Random Friday Pics

i just keep compiling pics and have no time to post them...so i'm just going to start posting some of them as a big grouping every now and then when they don't really have a whole post of their own.  happy friday!

yes, this is how she rolls when it comes to raspberries and don't get in the way of her hand to mouth action!

check out these cute fruit skewers i made for a teacher lunch.  more fun than a fruit salad and way more time consuming!  why do i tackle these ideas?

hanging out in our bathroom while i get ready.  she loves to be in just her diaper! should make for an interesting winter when it's finally chilly around here.

ready to go...notice the "purse" in hand.  this is a common feature on ms. ella now.

see, more diaper girl just playing

"movie star"

well, both of them are ready to go somewhere with their heels on and purses packed!

oh yes, to go outside to get the mail :)

our tiny dancer is now in dance lessons again and she is having so much fun taking it with her friend.  and, we are enjoying going out for dinner with them right after.  it makes for a super-fun end to our thursdays!

love seeing these double rainbows

The Girls

these 2 girls...after the day is done and looking back, they are just so sweet and they make our house so alive and loud and fun!  

tonight when tim got home, the message had been erased on our rooster chalkboard from this morning and avery always notices when it's blank and wants to put something on it every day.  this was what she asked to be put on it...

she is loving her school and practically every morning she wakes up with a smile and is ready to get up and go.  i hope this continues for her for a long time!  

her teacher decorated their classroom in owls this year after the school renovation and avery has been looking for an owl thing to give her for awhile.  we found one last night at target to go in this cute owl bag and she woke up this morning so giddy to get to school and give it to her.  she also wrote this sweet note to her.  she could barely go to sleep last night she was so excited to see her teacher to give her this gift!  and, i just love seeing her just having woken up, still a little girl in her jammies!

she also said some of the sweetest things tonight-

for ella, when they were in the bath, she said "mommy, i love having a little sister" and i said that's so great and tell me why you love having a little sister and she said "because she is so much fun to play with!"  

for me and tim, she had grabbed my phone and made a little video and i would upload it but it is so shaky you can hardly see it but this is what she said while filming our family:

for me, "this is my mom, she is the greatest mom i ever had and she is in my family"

for tim, "here is my daddy and daddy is a handsome man (sweet giggle) and he's part of our family too"

for ella, "and here is my little sister as ella of course ran away from the camera!"

then she tried to film herself but didn't realize how to turn it around so she could see herself :)

ahh, ella...my little chatterbox, demanding toddler and such a mommy's girl!!!  her 1st day of school was very rough and i was only planning on sending her on monday/wednesday and that's what happened the 1st shaky week, but then the following week, on that friday, we dropped avery off at school and came home and were just hanging out and she started pretty much crying and incessentally saying she wanted to go to school and see ms. pam and ms. marie and phia (sophia her little friend) over and over and over and over.  so, i mean if shes going to cry about wanting to go to school, i called the director and asked if ella could come and i knew they had space, so off we went to school that friday morning and she now goes every m/w/f.  what an amazing transformation from the 1st day to the 5th day of school!  i just love her preschool and the teachers and staff are fabulous!  i'm so happy she loves it there...i knew she would i just thought it would take her a little more time :)  

here she is so proud of her handprints!  she talked about painting her hands for days after this.

and showing off her pig in the mud painting.  the amount of art they do there is incredible!  she comes home every day with something.  the 2-year old class is the best!!

Last Few Days of Summer

before all this school madness and new schedules started, our last weekend of the summer was pretty nice!  

that friday, the girls and i went to do some of the favorite things that avery likes to do.  1st stop the carousel at Stonebriar!  ella was not a participant this time so Aves got to ride it 3 times to herself :)

eating at chick-fil-a at another mall after the horses (it's a long story) and watching the kids on the indoor surf/wave thing at the store right near the food court.  

willow bend is so quiet and not crowded but they have great things for the kids to look at and do.

one of those quick sweet moments captured on camera

packing up avery's snack for the 1st day.

spending some time by the pool :)

with drinks in hand for the adults...summer beer is delish!

best buddies lounging together

us too :)

Summer Fun

some of our summer memories:

hanging out oh so patiently at the pool while avery took her swim lessons

cooking dinner for mommy & daddy

drinking out of the finest stemware for these 2 girlies

CHEERS!

of course, you have to have hot chocolate with several helpings of marshmallows when it's a thousand degrees outside!!

and, then top it off with some popsicles on a rare cool evening in august

but most of all you have to spend lots of time by the pool!!

and, i like to spend lots of time with this man goofing off :)

and spending time with our family...

and, then looking normal again :)

last day to wear her preschool backpack to camp.  we have our new hello kitty one all ready for kindergarten!

where are those girls??  

dinner with the family and having our new babysitter over for the 1st time...we are just missing mollye while she is out of town.

