Pillow Talk

Each night, Jon and I switch off putting Gwen and Elle to bed.  It is our special time with the girls.  I love the talks I have with Elle as she dozes off to sleep.  She sucks her thumb with one hand and wraps her other arm tightly around my neck.  Nose to nose we have some pretty cute conversations.  She loves to talk about when she was a baby and is fascinated by the whole circle- of- life concept.  She often tells me, "I used to be a baby, now I am a big girl, next I will be a teenager, then a mommy, then a grandma and then I will go to heaven".  Her view of life is so sweet and so simplistic.  I love it.  I tell her how lucky I feel that out of the millions of little baby girls in heaven, Daddy and I were sent her...the smartest, funniest, most beautiful one to come to our family. Wow, what are the chances of that?!  Well, that little conversation really stuck with her because last night as I put her to bed, she had been quiet for a while and then in the dark she whispered to me, "Mama, you're really special to me. Out of all of the mommies in heaven, Grammie got the best one to go to her tummy".  All I could do was smile and kiss her on her little forehead.  

Bathing Beauties

I have mentioned several times before how much Gwen loves to shower.  Elle on the other hand, is more of a bath girl.  This morning however, they both opted for the shower.  Gwen would just stand under the water for hours if I let her.  We keep a basket of bath toys in there just for her. Elle is becoming more and more independent.  She loves to lather up and wash not only herself but also Gwen.  Everytime they get out they grab a towel, hand it to me, and then turn around ready for me to drape it over their backs.  The sight of them walking around all wrapped up in white towels always makes me smile because it reminds me of the movie ET (elle's #1 movie) when ET dresses up as a ghost and waddles around the neighborhood.  Jon and I are always talking about how fast time is flying by with these little ones.  He usually reminds me of this important fact during the occasional pep talk he gives me after I've had a particularly long day of toddler tantrums and the like.  This time of their childhood is a lot of work (a lot) but it really is  a magical time.  They are full of wonder and everything is so exciting to them...even bathing.  

Water Baby

After the whole cream cheese fiasco (see below) it was definitely time for miss Gwenners to get sprayed off in the sink.  This little girl LOVES the water.  Her favorite thing to do is play in the shower.  However, after today, I think she will now have a new favorite water activity.

Crazy Girl

Let me tell you, this little one is into everything!  I ran upstairs just to switch the wash and came down to this lovely little situation.  She even pulled the chair over by herself.  Gwen gave herself a cream cheese rub down and used a carrot peeler from the drawer as a spoon...and she's not even two yet.  Good thing I love this little one more than life itself because instead of completely stressing out over this mess, all I could do was get my camera and then put her in the kitchen sink for a quick bath.  I sure love my little crazy girl.

Happy Birthday

Happy 11th birthday to my niece Juliet.  Elle, Gwen and I took her out for her birthday lunch. She could go anywhere and chose Baja Fresh.  She is a ray of sunshine everywhere she goes and we adore her.  Since she's so grown-up now we gave her, her very own sweet smelling lotion and perfume.  We love you, birthday girl!  

A Perfect Day

Good friends. 

Great conversation. 

Sand, Sun and the Sea.  

Perfection.

Summer Mornings

I am loving our lazy summer mornings.  Without preschool or summer camps, we don't have anywhere we need to rush to and it is quite nice.  The girls lounge around in their pajamas, eat breakfast in the backyard and play with Tiger.  Elle is wearing her "new" favorite nightgown.  She found it in a box of my things from when I was a little girl.  My great grandma made these nightgowns as Christmas gifts for all of her great grandaughters when we were young.  It is a little big for Elle but she LOVES it (especially where it is stiched "amy") and begs to wear it every night.  It is flannel and has been washed 100's of times so it is "extra cozy" as Elle says. She calls it "mommy's little girl princess nightgown".  Quite a mouthful.  The stool Gwenners is under is where I sit when I am on the computer.  She loves to climb under it when I am on it and pull on my legs.  The funny face she is making is her newest trick.  I say, "sad" and she makes that face.  I then say, "happy" and she just cracks up.  She is quite the little comedian and makes us laugh all day long.  I love these little girls and feel so lucky to be their mommy.  

