This and that

This and that sums up our past week and a half since returning from the beach. Ella is a lucky girl and got an early birthday present from her best buddies, Kayla, Allie, Addie and Wesley. They got her this awesome kitchen and picnic table complete with it's own umbrella. As soon as Mike set it up, Ella has been obsessed. Playing with it all the time and always cooking us something new. It came with lots of utensils and food so our little chef has everything she needs. We may move this out to the deck but since it has been so hot lately, we have been keeping it inside for now.
(Shirts optional but bows required at Ella's kitchen!)

Unfortunately last week Ella came down with this nasty summer virus going around. She came down with a fever Tuesday afternoon that lasted 3 long days and a couple sleepless nights. But no other symptoms besides high fever and just feeling very tired and not eating. You know she is sick when all she wants to do is sit on the couch and watch movies and not eat a thing. She did have some moments of feeling better but mainly we just hung out at home and played for 3 days. And we found lots of new fun toys, like Daddy's sunglasses!

By Friday afternoon, her fever finally broke and she got some of her energy back and was back more to her old self and actually wanted to go outside and play. (And not soon enough, if I watched another Mickey Mouse show or watched Tangled again, I might have gone insane!) And by playing, it means carrying around Mom's purse and act like she is going shopping. I think we may be in lots of trouble in the future.

It was a good thing she started feeling better because she had some big visitors come visit us this weekend, Uncle Court, Jennifer (or Fer-Fer as Ella's says) and Emma doggie. Ella LOVES Fer-Fer and Emma but is not too sure about her godfather! On Saturday, she wore the shirt that Uncle Court bought for her almost 2 years ago, her first Vineyard Vines polo and we were so excited it finally fit, we tried to get a picture of them together in their Vineyard Vines. But you can tell from Ella, she wasn't too keen on getting a picture.

Even though she thought he was a little scary (don't worry I did too growing up), she liked to tease Uncle Court. All last week before they were coming, we would say who is coming this weekend and she would say "fer-fer and court." But once he arrived, she refused to say his name. She would look right at him with a huge smile and say "fer-fer" and laugh. When he would leave the room or was out of ear shot, she would say his name to us but never in front of him! It became the running joke of the weekend. On Sunday, she came around a little more to Uncle Court and would actually sit next to him but still wouldn't say his name!

But again, it was nothing like her bond with Fer-Fer!!

And if Mommy gives her lots of tickles, she will even sort of cuddle and laugh with Uncle Court! Progress people progress.

I love when I capture a moment between these two. Ella was all about her Daddy this weekend. They got to hang out all Saturday morning and she wanted him all weekend.

When she was sick, all she wanted was Mommy all day and night but once she was better, she was all about her Daddy. It is huge for her to share her favorite juice box and check out that expression she has, too funny. Like, she is thinking "hmmm, hope he doesn't drink it all!"

We had a major breakthrough this weekend, the swing. Ella loved her infant swing, was in it all the time, would sleep for hours in it and then once she started sitting up and moving around, she wanted nothing to do with any type of a swing. We would try and swing every time we went to the park and she would scream and try and climb out so we just decided the swing wasn't her thing and that was fine. But on Sunday, she decided she wanted to try it again and we put her in thinking she would last 6 seconds but to our astonishment, she loved it! Kept saying "high high" for us to swing her higher.

She must have been in there for close to 20 minutes and loved every second of it. We had to drag her out of the swing so we could go home or she would have stayed all day.

On Monday, we went to another park that also has a splash ground and usually Ella runs right to the splash area to play but this time, she ran right to the swing! Kids are so funny, I guess they can change and surprise you all the time.

So, that was our week, a little of fever and hanging out at home and then a little bit of that like loving swings and running from scary Uncle Court!

Slower Pace

After all the festivities of Easter, we have settled into a slower pace. More hanging out at home, more impromptu play dates in the cul-da-sac and more picnic lunches. Here are some pictures from the last week.
Ella is really into stalling before nap time and bed time these days. She will take one stair at a time and then stop halfway to take a "break" on the landing. Of course, this also happens to be where Dakota was taking a nap in the sun. Ella had to get in some cuddle time and kisses with her dog before going to rest of the way up the stairs.

