ella's marriage continued...

She just came back into the room to discuss her "marriage" to Emma a little more.

Ella: We really are married. Really.

Me: Why did you decide to marry Emma?

Ella: Because.

Me: Because why? You usually decide to marry somebody because you love lots of things about them.

Ella: Because she plays doggy with me. That's it. Oh, and I like playing with Precious (Emma's dog) with her. That is it.

Ella: What do you like about Daddy? (very sarcastic tone LOL)

Me: So Ella, why don't you live with Emma? You usually live with the person you're married to.

Ella, in a "duh!" tone: Uh...we live across the street from each other!

Me: Oh. Okay! I just can't believe you're married and you just turned four!!

Ella: Well....really, Mommy....I want to be married to you!

;)

Marriage and Thanksgiving as described by a 4 year old.

I just had the most hilarious conversation with Ella. As you are reading this, keep in mind that while I'm doing everything in my power not to roll around on the ground in complete hysterics, Ella is totally serious. We were listening to Christmas songs and lying on the living room rug together. This is what ensued:

Ella: Mommy, is Christmas after Thanksgiving?

Me: Yes, Christmas is about a month after Thanksgiving.

Ella: Oh. How many days until Thanksgiving?

Me: Um....about a week. 7 days.

Ella: Are you married?

Me, a little surprised at the sheer randomness: Uh...yes, I am married.

Ella: You're married by Daddy, right?

Me: Well, I wasn't married by Daddy, but yes, I'm married to Daddy.

Ella: Oh. Well, you have to get married to somebody else for Thanksgiving!

Me, stifling laughter: Hmm..Really? What do you mean?

Ella: EVERYBODY gets married by someone else for Thanksgiving!!

Me: Well....remember how we talked about when you get married you promise that person that you'll be married to them forever? A long, long time?

Ella, totally annoyed I didn't get the 'swap marital partners for Thanksgiving' memo: No...you gotta do it for Thanksgiving!

Me: Well, ok Ella, I'll look into that. ::giggles escaping::

Ella: Sighing....I'm married to Emma.

Me, full out laughing: Really? Don't you just mean you and Emma are really good friends?

Ella: No, we're married. You and I are both married.

Me, egging her on: Well...how did you get married?

Ella: We danced. And held hands. Like this.... (demonstrating a slow dance move)

Me, tears streaming down my face: Wow! So, you don't want to wait until you're older to get married? And how about a boy? You want to marry a boy?

Ella, serious as a heart attack: No. I'm married to Emma.

Ella starts to walk away out of sheer irritation at my apparent ignorance

Me: Hey Ella, how long have you been married?

Ella, yelling from her bedroom: A LOOOOONG TIME!!!

Me: How long?

Ella: A long, long time! a looooooong time! FOUR DAYS!!!

At this point I'm crying from laughing so hard. What a riot! So all you married people out there.....you better be on the lookout for your new spouse!! The clock is ticking!!! LOL!

A Letter To My Daughter.

My Sweet Ella,
There are no words in this letter that would be able to express what you are to me, but I felt compelled to write this anyway.

Do you know you changed my world?

I remember the day that I knew you were coming. With my back against the bathroom wall, head spinning, I knew my life would change forever. And through those months, with you rolling and kicking inside me, I began to know you. We decided on your name, Ella Kathryn, which means: Beautiful and Pure. How fitting, right? I loved you with all that I am from that day on, my sweet Ella girl.

Do you remember what we were doing on this day 4 years ago? I do. Seemingly eager to meet the world, you arrived 4 days before your induction date. You were the most beautiful, perfect baby I had ever seen. When the nurse laid all 7 pounds 4 ounces of you on my chest, it was magical! Your tiny cry was calmed as soon as I put my hand on your back and started speaking quietly to you. What an amazing feeling it was to believe you already 'knew' me. I cried tears of such amazing joy as did everyone in the room. We all loved you so much, Ella! Our first night together I still remember like it was yesterday. My nurse taught me a cool way to hold you in bed. It was called "Kangaroo Kare." We pulled up my shirt and took off your tiny little shirt, and I snuggled you, belly to belly for hours. This was supposed to help you pattern your breathing to mine as well as help you feel secure. I remember being so in love and happy, and scared all at the same time. Here you were, this precious little baby and you were entrusted to me. I was overwhelmed with the magnitude of it all. I wanted to be the absolute best mommy to you and to give you the moon and the stars!

