Her imagination...

never ceases to amaze me. Hello everybody, meet, WALL-E. My little red rice cooker has been promoted from the kitchen to the playroom, and all over the rest of the house. I'm waiting for her to find EVE. She has found a few things, but they never stick around long. Too funny.

I try.

I wanted to get a picture for Ella's 3rd Birthday. I've been reading on photography a lot lately. And one comment stood out to me more than the others. This photographer was talking about getting good pictures of her kids. And that most of the time, it is never the darling, perfect smile, holding still picture. She then went on to say how her favorite picture of her son is when he was smaller and he is doing a complete cheeseball face for the picture. She says she misses how silly he used to be, and that he won't do that face anymore. So to capture what they do, the faces, the toys, whatever, because they won't always do it.
So, I told Ella to get her favorite toy. She came back with Lizzy. So, when Ella was three, I will know, that she loved Tinkerbell and Lizzy. And here's the picture to prove it. I think it's one of my favorites. So her. She kept asking if Lizzy was in the picture.

We had some friends over for Dinner...

You should all be jealous. We had half of the Disney world at our table the other night. Beauty, the Beast, Bolt, Tinkerbell and Lizzy, Jessie and Woody, Bullseye, of course. And we can't forget Mr. Gru. But one guest, in particular was starving. So starving in fact, that Ella had to share. All was going well with our guests until Ella scoops up a huge fork full of spaghetti and says, "Bolt, you so hungry? HERE!" And splat...

It was on the floor. This picture was after I had picked up some and then thought, this is pretty funny, and took a picture. I have asked that we only have one or two guests. If more show up, I ask them to go take a nap.

The Little One

Her one year appointment revealed that she is not big enough to move to a bigger carseat, much to her mother's disappointment. In fact, she is only in the 20th percentile for her weight, 30 for her height and 70 for her head size. She walks everywhere now and it's fun to watch her go as fast as she can. She can also do this.

And she sits like this. We call it 'the frog'. Too funny. But sooooo cute.

Her First Birthday

Can't believe how fast a year goes. Wow. Honestly, it was such a blur. We had the families over again and hopefully they'll come back again.
Nora got clothes and a cute little Dora couch. She loves to sit on cushions, pillows, blankets, it's pretty funny. Grandma got this one right on the head! She sits in it a lot and loves to crawl all over it. Here's a picture of her sharing it with her sister, who was convinced that it was brought for her.

And here are some photos from the cake-eating. Her little hand did very well as the demolition tool.

Her birthday...

was a success. We had both families over on that weekend and fun was had by all. At least, us. We hope everyone that came had some fun. Our house gets pretty crowded with everyone here. Sorry guys. Just think, we get all our birthdays done in two weeks, then you never have to come here again for the rest of the year, anyways.
Her Toy Story theme was fun. The boys all got a Sheriff Woody hat and the girls got a hat like Jessie, and she got a Jessie and Woody doll, Bolt, a Tinkerbell umbrella, Tinkerbell plate and cup, she got loaded. And she loved it.
Here are some pictures from the blessed event.

I want her to like me.

Is that so wrong? I just want my three year old to like me. I'm her mother. I often have little daydreams of what it will be like in thirteen years when some boy likes her and asked her to dance, and we get to go buy her a dress and a pretty necklace and do her hair all pretty and talk and giggle and tease her about her first date. Or her coming home from school and sharing some cookies with me in the kitchen, talking about her day, then working on homework. In my head, I see us being friends. A healthy mother/daughter relationship.
So today, Dad was home and he thought we should get out and do something. The girls and I have stayed home all week due to one illness after another. So, I'm thinking, YES, let's go do something. Phil suggested we see if any good kid movies are playing at the theaters. And he knows me too well. I will never turn down the opportunity to get some popcorn. I know it's horrible for you with that much butter, but ever once in a while, its OK, right? So, I fix my hair a little and we get to talking. Nora is not going to sit through it. I'll probably end up leaving the theater. It's all true, so I stop getting ready and told him to just take Ella. Then he tells me to just take Ella. Have some girl time alone with her. For a minute, this sounds like fun. So, I go find Ella, and excitedly ask her if she wants to go see a movie with me.
Um, Stink Eye much?
The sting of rejection...it hurt. So, in an effort to at least have somebody have some fun today, I quickly say, "You want to go with Dad?"
She raises her eyebrows and nods, gets up and goes to find her shoes. Fine.
Don't get me wrong. I'm so glad that she loves her Dad. But when he's around, I am chopped liver. And I know that little kids are just that way sometimes, and that she's around me ALL the time, but what's wrong with having some fun with me?
I sure hope my mom is right and that it will be different one day, and that she's just around me a lot and when Dad's home, it's different and fun. Until then, I get....
The Stink Eye.