Ella's b-day party

We had a fabulous little b-day party for Ella today! Since we are going to Sea World next weekend for her actual party we just did something small at home today with her closest friends and family...but it was perfect. We celebrated "Backyardigans" style...thank you to everyone that came and for all the fun gifts! I can't believe she is going to be 3...wow!

Ella and her friends, Lauren and Taylor, had fun with their blow toys.

She looks so old to me here in this pic....my baby girl, where did she go?

she really hates when anyone sings "Happy Birthday" whether it is for her or not, this year she was just a little embarrassed but held it together...good girl, Ella.

she doesn't need Mommy or Daddy's help with blowing out the candles anymore

and opening presents this year was all her....she went really fast too...it was pretty funny

as always, our spoiled girl got lots of great stuff from her wonderful family and friends...

Ella with some of her birthday loot

fun family photos

We had a fun photoshoot with Scott Souquet-Bressand, the husband of Ella's old sitter. It was so fun to see their whole family last night. It had been months since Ella had seen her best buddy, Chloe and her favorite sitter, Tiffany...but now that they are back from Washington, we can see them a ton! Scott is an awesome photographer and these are just a couple of shots that he got. I really don't feel this big in real life, but I guess the camera doesn't lie. I am seven months along....two more to go! I'll post the rest of the pics when I get them.

Weekend projects

Between last weekend and this weekend, I feel like I have accomplished quite a bit. We painted the baby's room and set it up last weekend and today we hung his name above the crib.
Now I just need to get some black shelves to hang along either side of the picture to display the vintage cars and trucks. I am also looking for some cool black and white photos of vintage vehicles.

Today I also worked on making this t-shirt for Ella's b-day and the cuter-than-ever flower bow that goes along with it...I was impressed :) Now I just have to decide if I want to embellish some jeans or just have her wear some cute black leggings with the top. we'll see....

Now I should be decorating my house for Fall while Ella is napping...but that includes dusting off shelves which is the worst chore of all so we will see if I get to that today....Enjoy your weekend!

What a beautiful day!

It was so nice this morning to wake up to dark clouds, thunder, lightning and RAIN! Ella immediately had to get her raincoat and umbrella and venture outside...oh we are so deprived here in AZ. I am just loving the cool, rainy weather and I am so glad it is Saturday. We are cozy on the couch now and Ella is watching The Wizard of Oz for the first time....we'll see if she can withstand the long movie. Goals for the weekend include: painting the baby's room, planning Ella's family b-day party (we will be going to Sea World for her b-day weekend but I still want her to have a "party" since she is pretty much expecting one :), and cleaning up the house. Ella is going to my mom's for a sleepover tonight and Travis and I are going out with Brett and Mae (&Brooklyn)...yeah! Happy 3-day weekend to all!

She is getting soooo big!

With the upcoming (well, end-of-November) arrival of the new baby and my pure obsession with getting projects done the moment I think of them, we re-did Ella's room this past weekend. She now has a big girl room, with a big girl bed...and big girl attitude (and now pink eye in both eyes just to add to all the big changes :))

the princess in her new bed...I love that her room is so girlie now

She LOVES her new bed!!

immediately bouncing before everything was even ready

having a ball...

she also got to help daddy reassemble the crib in the baby's room

the "before" of the nightstand that I redid...my creative juices were flowing this past week

how flippin' cute is that?

My BIG girl helping dad with the yard work

he even got her to pick up all the mess...nice!

cheezer

Ella's new favorite thing to do is dress up so last week while shopping in Gymboree, she invaded the accessories bin and tried on everything...I told her she looked like Elton John!

NY pics part 1

Ok so here goes....and yes, this is only part one because I have two full days not even on my camera...waiting to get more pics from mom and Amanda! We had an absolute blast in NY...it couldn't have been better...unless it had been longer :) My relatives are all so busy so I didn't get good quality time with all my cousins they way I wanted to but I was able to see everyone even if it was for a short time. The pics that I am missing are of most of the family out on my uncle's boat and at our family reunion bbq...so stay tuned. These sum up the rest of the trip starting out with NYC!

