Happy 3rd Birthday Lexi!

Lexi is 3 years old today!  We celebrated with gifts (of course)! She got an ugly snake so she can play tug of war with Ella and a little pink bone that says "it's all about me", which is exactly what she thinks!

Mommy also made Lexi some not so yummy cupcakes and we had a nice steak dinner, one of Lexi's favorite meats!

Happy Birthday sweet girl, we love you!

Cupcakes!

Birthday girl with her gifts!

Toy that says "It's all about me!"

Lexi after she opened her new snake

Daddy and Ella making their annoyed faces! Like father, like daughter...

I think the birthday girl had a fun filled day!

What a wonderful first Mother's Day!

What a wonderful Mother's Day I had today!  I am so blessed to have such a wonderful family and absolutely love being a mother! I feel it is truly my calling in life and I have such a wonderful family to look after. 

Today we had a special day that started with sleeping in (at least mommy did)! We had a lazy morning at home and then went to lunch at Nordstrom Cafe (my favorite) and did a little shopping. 

This year was so special being a mother to such a wonderful little girl (and little puppy) and there is truly no other title I would rather have! I hope that I will always be a role model and friend to Ella just like my mother is to me.  I feel so incredibly blessed to have such wonderful, strong and compassionate women in my life and I hope that Ella will want to be just like us!

Yard projects

Today we did a lot of little projects around the yard.  We replanted the begonas in our planters and hung lights on the fence. We are excited to spend more time out there now that the weather is nice and we finally have a table and chairs to eat dinner outside! 

We also washed all the outside windows - not as labor intensive as I thought and we are so pleased with the results!

Here are a few pictures of the new and improved yard!

View of the lights at night

This is how Lexi helps with yardwork - notice her eyes are closed!

Our new table and chairs

A few pictures of our beautiful roses:

11 months old

Ella turned 11 months old this past week! We really can not believe it!  It's so exciting with all the new things she is doing, but it really is bitter sweet because our little girl is getting so big so fast!  I can not even think about the fact that she is going to be 1 next month!  We are definitely in party planning mode and are looking forward to celebrating her first year!

Here are a few of her milestones from this past month:

·         Took first steps holding onto her baby stroller and now walks all over the house with it. 

·         Got her first pair of big girl shoes from Stride Rite

·         Starting climbing stairs - not a good thing.

·         Started eating whole eggs and loves french toast!

·         Stands by herself without holding onto anything!

·         Makes her “ugly” face when she is not happy! (You'll see an example in one of the pictures below)

·         Still crawling everywhere, but she really likes to cruise on the furniture.  We think she is very close to walking! 

·         And, my favorite thing she started doing is blowing kisses.  She smacks her lips together and makes a cute kissing sound  - such a sweet girl!  

This is her "ugly" face - she is starting to do it often - uh oh!



She loves being chased around the house (and she loves chasing Lexi).