Easter Egg Hunt Take One

Ella's friend from preschool invited us over for an Easter Egg Hunt and Party last weekend and we took our nephew Christopher along-good times for everyone :-)


Two very pensive lollipop eaters

Ella was surprisingly driven once the kids were let loose to hunt for eggs. I didn't know if she'd really be into it but she definitely ran and dove for every egg she saw (and got a lot of them because I guided her to the areas where none of the other kids had been yet-hahaha!! Come on, she's only 3 and there were big kids-I had to help her out!)

Ella and her friend Reagan from school cheesin' it up

Christopher had some impressive moves on the moonbounce slide

Ella was more traditional but FAST!

It was fun to see Ella interact with a rough and tumble boy-she's more resilient than I expected and really enjoys her cousin. She and Christopher are really becoming friends and it's so sweet to watch them grow up together. We'll definitely be inviting Christopher on more outings in the future :-) Good times.

Conversations with E

E: Mom, what is this book about?
Me: Oh, that's Our Daily Bread, it's a book about God! (...I await deep, spiritual conversation...)
E: (flips it over and looks at spring themed cover and then casts it aside) No Mom, it's not. It's a book about flowers.


Me: Ella can I keep coloring with you? I'm having a good time!
E: Yes! You may! Know why? Because you are perfectly exciting mom!


Most nights when we try to put her to bed without a drink
E: (pointing pathetically to her empty mouth) Mom, I just need a little something to go in here. Please? Just something for right here.


E:Mom? You know what I want to do?
Me: What?
E: Go to Disney World! But not til I'm a liiiiiiittle bit bigger because then I won't be scared of costumes.
Me:Yeah-that's a good idea. We don't want you to be scared so we'll wait until you're a little older. When do you think you won't be scared anymore?
E:Ummm...prob-ly when I'm 29.
Me: (laughing)
E: Yup. 29. When I'm a mama like you.

And finally...a conversation we have often....
E:Mom when can I get a car?
Me: Do you remember? When you're six...
E:...teen! Sixteen! Then I can get a tiny, pink car and drive it! Whoohoo! (then she dances around joyously and then asks me again when she can drive about 5 minutes later)

Celebrations!

There have been SO many parties lately! We hosted a little family party the day after Ping and Silas got back from China a few weeks ago and since then we've been to 5 birthday parties (Rylan, Daniel Peter, Emily, Jake, and Aaron) and have 2 more coming up soon. Lots of celebrating and not a lot of pics but here are a few :-)

Uncle Dave and Baby Silas-who is hardly a baby anymore!

the cousins being wild

One of the birthday boys and his mom, my sweet friend Ana

This is my friend Kristen's daughter, Holly-we don't see them very often but I always think of her as Ella's hair twin! (except hers is longer and red of course!)

chowing down on the cake, one of Ella's favorite parts of birthday parties

Pastor Dan helping Ella figure out a goody bag toy. It's SO fun to see him interact with Ella since he did our pre-marital counseling and knew us really well before she was even a thought!

Laundry, Big Girl, Daddy Time

Life continues to be hectic now that I'm in the clinical part of grad school so blogging time is hard to come by. However, I'm trying because I really don't want to forget what Ella was like at this age! So, here are some random pictures I've taken over the last few weeks that tell you a little about what she's up to and what she's like :-)


Ella was watching Imagination Movers (her current favorite TV show) and I came in to fold laundry and found her quite comfortably watching her show on top of the mountain of clean clothes! She continues to be totally mesmerized by TV so it's usually a privelge she gets only after rest time in the afternoons if she has good behavior. She likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, NiHao KaiLan, and new LeapFrog DVDs we got that help with learning to read!

Ella is REALLY into how big she is. She refuses to be called a baby or even small and constantly reminds us that she's a big girl now. This is her showing us how long her arms are now-she can touch both sides of the doorframe! It's adorable to watch her marvel over how long her legs are or get SO excited when she can reach the occasional light switch or sink. It's definitely bittersweet to see her growing! People have been commenting a lot lately on how tall she's gotten! I got all choked up the other day buying her new pants in the "girls" section, not toddlers. It's going so fast!

Ella's had a bunch of nights home with Daddy now that I'm working. Monday nights they hang out from about 4:30 pm on and play all kinds of games and go on long walks which they both seem to really enjoy. Chris has always been a SUPER involved dad but he has stepped up even more now that I have more going on outside of the house and from what I can tell, they have a ton of fun together :-)

Bike Rider

There was a warm, spring-like day last week and we took advantage of it! We all went on a walk and Ella rode her bike for the first time since last year when she could only make it go backwards :-) She's doing much better this year as a "big girl" :-)