Driving through the mid-town tunnel wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be...not a lot of traffic heading into the city from JFK at 9:00 at night, I guess.
pulling down the street to our hotel

taking a late night stroll, yes it was like 10:00 by now, into Times Square to find some good pizza...unfortunately we found pretty crappy pizza that night but made up for it big time in Northport (twice)

I know this is some famous landmark coming out of the subway at Columbus Circle to go to Central Park

Amanda and Wayne heading over to the park - our first city adventure of the trip

it was such a beautiful day...enough to even wear a jacket

Ella was set for sight-seeing...she was such a trooper the entire trip...not a single nap in 8 days

walking through the park capturing the city views

Had to get the family pic in front of the bridge...strategically hiding the homeless people sleeping near it

entering the Central Park Zoo..pretty place but not worth the money

because the only cool thing we saw was this polar bear...he was awesome

all he does is swim back and forth in his tank and I guess he has been doing that for like 15 years....poor guy

for all you third grade teachers out there...here I am standing next to the statue of "Balto, the Dog Who Saved Nome"....I had to get it to show my students

we had to eat at Mickey Mantle's for lunch...and we really did feel special, we met the manager and he gave Ella a baseball...not signed unfortunately.

strolling down 5th Ave. and dreaming about all the things would could buy, of course the only stores I even dared go into were GAP and H&M

our beloved Tiffany's

a gorgeous church just smack dab in the middle of all the chaos...I love NY!

this is what we came out to when we stepped out of the hotel....crazy busy and fabulous

this was the view from our room....see Madison Square Garden (the round building down below) and the Statue of Liberty straight ahead...it is hard to see in this pic but it is on that island

a just a quick glance to the left to see the Empire State Building...I truly suggest that everyone stay at the Hilton Times Square...it is a great hotel...thanks to my mother-in-law, again, for the great hook-up

down in the subway heading down to World Trade...again, another thing that wasn't as bad as Travis thought it would be

see....all smiles!

unfortunately, most of World Trade is just a bunch of construction right now so we quickly headed south to battery park and the marina...absolultely gorgeous....and I love this pic with the Statue of Liberty to the left in the backdrop

zooming in

mom and wayne

ella, holding onto dear life on the train...we were heading back to our hotel to get our bags and the car and then to head out to the island....it took us 3 hours to get there...leaving at 3:30 on a friday afternoon is not a good idea....that night we met everyone at the park down in Northport Harbor for a concert and pizza...not sure why I have no pics of that...I know we were all exhausted at that point....and oh, it was only just beginning.

after a day of boating that Saturday, we headed to the Annual Firemen's Fair in town...since my Uncle Beefy is the Fire Chief, we got all the fun perks and Ella came home with way too many prizes

Mom and Amanda trying so hard to win Ella a prize, they didn't, but she got one anyway :)

this was as close to any ride Ella was going to go on. she wouldn't get on a horse and instead had a death grip on Travis in the car the whole time...amazingly though, she wanted to go again and did the same thing with my mom

Sunday was the big family reunion bbq, which I have no pics of yet, and Monday, we headed downtown to shop and visit my multitude of family members that work there. Our first stop was the firehouse to see Uncle Beefy and let Ella drive the trucks

Ella loved this part the best I think...all she ever wants to do is drive

Travis got a kick out the firehouse having a fully loaded bar

views of Main Street, Northport, where both my parents grew up

it is so "Norman Rockwell"

this is the house my mom grew up in

the water is everywhere... I want to move..one day when I win the lottery, I will buy a house here

we stopped at Northport beach to eat our yummy deli sandwiches and Ella couldn't get enough...we weren't really prepared for this to be her first beach experience

so we stripped her down and let her play with the seaweed in her undies

this pic is just to show my ever expanding belly for all of you that wanted to see

Ella found this stick and started performing magic spells on everyone

Abracadabra

she sent me to live in a tower and was very pleased by it (too much Dora and the Snow Princess)

love

more love

this was really Ella only pretending to sleep, the most we got out of her was a few quick snoozes in the car

my cousin, Joe, met us on the beach on his little boat during a fishing trip with his friends

he loves Ella and Ella loves him

This is the house my dad grew up in...it was getting some work done

Ella, in all her glory, at Crab Meadow beach..our actual beach day

Ella and Aunt Donna

I am wearing a bathing suit ...this was not a nude beach

Ella, being a goof in her daddy's socks

my Aunt Leigh Ann and cousin Chris (Ella's number one cousin...according to her) they were our hosts for the trip....thanks again, guys

as we sat out on the deck getting eaten by bugs, Ella was having fun catching Lightening bugs

my little hippie chick

these times for me are some of the best from our trip....sitting on the deck and carrying on all night....my cousins are hilarious...we were all waiting for my Uncle Jimmy to get home from getting his first tattoo...it was pretty awesome...I'll have to find a pic

My Uncle Jimmy's hand-made house that we stayed out...pretty awesome

the day we left we headed downtown again for some last minute shopping and a relaxing walk on the dock....I love that this is all right here at your finger tips

My cousin Joe, who just graduated from highschool, bought this boat for $500 and is fixing it up. he is also the "dockmaster" - he guides boats onto the dock and such - but he gets to work on his boat at the same time....everyone there has the best summer jobs

There is a bench at the end of the dock dedicated to my cousin Chuck, who died last year

Our first, and only, group pic of the traveling crew...we had an incredible time