Ellie's 3rd Birthday

What a very special birthday!! (They ALL are!)

This year Ellie wanted an Angelina Ballerina birthday so I got busy with the grueling task of finding anything Angelina Ballerina I could find...not easy. I was able to find invitations that looked like tickets to the ballet, an Angelina cake topper and a few other things.

We decided to have Ellie's party at her ballet studio. Her ballet teacher headed the whole party and kept the children busy with crafts and dancing.

All of Ellie's friends from her playgroup made it and her friend Avery came all the way from Alabama.

After all the dancing and playing we got to enjoy cake, cupcakes and gift opening.

Cole helped Ellie blow out her candles

2010 St. Brigid Moms Group Halloween Party

What a great Halloween we had this year. Our moms group had a party at our church and Ellie got to go trick-or-treating for the first time. She had so much fun getting dressed up as Minnie Mouse and she loved getting treats in her bag.

Ellie dressed as Minnie Mouse

Lilly and Ellie ready to go to the party.

All the children had so much fun playing games, dancing, eating snacks and trick-or-treating. It was so great that Ellie got to play with all her little friends.

Jake, Ellie, Baby Cate, and Sofia

 Ellie really loved getting a candy corn painted on her face. We learned that she really likes candy corn and it worked as a great potty prize for little while.

James and Ellie carved a pumpkin this year. Ellie loved it! When it was time to get rid of the pumpkin I had to put it outside while she wasn't around. She did not want to get rid of the pumpkin. A while after it had been outside she was walking around in the yard and found it. She was very sad that the pumpkin was "broken" and she said that "Daddy will have to fix it".

Georgia Aquarium

On Friday, September 3, Ellie and I went to the Georgia Aquarium with our friend Shalyn and her adorable daughter Lilly. Ellie was so excited to be going with them and she couldn't wait to see all the "Nemos". She didn't realize she would be seeing much more than just Nemo.

Ellie and Lilly loved it!!

They got to see many different fish and creatures that live in the ocean. The beluga whales were gorgeous, we were able to watch the whale sharks being fed, see the otters playing with each other, and see a diver feed a few small sharks. There are other tanks that have anemones, star fish, stingrays, shrimp and small sharks that are in tanks that you can reach in to touch them. I touched all of them but, of course, Ellie was afraid to touch any of them but you could tell she really wanted to. That night, after we had gotten home, she was telling her Daddy all about her day and told him about the shrimp. By the time she started telling him about them she had decided she was ready to touch them and she started getting upset saying, "I want to go to the a-cake-e-um and touch the shimp" (no "r" in shrimp for her). She still keeps telling us she want to go back to touch them so I think we will be making a trip soon just so she can touch the shrimp.

Diver cleaning the glass.

Lilly and Ellie watching the diver and seeing the fish.

Seahorses!!

Looking in at the stingrays.

Albino Alligator. (I need a better camera)

Look! Look! A Cone Tree!!

We finally made our first trip to the beach with little Ellie. It was a very long drive from our home to Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina but the time and fun we had there was worth every second spent in the car.

The long six hour drive was well worth all the time and fun we had. James parents, Deborah and Michael (or Mee-ma and Papa Mikie) met us at the beach and after we checked into our rooms we got dressed into our bathing suits and headed right to the beach. Ellie absolutely loved the sand. She was covered from head-to-toe in sand and I will be washing sand out of her hair, ears and nose for days.

Ellie went right into the water with James on the first day but for some reason she wouldn't let a wave touch her on the second day. She just wanted to lay in the sand and roll around.

On our first drive around the island we quickly learned from Ellie that what we always thought were palm trees are actually called cone trees. I tried to tell her that they were called "palm trees" and I was quickly corrected by Ellie saying, "No, Mommy, they're cone trees". It was really cute.

James, Mee-ma, and Papa Mikie took Ellie to the local aquarium while I got to hang out on the beach and read a book. Ellie's favorite thing there were the sea horses and I was told that she was afraid of the Caribbean lobsters (that were larger than Indi) and the alligator.

On our last night we took Ellie for a walk on the beach at dark. We made our way to the pier where Ellie got to watch people fishing and was able to see some of the fish that were caught.

The whole trip was a lot of fun and we can't wait to go back.

"...and when she woke in the morning, she knew she was going to be a real ballerina one day."

Ellie had her first ballet lesson, today. When we arrived I could hardly unfasten her car seat because she was wriggling around with excitement. I knew she would be happy but I didn't know she would be as happy as she was.

