California Birthdays

We (mom, wayne, trav, Ella and I) headed out Thursday 9/24 for San Diego to celebrate my mom's and Ella's birthdays. Mary and Greg (Trav's parents) met us there - aren't we so lucky to get to share every celebration with both of our families?...it couldn't get any better (well I guess if our bros had made it, it would have been) The drive was nice with Ella constantly being entertained by The Wizard of Oz!
Ella was amazed by the beautiful maple leaves she found while walking around the Gaslamp Quarter...it's the simple things...
We ate at a really great breakfast place Friday morning...Richard Walker's Pancake House...
yum, yum!

Happy Birthday Mimi!

We drove over to Coronado to walk around the beautiful but HOT beach...
Ella was dying to get feet her feet dirty in the sand...
We stopped at the Hotel Del to get some yummy drinks and a snack...
Greg and Mary (my in-laws)
Mom and Wayne

our awesome suite (all because of the great Mary Mantle and her fabulous hook-ups)

views from the corner window
On Ella's birthday we went to Sea World. She was quite overwhelmed throughout most of the day and we all experienced our fair share of 3 year old melt-downs....wow! She was so enthralled by the sea life...and didn't want to leave any of the exhibits.
creepy!
getting ready for Shamu....most definitely the highlight of our day!

I now recall why Adam and I wanted to be Shamu trainers when we were younger...what a magnificent creature...I was almost crying between watching Ella's mesmerized face and reliving my own memories of loving this show...

feeding the seals...with Mimi and Papa
even after all the meltdowns and pushing everyone to their limits, Ella still deserved another small birthday celebration so we stopped at Ralph's on the way home to pick up some cupcakes and candles...
I'm THREE!
and don't need anymore sugar...but what the heck!!
here is the proof...Ella got her hair from somewhere...her Mimaw and Mimi (combined)
the morning that we left we took a stroll along the marina near our hotel
The Hilton San Diego Bayfront
on the way home....with her new magna doodle for more entertainment...plus, more Wizard of Oz

It was a great trip.....an end to a summer of incredible trips!

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!