DeeDee and Great Grandma came up to Charlotte visit last week and of course that meant going shopping. DeeDee found some new sunglasses for Ella! But they were about as expensive as mine so no designer glasses for this girl yet!

We are also having amazing spring/summer weather here over the past week so we have been hitting the parks.

Ella is still very tenative at the park. She would prefer to just step up and down the stairs and walk over the bridges than to go down a scary slide. But she is happy none the less.

On Saturday morning, the girls left the Dads in charge while we went to pick up new flowers and vegetables to plant and have some lunch. The Dads all met up for breakfast and then to the park. I am sure it was a sight to see, 3 Dads and 5 little girls. These two girls taking a break at the park together!

Yesterday, we went to watch Daddy play soccer. She watches soccer on tv a lot with Dad at home so she was pretty entertained to watch in the beginning.

But we had to bring some snacks to keep her attention. Nothing a little granola bar can't handle. Unfortunately, Mike's team lost the game to their big rival but he did score a goal and we got to see that.

We love that it is finally warming up enough to bring out the baby pool and bathing suits are optional when you look this adorable in just a diaper!

Finally, we met Daddy today for a picnic lunch. They have this great park in the middle of Uptown which is perfect for Ella to run around.

Hi Dad, catch me if you can!

We are enjoyed the slower pace of last week and this week looks to be more of the same. We will enjoy it before the summer really picks up and we are nonstop on the go again!

Our Week

When the sun shines down and that Carolina blue sky appears, we are sure to be out and about soaking up that warm finally spring is here to stay weather. And that is just what we did last week, although we did have to retreat one morning when some April showers (and wind and thunder) came. One of my favorite things about Charlotte and where we live is all the parks that are so close. We went to one last week that was only 10 minutes from our house but we haven't been to. It is a great park and even has the nice rubbery pellets on the ground that look like dirt but a lot cleaner and softer if you fall. Ella found the bunny ride and couldn't wait to climb up. This is one of my favorite things to do, meet friends in the park about mid morning after I have gone to the gym and then play and then go out for some lunch. This time we met 2 friends there who each have 2 girls so 3 adults and 7 girls under 4 for lunch is quite an adventure. But before we went off to lunch, down the tunnel slide.

We also like to try and get some fresh air after dinner when Daddy comes home. The sun is going down so it is a little bit chilly but the perfect after dinner and before bedtime activity. Sometimes we bike ride, sometimes we just open the garage and play and sometimes we ride around in the wagon. We looked back to find our little girly girl had unzipped her sweatshirt and was wearing Daddy's hat backwards!

This week, we also did some babysitting for two of our best buddies, Kayla and Allie or "kawa" and "Owie" as Ella says. They live next door and are pretty much Ella's older sisters, she adores them and they are so sweet to her. The other morning when she was waking up in her crib, Mike and I could her saying over and over, Kayla, Allie, Kayla, Allie.

Kayla and Allie's Mom and Dad had a date night so we watched the girls and of course built a fort! Well, Mr. Mike built the fort for them, first on the couch but it wasn't big enough, so we moved it to the playroom so we could add more pillows and blankets.

Like, I said, Ella adores them and they are so cute and patient with Ella.

Giving each other a hug and then bursting out into laughter! We are definitely lucky to have them living right next door.

Saturday morning, the rain blew in with wind and thunder and so we had to take the party inside. Back to our favorite indoor musuem and what is so great is that everytime we go, we discover something new and different to play with. This time, we found a different water table, perfect for splashing and making a huge mess that I didn't have to clean up.

And because we are in Charlotte, no musuem is complete without a racecar. I think she might be the next Danika Patrick if only her feet would reach the pedals.

This picture cracks me up because she is waving out the window, like she is doing her victory lap and waving to all her fans!

This week, we also found a new place in the house, timeout. However, I don't think she quite got the concept since she thought it was a game to keep hitting all the buttons on the tv and then run and sit in timeout without being told and repeat it. And by the look on her face, I think she is enjoying it a little too much!