Happy 2nd Birthday Sweet Ella!

Two years ago today we welcomed our sweet Ella into our lives and she has completely rounded out our family!!

This year has been such a whirlwind with all her new developments and her cute little personality and her becoming her own little person.  Some things I want to remember about this year:

*Waking her up in the morning and her naps is such a pleasure...I'm not exactly sure when she even wakes up bcuz she is so in Love with her lovey and paci that she just plays in her crib until someone comes to get her.  I understand that this is not a normal phenomenon and I am going to just keep going with it...maybe she'll be in a crib forever :)

*This girl can pack the food in but she has become pickier and pickier but the things she likes she will eat the hell out of them...her favorites are macaroni (think of a little italian kid asking for it bcuz that's what it sounds like when she asks for it), apple apple, bananas, smoothies, chicken salad, string cheese, edamame, bean and cheese quesadillas, goldfish, pirates booty, pretzels, raspberries straight out of the carton at the grocery store - don't judge until you've had a kid at the grocery store practically screaming for that food while your still have your whole list to get thru!!, pb&j, salad, etc

*She is a Mommy's girl!!!  No further explanation!

*We "talk" every night before she goes to bed.  Normally she talks about how we "used to" go to the gym and I would tell her that "Mommy will come get her".  Those are the 1st words of our conversation and then we pretty much talk about school or our day.

*She just started preschool and after a rocky 1st day she woke up from nap yesterday and her 1st words were that "I Like School" and she talks about her teachers, snack, toys she played with and her friends names.

*Avery and her have really started to play together even though she has a scream that I know specifically is reserved for Avery :)  She can now say her name with the V instead of it sounding like a B and she has started calling her Aves too!  She asks for her all day on the days that she is not in school and Avery is and loves seeing her when she wakes up.  She comes downstairs and says "Hi Avery!".  It melts my heart :)

*She is my little buddy that comes everywhere with me and as long as I have enough snacks with me we are just fine!

*She LOVES shoes...especially your flip-flops so watch out if you have some on!  She loves wearing sunglasses upside-down, eating chapstick and lip gloss, holding "pink" aka sanitizers from Bath and Body works, very into lotions and putting on deodorant :)

*She goes with Avery to my parents every Saturday night and loves going with Darmi when she picks them up.  She and Poppy are pals just like Avery and he are and they all have so much fun together over there.

*She LOVES getting in Nana's car when I meet her up at the gym (bcuz she hates going in the gym and LOVES hanging out with Nana) and they spend once a week together and she can't stop talking about Nana and Papa when she gets home.  When we have gone over there over the summer to drop Avery off or have dinner with them she eats them out of house and home with the Fruit Snacks they have!!

*All summer we spent at the pool up at the gym...she would go as long as she didn't have to go to the child care and she has become a little fish in her floaties.  I can't wait to see what next summer holds for us in the pool with her.

*Besides me, her best friends are her Lovey and Paci.  I don't even know how to deal with this and when it will be time to get rid of them bcuz Avery never had a lovey and gave up the paci on her own early on so I'm sure it will be interesting, but they calm her and she Loves them and she's the 2nd so we just go with it.

*She sure is a little independent thing and she shocks me with her full sentences and questions.  I stare at her in amazement when she talks and she understands EVERYTHING we say!!

I didn't know I was capable of the LOVE I have for her with all the LOVE my heart was full with for Avery, but this little girl has me in her grasp and my heart is now overflowing with LOVE for both girls.  As Avery holds a special place in my heart and life, Ella does the same and I can't believe my Baby is turning 2 already.  Slow down love bug...I'm not ready for this quick ride.\

Love, Mommy