A night out

We got a rare "night on the town" Saturday to celebrate Chris's 30th birthday. Our best friends, who just so happen to also be our family, were able to come to Cincy and celebrate with us. We went to Brio in Newport and had so much fun and a lot of good laughs. It was absolutely relaxing and exactly the kind of night Chris was wanting to ring in this "monumental birthday". :)
Happy Birthday, Baby!!! I love you!
Carla & Jason

Kyle & Kellie

Chad flying solo- we missed you, April!!

Thanks so much, Papaw & Mamaw, for keeping the girls! We're pretty sure they had a party of their own. :)

This week's favorite...

This week's favorite gown is "purple princess", as Ella calls it, and also has it's very own wand. The best part about it is I found it at Dillard's for $3.50!! The way Ella talks about it, you would think it cost a thousand dollars (and that is fine with me! :)

What are you doing in the freezer, Purple Princess? (Looking for purple popsicles, I'm sure!)

Back on tonight to help Mom in the kitchen...

And just for fun...

Ella has turned into quite the streaker and LOVES to get a laugh out of us when she runs through the house naked! I'm crazy about that little bum!

Turning 30!

Somebody in our house turned the big 3-0 this week! It was a special day for all of us. Ella and I got to take Chris out for lunch that afternoon, which in itself was so great. And the afternoon seemed to drag on forever while we waited for Chris to get home from work- we were so excited to celebrate!
Finally, Daddy's home!!!
Ella passed the time taking pictures while I cooked birthday dinner- fried chicken with apple pie for dessert. Yum- It doesn't get any better than that at our house!!

Ella's silly antics were cracking us up over dinner...
Time for birthday candles!! Ella thought it was just too much fun, so we lit them a second time so she could blow them out again.

Helping Daddy open his gifts...

"See, Daddy? This is for you! It says Happy Birthday!" :)

Trying out Daddy's new cologne...
I didn't get a picture of Ella with her "favorite Daddy present"- his birthday balloon. :) When I first asked her what we should get Daddy for his birthday, she said, "A big balloon! He would just love it and be so happy!" I thought that was pretty sweet- that would obviously be pretty special to her, so why wouldn't everyone else want a balloon, too?! So she picked out a balloon and carried it into him at work. She was very proud, especially when Daddy thought is was SO great! Then after lunch, Ella said, "Okay, Daddy, let me have my balloon back. I'm taking it home." hahaha!

We're looking forward to the weekend. A bunch of family is coming to town to celebrate and it's going to be tons of fun!

Play date

Ella had her first official playdate Monday afternoon when I kept a coworker's little girl, Kylie. Ella and Kylie are only 2 months apart and it was so fun watching them play together. They were both so excited, and jumped and squealed together for hours. I somehow managed to get them both to settle down at the same time, too, and they ended up asleep together on the floor. After Kylie left, Ella asked for the rest of the day, "Mommy, can Kylie come back to my house tomorrow?" She can't wait to do it again!
The two of them trying to settle down for a nap...
Ella just couldn't resist giving her a "night-night kiss"... They were so stinkin' cute to watch!!

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!!