Gene was so excited to get Ella a soccer goal! Unfortunately, all Ella ever wants to do outside it swing!! She insists Mommy pushes with two hands. High maintenance diva even when it comes to swinging! The t-shirt says it all. Soon she will need a shirt that says I'm SOOO three!




We have not even celebrated Ella's 3rd birthday yet, and we are already experiencing the Terrible Threes!!! I am quickly realizing just how easy I had it for the past few years. Now I am dealing one hard-headed little girl. She can go from sweet and loving to rotten and screaming in just seconds. Good thing we love her throughout the good, bad, and ugly!

Desperate the battles, Ella is becoming the quite a smart and beautiful little girl. She has already been singing her ABC's and working on counting to ten. She is even learning the sounds that the letters make and identify each letter. She loves to sing!! It is so sweet to watch her performances. She loves watching any show that involves singing and dancing. Ella is still attending tumbling classes at daycare.

Dramatic play continues to be quite popular at our house. Ella is rarely without a baby doll or stuffed animal. Her purse, cell phone, and keys are her necessities and even go to the grocery store with us. It cracks me up when she shows me a supposed picture of her baby on her cell phone or pretends to text message. Hmmm....I wonder where she learned that?! She is definitely my Mini Me. The other day she was playing with her play kitchen blender and informed me that she was making margaritas. Apparently I need to be setting a better example!

Time flies!

Seeing as it has been well over a year since I last posted on the blog, I suppose a little updating is long over-due!! Today we FINALLY stopped denying our little girl is growing and converted the crib to a toddler bed. After talking to many friends, I realized I had the only 2 1/2 year old that was still sleeping in a crib. Since she never tried to climb out, we didn't really have a need to make any changes. I'm proud to say that I was more willing than Daddy for this new change! He just didn't want to have to worry about any escapees during the night.

So as we were taking down the old crib and going through some of Ella's baby things, it was sad to realize my sweet baby is no longer a baby. She is talking more than ever, including on her play phone. The other night, I was trying to get her to settle down for bed when she was pretending to talk to a friend on her cell phone. She said into the phone, "Did you hear that? I have to go. Yeah, my mommy said I have to go to bed." WHAT??? I wasn't expecting any of that until at least 12 or 13 years! I know realize I am going to be in big trouble by then.

Now a days, we no longer need diapers (except at night) or sippy cups or anything else remotely baby-ish. Ella constantly reminds me that she is not a baby anymore and that she is a big girl. I recently discovered that we now have our first pet: an invisible dog named "Puppy." Other than occassionly biting or getting into Ella's things, he's great! I'm sure this is only the first of imaginary friends to come.

Ella is quite the motherly caregiver to her many babies. She carefully lays all of them on the floor and covers each one with its own blanket. Then she must go around to each one and pat it on the back to sleep. She tells them, "Close your eyes. Go to sleep. Don't get up." If any of them cries, she quickly picks it up and assures them it's ok. She is also quite the disciplinarian if any of them get out of line. If you find a baby sitting in a corner or against the wall, it is because Ella has put them in time-out. Usually she tells me they are in time-out either for biting another baby or for not listening to her. Hmmmm.... I wonder where she gets that from???

I don't know how Daddy deals with all of the female hormone changes around here!! God bless that man for putting up with two crazy girls! I thank God every day for blessing with such a sweet and loving family.