These last 4 years have flown by! It is so hard to believe that you are already 4, but even harder to believe that you haven't been in my life forever. You have grown from that tiny, fragile baby into a smart and vibrant little girl. You are so funny (which I have to believe was inherited from me ;-) ) and have the best live-in-the-moment prospective on life. I love how you dive right into things and aren't afraid to try new things! You also amaze me with your undying love for animals. You are so kind and gentle and have a very, very wise soul. Out of all these things, I think my favorite thing about you is the way you can make me feel. You make my heart soar with the way that you love me. The way that you tell me, without prompting, that you love me several times a day. The way you make sure everyone knows that I'm your "best friend." The way you smile at me in the mornings when you climb into my bed. You are truly the most spectacular thing that has ever happened to me.

It's hard to even describe all that you are to me. You are my savior and my hero. You are my every breath, my reason for getting up in the morning. You are the birds singing, the smell of vanilla and the sunflowers blowing in the wind. You are my heart beating, my teacher, warm feet in my bed on cold mornings. You are every word ever written, all things sweet and good and every sunset. You have taught me the most valuable lessons. You have taught me patience and unconditional love. Everyday brings prayers and thanks for your existence, your wisdom and your health.

And so, sweet Ella, on the anniversary of my most memorable night, I thank you. Thank you for all that you are and all that you have brought to my life. Thank you for loving me unconditionally and believing in me. And most of all, thank you for choosing me.

Here's to your fifth year! May it bring you many new discoveries and may you continue to feel loved and cherished by everyone in your life. May you keep your wonder and the fearlessness that inspires you to live your life full-tilt.

And on this day I'd like to renew my promise to you that I made 4 years ago. I love you with all that I am. You have my heart and all that encompasses it. I can hardly wait to see what your life has in store for you. You are destined for great things, Ella!

Happy Birthday, my angel.

I love you, sweet girl of mine,
Mommy.

Ella's 4th Birthday Party! :)

This is a birthday that will go down in history!!! Ella had the most fun I think I've EVER seen her have. I'm going to try and remember all the details, so Ella can look back one day and remember this special day!

Ella's special party guests: 3 Emmas! (Emma Alexander, Emma Strong & "neighborhood" Emma), Gabby and Misty, Jordan & RJ and Mark, Lily and Evan.

Unfortunately our Canon camera is on the blink, so we had to rely on Misty's point-and-shoot. You know we love you "Aunt Misty," but the quality of these pictures are a little iffy ;)

Mommy tried to transform the house into a "Birthday Wonderland." We had lots of streamers, balloons, and birthday paraphernalia! I wish all you blog-readers out in cyber space could have seen it in "real life" because the pictures were hard to take at certain angles, ect. I decorated the night before so Ella was SO excited to wake up to her whole house transformed into total Birthday-ness! Here are a few (poor angled) pictures of the decorations! :)

Ella was a great hostess as each of her friends arrived. She would usher them all into her playroom and introduce them to each other. Around 15 minutes after the party started, we called Ella outside! This is the view she had from our porch, looking down the road...

Mrs. Jess and Mr. Seth made a dramatic entrance as they road the horses up our street and directly into our front yard! Ella was in complete awe. I wish all of you could have seen the absolute joyous look that was plastered on her face!!! Immediately she asked to pet the beautiful brown horse, Renee. She was so sweet and gentle and in absolute heaven!!

Ella and all the other kids listened while Mrs. Jess explained all the rules. Ella donned her precious helmet and was off to the races!! She kept the same smile you see in this picture the entire time! It was so sweet to watch. I think she would have stayed outside forever riding those horses! She was almost a natural and loved when Jess taught her how to hold the reins all by herself.

After Ella and all her friends had a chance to ride the horses (several times) we all headed inside for a true 'cowgirl feast.' On the menu was: Hot dogs, nuggets, mac-n-cheese, potato salad, baked beans, veggie tray and various chips-n-dip. We then lit the candles on the birthday girl's request of strawberry cupcakes and vanilla icing. (Mommy was partial to the 'adult' version of strawberry cupcake with cream cheese/strawberry icing with pecans!) Ella successfully blew out 4 candles while everyone sang happy birthday!

After food and cake, we moved onto every 4 year old's favorite part! ;) Ella got to sit in her special birthday seat and open presents! She got a lot of really cool animal-related gifts (a complete veterinarian set complete with a dog and crate, horses and horse trailers, Littlest Pet Shop accessories, ect) lots of neat games and a few doll toys! :) She really lucked out with a wide variety of awesome gifts!

We topped off the afternoon with a pinata, which Ella has been SO excited about! We all went outside and all the kids (and ahem--some of the adults) took a whack at the pretty horse pinata. It was fun to see all the kids frantically scattering around the yard to fill their bags full of goodies. Ella said goodbye to her friends and passed out party favors.

We all had a great day with Ella. I'm very grateful I got to take part in such a special day for her. I'm thrilled she always have such cool memories of her 4th birthday with the horses. To everyone reading that contributed--THANK YOU! :)

Public Service Annoncement!

