My Avengers

Happy Halloween!

 Ella is Black Widow

 Josiah is Iron Man

Micah is Captain America

 "Avengers Assemble!"

I love that the boys told me

 "You have to say 'Avengers Assemble' if you want us to get our costumes on"

Seeing as she has no hair…a bright red feather will do…right?

She hated her costume at first….

Thankfully she got over it.

Phew…

I do love a theme Halloween after all, and they couldn't be the Avengers without Black Widow.

2009

Batman and Robin

 2010

Buzz and Woody

2011

Peter Pan 

Girly

I was so hopeful for a girly girl.
I think I just may have gotten one.

This girl loves her shoes.

And her jewelry.

And her dresses.

But one thing is for sure, she can get dirty with the best of them!

And... she is the toughest of my babies yet.
She had such a terrible fall down a concrete stoop, cried for about a minute, and was bopping around the next.
She's so tough!

So adorable!

Ella's Shabby Chic Party

Ella's 1st birthday came and went.

I only cried the night before her birthday wasn't a total mess.

I couldn't help myself with the pearls and the lace romper. Can you blame me?

I decided to go with a sort of "Shabby Chic" theme. 

I thought that this is one of the only chances I have to pick the theme so I'm going with frills!

I dipped marshmellows in vanilla candy coating that I dyed pink and lined a tray with powdered donuts.

I also served sliders (best party food ever), pasta salad, chips, and watermelon; but I wasn't able to get a photo.

I mean seriously….how the heck do I get a nice photo of food before people start digging in? 

It's impossible in this house!

Can you believe this cake?!?
My mom is a cake genius.
It was gorgeous and delicious with a homemade pink lemonade cake with lemon buttercream.
YUM!

I made her little cake topper with a couple of candy sticks left over from the marshmallows and bakers twine.
I also served sliders (best party food ever), pasta salad, chips, and watermelon; but I wasn't able to get a photo.
I mean seriously….how the heck do I get a nice photo of food before people start digging in?
It's impossible in this house!

I made that frilly banner out of crepe paper and tulle. Easy and adorable!

Can you get enough of my little niece in her peacock costume?!?!

I made these flower topiaries out of crepe paper. They are now in Ella's room.

I finally had a good reason to use my twine wrapped bottles! They made for perfect outdoor table decor!

I can't get enough of these cousins!

 What's a party without a few superheros {that's my Josiah!}.

Princess even had her own ruffle cake. {Spoiled much?}

 Ella even enjoyed not one, but two marshmallow pops!

I have to say thanks to my amazing husband and sister.
They helped me tirelessly clean, cook, and assemble for her party.
We had nearly 40 people including nearly 20 kids here.
{No…it wasn't insane…why do you ask?}
I seriously could not have done it without them.

The best thing about a birthday party is knowing how much my kids are loved. We are at no shortage for people who have invested in our lives.

We couldn't be more blessed.




     

Sucker

I have always considered myself to be a "stand your ground" kind of a parent.

I will admit that I have never enjoyed the sound of a crying baby {this is a shocking statement}.
But I have always been able to let my boys cry. I didn't do "Baby Wise", and I've never tried to sleep train my kids. But after the initial "baby phase" they both boys became great sleepers.
When they were babies I woke up to feed them. And, like clockwork, at 9 months the boys both stopped nursing and began sleeping 12 hours at night.

But this one….

I am a total sucker.

Yesterday she was throwing her food onto the floor {Micah is was a pro at this, and passed his talents on to her}.
James gave her a tap on her hand.
Food on floor.
Another tap. Another handful of food on the floor.
A third tap and her eyes welled up, she pooched out her bottom lip, and looked so sad.

James scooped her up and snuggled her.
Not that I was encouraging him to comfort her or anything…no, not me.


Suckers.

I know this is what she is thinking.

She squeals when her brothers come by, I pick her up.
She turns her nose up to carrots, I give her yogurt.
She cries in the middle of the night, I give her a bottle.

Yes…I see the pattern.
Yes…I see that I am giving into her.
Yes…I know that I will turn her into a spoiled rotten princess if I keep it up.

I can't explain why I do this. Maybe it's because she's our only girl, or last baby, or the cutest thing ever. But we know we have to stop.

The little lady cried for 2 hours {2 HOURS} last night because I wouldn't snuggle with her. When I comforted her, she fell asleep in my arms. She never does this. She's not a snuggle baby, and she's never loved to sleep in my arms. But lately that is all she wants. To sleep with me. It took every ounce of strength I had to put her back in her crib and listen to her cry.

She's manipulating killing me.

But it's time. I have to let her become more independent.
{wipes tears dramatically}

Let's face it, she's nearly one. And this Mama needs to sleep.

Off And Away

She's a full time walker now.

As of May 7th.

She's a terrible teether. The worst of all three.
Still wakes up at night {I'm now wearing earplugs}.

She makes me smile with her obsession with her tongue.
Will not drink from a sippy cup, but will gladly chew on her brother's cups.

She squeals constantly. The boys didn't do this.
This drives her brothers {and parents} to the brink of insanity.
Can even cause Micah to cry when trapped in a car with her.

She loves me. This overjoys me.
It also overjoys me that she will always keep her headbands on. It's silly…but girl's got no hair still.

 She's a sloppy kisser. But gives them freely upon request {most of the time}.

She is the most beautiful thing I have ever laid eyes on.
Ever.

And yes, she is insanely spoiled. My 11 month old baby girl loves to have her bottle held for her.
And I'm the biggest sucker in the world….I can't say no.
{For the record she will hold it if forced to, but if I hold her, I'm holding her bottle too}

With Ella being my only little girl, and my little baby, I'm having a hard time trying to push her to reach new milestones. I want to keep her tiny. I love giving her a bottle, I'll be sad when it's all over.
I don't want to stifle her, I want her to grow and develop. I just want to keep her a baby as long as I can.

Photo Bombing and Firsts

 My boys are obsessed with the webcam on our Mac. 

Every time I jump on the computer they are jumping on my lap. 

I was trying to get a picture of this necklace I made {as a reference for length}.

Josiah stuck his head into the frame. 

Just at that perfect moment. 

I'm glad he did. It's so cute! And he gave me a reason to embrace the camera. 

In other news….Josiah is now riding his "pedal bike" exclusively.

This is what he learned to ride a bike on.

This photo is from March of last year. Jo was going CRAZY on his Strider (notice it has no training wheels or pedals). The goal of this bike is to teach them balance first. It worked great! 

He probably could have been riding a "real" bike 6 months ago if we had one that fit him!

This is the first time Josiah hopped on his "new pedal bike". He was so proud of himself. And we were so proud of him too! We take walks to the park and he's off and away. He's like a boy now…where did my little guy go? 

And here she is….

Standing up on her own.

On April 16th she took her first 2 steps and broke my heart. My baby is growing up.
It's been a bittersweet past couple of weeks.
I want my kids to grow, but I want them to stay dependent on me (except for wiping their own booty).
These little "firsts" are what makes being a parent so much fun.
I'm so glad for modern technology so we can capture every single moment!