Easter Playdate!

 We had our Easter playdate with Ella's besties this morning, and she had a blast!

The Easter Egg Hunt was hilarious.  Ella was CHARGING to pick up eggs, and then she made up a song..."pick 'em up! pick 'em up! pick 'em up!"

Then it's time to check out our haul...

This is what we call a "Sydney Sandwich"... She's so cute, you just want to eat her up!

And of course the day would not be complete without a round of Ring Around the Rosey...

Molly always does such a great job decorating, including utensils wrapped in a "carrot" (this was from Pinterest, but her version is much cuter)...

And of course, what holiday would be complete without my cookies?! ;)

A few more...

Some More Crayon Clutches!

I know, you're thinking, "ok, we get it, you have a lot of fabrics for crayon clutches"...but just indulge me once more...

Black Bean Sloppy Joes- Vegetarian!

I rarely get Gary to eat something without meat, but this was delicious!  It's a Tyler Florence recipe from Parenting magazine, and it's super easy!

In a skillet, heat 2 tsp oil over medium heat.  Add 3 minced garlic cloves and saute for 1 minute.  Stir in 2 1/2 cups rinsed and drained canned black beans, one 15 oz. jar mild chunky salsa, 1 tbsp each brown sugar and worcestershire sauce, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp cumin, and 1/4 tsp salt.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.  Spoon onto whole wheat buns and top with shredded cheddar cheese.

*I used 1 tbsp olive oil, and I put spinach leaves on the bun before spooning the beans onto the buns.

Failure :(

Ella slept in her crib last night.  She did so well at naptime- slept almost 3 hours.  At night, she was kind of hysterical again but then fell asleep.  I opened the door to check on her at about 9:30, she woke up, and it was all over from then.  She was crying, getting out of bed and coming to our room, etc.  She was begging for her crib so we had to move the pack n play and everett into her big girl room and let her sleep in the crib.  I think (a) she was way too hot and not sleeping well since she woke up so easily when I went to check on her- we need to take off the down comforter because she is drenched in sweat every time she wakes up, and (b) it's too much of a change since she is in a completely different room- I wish now we would have moved the nursery to where the big girl room is and changed the nursery into her big girl room.  Oh well.  My main goal was having both kids in bedrooms, and Everett is small so he'll be fine in the pack n play.  I can't decide if we'll try again tonight or just wait a few weeks to move her again.  The problem is that I need to start potty training so I wanted the big girl room thing all worked out first.  Blah.

Good Weekend with SUCCESS!

I made my Easter topiaries...even though we're not having anyone over for Easter!  At least we had friends over and grammy and pop pop came to visit so a few people could enjoy them while we ate!  If you would like to make some, the instructions are here.

We found out that if you leave a 5 year old and two 2.5 year olds alone in a room with a large couch and lots of cushions while you eat dinner with friends in the other room, this will happen...

No joke, we had no idea they did this, and we walked in the room with every cushion on the floor and all three kids jumping off the couch onto the cushions!!!!

Aaaaaand, we *finally* moved Ella into her big girl room for her nap on Sunday.  It started out pretty shaky- she was crying hysterically.  We finally just left the room, she cried a bit longer and then started reading Llama Llama to her babies.  Eventually she fell asleep and didn't even get out or fall out of the bed (I don't have side rails on it)!  I was still really worried for nighttime...another crying fit and after we left the room, she was screaming for me (which of course made me want to immediately go in to her), but she fell asleep even faster than she did for her nap!  She slept through the night (my biggest fear about moving her) and didn't fall out- SUCCESS!  Everett is finally in the nursery- hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you love my little dancer doing her stretches before ballet class?! ;)

My Fairy Princess

Insisted that I take photos of her in her fairy princess costume...today is the first day she's worn it because I didn't even know she liked to dress up yet until her teacher said she LOVES dressing up and especially wearing fairy wings, which I just happened to have saved for her. :)

Yes, There are More...

MH- I hope you love the birdies!  :)

Recommendations & Parent/Teacher Conference

We had Ella's parent/teacher conference yesterday (yes, they do those for 2 year olds!).  It went great.  Her teacher said they absolutely love her, and they would love if she would start going full time so they could have her more (I almost said that if they will let her go the rest of the days for free, we have a deal!).  The word they used to describe her is "friendly" and said she has no problem making friends. :)  She is very on track for a 2 year old, and apparently does lots of stuff at school that we didn't know she could do!  We asked about pushing, and she said she has seen her push or pull hair (huh?  I've never seen her do that!), but that she doesn't really do it anymore, which is what I've noticed as well (thank God the pushing phase seems to be ending).  Honestly, the best thing I heard was that they love her, because really, at two, what more can you ask for then sending your baby somewhere that she is loved? 

I forgot to add that her teacher said she is VERY into the art projects and singing/dancing, but not so much into the science projects...hmm...I wonder if we have a little actress/artist on our hands as opposed to a doctor? ;)

This is how she organized her babies.  And no, she is not wearing pants.  

The kid is not fond of wearing pants in the house.  What can you do?

I've compiled another list of recommendations.  First, some food loves...

(1) Movie Theater Popcorn from Trader Joes.  So salty and delicious.

(2) S'mores ice cream sandwiches from Trader Joes.  They are actually evil.  But sooooooo good.

(3) Ultra Chocolate ice cream from Trader Joes.  Ok, I don't even like chocolate ice cream.  Not even a little.  But for some reason it sounded good one day, and now I'm addicted.  Try this.  Even if you hate chocolate ice cream.  It's so delicious.  And it has the perfect consistency.  Not the nasty whipped texture that Dryers has now.

(4) Trader Joes Corn Pasta.  For those gluten free-ers out there (which we are here when it comes to pasta since Gary refuses to eat regular pasta), it's a thousand times better than the brown rice pasta.  Not only does it taste better (and basically just like regular pasta), but it holds up well in baked pasta dishes unlike brown rice pasta, which gets mooshy.

And now, the three best toys we've purchased to date.  Meaning Ella plays with them often, and every single child that comes to our house plays with them as well.

(1) Kidkraft retro kitchen and refrigerator.

(2) Step 2 Neat & Tidy Cottage.  Not only is this one of the cutest (plastic) playhouses out there, it's the perfect size.  Not very big, but big enough for the kids to comfortably play.  It has a working doorbell and phone, shutters that open and close and a floor (some playhouses don't have floors).  There are tons of choices of playhouses, and I definitely recommend this one- cute, good price, perfect size.

(3) Pink Circo (Target brand) shopping cart.  Ella loves this thing!  More than all her doll strollers and other push toys.  It's nice too because it's cute and small.