Lia's 7-Year Photos

I was a naughty mom today and kept Lia out of school for the first hour and a half so that we could go to the mall and have her seven year photos taken.  The only reason why I did this was due to the fact that I could leave both Logan and Ella behind with Ron as this week is his Spring Break.  Lia decided weeks ago that she wanted to wear her beautiful Elsa dress for her pictures this year.  Although it technically is her Halloween costume from 2014, I consented because the dress is so pretty and it perfectly sums up my little girl at this time of her life.  So off we went for a fun morning of Lia "letting it go" in the photo studio!

Easter Sunday

We had a pleasant Easter today.  We started off the morning with the children finding their baskets and other goodies laid out on their couches in the living room.  We then held an Easter egg hunt in the house.  It's was cute to see how involved Logan was in all of this now that he is old enough to understand things.  I had sent a memo to the Easter Bunny informing him that he did not need to bring a basket for baby Ella since she still isn't old enough to appreciate any of these holiday traditions.  I know, I know...poor, third child.  :-)  But she still seemed to have a good time following the rest of us around on the hunt.  After two sessions of General Conference, we hosted two other families from our ward for Easter dinner.  Normally we celebrate Easter with my family, but since my parents were out of town for the holiday, we decided to have a few people over.  I made my first leg of lamb for the main dish and we were treated to some other delicacies brought through the door by our friends.  I meant to take pictures of the entire affair, but completely forgot until after the evening is over.  Oh well.  Pictures of no pictures, it was a nice way to end the evening.

Lia standing next to her Easter basket and loot.  Highlights included a new Lego Friends set, an outfit for her American Girl doll, a Princess Palace Pet, a Frozen ball for the backyard, and the Mary Poppins DVD (since she met her at Disneyland, but has never seen the movie).

Logan showing off his goodies including an ABC construction book, a Lightening McQueen pillow, a Buzz Lightyear action figure, an Olaf bat and ball, and bubble refills for his new bubble machine.

And, they're off!  The kids beginning the egg hunt in the living room.

Lia finding one on top of the thermostat.

And Logan finding one on his high chair.

The kids working together.

A happy boy finishing up the hunt.

And our three kids posing with some of their Easter goodies.  Logan refused to bring his basket in the picture--instead he insisted on his jug of bubbles instead.  Oh, that boy.

Logan asked if he could have a picture taken with his new Toy Story snow globe.  I just love how he is holding his hand up in the air.  That is such a Logan gesture.

After breakfast, Ron went out with Logan to try out his baseball and bat for the first time.  

Lia joined them on her big girl bike.

Logan trying hard to hit the ball.

As always, baby Ella watched longingly from the sidelines.  Here is my sweet girl standing in the doorway with a smile on her face.

Baby Ella's Birthday Party

We celebrated baby Ella's first birthday last night with just the five of us.  It was actually nice to just have a small, quiet party with our little family.  We ate another breakfast-for-dinner (Lia's requests), opened gifts, and then finished off the evening by eating a strawberry cake with strawberry, butter creme frosting that was all made from scratch!  If I'm in charge of the dessert, I'm going to make sure that it tastes good even if the guest of honor is a one year old and doesn't know any different!  Ella seemed to really enjoy the evening.  She scarfed down her bacon, eggs, and cinnamon roll like no body's business and favored her new sippy cups over any other gift as she carried one of the pink cups around the rest of the evening.  Happy Birthday, baby girl!  We sure love you!

A picture of my homemade, strawberry cake before it got devoured after dinner.

We broke out the whole milk for the first time during Ella's birthday dinner.  Although she has struggled to learn how to drink out of a regular sippy cup these past many months, Ron tried one of Logan's cups with a straw the other night and she took to it like a fish to water!  I was so amazed to see her drinking water out of it like a pro without any practice.  Thanks to this recent discovery, Ella did a great job drinking milk for the first time yesterday (besides getting it all over her face).  I couldn't resist taking a picture of it.  

After dinner, we opened gifts.  We let Lia and Logan take turns "helping" Ella open her gifts.  Once the gift with Ella's new sippy cups was opened, Ella lost interest and just wandered around the living room while her sister and brother had a great time opening the rest of the gifts and pretending that it was their birthday all over again.

This picture perfectly captures the gift opening chaos while Ella sucked on her empty sippy cup.

I jumped in at the end and helped open a few gifts.  Here we are showing off an adorable new outfit from Lola.

Ella and me helping Logan open the last gift.

More birthday chaos.

Our one-year old and her cup.

It only took four tries to get this perfect picture of our three kiddos and the giant Easter eggs in front of the fireplace.  Aren't they so cute?

We headed back to the dining room for some singing and cake.  Here is Ella eyeing her piece of cake and the lit candle while we sang, "Happy Birthday," to her.

Ella trying out cake and frosting for the first time in her life.

Lia getting in on the fun.

Ella was a little timid at first, but started to get into the cake eating.

Even though Ron thought it wasn't necessary, I couldn't resist cutting Ella's cake into pieces (in my defense, this homemade cake was denser than cake made from a box and a little more difficult to tear apart with fingers).  Ella neatly ate the entire thing and barely needed to be wiped down afterwards.  Now THAT is my type of girl!  :-)

12 Months and Counting!

I have done this same posts for our other children, so I couldn't resist doing the same for Ella.  I just love seeing all of my children's monthly photos back to back like this as it really shows the drastic changes during their first year of life.  So, check out my growing baby Ella below.  She has gone from a skinny-legged, barely moving baby to a massive bundle of moving energy!  Love you, Ella!