I didn't get to go into the class with her so we took pictures in the hall after her class. I was able to look in a small window to see her and I could also hear a lot of what the teacher was saying. It was amazing to me how well Ellie listened and did as she was told. There were large stars on the floor which is where the teacher would have them sit. When the teacher would say, "OK, come sit on a star" it was so cute to see Ellie run over and position herself onto a star.

She was so adorable and I could tell she was having the best time. When the class let out her teacher told me that she just kept yelling, "I love dancing, I love dancing, I love dancing, I love dancing!"

Ellie got a coloring page and a stamp on her hand from her teacher.

She can't wait until her next class!!

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

James birthday was very exciting this year. Ellie thinks she has the whole birthday thing figured out. I'm sure she thinks that the word "birthday" means presents and cake.

James and his birthday apple pie.

Ellie readjusting Daddy's candles.

The morning of James birthday I got myself and Ellie dressed while he was still sleeping. I quietly told Ellie "today is Daddy's birthday" and you should have seen the excitement on her face. The idea that it was her Daddy's birthday was just almost too much for her to handle. She very enthusiastically ran to our bedroom door, slammed the door open, jumped like a frog to the bed, and started yelling, "Daddy, Daddy! Happy Birthday, Daddy". After he sat up and told her "thank you" and gave her a big hug she stepped back and said, "Ummm, Mommy and I go bye-bye and buy you preeeee-zents and CAKE!!!". I nearly fell over since I never once mentioned gifts or cake to her. She obviously put two and two together and figured out why we had gotten dressed so early.

Now all she can talk about is her own birthday party and what kind of cake she wants and what type of decorations she wants. Her idea, of course, changes from week to week but this week she's all about Tinker Bell.

Sinus Infection, let me check my calendar and see if I can fit you in....

So, it's not so easy as deciding when you can fit in being sick but it would be fantastic if that was possible. This is the first time that I'm REALLY sick since Ellie was born two and a half years ago. I feel horrible, drunk and just tired. Ellie has been the sweetest (though still demanding) little girl. She's worried about Mommy not feeling well keeps asking, "Mommy, are you feeling better" and telling me, "Mommy, I make you happy so you feel better". Too cute! Yesterday she told me to smile because it would make me feel better.

Ellie still in her dress this morning.

James took care of Ellie at bath time, last night, and when it was time to put on her "jam-jamz" she wanted to put on her pretty black dress that has white polka-dots and a pink belt along with her pink hair-bow and her pink sparkle shoes because she wanted to "be pretty and make Mommy feel better". Truth be told, that was just her excuse to be able to wear a pretty dress to bed which she does a lot. For some reason she likes to wear dresses and shoes to bed. I could maybe understand the dress thing but shoes to bed is one I'll never understand.
She was still wearing her polka-dot dress until just a bit ago when she spat milk out of her mouth onto the dress (and, yes, on purpose) and told me, "Mommy, my dress is dirty. I want you to wash it and put my other polka-dot dress on me".  By the time we made it back to her closet she decided she wanted to wear her "RE-all dress" (Ariel) and change her shoes. She's only two and changing into multiple outfits throughout the day.
This morning, while James stayed home with Ellie, I had to go to a dentist appointment that apparently the office decided canceled because they were not able to confirm since my number had changed. If I had been feeling better I would have been pretty upset but since I wanted to go to the doctor and it was right next door anyway it worked out for the best. So into the doctor I went and then to the pharmacy where I got Ellie some new water colors in hopes that she would stay busy painting all day. As soon as I gave her the paint she went right to work. She told me she was painting a "scaredy cat" for me.
After painting I decided to make Arthur shaped macaroni and cheese for Ellie. While cooking Ellie told me that her nail was "fruss-ter-ate-ed" because her nail polish was chipping off. I had to convince her that it was alright and I would fix it for her later. She then left the room and returned with her tiger flashlight and told me that her "why-ger" needed batteries and wanted to know where his teeth were. Thank goodness James just happened to walk in and was able to fix that situation for me. But once the tiger received new batteries and was working again she was no longer interested in him and decided to eat her lunch.

Now that we're finished with lunch she wants to go to Target. She loves Target much more than I do. She asks to go there at least four times a week. But, alas, it is nap time so we will go read both of her Angelina Ballerina books, sing the "I Love You" song, say a prayer and lay her down. Maybe Mommy can get a nap, too!