but I had never really heard of kids loving gears.  I'm sure it has some deeper meaning about his personality/future, but for now we try our hardest to satisfy his craving for all things mechanic.  He loves to watch You Tube videos called "How It's Made...".  They are episodes from the Discovery Channel which show how all kinds of everyday products are made.  They show all kinds of factories, and Griffin thinks it's just the coolest thing ever!  Momma doesn't know much about pistons and gears, but Daddy is more help in that department.
Griffin's second love is swimming.  He has been back in swim lessons for a couple months now and can swim floatie free across the pool.  He has moved up to the stroke clinic and is working on side crawl and free style!  I love that he's a little fish!
Griff continues to love preschool at Grace.  His class has 9 boys and 3 girls, and they can be wild/silly at times but he is having a great year!  He is such a smart boy and as a former teacher, I love seeing him entering the emergent stages of reading.  He recognizes and can identify all the letters and most of their sounds.  He can count to 30 and Daddy has taught him many addition facts.  Griffin loves to learn new things and is very inquisitive.  He is very social and loves making new friends.  He is stubborn and craves routine and order.  The past couple of months we have seen more attitude and testing the waters with talking back and being "sassy".  He has spent some time in timeout and had a few spankings, but all in all he is such a sweet boy.  We started a sticker chart for good behavior and saw a huge improvement!  Griffin has a soft heart and cares a lot about people and their feelings.
We thank God everyday for giving us such a precious son and we just love him to pieces!  Happy 4th birthday Griffin James!

One Day

 One Year

 Two Years

 Three Years

 Big Four Year Old ready for his first Tball game

 Super Griffin at his birthday party with his best buddy RJ!

Miss Boo Turns Two

 Our sweet baby Ella Boo turned two last Saturday.  We celebrated with balloons and singing when she woke up, a trip to the doughnut shop for breakfast, and had family over for a celebration dinner.  We are having a birthday party for her and Griffin later in February.  Ella loved being the center of attention all day and was so happy every time someone sang to her.
We can't believe our little girl is already two.  She is such a happy, sweet, spunky, loud, silly, cuddly, hilarious, toddler.  Her favorite person in this world is probably Griffin, aka "Bubba", with Daddy in close second.  Don't get me wrong, she loves her momma too!  She has brought SO much joy and laughter to our family.  Ella can be quite entertaining and keeps us laughing constantly.
Recently she has really started talking, I think taking her paci away two weeks ago helped!  She has the cutest little voice and loves using her words to express herself.  The girl can SCREAM, when she's happy or sad, and believe me she knows how to throw a tantrum.  However, she gets over it quickly and is overall so happy.  Ella loves her friends and has started wanting to hold everyones hand...so cute!
She had her 2 year well check with Dr. K today and everything was just perfect.  Ella actually loves when the doctor comes in and was very social with her.  She had to get one HEP booster and didn't shed a single tear.  Such a tough little trooper!
Here are her two year stats:
Height- 34.75" (74%)- I was shocked by this, I always think she's so small :)
Weight- 27.25 lbs (59%)
Head- 19.5" (92%) we have big brains in our family...hehe
We love you sweet sweet Ella Kay.  The world just wouldn't be as bright without your sparkle!    

Loved opening her presents...thanks for the book Aunt Lane!

Playing with her color peg board

 She LOVES her jumbo jungle animals and insists on taking ALL four of them everywhere we go!

 These two play so well together

 I LOVE this picture because it's SO Ella!  This was at the end of the night and she was plopped in the middle of all her gifts with her silly helmet on...happy as a clam.  

 CHEEEESE

 Plenty of help with the candles

 Chugger loved all the action

 Baby girl with her cupcake

 I made Cousin Jack his own cupcakes (he's allergic to wheat, dairy, eggs, nuts) and he LOVED it!  We were all so happy to see him enjoy something so much!

Gigi, Griff, and Baby Colton

Crazy birthday girl

 Aunt Lala