Ella's 5th Birthday!

After having to watch both of her siblings celebrate their birthdays, the long awaited day of "March thirty thirst" (as Ella pronounces it) finally arrived today!  Needless to say, she was so excited!  We kicked off the birthday celebrations on Friday, March 29th, by sending homemade sugar cookies (frosted with pink and blue frosting with matching sprinkles par Ella's request) with her to preschool where she got to be the line leader and share her show-and-tell with the class.  She had a great time being at the front of the line wherever her class went and enjoyed helping the teacher pass out her treats and share the toy that she brought with the rest of the class which was the special wand we bought for her at "Harry Potter World" (as our family calls it) at Universal Studios. 
We then kicked off Ella's actual birthday today with our family's traditional waffles with strawberries and whipped cream breakfast.  Ella enjoyed being sung to and blowing out the candles on her waffles.  After breakfast, our family went to church before coming home for lunch and movie time.  After grandma and grandpa arrived, the kids headed outside to enjoy the beautiful sunshine that we were blessed with today to play in the backyard with grandma while I finished Ella's birthday dinner.  Like her sister, Ella requested breakfast for dinner and a birthday cake with pink and red roses on it.  We enjoyed eating dinner, watching Ella open her gifts, and having delicious birthday cake and ice cream all with the grandparents.  The highlight had to be watching Ella open up her biggest gift first which was the American Girl Doll, Kit Kittredge, given to her by her wonderful Aunt Austin and Uncle Robbie.  They generously started this tradition years ago by giving Lia her first American Girl Doll back in 2012.  Austin and Robbie did the same thing again last year and gave Logan his Logan doll and now they continued the tradition this year by giving Ella her first AG doll.  Ella was so excited and I managed to get the perfect picture capturing the sheer exhilaration on her face after opening up her gift and realizing what was inside it.  In addition, we also gave her a few Kit outfits and accessories to go with her doll along with some Elena of Avalor dress up clothes and a Princess Jasmine Lego set.  Needless to say, Ella was quite pleased with her big day and happily spent the rest of the evening running around in her Elena dress and building her new Lego set with the help of our resident Lego expert, Logan.  It was a great way to celebrate our little girl's special day!

Ella standing at the front of her preschool class's line before her teacher, Miss Vera, came and picked them up on Friday, March 29th.  I can't get over how grown up she looks in this picture!

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Ella at breakfast time this morning.

Ella blowing out the candles on her breakfast waffles.

Although Ella requested pink and red roses on her cake, I decided that lavender would look nicer.  Luckily, she didn't mind.  Here is a picture of her birthday cake that I managed to frost and decorate while Emmett napped this morning.

Ella showing off her new "pumping skills" to grandma before dinner time.

Such a big girl!  I was so surprised when she called me outside a few weeks ago to show me that she had figured out how to pump while on a swing.  No more pushing Ella anymore on a swing!

Logan cruising around on one of our scooters.

Lia and Ella showing grandma a routine they had made up earlier in the week where they sing a song while swinging...

and then jump off and do a choreographed dance.  It is so cute to see these two girls playing together.

Lia on her skateboard...

and Ella on hers.  This is how Ella always cruises around on her skateboard.  So cute.

While I finished up dinner, grandpa held Emmett and got him to smile and coo several times.  I managed to get this picture of Emmett smiling at grandpa.  It's things like this that just warm my heart.

Grandpa and grandson, almost 80 years apart in age, enjoying each other's company.  That's rather amazing.

Our big 5-year old getting ready to open up her gifts after dinner.

A close-up of baby Emmett in my arms.

Since I am behind the camera 99% of the time, I barely have any pictures of Emmett and me.  This is the picture I asked Ron to take of us with the birthday girl at our side before the gift opening began.

Ella decided to open the "big gift" first after wondering what it was for the past three days since it had been wrapped and sitting in front of the fireplace.

Unveiling the gift inside...

and screaming with pure joy after realizing that it was an American Girl Doll.  I just love this picture with her clenched fists and open mouth!

A proud Ella showing off her new doll.

Mama helping Ella read her card from grandma and grandpa.

Ella looking over the Sacagawea, dollar coin collection from her grandparents.

Examining the adorable, bead lizard that Lia had made for her.

Ella opening up another gift.

Trying to unwrap the AGD scooter from Kit's collection.

Ella showing off her new Elena of Avalor dress.

Since grandma's birthday is tomorrow, we had her open up our card and gift.  Here she is reading the kids' messages with Logan and Ella at her side.

Getting ready to sing to Ella for the second time today.

Blowing out all five of her candles.

After Ella blew them out, we relit the candles and sang to grandma, too.

Grandma blowing out her candles with Emmett in her arms and Ella at her side.

And, lastly, Ella enjoying her birthday cake and ice cream.

We are so grateful that you joined our family five years ago!  The time has gone by way too fast and we never could imagine our family without you.  You add so much cuteness and fun and excitement to our family on a regular basis!  Oh, how we love you!

Sisterly Love

One of my greatest joys having this baby later than I had hoped for has been watching his older siblings interact with him.  Although it would have been my first choice to have all four of my children in six or seven years, this age gap between Emmett and his brother and sisters has been a huge perk.  They all are old enough to absolutely adore him and interact with him and help take care of him.  Although Ella is my 'baby whisperer,' Lia has been a huge help with Emmett.  When she is home (and not at school or one of her many activities), she can do so many things to help me with Emmett that she was no old enough to do when Ella was born five years ago.  In addition to just holding him on the couch (which is all Ella and Logan can do), