Preschool

Ella has been in preschool for about 2 months now and it could not be any better. She absolutely loves it so much. She wakes up almost every morning asking to go to school to see Ms Amanda and Ms Ginny! She walks into class so confidently and hangs up her school bag in her cubby and waves goodbye to me. I love that she loves it so much. Last week was picture day so she got all dressed up. I can't wait to see how they turned out!
Today they have a "fall festival" party which I guess is the PC way of saying a "halloween" party. Most of the other Moms came into class to have lunch with kids and have some fun Halloween treats.

It was adorable to see them in their element, sitting like little people eating their lunches so independently, cleaning up, reading books, etc. They were of course a little more wound up because we were there but they were so happy to show us their classroom and all the fun things in it.

One of the Moms made these adorable Halloween bags with all the kids names on them with great puppets inside. I guess I better step it up since I am in charge of the Christmas (or should I say "holiday") party. Of course Ella's favorite were the Halloween cookies.

We had a phone conference with Ella's teacher the other night (I know, pretty hilarious that they already have this at the age of 2!) but she said Ella is doing great in class. I hope this love of school she has now continues on for many many more years.

And I had to include this adorable picture from the bath this week. Her hair is getting so long and perfect for a shampoo mohawk. She loves bath time but doesn't always love her hair washed (we had one bad incident with non kids shampoo in the eyes that was slightly traumatizing) but we try and make it fun and plus she has about 85 toys in her tub to play with.

We are looking forward to a fun weekend and Halloween.

Our Little Punkin

We had another absolutely gorgeous fall weekend here in Charlotte. After 4 days of rain, the sun came out and gave us perfect weather. Warm and sunny during the day and cool and crisp at night. As usual, we had a busy weekend and since potty training is going so well, no more housebound for us, we were out and about all weekend.

Friday night, the church up the street from our house had a fall festival for the kids. They had pony rides (hence the pic of Ella and Wesley above checking out the ponies), face painting and the big favorite, cupcakes. Ella decided to get her face painted with a ghost since she is pretty obsessed with all things Halloween right now. (Side note: when we tried to get Ella actually on a pony, she was scared to death, definitely a little scardy cat.)

She sat so still the entire time and despite the look on her face below, she actually loved it and was sad when we had to wash it off in the bath that night.

The girls with their faces painted, Wesley and Ella of course had to get the same thing!

And what would a festival be complete without a cupcake. And bright green icing all over the hands and fingers is even better, good thing it washed out.

Saturday morning, after our usual trip to the bagel shop, we headed down to a fun pumpkin patch about 20 minutes away from Charlotte. And guess who is a total ham when it comes to the camera and posing with pumpkins??

It was a little bright looking into the sun.

The patch was fabulous, not only did they have the pumpkins that you would expect but they had more pony rides, wagon rides, hay maize and petting zoo.

Figuring out the best way to get through the hay maize...

Oh of course, going over them. Who needs to go around them?

They had legitimate wagon rides also, think Oregon TrailOn the wagon getting ready to head to the dairy barn and petting zoo. Too bad this picture is so dark.

After checking out the dairy barn and see them milk a cow, we went to the petting zoo to see all the animals. Ella LOVES animals and was in heaven with all these animals.

The three little pigs that were just born.

More ponies

Whew, looking at all these animals is hard work. I better take a little break and work on my model poses.

The goats were wild, trying to grab for anything they thought was food.

And by far, her favorite was the cow. This was the Mommy cow and they had a baby calf that was only 8 days old.

After a nap and recharge, we headed over to some friend's house to watch the VT game. Barb and I went to Tech together and has a little girl Libby who is almost a year younger than Ella. We have been trying to get together forever and our schedules never worked but they finally did and we finally got the girls together to play.

Ella and Libby had a blast dancing together. I see some future Hokies for sure. Ella is almost always with kids that are a little bit older and while she loves trying to keep up with the big kids, I think for once she enjoyed being the "big girl" around Libby. We will be getting them together again very soon!!

And on a final note, Mike's sister Kelly and her husband Ben are pregnant with twins. We are so happy for Ella and the new baby to have more cousins. Kelly has had a few complications along the way so I just ask that you keep Kelly, Ben and the babies in your thoughts and prayers. We can't wait to meet those new boys whenever they decide to make their arrival into this world.

Fall is in the Air

I love Fall! Don't get me wrong, I love summer also and was sad it was over but now that it is officially fall and starting to finally feel like fall, I am loving every minute of it. The warm but not humid days, the crisp clear nights, pumpkin spice lattes, pumpkin beer (oh, that's right, no pumpkin beer for me this year) and of course Virginia Tech football!

We have been staying busy as usual. Most nights after dinner, we either take a walk to the park or a bike ride around the neighborhood. Ella and I are usually in need of some fresh air by that time and it's the perfect thing to do before the bedtime routine. Ella decided on this particular night to lay on the soccer fields and say "cheese" until I take her picture.
Most night we bring her mini soccer ball and if we get her to kick it once, it is a success. She mostly just wants to run around, jump on the baseball bases which she calls "pillows" or climb on the benches. If she is going to be the soccer star her Daddy wants, he has his work cut out for him!

