Our hearts are bursting

We celebrated our sweet little Valentine on Saturday with a fun filled day. Her actual birthday is on the 23rd but timing just worked out to have her party this weekend and since it was so close to Valentine's Day and she is our little sweetheart, I went with a love theme.

Now, I know some people think having a birthday party for  2 year old is crazy and she won't remember it but honestly, I think I have the parties as much for me as I do them. Growing up, my parents always made our birthdays a big deal and I don't remember every specific party but I remember how special they made us feel and I want my girls to always remember that feeling as well. Plus, who doesn't love a good party!

The love theme is actually one of my favorite themes so far! It was super easy since almost every store has Valentines themed stuff starting in early January and my true inspiration after a lot of this was Pinterest. I love Pinterest and how it has made party planning so easy and so many great ideas to draw inspiration from.

The party started at 11am so I did most of the set up the night before and then put the finishing touches in the morning. I was able to snap a few pictures of the party girl and decorations before the party.

One of my most favorite picture of our peanut ever. So excited to be 2!

 Party favors, I found these on Pinterest. Some graham crackers, hershey kisses and marshmallows with the note, "Sending you 'smore kisses Love, Maddie Grace"

 We had a photo booth complete with accessories and MG was trying them out before the party started.

 And big sis got in on the action also

Who needs some lips or glasses when there is a thumb to suck

 Laughing with Daddy

 Love my girls so much

 These are some Daddy's girls for sure

 Now onto the actual party pics...photo booth fun

Sweet Joe and Annie!

Addie, Allie and Ella

Addie, Allie, Ella and Kayla

 I also found this super cute game idea on Pinterest and so I made it for the party. It was called "Maddie's love punch" Basically, I filled all the cups with different prizes, covered them with tissue paper and then glued them on the large board in a heart shape. The kids all got a number and then got to "punch" open the cup to reveal their prize.

All the kids lined up and ready to go...

 Birthday girl punching out her prize, she got really into it!

 Sweet Braelyn caught on quickly also

 I hid two $1 bills for the big prizes and wouldn't you know that Ellie Dobson, our sweet neighbor won both of them, lucky girl for sure.

 Then it was food time and I cut out heart shaped pepperonis to add to our pizzas. It is hard to see but if you look on the left side, you can see it a little better.

 These kids were hungry

 Ella with one of her best buddies Wesley. As you notice, Ella is not wearing the cute red sweater she was wearing in the beginning of the party. Most of her friends couldn't wait to go up on and put on princess dresses right at the beginning of the party and luckily we have plenty to go around. Apparently these girls didn't notice there was still snow on the ground!

 And cupcake time. This sweet girl wasn't too sure about everyone singing and watching her. She wasn't scared or anything, she just kept looking at all of us like we were crazy!

 Deciding where to start on this!

 This picture just makes me laugh out loud. Trying to put the entire cupcake in her mouth at one time, haha!

 I love that Maddie and Braelyn will have a special friendship just like their big pictures in the picture above. And notice the cupcake on the high chair, that's all she ate. A lot of frosting and none of the cake part.

 After the party ended, our little birthday was tuckered out and went down for a 3+ hour nap and when she woke up, she opened presents with DeeDee, Papa, Uncle Court and Miss Laura who all came in town for the party. (It meant so much to us that they all made the effort to come up from Atlanta and celebrate with us.) Big sister was really into "helping" her little sister open presents.

 This picture is a little blurry but she absolutely adores Minnie Mouse and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and sings the hot dog song all day long. Our sweet neighbors, the O'Neals know how much she loves Minnie and got her a new one and she absolutely loves it!

 Opening presents with Papa

 Uncle Court always comes up with the best presents, he spoils his nieces like crazy. We used to have a trampoline that broke over a year ago and we have missed it since then so Uncle Court got them a new one. Ella and Maddie both love it and have been jumping on it nonstop.

