Colby's Alabama Birthday Party

Colby celebrated his birthday with all his Alabama friends on August 28th. We had fun playing in the sprinklers and kiddie pool in the backyard and ate yummy cake and ice cream. Once again Colby LOVED his cake! He loved it so much that he cried when I took it away.

Our big boy!

Colby's birthday cakes.

Colby Turns 1

While we were in Maine we celebrated Colby's first birthday with family. Auntie C.C. made a beautiful car cake and a small personal cake just for Colby to dig into. He LOVED his cake and had fun opening presents with his cousins.

Colby's birthday cake.

Thank you Auntie C.C. for the great cakes!

Yummm!

I LOVE this cake!

Colby ate cake by the handful!

Ella's First Day of School

Ella started preschool this fall. She goes twice a week from 9:00-1:00 and loves every minute of it. She is learning her letters, how to write her name, various themes along with Spanish and music. Her are some pictures from her first day of school.

Ella just put her backpack and lunch box in her cubby and was very excited to go into her classroom.

Below are pictures of Ella standing so proud with her back pack and lunch box on our front porch before school. She even picked out her own dress!

Colby Takes His First Steps

Colby has practiced walking with the help of Mommy and Daddy for several weeks now. In the past when I have tried to get him to walk with this toy he has sat right back down and crawled away. Saturday night was different - he walked right across the room with it. Yeah Colby!!! His big sister started walking the day after her first birthday. I wonder when Colby will take his first steps?

An Evening in the Driveway

Tonight after dinner we spent some time outside. Ella LOVES riding her new bike and Colby likes to watch :)

Bird Nests

This week Ella and I discovered several birds nests around our house. Each nest has eggs right now so we are excited for when they hatch. It should happen in about a week or so. I will do another post if I can showing you the babies. :) Ella told me today she can't wait to hear the babies chirping. It will be fun to see them flying all around.

There is a nest in the middle of each one of my hanging plants. This makes it a little difficult to water my plants every day. The momma birds usually are not happy with me at all.

These are finch eggs.

Ella wanted to show you the dove eggs. You can see them in the bottom left corner of the picture.

Momma dove sitting on her eggs.

These are the robin eggs in our backyard on the rose trellis.

Fishing with Daddy

Out of the blue on Sunday Ella asked Casey if he could take her fishing at the pond in our neighborhood. Due to rain we were not able to go until tonight. We all had a great time and even were successful catching a fish.

Ella was eager to start fishing.

Daddy helped Ella cast the line.

Still fishing!

Ella's appetite is finally starting to come back after her surgery. She was hungry so she decided to eat some of the bate.

Yeah! Daddy caught a fish!!!

Ella checking out the fish - cautiously!

Looking a little closer.

After a wave goodbye we let our fish go back into the pond. Ella named him Boo and really hopes to see him again someday.

Happy Father's Day

It is a tradition now that every Father's Day I put together pictures from the past year. It is nice to look back at all our fun adventures and see how much the kids have grown. This year for Father's Day we had a relaxing day at home and ended the day with sushi at the restaurant just outside our neighborhood.

Brave Ella

Ella was such a brave girl this week. On Monday she went to the hospital (Ella calls it the "hopsible") to have her tonsils and adenoids out. She came through it with flying colors and is now eating all kinds of chocolate pudding, yogurt and jello.

Being brave in the big bed before surgery!

Off to surgery she goes! She was so excited to drive the pink Princess car!

After her surgery she visited with Jules - a Cavalier King Charles therapy dog.

Ella loved petting Jules and giving her treats.

Playing with my Big Sister

Colby LOVES playing with his big sister!

Ella Likes to Dance

Ella really loves to dance these days! She also just learned how to do somersaults. Here are two video clips from the dance show she put on for me the other day in our front yard!

Look Who is Crawling Now!!!

Colby started talking Sunday night and has not stopped since. He really likes to tell stories! Check out the video of his babbling.

On Monday he also started to crawl! He loves being mobile and is already getting into things he shouldn't be! I guess it is time to get out those baby gates! Go Colby Go!!!

Ella's Birthday Party

Ella was so excited to celebrate her birthday with friends this year. It was on a Saturday morning from 10:00-12:00. She invited 8 friends to her Dora slumber party. All the girls who came wore pajamas and had fun dancing to Dora music, decorating cupcakes and playing games. Ella loved every minute of it!!! Be sure to check the blog soon for a birthday slide show.

The birthday girl.

All the girls had fun decorating their own cupcake with lots of colored frosting and sprinkles.

All the cupcakes had to have a Dora on them.

Ella enjoying her birthday cupcake.

Ella had a mini sleepover with her friends during the party. They all had a blanket and pillow while they watched "Dora's Sleepover." They also ate yummy popcorn!

Colby was at the party too!

Ella loved opening presents.

Ella Turns Three

Ella had a wonderful birthday filled with lots of fun. We woke up early and signed her up for preschool two days a week starting next fall. After that we had a birthday doughnut with a great friend and finally met Daddy for lunch at Rosie's -Ella's FAVORITE mexican restaurant! She LOVES the cheese dip there. We finished the day with cake and presents.

On our way to sign up for preschool!

Enjoying a birthday doughnut with a friend.

Ella LOVES Rosie's cheese dip.

Showing off her new pink ice cream cone necklace.

Mmmm birthday cake.

Ella is very happy to be at Rosie's on her birthday!