One thing she does love to do is fly, twirl or anything that involves us swinging her in the air. She gets some good air on this twirl.

Friday night was a big first for us, our first Disney show! They must have shown the commercial every hour on tv for the past 2 months and every time, Ella would say, "I want to see Rapunzel" but not knowing how she would do, we waited until the last minute and then decided we should give it a try.

We went with our neighbors and all the girls wore their princess dresses since it was Disney Princesses on Ice show and Ella was Tinkerbell for the night. Of course, Daddy is a major sucker when it comes to buying Ella anything and he got Ella her very own Rapunzel doll before the show. Ella LOVES the doll! Tangled is definitely Ella's favorite movie and we didn't have anything with Rapunzel on it and she clutched the doll the entire show.

All of Ella's best buddies decked out in their princess gear waiting for the show to start. Instead of a doll, they opted for a snow cone in a Rapunzel cup. As you can see, Wesley was too busy eating hers to pose for the picture.

The show was so adorable and Ella did great! It didn't start until 7pm and went for almost 2 hours and she was mesmerized the entire time. Cindrella and the evil step sisters dancing at the ball.

Cheering for the skating princesses.

Ella's favorite part for sure was the Rapunzel part and it did not disappoint. Rapunzel and Eugene flying through the air. Ever since Friday, Ella will throw her Rapunzel doll in the air and say, "Rapunzel is flying."

The final scene they brought all the Disney princesses out on the ice along with Mickey and Minnie. I don't know how Disney does it but they certainly have created a goldmine. All the kids loved it and I can't wait to take Ella to more shows now that I know how much she liked it.

On Saturday morning, we woke up to a gorgeous day and did we spend it outside all day soaking in the sunshine? No, we spent the entire day inside potty training. Which meant Ella only wore a shirt and socks all weekend.

And who is the best dad, definitely this guy. He gave up his weekend also and spent lots of time with Ella on her potty and reading her the Tinkberbell book.

Day 2 of training and still no pants, I think Ella could get used to this. I don't want to jinx anything yet so I will let you know more about it later but let's just say so far so good. Fingers crossed it continues.

By Sunday afternoon, we all had major cabin fever and felt like Ella was ready to venture out without a diaper so we took a walk to a local church that just received their pumpkins.

This age is so much fun for so many reasons but one reason is how well aware she is of everything. She knows all about pumpkins, ghosts, trick or treating and can't wait for Halloween. So, when she saw the entire lawn full of pumpkins and a pumpkin bean bag toss, she was all in.

Since we walked up, we didn't have much room to bring any big pumpkins or "punkins" as Ella says but we did let her pick out 2 little ones. She decided she needed to do some bicep curls and tone her arms!

Our little pumpkin sitting amongst all the pumpkins. I am definitely a sucker for a cute pumpkin picture and this one was completely unplanned so I am thinking a more formal trip needs to be planned for next weekend so I can get even more pictures.

And to top off the weekend, the Hokies won a big game against Miami. The game was a lot closer than we wanted but it was great to see them win, we only wish we had been at the game. Blacksburg looked like so much fun, maybe next year.

Mike has off work tomorrow for Columbus Day and Ella and I are happy to have another day at home with Daddy and hoping for more beautiful fall weather. Have a great week!

Lake Toxaway

The last weekend in September, we were lucky enough to be invited back to Lake Toxaway for our third year with the neighbors and all the kiddos.

It is hard to believe the first time we came, Ella was only 3 months old and bald as can be!
Now, she is sporting her cute pigtails and running all around the yard and playing with the other kids.

It was an absolutely beautiful weekend. No humidity, sunny skies, temps in the 70's during the day and cooler at night, perfect for an evening fire. Mike even got to see his favorite thing, throw the football around with the other guys.

These two best buddies played together a lot as usual. Here they are taking a break to enjoy a snack on the back deck.

And because they are girls and divas in the making, they had to compare their own pigtails of course!

Loving the beautiful weather and even more beautiful setting!

We went with 5 other couples and 7 kids total, 6 of which were girls so of course, we had to play nail salon. Miss Jaime was the manicurist for all the girls to get their nails painted.

Ella patiently waited her turn and then was concentrating very hard while Jaime painted her nails blue! She even blew on them when she was down to dry them. She woke up the next morning and one had chipped off her thumb nail and she immediately noticed and wanted it touched up!

And these two are double trouble when it comes to cheetos. They made such a mess but had the best time. Allie even taught Ella how to hold them in her teeth and stick them out like she is doing in this picture.

Early Sunday morning before everyone else was up, Mike and Adam decided to take the kayaks out. The lake was calm in the morning and perfect for the kayaking.

We had a great time as usual although since 3 of us were pregnant this year, I have to say, things were more tame than some past trips but still just as much fun. We are lucky to have made such good friends and the kids are so lucky to have such fun memories to look back on. Can't wait for the next trip, next time there will be three new little babies to add to the mix!