What a Good Sport!

Jackie, as he's called around here, is such a great baby! (knock on wood!) He is happy most of the time and just goes with the flow. He laughs often and has started to "talk" constantly! He LOVES to watch Ella and will follow her in his walker wherever she goes. His hair is out of control and sticks straight up no matter what we do; but I love it! Yesterday while we were walking around the house talking about where we should hang pictures, I walked back in the den to find Ella putting her pink sandals on Jack.

Thank you Jack for being such a great baby, and good sport. I'm sure this is only the beginning of your introduction into clothes, dolls, and all things girl...sorry buddy. =)

Coloring Eggs!

I know I am really going overboard on the Easter posts, but now that Ella is older it was such a different experience this year! (of course they would probably be a little more spread out if I wasn't such a procrastinator!) Coloring Easter eggs was something I hadn't done in forever! Jack wanted to dye eggs but instead sat on the sidelines. By the time we finished, Ella had dyed 2 dozen eggs and her hands were a beautiful shade of brown.

Easter Bunny 2011

Ella was so excited to see the Easter Bunny while we were in line! She waved and said "Hi" over and over; but that all ended the second it was time to sit on his lap. Easy going Jack of course sat on his lap no problem, Ella tried to run back through the line yelling "NO, NO, NO!!". I was anticipating another picture like Santa; which included Ella crying and trying to get off his lap while Jack just hung out. But to my surprise as soon as I sat her down she was totally okay! She looked at the bunny and then back at us to re assure herself that we weren't going anywhere. We still couldn't get a picture with both kids smiling. (It's practically impossible!), so we went with the picture that (almost) had both kids looking at the camera. After we left, Ella talked about sitting on the Easter Bunny's lap all day which made it all worth it!

Community Egg Hunt

Because Ella had so much fun doing the egg hunt at Grandma's we decided to head over to the community egg hunt just down the street from our house. They had everybody separated by age which was nice. Ella had fun; when we got there is looked like a ton of eggs, but it felt like it was over in two seconds! They had bounce houses and animals (goat, cow, sheep, etc.) for the kids to check out. Ella was all about the animals until we walked over to let her take a look and she freaked out! She didn't want to leave, but we headed over to see the Easter Bunny after the egg hunt and she was excited about that!

Easter

This year we celebrated Easter all weekend and it was so much fun! (All that Easter fun = multiple Easter posts) It all started on Friday with an early Easter dinner at Grandma & Grandpa Parkinson's house and an Easter egg hunt. Ella LOVED all of the Easter egg hunts this year and it was so much fun to watch!

Such a Lady!

While walking through the living room the other day I saw Ella sitting so perfectly in the window with her legs crossed. I ran to grab the camera (because it was so dang cute!) but of course by the time I got back she had moved from the window. I asked her to sit back in the window sill and cross her legs in an effort to re-create the cute photo op, however she couldn't quite grasp the concept when I asked her to cross her legs. The following is her attempt...











Love this girl!

Note - as you can see, from the missing door casing and base boards, we are still in construction mode. Once we get those up I will post some pics of the new house.

Jack at 6 months

How is it possible that our little guy is half way to one already? If I was to describe his personality I would say he is very happy and easy going. We are still working our way through vegetable and fruit baby foods; although most of it just ends up on his bib and clothes. I haven't found any food that he loves. Most are met with a funny face and then spit out. One big change in the past month is that Jack is now sleeping in his own room. He is only waking up once a night, around 3am. Ella loves him and I am so looking forward to them being able to play together; although I hesitate to say that with Ella's new favorite word being "Mine". Every day Jack makes me smile. He makes me thankful to be his Mom. Every so often he makes me want another baby...but then I wake up at 3am and think maybe not.

=)

Chrissy's "Bachelorette" Weekend

What a fabulous weekend! Instead of the classic bachelorette party, Chrissy decided she wanted a short weekend away with her girlfriends. We headed down to San Diego for a weekend of fun. The weather couldn't have been better! We spent a few hours on the beach (and all got burnt!), hung out on the balcony of our hotel room over looking Mission Bay, and enjoyed a dinner cruise. It was so much fun and so relaxing! I can't wait to go again! Only 3 more weeks until the wedding, now it's time to focus on the big party! =)

Chrissy wearing the "Bride to Be" crown...against her will. =)


Ready for our dinner cruise!


View from our hotel room - beautiful!


Chrissy, Carolyn and myself


View from the dinner cruise




All of us girls enjoying the evening =)

Terrible Two's??

Is there a switch that turns on the second a child turns two? It sure feels that way around here. With in the last few weeks "NO!" is Ella's answer to every question you ask; even if she wants to say yes, she says no first. "Mine!" has become one of her favorite words. Last week Guy asked Ella for a hug, she turned to him and hugged herself while yelling "NO, my hug". (after she walked away we both laughed at that one). Thankfully (for my sanity), our independent, strong willed, sassy little girl stills lets her happy, loving self shine through every now and then.

There is an end to the terrible two's....right?

Hitchin' a ride

Is this the equivalent of riding on bicycle handle bars...

BBQ Bridal Shower

Our best friends Danny and Chrissy are getting married in just a few short weeks! To celebrate Chrissy getting hitched I hosted a BBQ themed bridal shower at Lucille's BBQ Smokehouse restaurant. A small group of Chrissy's family and friends, fun conversation, great food, and a delicious cake made for a fabulous night!