New "costume"

Ella's new "costume" is her new Dora gown that she has been wearing all day, every day since the weekend. She thinks it is "so beautiful and really, really special", and, for the first time ever, she's excited to wear the other gowns in her dresser that she never would before. She's such a cutie, but wearing a gown definitely makes her look more like a growing little girl than my little baby.

The best part about it is that it came with a magic wand!

And a couple other sweet pics from the week. Here's Ella practicing for senior pictures... :)

And me and my little turkey, who wouldn't open her eyes for anything and thought it was so funny!!

Visit from a dear friend

Jaime, my best friend from college, came to see us for a few days earlier this week. She lives in Colorado and can you believe it had been over three years since we had last seen each other?! Best friends should not go that long without seeing each other!! We talk frequently and do a good job keeping in contact with each other, but it was so wonderful to see her face. It made me realize how much I miss having her right there all the time. I'm so thankful that our friendship is as close as ever, even though we are so far apart. We had a great visit and got to spend a little time relaxing and just being girls.

Of course, Ella and Jaime became fast buddies and from then on, Ella was constantly glued to "Jammy's" side.

I took this picture one night as they were cuddled up on the couch. Ella just stared up at Jaime and said, "Hey, I love you." It was too sweet. :)

It was so, so wonderful seeing you!!! I miss ya already. Next time, we'll come to Denver, or you can come back to Cincy and bring the whole family. I'm already looking forward to it. :)

A few days worth...

of Valentine's and anniversary celebrations. We had to spread it out a little bit because of our work schedules. Things were a little hectic over our anniversary, but we managed to find a few quiet moments to ourselves and reflect back on the last five years. Wow... five years. So hard to believe. At the end of the day, it all comes down to this- I am such a lucky woman to have the husband I have, a precious daughter to love, and to live a life filled with family and blessings and goodness. God has been amazingly wonderful to me.

My sweetest, little blessing wanted to do something "so special" for her Daddy for Valentine's Day. There are not too many things in the world that Daddy likes better than chocolate cupcakes, so we decided to bake cupcakes "with extra love in them for Daddy! He's going to be really, really excited!" :)
"Mommy, these cupcakes are taking a really, really long time!!" (Everything's 'really, really' these days:)

Special sprinkles...

The official taste-tester...

Daddy's home!! Ella couldn't wait to give him his valentine- "Daddy, look what I did for you!"

And she got a pretty special treat in return... yep, you guessed it- it's a "really, really big heart balloon!"

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!!"

I got a special treat, too- the most beautiful bouquet of roses and lilies.

Silly girl!!

These flowers are getting more gorgeous by the day.

The rest of the weekend kind of flew by. On Sunday, Papaw and Mamaw came up to see us and, of course, Ella had a ball. I unfortunately had to sleep most of the day because of work, and we didn't manage to get any pictures (!!), but Ella got spoiled with more Valentine gifts. Thanks so much, guys, for the lite brite- it is definitely a hit!! We love you all!!

Ella's Valentine's...

Ella worked hard on her Valentine's today. I have to say they are some of the cutest and most special little cards I have ever seen. With every one she would make, she would say, "They are just going to LOVE it and be SO happy!"

She took special care picking out the stickers to go on each one...

So proud of her work...

Aren't they the sweetest?!

The weekend..

Mom and Dad came up Saturday to spend the day and keep Ella, so Chris and I could go out for our anniversary. Can you believe this weekend will be FIVE YEARS since we were married?!! We sure can't. It has been a super busy but wonderful five years, and we feel so lucky to be able to share all the ups and downs of life together.

It was kind of weird to get dressed up for a date night with just the two of us. Ella kept asking, "Mommy, where are we going?" I think she was a little shocked that we were going to go out without her. I could see it in her face that she was thinking, 'hey, we're a team! You're not supposed to go somewhere without me!!' :) Anyways, we went to Mesh, which is a deliciously wonderful restaurant here in West Chester. It is actually where we went last year for our anniversary when we were here house-hunting. At the time, we thought we would try to go at least once a month, but this is the first time we have been back since then. It's not really the kind of place you can take a two-year old- you know, quiet, sophisticated, candle-light, no chicken strips on the menu. But dinner was fabulous- the best filet and lobster tail we have ever had- and we loved the few quiet hours we got to spend focused on just each other.

A quick pic before we left (I'm pretty sure Ella was hiding under the table at this point because her feelings were hurt :)...
Awww... I love this man...And just a few sweet pictures from the weekend. It's always so much fun having Mom and Dad here and, of course, they spoil Ella like crazy.

Sweet pic with Grammy...

Another one with Pappaw...

Thanks, Uncle Jared, for the new corn hole game!! Ella loves it!

Opening her Valentine from Grammy and Pappaw...

"Oh boy!! Dora jammies for me!" and CANDY!!

Fun around the house on Sunday...

Loving on Daddy...

Mom and super-pregnant me...

Thanks for coming, Mom and Dad!! Come back soon!!

"Are you pregnant?!"

Hmmm... what gave it away?!
Hahahahaha!!!!
This is one of the funniest things to me about being pregnant- how many people ask you this question when it's pretty blatantly obvious. I can't tell you how many times in the last week I have heard this (mostly from people at work). Anyways, here's my big and beautiful baby belly at 30 1/2 weeks. Only 9 weeks to go!!