Just wanted to make a post for those who are anticipating the upcoming pictures. As soon as I wade my way through the Strep Swamp, I will be posting pictures of a pretty substantial milestone in Ella's life. HER FIRST HAIRCUT! Yes, the first time ANY hair has ever been cut from her little head. She looks positively adorable and I can't wait to show off her new 'do.

It's funny how many people have told me haircutting nightmares after learning of Ella's first cut. Most of these horror stories involve the kids cutting their hair themselves. Yikes! Thankfully, Ella has never tried her hand at hair art. She was pretty proud of herself when she accessorized her hair, though.

Yep, she's creative. Yes, those are clip-on earrings.

So, check back for some MAJOR Ella cuteness!

My Karma? Why do you ask?

Ohhhh, because my beautiful small fry is sick AGAIN? Gee, you might be on to something...



::Sigh:: This time? Strep. It seems she's caught my nastiness with a little added bonus. She woke up this morning begging to go to the nearest gas station for a Popsicle. I didn't really think much of that considering she's a self proclaimed Popsicle-a-holic. Knowing what I know now, she probably just wanted something cool on her little throat. :( After her Popsicle, she had a weird whisper voice going on accompanied with a lotttt of whining. So around 10:30 I asked her to lay down with me and take a nap. Very little resistance. For Ella, this was nothing short of a miracle. We snuggled together and within 20 minutes she was out COLD! She slept for 2 hours and then woke up with a fever. Bless her sweet heart! I knew something was wrong when she turned down her "stand by treat" of a McDonald's cheeseburger, claiming it "hurt too much to chew it and swallow it!" After a medical treasure-hunt, we wound up at the after-hour, pediatric center. They swabbed her and sure enough, instantaneously positive. Thank goodness I decided to take her! She's GOT to be well for her birthday, cowgirl/horse riding extravaganza on Saturday! Thankfully I got her first dose of antibiotics in her tonight and the Dr. felt pretty confidant that she'd be feeling really good by Saturday. So if you have a spare second and could spare a few feel good vibes, I'm sure she'd appreciate them :)



Right now she's sleeping soundly in her bed. I rocked her for about 30 minutes before she fell asleep. I'm sure we're a funny sight together in that glider. Her legs hang down so far now, I joke that soon they will drag the ground. I'm sure some of you are getting a good chuckle out of me rocking my almost-4-year-old nightly. But you know what? Every night when it's just me and her in her room that's lit only by her nightlight, it's almost magical. I wouldn't trade that time for anything. She melts into me and pats the same part on my arm, every night. So I decided a long time ago....I will rock Ella until she absolutely insist that I not. I will savor that time and try to memorize everything about her. The way she hums along as I sing the same song every night. The way she has a certain spot on my arm that she gingerly pats in rhythm with the rocking chair. Everything.

In the mean time, I'm going to try and enjoy my little bug for the last few days that she's 3.

Snowflakes and Sparkles....Christmas Swap '08!

Join me in a fun and sparkly Christmas Swap for this holiday season! :)

I have decided to organize a fun, holiday swap! :) The theme is "Snowflakes and Sparkles" and will set the tone for some cool, Holiday fun! Hopefully we will have enough participants to make this super cool. Who doesn't like to tap into their creative side AND get fun mail?

As a preface, I'd like to make sure that everyone that signs up for the swap will follow through with your assigned partner. I really want this first swap to be AWESOME! :)

Onto the "rules..."

Leave a comment on this blog letting me know you are interested in participating in the swap!

Then, send me an email at ellasmommy1117@aol.com with the below form all filled out so I have your information.

Name:

Mailing Address:

Email Address:

Personal Holiday Style (modern, vintage, country, funky, traditional, ect):

Favorite Holiday colors:

Favorite Holiday foods & snacks:

Any dislikes (Santas, nutcrackers, country, certain styles, ect):

Anything else about yourself that will be helpful to your partner:

After you email me the form, I will email you back with a confirmation, letting you know I have included you in the swap. Make sure you receive an email from me! If you don't receive a confirmation email with in a day or two, please leave me a comment via my blog and let me know. Sometimes emails land in my spam folder without my knowledge! I will leave this swap open until Monday, November 17th. I will assign partners shortly after. The boxes should be sent around November 28th-30th so that everyone can enjoy their holiday surprises!

As for the contents of your swap box, I'm leaving that entirely up to you! You can buy things, make things, glitter things, paint things, ect. Just make a creative swap box full of "Holiday Sparkle!" (examples: ornaments, stockings, holiday decor, holiday "goodies," Seasonal Candles, Christmas books, ect) Let's make this swap "sparkle!" I'm really excited and hope lots of you decide to join in on the fun! Spread the word so we can get lots of fun participants! It's always fun to meet new people, and what a great way to do so! :) So lurkers, come on out!! Get involved in this fun swap! :)