Lake Mead

As far as I am concerned, Lake Mead is the happiest place on Earth.  To me it is heaven.  I grew up going there each and every summer with my family for week-long water ski trips.  This year, we were lucky enough to be invited to go with some of our very favorite friends, the Ords, on their boat.  It was the first boating trip for both Elle and Gwen.  Contrary to how Gwen looks in the pictures, she really did have fun.  It just took her a little bit of time to get used to the lifejacket.  Elle loved every minute.  She went tubing and also knee boarding with Jon.  One of the most amazing things she agreed to was rock jumping.  Jon climbed to the top of a rock and while holding her, they both jumped in. I didn't know if she was going to love it or hate it but as soon as she popped her head out of the water, she was all smiles.  A girl after my own heart. We stayed at a hotel at Lake Las Vegas which was so much fun.  One of the highlights for Elle was being able to float in the pool (way after her bed time) and watching the  "dive-in movie", Cars.  We had a fabulous time and feel so fortunate to have such fun and generous friends.  

Birthday Girl

Happy 4th Birthday to my Elle!   She was so excited when she woke up.  She kept asking, "am I really 4 years old now"?  The morning started with lots of phone calls for her with singing grandparents and cousins and then she had to get ready for a surprise.  Her favorite friend Brinley came by with balloons and took her to breakfast.  Elle chose to go to the Bagel Shack and had her favorite, a blueberry bagel with cream cheese.  Brinley and Christy then took her to the toy store where she got to choose anything she wanted.  And staying true to her roots, she chose...a baby doll.  Instead of a big party this year I tried something different.  We made the whole day a special Elle Day.  I got a babysitter for Gwen and just the two of us headed out.  I didn't tell her where we were going.  I made her close her eyes and when she opened them, she couldn't believe it.  We were standing in front of Build-A-Bear.  I can't tell you how many times we have passed that store at the mall and she always begs to go in.  Today was her special day, so in we went. Elle chose the hot pink teddy bear (of course) and got to stuff him and and even made a wish on a heart that she put into him right before he was stiched-up.  She washed him and fluffed him and if he wasn't pink enough, she chose a pink outfit to put on him.  She named her bear Patty-Cakes.  The two of us then headed to Ruby's for lunch. It was so nice to just sit and talk with her and not have any other distractions.  I could have all of my attention on Elle.  On our way home we stopped at our favorite flower stand and she got to choose flowers to have at our house for her birthday dinner.  For dinner she was able to choose our menu.  She wanted "basghetti", salad with dippies (dressing) and bread.  There is just ONE thing that she asked for as a gift for her birthday.  One thing.  Not a toy or doll,  just a round chocolate cake with purple frosting and a brown bunny on it.  Random yes, but this is all she wanted.  She even drew it for me to make sure I understood.  Well, I unfortunately left this important detail to the last minute.  Early yesterday  morning I started calling bakeries asking for a cake and of course no one could do it with such short notice.  I was stressed!  The thought of myself making a cake with a brown bunny on top was not pretty and so I kept faithfully calling around.  I finally found a bakery that would do it for me last minute.  And let me say, they are my new favorite bakery.  It was the cutest cake I have ever seen.  Exactly like Ellers had invisioned.  We had basghetti for dinner (Elle got to use the 'happy birthday' plate) and then sang to her and she blew out her candles.  It was just the 4 of us and it was perfect. Elle said the prayer at dinner and said, "thank you that I can have the most special day in the whole world".  Do they come any cuter? Jon had a surprise for her in the front room after we had cake.  He gave her "The Littlest Pet Shop".  She LOVES it and stayed up late playing it with her daddy.  I would say it was a pretty great way to kick-off her year as a big 4 year old.  Happy Birthday to my #1 girl.  I love you forever.