Recital Video 4

I am bound and determined to publish all of these videos!  However, it is taking forever, and I am becoming bored with it.  Because of that, I've started blogging about other events in the meantime.  They will no longer be in order unless I can figure out a way to manually change the order of the blog.  I'm not sure if I can do that though, so....  anyway, here is more video of my little ballerina. :)

By some miracle, I was somehow able to fit the rest of the videos into one blog post!  And that concludes the recital.  I am so proud of my little ballerina!  Here's a link to Kristin's blog about the same event: http://kristin-living1dayatatime.blogspot.com/2012/06/dancing-ballerinas.html



Eli's 1st Birthday Party

Because Eli's birthday fell on the holiday weekend (and will for most of his life probably), we decided we could either a) have the party a week early (the same weekend as the recital and be super busy, and have him in all sorts of pics with a 1 when he wasn't really one), or b) have his party one week later.  We chose the latter option. 

On June 3, we hosted around 70 of our closest family and friends at Zachary's Playground in Lake St. Louis.  There is a splashpad and a playground with a nice pavillion overlooking a lake with ducks and geese.  This is a beautiful park, and one of the best in St. Charles County in my opinion.  (I actually picked this park for Eli's bday party long before I was even pregnant with him.  I like it so much I vowed that if I ever had a summer baby, I'd try to get his first birthday party there.  Yeah for us getting it, especially during graduation season!  Every park with a large pavillion in the county was booked!  Hence having the party on a Sunday morning from 11-1.)

I think a big compliment was paid when Theresa Hampshire (Papa's sister) said she's like to move the family reunion to this park.  She's a very thorough person, so I thought it was a nice compliment of the facilities. 

Here are a few pictures from the big day:

All the kids had a great time in the splashpad area....well, all except Eli.  Since he was the guest of honor, he was too busy being passed around.  Sorry little man.

 

We started opening presents.  However, we were running out of time and had to save the rest for later.  We had to move on to cupcakes.  There was NO WAY I was going to take home 8 dozen cupcakes!

This is possibly my favorite present.  I will hang it on his wall for years.  No, this is NOT the model baby found in the store-bought frame.  This is MY baby.  He is so adorable!

Thank you Lindsay Weibye for taking such amazing pics. :)



Here was the cupcake cake still pretty nearly in tact.

We only rented the pavillion from 9-2, so we had to pack up in a hurry.  A few of us ended up back at our place.  Jenny & Mark, Memaw & Papa, & Uncle Craig.  After Brady & Reagan woke up from naps, Aunt Kristin brought them over and their BOUNCE HOUSE!  What a fantastic day.

This might be Ella's favorite present, a pirate ship water table.  She has named it the Jolly Roger.  Pictured here clockwise from left is Reagan, Brady, Ella, and Maycee.

Reagan and Ella attempted to make a sleepover out of the party, but after such a LONG day, there was not going to be any of that kind of business going on!  Nick & I were exhausted!

We had the perfect party in the perfect park with the perfect weather.  Did everything go perfectly?  Nope, of course not!  But it was such a good day.  I'm so happy to have this as a memory to keep my whole life. :)

Recital Video 3

Here we go again....there are lots of videos so this will be awhile....

Memorial Day Weekend

This year Kristin, Tony, Brady and Reagan came camping with us.  Ella was SO excited to have them all up to Elkfork for golf cart rides and playing.  Our family went to the zoo on Friday for Eli's birthday (see earlier posts for pics and video).  After the zoo, we headed up to Elkfork. 

On Saturday, the cousins came up in the morning and we spent the day playing in a palm tree/shaky sprinkler.  If I had pics, here would be a great place to post them, but I am not remembering taking any.....We had plans to go out on the water with Memaw and Papa Johnson in the big boat, but since it was the first time this season taking the boat out, a slight problem with the engine delayed our plans.  We enjoyed the day and night just hanging out at the campground.

On Sunday, Kristin & Tony had to leave (bugs in Grandpa Johnson's camper were the cause of early leaving. :(    ).  Before they left, we had the kids play in a kiddie pool and they had a great time.  After they left, we went out of the big boat and tied up in a cove for a few hours.  On the way back in, Uncle Richard, Craig and I went water skiing.  I am pretty sure that it is one of my favorite activities.  The water was rough, so it was a short trip, but nothing makes my heart pump faster than being skiing.  It's so fun!! 

That night, Linda & Kevin had a dance party at the dome.  We listened to music, karaoked, and danced the night away.  It was good times with good friends.

On Monday, we stayed and hung out for most of the day.  Ella had the kiddie pool to play in, but I felt like Eli was left out of most of the water fun, so I got out a splashpad for him and Ella to play on.  It's a great little activity pad that hooks up to the hose and sprinkles you in a puddle.  There's a slide, a little cave (where the children are in the picture), a palm tree, a ring stacker, etc.  It's practically a water amusement park!

