this breezy.

a.)now understands emotions. she feels bad for sally when mcqueen leaves. will tell you 'its ok mommy' if i pretend to cry.
b.)is obsessed with cars still. it's on constant replay in the car.
c.)has blossomed into an awesome singer. well i dunno if awesome will ever be the word since it's definitely not in the genes. she loves the b-i-b-l-e. my cup is running over. the little einsteins theme song. old mcdonald. trys to sing along to songs on the radio but doesn't know the words. kinda like dad.
d.)knows her nightly prayer by heart. follows it with things she is thankful for. 'thank you for ______' usually whatever she ate is included in that.
e.)is a potty pro. #2 has become a fan favorite and whomever is around has to come look at it.
f.)still replies 'mac an cheese' when asked what she wants to eat. she even has the word panera in her vocab.
g.)can swing the in the big kid swings if need be.
h.)still has a slight sharing problem. side eyes still make an appearance at least once a day.
i.)watches either mickey mouse, olivia, or little einsteins. she knows the words and songs that go with each.
j.)loves playschool. loves gracie.
k.)wants an ice pack every time she has a boo-boo. no matter how big or small an ice pack is a must.
l.)is about to be 3! can you believe it?!?

peanut butter jelly time.

the culprits.

the ingredients.

the situation.

fruits of our labor.

♥

lately.

we have been into taking pictures. hooray for the one color enhancing feature.
we have been going on walks like they're going out of style.
we have been swinging non-stop. thank you park gods for creating 'ella's swings'.
we have been golfing at cici's and playing boink.
we have been loungin in the morning. m-i-c-k-e-y m-o-u-s-e ♥.
we have been rockin the big girl undies.
we have been dreading the thought of going back to work.
we have been obsessed with buck's green tea lemonade. no classic.
we have been taking daily naps.
we have been reading olivia books. loving the library.
we have been wishin you could join us.

meet me at the fair.

meet me in st. louis, louis

meet me at the fair

don't tell me the lights are shining

any place but there

we will dance the hoochie koochie

i will be your tootsie wootsie

meet me in st. louis, louis

meet me at the fair

i can picture the fair scene very vividly in my head right and i have to say that our gair experience was exactly the same opposite. holy cow. the night started off great. kelli and i took the kiddles to panera. does life get any better? then we headed over. kelli and i did miss the memo concerning the daisy dukes and cowboy boots, but we decided to forge ahead anyway. ella was ecstatic over the poop smell cows and i filled my head with thoughts of good behaving grandeur. actually i can't say everything was bad. she had a good time until the end. the heat, combined with a lot of classy people didn't help the situation. but let's just say she screamed the last good 30 or so minutes prior to leaving the gair.

it was verrrry cute. the hand holding. and might i say that ella did NOT initiate it every time. emma + ella = bossom buddies. well until ella decided it was best to scream and kick like a maniac. emma probably has terminated their friendship. i'll have to check with kelli.

ella has no fear. this is pretty much common knowledge. and her love for reptiles and scaly creatures is beyond anything i can fathom. she wanted to touch and see everything. she was even going to touch this huge snake. but trying to keep an eye on her and pull nascar evasive maneuvers with the stroller through the tiniest of tiny spaces was not happening. amen. 

there was a whole posse of bright colorful birds (i know there is a legit name for them). somehow i managed to only capture one. and with those skills, i'll be putting on a picture taking clinic in the near future, be there or be not there.

this picture is the antithesis of how she acted the rest of the night.

did i mention that i don't like petting zoos? there's animal poop on the ground. it stinks. there's a ton of people. who knows when an animal is going to decide to go a-wall. not for me. luckily kelli isn't a wuss and took an of-course-i'm-gonna-wanna-go-ella. needless to say. one goat had ria and they almost got pooped by another.

the start of ella's demise. she saw the ferris wheel. well obviously, it's tall and sticks out. and immediately wanted to ride the merry-go-round. ferris wheel, merry-go-round? not exactly the same but oh so similar to an almost 3 year old. that's besides the point. she was like fit throwing i-wanna-ride-the-merry-go-round. well i wanted to take photo booth pictures so the merry-go-round was a no go cause of major attitude, however this year the photo booths were RIGHT ACROSS FROM THE MERRY-GO-ROUND. shoot me please. $6 later ella and i were on the merry-go-round. highlight of her night so it was worth it. plus i learned my camera has this pretty legit one color enhancing feature. win-win in my books.

hopefully gair pictures will be a yearly tradition. except when ella gets to the point when she wants to risk her life and ride the rides. did you know you can buy 80 tickets for $70? what a bargain freakin rip off. never gonna happen. but we did miss you at the gair. i'm sure you missed being mortified by a screaming hella ella as well. hopefully you'll be able to gair it up with us next year.

♥

ka chow.

mark july 18th down as one for the books. ella made her first debut at the movies to take in a showing of cars 2. i wouldn't say it was anything like annie's first movie (insert 'let's go to the movies da da da da let's go see the starrrrs singing montage), but she lasted through the ENTIRE thing thanks to a bag of m&m's. a little antsy towards the end, but it was a long movie.

if you look closely, her shirt has mcqueen on it. she was pumped about that. i mean, who wouldn't be?

ella in 3d apparently. she was giving mcqueen hugs and kisses. of course i didn't get any of those pictures due to my annoying-takes-forever-flash.

for the first hour she sat on the edge of her seat. literally. i was worried she was going to freak at the darkness and loud sounds, but she liked it a lot. she also liked the 'toys' aka video games that she played relentlessly even though i did not put any money in. thought she was the biggest of big girls as she went to the bathroom twice. and dug entire experience. i kept asking her if she was having/had fun and every time she answered very enthusiastically 'Yeah!'

onto other topics. there's a muppet movie coming out in november. hollar. i ♥ miss piggy. so we should probably take ella while you are here on christmas vacay.
♥

someone i'd like you to meet.

elisha, this is captain hook. you know how i tend to love anything with skulls and/or peace signs. well there's no peace signs here, but judging by that dome....i am in love. i have created my own little skull and am darn proud. little smella coined the name, apparently someone watches a little too much jake and the neverland pirates. but she is onto something with the whole pirate thing for obvious reasons. if only there were some crossbones.

captain hook this is elisha. you will end up calling her 'eeeeeeeee' as coined by your big sisiter ella, and i am sure she will have the privilege of babysitting you and you will wear her out... because unless god smiles down upon me and takes into account the energy he blessed your sisiter with, i am in big trouble. eeeeee will be that cool, funky, animal print loving aunt who will teach you a bunch of things i am sure i won't want you to be taught. like the word 'puck' when your first learning to chat it up. word of the wise: don't worry, eeeee has that same attitude with everyone and watch out when you make her mad.

i am glad you two finally got to meet. if it wasn't for my extremely tilted back uterus (and the fact the dr. couldn't find a heartbeat...chills), this by chance meeting might never have happened. how about we have a more official meeting, say in 6 months or so?

♥

it's a giretruck.

apparently i was told last week that there was going to be a short recognition ceremony of the newly sworn in officers at tuesday's concert in the park, but lately i have been insanely forgetful and remember nothing of the sort...so it's a case of he said she said, but since this is my blog i am going to error on the side of i'm right! late notice and all, i am glad brian told me about it. it was safety night and they had all the different safety vehicle out and lined up so the kiddles could peruse and play. buttons, climbing, big ones...could ella be any happier? the officers kept assuring me she couldn't hurt anything, but in mind head i kept thinking 'but it's ella'. but hey, we're alive. have all our fingers and toes. got shoklit ice cream after. life was good.



see my cause for concern sheer fright?! she was pushing, pulling, twisting, tugging. the firemen were right. nothing happened so ella rocked on with her bad self and the buttons.

the few. the proud. ceres finest adds a new (insanely cute in my opinion) member to the squad.
♥

Happy Birthday U.S.A.
you make me melt like a popsicle on the 4th of july. and that is seriously what we did, melt. it was hotter than hades outside, but in all good 4th of july traditions we braved the heat. ella spent a good majority of her time in the pool. she suckered kyle into pouring water over her head for a good 15 minutes and then she conned uncle gary into playing catch kicking.

ella rocked her ameri-kini hard core. she loved running around. splashing. giving molly entirely too much watch to drink (luckily molls kicked the water habit real fast). stole uncle gary's seat during dinner. mastered the 'cheese' pose. and apparently is the next toddler and tiara's contestant. see following picture below as evidence.

after i rested listened to dad snore for a good half hour, i got to work frosting my precious cupcake flag. the rest is history, just don't stare at the last white stripe too long and you won't notice that you know who, that shall be unnamed (kyle) ate one!

speaking of yummy goodness, check out these babies i whipped up, inspiration received from my nerdy blogging habits.

after deciding against crying about my cupcake flag (think of my crazy party detail planning perfection and be proud) we hit the road to bicki's as ella kept exclaiming on the ride over. hence 25 minutes later we arrived at nancy's. pool time + dessert time +  cousin time  = ♥

ella had the best time playing with annalisa, marta, and sabastian. they ran. ran. and ran in circles. gave hugs. tickled. ran. everywhere that they went, ella was sure to follow mimicking every move. it made me really wish i wasn't the only one havin' babies around here y'all!!! ella had a blast except when it came to......fireworks. dare i even mention the word? she hated them. wanted them to go away. clapped after the first few while at the same time saying, 'no more, go away, no more.' she actually wanted to go sit in the car oddly enough. random child. but i did manage to sneak a picture before she retreated to the house.

i had an epiphany after the fireworks. after exhaustion. my favorite part the 4th of july in one word. sparklers. i love em. i love em. i love em.

these pictures are courtesy of the good ol k-y-l-e and myself. and have no fear. i rationed away some for when you come back  in december, so you can share in the self proclaimed 'best part of the 4th of july' with me.

♥

bossom buddies.

speaking of, did you know that the modesto library has each and every anne of green gables dvd? i notice them every time we go for wiggleworms and think of us. almost on the same level of one tree, but old school. we should have a agg marathon, yes i made an acronym cause that's how i roll, next time you meander on home. now back on topic. kelli and i took our little princess' to your old alma mater today, woot woot stan state. i am sure the ducks hated me as soon as i unleashed hella on them. she chased. chased. and chased some more. got entirely too close to the water for my comfort. played follow the leader with emma, allowing her to be the leader. splashed in the same puddle a good 5 or 6 times. saw a momma and her ducklings. and had a grand ol time with emma until she crashed on the way home. not literally, but you get the drift.



this cute hand holding op may or may not have come after ella drug emma off a step causing her to tumble head over heels. luckily emma is a trooper and no tears were shed during the course of this unfortunate incident. ella then insisted on holding her hand, but wasn't getting the drift that emma doesn't walk as fast as she does and without proper supervision, would've continued trying to drag poor emma along. a true friend right?

<3

Just. For. You.

i brianne, solemnly swear to do my very best to keep this blog updated, even though you left us here sad without you. insert half laugh, half wanna cry. my heart still breaks a little every single time ella places an honorary coaster in your spot on the table, or when she 'hears' you pull into the driveway. the girl must have a ridiculous set of ears to hear you all the way in texas. but hopefully you'll be back soon. or around soon cali some time soon. south carolina does not rock. too far. but enough about that. without further ado and even less adon't:

concert in the park


ella and her gracie


singing in the rain. which was followed by 'thumbs up, elbows back, knees together, twisty top twisty top twisty top top.' hilarious. we still dance around to the chant as ella calls it out and i follow.

the best act of the night. goofy hat dance. this was a complete shocker because it wasn't one ella went around singing, but it was the absolute best. ella stayed in one place clapping. no expression. just clapping. during a certain point in the song the older kids would run around and switch hats with the littles. again, ella was surprisingly unfazed. she left the hats exactly where they were placed on her head, even if it meant being temporarily blinded. my favorite hat was the big russian one. can you see why?

the night ended with craft making and balloons, keep in mind she is exhausted, and then imagine her reaction when her favorite purple balloon drifts off into the fading blue cloudless sky. screams, tears, shrieks. hence a trip to richland with cici to get her a happy birthday winnie the pooh balloon followed.
<3