Happy Birthday, Ella Rain!

Ella is officially a two year old as of yesterday. We had been staying the week with my parents since Craig is studying like a mad man for finals, so she was able to spend her b-day morning with Grammy and Papa, then see her dad later on in the day. I can't believe that I have a two year old! Time really does fly, and it sure has been a wonderful two years. Ella is such a funny and sweet girl and brings so much light into our lives.

Some of Ella's favorite things are:

*Elmo. Even though she rarely watches it on tv, she still knows all about him
*Princesses. Her favorites are Cinderella and Ariel ("E-I-O")
*Taking care of babies. She especially loves breast-feeding, and even breastfed her baby doll in Target for about 10 minutes the last time we were there. She will lift up her shirt, put her baby to her chest and say "baby eat, baby eat." She even holds her babies the right way, supporting their heads as she lays them down for naps.
*Copying her papa. She especially loves doing push-ups with him.
*Climbing on her dad in the morning while he is trying to sleep
*Making jokes. Last night we went out to Chilis for her b-day dinner and she was eating her Mac N Cheese and putting the food like a train into her own mouth (like what parents do to their kids to trick them to eat) and laughed hysterically every time. She also lip sung to the radio on the way home.
*Singing "Old McDonald" "The Wheels on the Bus" "So This is Love" (from Cinderella) and that song that Ariel sings to Ursula when she is giving up her voice.
*Reading her Disney story book on my bed before she goes to bed at night.

She is also talking so much more. It is a lot of fun now that I can understand pretty much everything she says. We are so blessed to have such a great little girl in our lives.

She loves the little doll and bed from her Grammy and Papa

Opening her present from us - a dr kit

After being away for a week, Ella was definitely attached to Craig when we got home.

This is what she does when we ask her how old she is:
(just imagine that she is saying "two"... and yes, that's how she does "two" with her hand. I guess she thinks she is just supposed to hold out her hand while saying two and that is good enough)

Looks like Papa is having a hard time keeping up with Ella.

Luckily, Ella is still a very good eater. Here she is lovin' on Green Soup (recipe from a friend, will post soon), loaded with spinach & kale. She had 4 bowls. Seriously, it is delicious and SO good for you and doesn't taste spinachy - it just has a scary look. My whole fam gobbled it down.

...but of course she still prefers sweets!

I told her to do kisses to the camera for this picture, but instead she pulled a fast one on me.

chillin on her chair while watching The Little Mermaid

.............

and to celebrate her first full day as a two year old, Ella has thrown a few mini-tantrums already today! Yay!