When the sun came back out after the storms, we of course went back to our new favorite park. Ella watching and trying to be like the big kids and hang from the bars, luckily for her and me, her arms aren't quite long enough yet!

Finally, no week is complete without at least one picture of Ella and Dakota. This was taken after much torturing by Ella to sit in Dakota's bed, grab Dakota's collar, trying to strangle, I mean "hug" Dakota and you get the idea! Like timeout, someone was enjoying it a little too much.

And the week was actually topped off yesterday with an Easter Egg Hunt but that definitely deserves it's own post and I haven't downloaded those pictures so more on that later in the week.

And finally, a special congratulations to our good friends Katie and Dean (Katie and I worked together at Bank of America) who had a little baby girl on Mike's birthday, April 8th. After a rough first week of life, Emma Kathyrn got to finally come home on Saturday with Katie and Dean and I know they are thrilled to have her home. We can't wait to meet to her and have another new playmate for Ella.

70+ degree weather?? Yes please!

We were so blessed to have amazing weather this past weekend and we took full advantage of it. On Friday, we were literally outside all day since the temperature almost hit 80 degrees! The kids brought out all their toys and ran around and the adults hung out as usual. These 3 peas in a pod all climbed into the wagon for a ride around the neighborhood. Kayla acts like such a big sister to Ella, she is so sweet! I just love this picture and Wesley's belly hanging out, so classic! And these two wanted to keep up with the big kids and drive the power wheels. Good thing their feet can't reach the accelerator yet but it won't be long.

Ella was lucky enough to spend a lot of time with her Dad this weekend. One of my good friends, Jaimee was having her bridal shower and bachelorette party so Saturday I was busy with those events and while I was away, you know they spent time at the park.

One of Ella's new favorite things is "walking" Dakota. She is so funny and will say heel and no, all the commands we use.

Off they go!

There is such a special bond between a father and a daughter. I know that I truly cherish the relationship I have with my own Dad and I am definitely a Daddy's little girl, even at 30. And it just melts my heart to see Mike and Ella's special bond. He can make her laugh harder than anyone else and she loves to run around and chase him around the house. I am so lucky to have such an involved husband because most days I am exhausted when he gets home from work and he just comes right in and helps with everything. Every night after bath time, Mike puts her to bed and I love that they have that special bonding time. Already at 18 months old, she has her Daddy right where she wants him, wrapped right around her little finger. I actually think that happened after 1 second of him holding her in the delivery room and the bond has just grown so much and I know it will continue grow more and more.

And she is so lucky to have such a talented grandmother that knitted her these adorable leg warmers! She also got a new winter hat and 2 new cute bows and let's hope she will keep these in!

Monday was President's Day and Mike had off work, thanks George Washington and Abe Lincoln for the extra day off! It was another nice day and while Mommy caught up on doctor's appt, Ella got more park time with Daddy and they had the entire park to themselves.

Just more time to crawl through tunnels and go down slides in the warm Carolina sunshine!

Not sure how many more 70 degree weekends we are going to get before spring officially comes so we definitely enjoyed it and now have spring fever big time! Weather has been crazy this winter so who knows, it could be snowing next week but while it's warm, we will playing outside with best buddies, going down slides and just soaking up some much needed Vitamin D.

Perfect Sunday Morning

We had the most perfect Sunday morning today! Starbucks in hand, perfect sunny fall weather and a trip to the Midwood park! Now that Ella is fully walking, she loves going to the park and climbing on everything but her all time favorite is the slide! At first, she went down with the help of Daddy.

But then she wanted to go down by herself. She had the biggest smiles and would laugh on the way down.

And who wants to walk around and climb back up the steps when you can just walk back up the slide!

She discovered the tunnel today that she could climb through and even peer out and see Mommy and Daddy!

Ok, watch me, here I go through the tunnel!

Almost through to the other side!

Finally, steering the wheel and dancing!

It must be a lot of work to play on the playground because she took a 3 hour nap when we got home! We actually had to wake her up to go to the pumpkin patch (those pictures to come soon!)We will definitely be making a lot more Sunday morning trips to the park to play.