Happy 1st Birthday, Ella!!

 
1 Year Old

Friday, June 27th

I can't believe it's been a year already! Where did this past year go? It seems like only yesterday I was 9 months pregnant and about to pop! Now, it's been a year and we can hardly believe it! Ella had the most fabulous birthday weekend! We literally had a party all weekend...and the best part was 3 days of cake! We started the weekend off with Ella's actual birthday on Friday. Aunt Candy & Uncle David had us over to their house and we had lasagna and baked spaghetti. Aunt Ashley made the lasagna and it was delicious! (We love when Aunt Ashley tries out new recipes from all her new cookbooks!) Ella really seemed to enjoy her birthday meal considering she cleaned her high-chair tray! After dinner, Ella tore into her birthday cake! Her entire face was covered with icing. She had it under her fingernails, in her lap, and even some icing on her foot. We forgot to take a candle with us to Aunt Candy's house so we had to improvise and Uncle Matt found a HUGE candle. Ella thought that was so funny! We had to give Ella, along with Cousin Gracie, a bath in Aunt Candy's "squirt" bath (aka. jacuzzi tub) to wash off all the icing. To put it into Ella's words, she had a "HAPPY...HAPPY...HAPPY" birthday!

It's my party & I'll cry if I want to...

Saturday, June 28th

On Saturday, we went shopping for Ella's birthday party. We went to Wal-Mart, SAMs Club, and A.C. Moore to get the finishing touches and food for the party. The real fun was when we went to Laura & Chris' wedding reception. They got married in Barbados last week and then had a luau reception for all their friends and family Saturday night. It was so much fun! Ella danced all night long! She wore me & her Nana out dancing. She really enjoyed herself!

Dancing Queens


Ella, Karon (Mother of the Bride) & Laura (Bride)

Sunday, June 29th

Today was the BIG day! Ella's 1st birthday party...wow, I still can't believe it's come and gone so quickly! We got up early this morning and worked all day getting ready for the birthday extravaganza :) I never thought throwing a birthday party for a 1 year old could be so much work. I want to take the opportunity to thank all of our family and friends for helping us celebrate Ella's first birthday! It was so much fun having you all here sharing this special day with us! Ella got all kinds of GREAT presents! We can't say thank you enough!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Just A Swingin'

Ella absolutely LOVES her play set, especially the swing! Here are some pictures of all 3 of us trying the swings out! Like I said before, I think we're all big kids at heart :)

Daddy's Little Girl

First of all, Happy Father's Day to all the great men in our lives! You are all loved and appreciated very much for all you do for your families! Today was Cory's first Father's Day and I think it was a very special day for him. I personally want to thank him for all he does for both me and Ella! He is a great father and husband! We both love him very much!!!

Happy Father's Day, Cory!!

Another major event this weekend was the completion of Ella's swing set we got her for her upcoming 1st birthday. Cory has been working on this project for about 2 weeks. The outside of the box said it would only take 2 adults 2 hours to complete...haha! Who are they kidding?! The assembly instructions were a small novel and there were a zillion parts! There were about 6 pages alone that were printed just to identify all the parts. I have never seen so many little pieces crammed into 2 boxes. Also in the instructions they said assembly time could take 6 to 12 hours...that's more like it! All the sweat and hard work put into the assembly was well worth it once we saw that smile stretched across Ella's face when she started swinging! She absolutely LOVES her swing!!! Cory and I also are enjoying the swing set :) I think we enjoy her toys as much as she does! I guess we're all just big kids at heart!!

Just getting started...

2 adults & 2 hours later and still no swing set...

The completed project...(2 weeks later)...

Fun in the HOT Sun!!!!

This past weekend we discovered that Ella is a WATER BUG! She spent all weekend covered in sunscreen and playing in the pool. She LOVES bath time, but I still wasn't sure how she would handle the pool. By the end of the weekend, she was jumping off the side into the water (with someone helping her, of course)! She would even try to submerge her head under the water. I was amazed! Instantly when she got into the pool, she started flapping her arms and kicking her legs like she knew how to swim. I think she's going to swim before she walks. When it was time to get out of the pool, she would cry! We had so much fun playing with her in the pool! She was also very stylish in her matching bikini, hat, and beach cover-up. It was a fun, relaxing weekend and also quality family time :)

Where are my hands, Daddy?

Taking a break before the big jump!

I think I'm ready, Daddy!

One, two, three...here I come!

Little "Water Bug" swimming with Nana