2nd Birthday Party!

We had our " Sweet Shoppe" Candy and Gingerbread themed party on Saturday, Jan. 14th with friends and family.

The birthday girl in her 2 shirt and candy themed leggings!

The candy buffet table- twizzlers, tootsie rolls, m&ms, suckers, gummy worms, conversation hearts..and lots more....a kids dream!

The dessert table- cookies, chocolate snack mix, chocolate pretzels...and MORE! YUM!

Ella stealing a piece of the confetti fudge...she really liked it!

Ella and Caden playing with her kitchen

Opening gifts...she really gets the hang of it now

And boy, was this girl spoiled!!

Playing in her new tunnel

Opening her baby crib set

and then she sat on it with her purse in hand-so funny!

Uncle Kyle and the birthday girl with the gift he gave her. She really likes the princess books and music.

And the BABIES! She loved them ALL...

and the baby beds, baby clothes, baby crib...

and her puppy pet that she now carries everywhere!!

I tried to make a cake...it flopped. (Well, half of it flopped...this is the part that turned out...)

 So my mom ran out and bought one at the last minute at the store! Oh well, I need to bake more often!

Carter and Jay singing to her

Ella liked the cake and the icing!

The lollipops and kids!!

YUMMY

Birthday girl!

We had a fun day celebrating the miracle of Ella's birth and her 2 years of life!

We loved having all our friends and family over for the sweet treats!!

After the party we took naps and then headed out to dinner. Yea for Ella!

Funny Kids

Ella and Senor Carter had their first tea party together.

They used water and goldfish crackers and the treat.

Notice they flipped over a Rubbermaid box as the table...so creative!

Ella is TWO!

Ella turned TWO YEARS OLD on Saturday, Jan. 7th!

We celebrated as a family of 4. We will celebrate this coming weekend with our extended family, due to the KSU bowl game. :)

We asked Ella what she wanted for breakfast and her choice was DONUTS!

She got a sprinkled donut.

YUMMY!

After nap and lunch we opened presents and headed to Crowne Center downtown KC.

She opened Little Miss Muffin from Carter. He picked it out for her.

She did not want any one to help open her gifts. HA!

A" 2"  Shirt with lots of sparkles for Ella!

Then we headed to Crowne Center. Our first stop was the Crayola Store where the kids colored.

And we went to the candy store-where Ella did NOT want to pose for a picture.

All she wanted was the candy!

We did not realize that Crowne Center closes so early on Saturdays. So we left and we went to Manny's for dinner. Ella found out she likes Salsa with her chips.

They sang to her and brought her dessert. She also got a sombrero to wear, but she was not interested in it...

so brother wore it. :)

They had a mariachi band that came and sang to us and the table next to us-who was also celebrating a birthday.Ella loved clapping to the music.

Happy Two Year-Old!

Then it was time for CAKE! It was Ella's favorite part of the day.

YUMMY!

Carter liked the cake, too.

Ella and daddy

Ella and her Mommy

We love you so much, big girl! Get ready for a fun party next weekend!

Birthday Party at Debbie's House

 Ella had her 2nd Birthday Party at Debbie's House with all her friends. Sitting at the table are Carter, Ella, Emily holding Lucy, Ethan James in the highchair, Ethan Thomas and Annie.

I said," whose birthday is it?" She raised her hand with a big smile.

We brought sugar cookies that were dyed pink, yellow and blue.

She loves to open presents.

Mrs. Debbie gave her a very special book. It is a recordable book about princesses and Mrs. Debbie reads the book to Ella. 

Mrs. Debbie and my big girl!



Ella B.

Yes, we are slowly beginning to potty train. She seems interested, so we got out our "big girl seat".

What crazy hair she has in the mornings!

She LOVES her baby Grandma Deb picked out for her for Christmas. So much, that she used her baby as a pillow last night to sleep-HA!

Ella had her 6 month follow-up with her cardiologist, Dr. Ardinger at Children's Mercy. The amazing news is that he did not hear the mur-mur, and her heart sounds great. He also said the hole in her heart appears to be shrinking. He explained that Ella's hole is a left over baby hole, that usually closes when a baby takes his/her first breath. It is not a heart defect. After having an ultra sound/EKG (which of course Ella was very wiggly for) the doctor said he was able to get enough pictures to determine that the hole is smaller, but could not estimate the exact measurement from the pictures. He did not see the hole from pictures that were taken of the front of the heart, but did see the hole in the pictures taken of the side of the heart. Dr. Ardinger feels, and I quote, "she is NORMAL AND FINE". Normal to him would be 1 millimeter or less or gone. He would like us to come back when she is 5 years old for a check-up. At that appointment, Ella will be able to sit still and they will be able to get better pictures in the EKG to determine the exact size. We hope that the hole will be sealed up and will have gone away at this appointment in December, 2014.

What wonderful news!!! Praise God for Ella B. a true miracle!!!

Texas Cousins

Cousins

My mom with her parents, brother, sister and two dogs

We miss our Texas family already! We are glad they had a safe trip back to San Antonio.

I love that Natalie is so good to my kids and loves to shop! Ashley is so sincere in every thing she says and is a good writer. My Aunt Patrice is so fun and is a great cook-especially her enchiladas. I love how my Uncle Robert compliments me in Spanish. They prayed so hard for Ella when she was born, so they love seeing her in person and marvel at all she can say and do! 

 I can't wait to see them again this summer.

Carter post-surgery

Carter is doing well. He was defiantly slow moving and walked like a "penguin" for awhile, but he is now off all pain medication. He even went back to school today. He was a little nervous, but did well.

At Children's Mercy before surgery...

In his gown with daddy, waiting for the doctors...

He got a " Buddy Doll" to decorate and bring with him into surgery. It was good to keep him busy coloring on it while we were waiting for the doctors.

After Surgery....

sleepy eyed and tired.

Dr. St. Peter said Carter's surgery was more invasive than he originally thought. Most of the time, kids don't need a pain block, Carter did. Usually they don't need stitches, Carter had glue stitches. The doctor usually doesn't send home pain medication, he sent Carter with meds for a few days. And usually he does not schedule a follow-up appointment, we have one scheduled. But, it is over and Carter is feeling great! One a side note, one of the parents of a former student was one of the nurses in Pre-Surgery. She was able to "check on Carter" and give me more updates than usual. She let us know when they started surgery and he was under, right when surgery was finished, when he woke up ( I was worried he would wake us sick to his stomach, but he didn't) and when they were ready for us to go see him. Maire was a lifesaver and made us in the waiting room, (Ryan, my Mom and I), feel so much more comfortable. I am very grateful that she happened to be working that day.