Grilling Out with Neighbors

We really love our neighborhood and having good friends that live so close.  I love opening our door and hearing little voices yelling across the street asking if Ella Kate can come out and play.  Last night David and Beth had several families over to grill out and it was such a fun night.  The weather was perfect!!

 John loves all of Lawton's trucks.  Sweet Lawton even sent one of his old trucks home with John last night.  Thanks Lawton!!

 A quick pic of the baseball game.  I am not sure if you can tell from the pic but we had a Woody, Buzz, and a few princesses participating.  Baby John wanted to play so so bad.  He held a ball in his hand the whole game and kept yelling "Ball, Ball, Ball."

 Intently watching the game.

 Yay!!!!  My sister actually hit the ball.

 The little princesses, Ella Kate and Livie.

My child runs bases in a princess dress of course :)

Baby Boy is 15 Months Old

I cannot believe that my baby boy is 15 months old.  He is the sweetest, snuggliest little man and I am totally in love with him.  He loves balls and cars and wants to do everything that his big sister does.
At his 15 month checkup he weighed 25lbs (66%) and was 32 inches tall (74%).   He is a still a great night time sleeper and has just recently dropped his morning nap and started taking 1 long afternoon nap which I must say is so nice b/c now we can run errands, etc in the am.  He is a great eater and loves fruits and veggies.  His vocabulary is growing every day and includes words such as: Mama, Dada, ball, car, truck, turtle, duck, cow, up, down, no no no, etc.  He is fast as lightening and can go up and down our stairs so fast that it terrifies me.  He is all boy and is happiest when you are wresting with him or playing cars.  He wakes up in the morning saying, "Car, Car, Car, Car..." 

 The sweetest little boy in the world.  Love that little mischievous grin :)

 He loves to read - especially books about cars.  Thanks Nana for the perfect bookshelf.

 Reading his books. 

 I do not think I ever posted pics of his room so I thought it was about time.  It is definately a large contrast from Ella Kate's very girly room.  The fish on the wall were two that Dave caught when he was younger and the fishing rod about the window was Dave's granddads.

 When Dave and I went to Glacier National Park last summer we saw tons of wildlife including grizzly bears, moose, big horn sheep, etc.  Dave took some awesome pictures and we framed nine of the pics Dave took and they are now on display in John's room.  Baby John loves them and points at them all the time.

 Silly boy playing in his sisters room.  He loves to rearrange her stuff!

Love this kid.

 John loves dogs and JoJo is his very best friend! 

Jan/Feb Catch Up

I have been so bad about blogging lately.  But here is my attempt to catch up.....

Livie's 4th Birthday Ballet Princess Party. Livie and Ella Kate have become such good friends this year. Thankful for such sweet girls!

 Ella Kate, Rebecca, Livie, and Wynn.  They are all ballet and school buddies together!

 The little princess choose purple of course :)

 Ms. Lisa leading the princess ballet birthday party!  Love sweet Ms. Lisa.

 Watering the flowers.  The girls all had so much fun.

 Millie, Ella Kate, and Mimi were the bunnies.

 A great group of Mom's.

 Livie has an awesome aunt!

 The princess birthday bride, Livie

 All of her little friends at the b'day party got to dress up to be her bridesmaid.

 And of course Livie got to marry her Daddy!!  The sweetest party ever!

Next, Ella Kate and Dave got to go on a Chick Fil A Daddy Daughter Date Night.  It was such a fun experience for them both.  Chick-fil-A really goes all out.  This is what the evening entailed for them.  They pulled into the Target parking lot and found a limo waiting for them.  The limo drove the Daddy's and Daughters around the parking lot a few times and then dropped them off at the front.  The front entrace had a red carpet lined with balloons.  They walked down the red carpet to find a man dressed up in a tux at the door to greet them and he then presented Ella Kate with a flower and a princess crown.  They were then escorted to their table and a waitress was there to take their order.  Each table had a goody basket for the little girls that included a few chocolates, crayons, etc.  Ella Kate was then happily surprised to see several of her friends with their Daddy's.  Way to go Chick-fil-A.  It was an awesome date night experience.  Dave then surprised Ella Kate and took her to see Beauty and the Beast in 3-D.  She keeps asking Dave when they are going on a date again.  Great, great memories for them both.

 All dressed and ready before the big date.  I let Ella Kate pick her outfit - hence the heart dress and sparkly headband.  She was so so excited!!  She also picked out Dave's shirt.

 A pic Dave emailed me that he took on their little date.

And another...


Next, is John's first homework assignment.  John recently got moved from the Infants to Toddlers class at school and we are thrilled that he has the same wonderful teachers that Ella Kate had.  Sweet Ms. Elizabeth and Mrs. Tami are the best!

 Little handsome man dressed in his Daddy's jacket.

 John's first homework assignment was to decorate a teddy bear that will spend the year with him in class.  I remember when Ella Kate had this same project and it was a fun family art project. 

 John putting the finishing touches on his grizzly bear :)

 I could not resist but to add a few pics of Ella Kate and Dave working on this very same project for her a few years ago.  My, my how time flies.

Ella Kate's glitter bear.

PCB in January

There is no better way to start off the new year than taking a trip to PCB with friends.  We met the Clarks in PCB over the MLK weekend and had a great time.

Dave caught us dinner on the beach Friday morning.  John was very interested in the fish.

Proud Daddy showing off his fish.

Harris was so sweet to Baby John. 

Love this sweet sibling hug.

Harris thought it was hilarious that John kept wanting to hug Ella Kate.

Silly, Happy Kids that love being at the beach.

Big Pink Bows.  I love Big Pink Bows :)

Ella Kate and Harris had so much fun running around in the courtyard.  They ran, had sword fights with pool noodles, and just loved being together.

John loved the sand.

Helping Daddy build a sand castle.

Best buddies.

Ella Kate loved chasing Mr. Casey

This is the sweetest thing in the world to me.

 More fun on the beach.

 One of the highlights of the trip for Ella Kate and Harris was going to Pier Park and riding the rides.  They loved the rides and were fearless.

 Ruth and I were trying to teach Ella Kate and Harris to hold their hands up.  :)

 I love it that she loves rides as much as I do.

 Happy and not the least bit scared on the ferris wheel with Daddy.

Harris and Ella Kate also rode the Scrambler with their Daddys.  I am pretty sure they were no where near close to being tall enough to ride.  I could not believe they were not terrified.  Ruth and I were just waiting for the tears and prepared to tell the guy to stop the ride since they were the only ones riding.  Much to our surprise they both loved it and wanted to ride again.  Such a fun trip with friends.  Looking forward to the more trips this spring/summer!