We ended up leaving late that night, just in front of a storm.  We left around 9:30, and got home at 11.  I love summertime and not caring what time we're all getting to bed!

Most of the people in our campground group stayed up there and came home on Tuesday.  We had to leave Monday though because on Tuesday, I had a date with Amanda and the bridesmaids to get our dresses.  We went up to David's bridal, tried on dresses, bought them, and then went out to lunch at Olive Garden.  It was a nice bridesmaids' luncheon.  

That about wraps things up for that weekend.  The kids are napping now, so I'll try to post as much as I can ASAP!

Recital Video 2

Okay, I am wondering if I'm having trouble uploading videos because perhaps I'm trying to cram too many photos and videos into one place....either that or blogspot is just acting crazy tonight.  Either way, I've been trying this for hours, so here goes another attempt....

Random Ella-isms while I wait for video to load: Ella has taken to calling me "Mother Goose" lately.  I'm not sure where this is coming from.  Is it because I call her a silly goose frequently?  Is it because of the character Mother Goose?  Who the heck knows with that girl? 

Also, tonight Nick asked her if she was Daddy's Girl.  She said no (of course!), but then he said, "Too bad.  I was really hoping to have Daddy's Girl paint with me tonight.  I guess I won't have a helper now."  Immediately she said, "I can be both your girls.  You can just spread me apart.  Daddy, you pull one arm, and Mommy pulls the other" and she's holding her arms and legs out in an X just waiting for it.

I wish he had this down for his birthday party, but today (6/6) he finally got it.  How old are you Eli? ONE!

Recital Video 1

Ella's 1st Recital

Okay....it's official....I'm way behind!  I thought once school was out, I'd have all this time to blog....instead as it turns out, I've filled my time with awesome playdates and attempting (yet not seemingly succeeding) at keeping a clean house.  In my defense, I've been writing blogs, but then I save them instead of publishing because I haven't pulled the pictures off or something yet!  In any case, here a back-dated blog from Ella's recital.  It was on May 20.
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We went camping this weekend, but we came back early for Ella's recital.  I had no idea that I would be so choked up over it.  I thought maybe if I had grown up dancing, I mean, my friend Lara said she cried, but she had YEARS of dance memories that I figured she was drawing on.  NOPE.  I felt my heart just swell up with so much pride for my little girl that I couldn't contain it.  I was so worried.  Here was my little girl, about to perform in front of a group for the very first time.  How would she do?  Would she run off stage?  Would she just refuse to participate?  Or would she SHINE?  I was so proud.  Not only was Ella not bothered by the crowd, she seemed to thrive off of it.  She really enjoyed waving to each family member and putting on her best ballerina show.  Knowing the axiety that I feel in front of groups, I solemnly vow to always keep Ella involved in activities that have her performing in front of a crowd for as long as she enjoys it.  I couldn't have been more proud of my baby girl.  Here are the pictures and videos from the recital.  Of course we forgot the good camera and the video camera, so these were all taken from my phone.  I'm unable to post videos on this right now, so I'll try again in a later post.

1st position

Good luck hugs before the show

Ms. Kathy presented each of the little girls with a flower.

These flowers are from Mommy & Daddy.

One Year Already?

On May 25 my baby boy, possibly MY LAST BABY, turned one.  And just like that my baby became a toddler.  No one asked me how I felt about him getting older and more independent.  Although I am excited for him as he grows and gets older, I am also saddened by this happening. Eli now eats a lot of normal food, and is only on big boy sippy cups.  It's a bittersweet moment when you stop and realize all that your children have done in the last year.  Here are my Facebook posts from last week.  I want to be sure to save them somewhere.

May 24th
A year ago today, my dr PROMISED me "your baby will be born within 24 hours. I'm sure of it." I spent the rest of the day, going on a date with Nick, and fixing my hair and make up in my best attempt to ensure decent looking post-labor photos. Happy birthday eve to my little Eli. :)

May 25th
A year ago today, it was one week after Joplin, there was a tornado warning and I was in labor, heading to the hospital, scared of what might happen. We were richly blessed on May 25, 2011 with a son, a brother for our daughter, and another light in our life. He has taught me (/still teaches me) to slow down and have patience and has shown me what sweet innocence and orneriness looks like mixed together in one beautiful baby. Cheers to my little "baby bird" and the fine man he will one day be. Love you Eli! Happy first birthday!

To celebrate Eli's birthday, Nick and I took the kids to the zoo.  We rode the carosel and had a picnic, complete with Dippin' Dots ice cream for dessert.

The peacock even had his tail out for all to see.  It was awesome!  I've never seen anything like it.