 We had such a fun day and weekend celebrating our sweetheart. Our little Maddie Grace, we love you so much. I can't believe my baby is two years old and hardly a baby anymore. Like I tell your sister all the time, please stop growing up so fast. I just want to freeze time at some points and this weekend was definitely one of those times. These two make my life so busy, wild, hectic, fun and I wouldn't have it any other way!

4 1/2 years young

My "big" little girl is turning 4 1/2 in 2 days. I am learning that half birthdays are a big deal after 4. Maybe it is because she is the youngest in her class and has seen all her friends turn 5 and she wants to celebrate something but she is all into turning 4 1/2. For weeks, she has been telling us all the things she is going to do once she turns 4 1/2, like ride a bike without training wheels, learn to read books and even swim without floaties. 

I have to say that I love Ella at this age right now and wish I could freeze her in time. She is so independent that she doesn't need help with much. She can dress herself, brush her teeth in the morning and even get her own breakfast herself. Which is a huge help because her little sister needs me all the time lately it feels like. And speaking of her little sister, Ella absolutely adores her and is the BEST big sister around. She calls her Maddie Grace, Mad Pie or Sweet Girl (my favorite) for nicknames and is so gentle and patient with her. MG will steal her toys or ruin something and occasionally Ella will get frustrated but 90% of the time, she doesn't get upset at all and really tries to teach her. She shares her snacks with Maddie and loves to pretend school and read her books. We often joke that Maddie is growing up with two mommies but Ella has that nurturing mothering side to her already.

We just had a conference with Ella's teachers last week and I love hearing how much she enjoys preschool and how she is a friend to everyone. They said they rarely have to call her name and that is certainly our little rule follower to a tee. I am so glad that we made the decision to send her to TK next year and not kindergarten. With an August birthday, it was a hard decision but I know her having an extra year to grow and mature with benefit her so much in the long run. And selfishly, I am so glad to have another year, even if it just the afternoons with my girl.

At 4 1/2, she just started taking dance lessons and she loves them. They do ballet and tap and every Friday morning, she can't wait to put on her light blue leotard and skirt and go dance for 45 minutes. I am not giving up all hope yet on other sports but one thing is for sure, she loves dancing!

Other things she is into lately: her favorite movie lately is Frozen and she watches the YouTube clips everyday of the songs. She can just about sing every one by heart. She also loves Katy Perry's Roar song and still her old favorites Call me Maybe and Starships. She is a great eater, eats mostly Kix and Cheerios for breakfast, has to have her pb&j for lunch along with a banana and eats most everything we do for dinner. Loves almost every fruit and a lot of vegetables. Still not a fan of milk but does eat lots of cheese and frozen gogurts for a special treat, we tell her its "pink ice cream" and so far she hasn't caught on. She sleeps great at night, usually 8-8 and has quiet time each afternoon. She is allowed to have books and her new leap pad in her bed with her during quiet time to keep her entertained. She loves to color, paint, stickers, anything to do with arts and crafts and really enjoys playing games as well. Her favorite games lately are princess Memory match game and Guess Who?

I could go on and on about her but I will just end it with that she says to us each night before bed, My sweet Ella, I love to the moon and back and infinity and beyond.

Her 2013 school pic (I have to brag slightly, they chose her picture as the one for the poster to put in school, for the second year in a row. This girl loves taking a picture)

After her recent haircut

Sledding fun

On the way to the circus with Daddy

Learning to ride a bike without training. We just tried it Sunday and for her first time, she did awesome. Still needs lots of practice but for our scardy cat, I was super impressed.

Now, please stop growing up now Miss Ella James!

January Tidbits

There is pretty much one word that sum up January: COLD! Our month has been bitterly cold, forcing us to stay inside a bunch and also forcing the girls to miss some school days. It has been cold and sunny, cold and rainy and just recently cold and snowy but all together cold. We are ready for spring and warmer temps, that is for sure! I know much of the Northeast have been much colder and snowier so can't complain too much but come, we live in North Carolina! Ok, it is supposed to be in the 60's this weekend, I will take that.

Now, onto what we have done this month:

On, January 2nd, Mike's parents and parents stopped by for the night on the way down to Florida. It was also his Mom's birthday so we baked her a cake and my little sous chef loved decorating the cake for Grandma.

 Mike's grandparents really wanted a picture with the girls but I don't know, for some reason, I don't think Maddie was too pleased here!

 Oh, the pose! Not sure when over the holidays this started but our little comedian, Maddie Grace loves to make people laugh and she did this one time and got the biggest and best reaction from everyone so now it's her "thing." We will say hands on your hips or do you pose and she does this and every time, everyone laughs and tells her how adorable she is and she eats it up and does it some more. She is definitely a little ham and will do anything for a reaction. On this night, they would run around the house and then freeze in the doorway and pose for about 10 seconds and then run some more. Never a dull moment in our house!

 Cold temps means lots of playing inside and just recently, these two have really started playing together. They will play in the kitchen together or read books and it's so much fun watching them play together all on their own!

 In January, she started dance class, ballet and tap. She has done dance camps and asked for awhile to do dance but Mike and I grew up playing sports, I don't know anything about dance. After resisting it for a long time, I finally caved and signed her up and she absolutely LOVES it. The outfit, the bun in her hair, the entire thing she eats it up and can't wait for Friday mornings.

 When the sun does come out, so do we. It is cold but we bundle up and head outside for fresh air. On this day, these two were leading our walk, very scary!

 We love our Carolina Panthers and they did awesome this season and made the playoffs but unfortunately came up a little short. She may be in dance class but her Daddy is still dressing her in her jersey on gameday!

 Monday mornings usually look like this, drop off Ella off at school, head to the gym to work out and then run errands at Target. Someone doesn't like to ride in cart the normal way anymore, she has to ride in the big part, surrounded by groceries.

 On the bike! She has been hesitant with the bike for a little while but lately she has a lot more confidence in riding and asks to ride a lot. Now if we just go without the training wheels...

 My birthday this year fell on a Thursday. It was pretty low key, both girls were in preschool in the morning so I worked out and then met Mike for an early lunch. After picking up the kids from school, we put MG down for a nap and Ella and I snuggled and read books together in her room. I love when I have some special one on one time with my big girl!

 Oh, the pose again...

 Uncle Court got E this beautiful coat for Christmas and she wore it to church. It is still a little big and she has to grow into it but she calls it her princess coat and I have to agree, she does look pretty special in it.

 Last Saturday, Ella and I had a special Mommy/Daughter day where we did some shopping, had lunch and then went to a gymnastics birthday party. I was wearing my sunglasses so she insisted she wears her also.

 I mean, when did she get so big?? Can't believe she will be 4 1/2 soon.

 You all know how much I love and adore the girls preschool, it has been the best! One thing they do is every other week they attend chapel once they are three and bring in a food item each time for the offering. Well, her class was in charge of a mini field trip to deliver the items to the local food pantry and I got to go along and drive some of her friends. It was such a great experience and so important to teach them young to give back to others. I just love her sweet little class.

 Packing up the food...

 And finally, the snow...

The forecasters had been calling for it, the grocery stores were sold out of everything and the kids could NOT wait for the snow to come. It started Tuesday afternoon and fell (very slowly) that night. We maybe got between 1-2 inches but of course the city shut down. On Wednesday, school was closed and Mike worked from home so we played in snow all day.

 Sledding fun...

 After all the work, it is more to refuel with hot cocoa and smores!

 Her first smore and she loved it, mainly the graham cracker!

Thanks DeeDee and Papa for the awesome sweaters, they kept us very warm!

 This morning we woke up to all the snow gone but school still cancelled (that's right, no snow but southerners freak out!) so we had to get out of the house so we went to Monkey Joe's to run around and play. We met some old neighbors there and then went and had lunch, just had to get out.

So, January is coming to a close and February is already starting to look better with warmer weather. 

Plus, a certain little one is turning two this month...more to come on that later!