Everett's Nautical FIRST Birthday!

We had some of Everett's friends over for his Nautical first birthday party!  The original plan was to have everything outside, but due to a threat of rain, I had to move all the food inside (of course, it ended up being great weather).

Invitation...

Sweets/Snack Table...
(All the adorable paper goods are from The Paper Blossom Shop)

Oreo pops!  I used royal icing to do the anchors and dots.  The "stands" are floral foam blocks covered with wrapping paper...

My sugar cookies...

After I added the pasta salad...

The "boat" of goldfish...

Party hats and favors...

Monthly photos (made with Cricut cutter)...

These originally had toothpicks glued to the back so that I could stick them in the grass/dirt all along the flowerbeds, but thanks to the weather, I had to rip off all the toothpicks (that I spent a good 1.5 hours gluing on) and tape them all around the walls!

 

Centerpieces (boats made with Cricut cutter, baby food jars filled with water dyed with food coloring)...

"Wreath" on front door (from partyswizzle.com)...

I had these on each of the pilasters on the way in...

And this on the way out...

And the piece de resistance.  I asked my parents to make a simple ship using a refrigerator box for the kids to take pictures in. They couldn't find a refrigerator box so instead, my dad whipped this little number up...can you believe it?! I'm still so impressed!!!! Thanks dad!

Everett is always quite popular with the ladies. :)

 

First Carousel Ride

Everett rode the carousel for the first time this weekend!

He was also very popular, with all three of the "big kids" fighting to sit next next to him in the double stroller!

I got this photo a little late, but it was hilarious- Cadence had her leg completely across him over his lap, and he didn't mind a bit!

And a random conversation between Ella and I tonight as we were laying in my bed together...
Me: What's on tv tonight Ella Bella?
E: FOOTBALL!!!!  It's daddy's favorite.

Everett's FIRSTS!

Everett is exploding with "firsts"!  He had his very first Thanksgiving, at which he ate his very first mashed potatoes (and just like his mama, daddy and sissy, he loved them!)...

He started giving kisses on command...he won't look at Gary or I when you say, "where is mama/dada?", but he'll open his mouth wide and go in for a wet one when you say, "give me a kiss"!

He also did his first wave at Walmart today!  My friends like to make fun of me for my penchant towards Walmart, but clearly girls, it's a learning institution! ;)  I got a video of both...
 

And finally, we took Everett's first year smash cake photos, and oh my GAWD, they turned out so cute! Here is a preview...

My absolute favorite expression of all time...

Acorns

Ella and I decided to do a fun Thanksgiving project (thank you once again Pinterest!)...

Then I thought, "what I am going to do with over 50 little acorns?  So I did this...

 

But now I realize that I'm probably not going to have time to deliver any of these! So to her friends: Ella made these for you even though you probably won't get them...it's the thought that counts, right?

Sunday with Friends

How many kids does it take to push a walker?

Cadence's Birthday!

Ella had a super fun time decorating cupcakes at Cadence's 4th birthday party at Casey's Cupcakes!  Well, she did less decorating and more eating.  And then started eating spoonfuls of colored sugar- gross.

The birthday girl...

Sweet friends...

Parent/Teacher Conference- a little bragging :)

We had Ella's parent/teacher conference today, and it went fantastic.  Unless you are a grandparent of my child, I recommend skipping this post...it's the type of thing you roll your eyes at on Facebook! ;)

They have a huge checklist (things like fine motor, gross motor, empathy, problem solving, speech, etc.), and the child gets either below age level, at age level or exceeds age level.  Ella got at age level or exceeds age level for every category!  Her teacher said they have seen TONS of improvement/growth from last year.

She said her speech is advanced, she has excellent fine motor skills, is very good at problem solving, only engages collaborative play (no more parallel or independent play) and loves art.  She says she spends a lot of time on her artwork (note to self, do more art projects at home).  She said she is just a good kid, they have no concerns whatsoever about her, and that she is empathetic.

She said they let her lead and solve other kids' problems because she enjoys doing it.  She gave us an example of when two other girls were fighting, and Ella ran over to them and asked what was wrong.  The teacher only watched to see if the kids could work it out themselves.  Apparently, Ella acted as a mediator speaking to both girls saying to one, "tell her why you are upset, tell her that that wasn't nice."  Then to the other girl, "you need to give her the doll back, X is upset."  It went on like this.  The teacher said that by the end, all three ran off completely happy- with no intervention from the teacher!  Do we have a little psychologist on our hands?!

And the thing that stuck out most in my mind was that the teacher said repeatedly that Ella is a "rule follower".  I always thought this was the case because she has always been a very good listener, and she is definitely on the timid side, but as a parent, I'm clearly not very impartial!  I was so relieved when the teacher said this because with my Type A personality, I don't think we would survive the teenage years if she wasn't a rule follower type kid!  Now Everett on the other hand, I'm thinking he may be a bit of a rule breaker. ;)

I know she is only 3, but I'm so proud!!!

Fashion Island Tree Lighting

We went to the tree lighting ceremony at Fashion Island tonight, and it was so much fun!  All the Disney characters were there dancing, people were singing, there was "snow".  Even though I usually refuse to acknowledge Christmas until after Thanksgiving, this was definitely worth the exception!

I swear I didn't match us on purpose!

Ella had fun dancing with Mason and Ryan...

And I love getting some quality time with my baby girl. :)

 As Ella said, "we are going to see a BIG tree with some BIG balls!" 

A Little Bit of Ella

She "ran" her first race with daddy...

She had her second dentist appointment (really her first since she didn't open her mouth the first time), which started off absolutely awful...crying, refusing to open her mouth...but completely turned around once Everett arrived to sit with her...

She had her first Fudgesicle (we will be going back to slow melt popsicles)...

And she was a trooper for Christmas card photos even after running full speed into a door casing and getting a gigantic welt and cut on her forehead (that's right, SECOND year in a row that she gets a big facial injury on the exact day we are taking Christmas pictures...don't get me started on Everett falling off the changing table at the same time)...

Everett 11 Months Old

My boo boo is almost one year old!  He is babbling a TON now, and he has discovered his voice so he likes to screech and make all sorts of funny noises.  He doesn't seem to have any words yet- he says mama and dada, but like Ella at this age, not really in relation to Gary or I!  He shakes his head no, and he will stop when you say no...but then start right up again with what he was doing!  He is also getting a lot fussier as he gets older...what happened to my perfect never makes a peep baby?

His cheeks get bright red when he is tired, and he gets super cranky when he's hungry...just like daddy!  He stands, cruises and pushes his walker, but he doesn't stand independently or take steps.

He is eating a good amount of solids, but he still does not love formula so it's a struggle to feed him a bottle, and I'm sure he's not getting enough. :(  He wears a size 3 diaper and anywhere from 3-6 months (pants) to 18 months (shirts) in clothes.  We think he weighs about 20 pounds.

He still doesn't really have a favorite toy, but he loves playing with Rylee- she cracks him up!  And of course poor Rylee is once again getting chunks of hair pulled out.

Ella and Everett at 11 months...

Halloween 2012- Little Bo Peep & her Sheep

I love Halloween.  I love the pumpkins and the costumes and the cheesy decorations and trick-or-treating.  I love it all.

I wanted to reuse Ella's cute sheep costume from when she was one, and I wanted the kids to coordinate, so I made her a Little Bo Peep costume!

The hat...

I cannot get enough of my little sheep's squishy face!

Here is the original little lamb two years ago...

We had a little pre-party (and you know I made me some Halloween cookies!)...

And then went ToTing with Jack, Gavin, Kendall, Jaxon, Hannah, Mason and Ryan...

Great times. :)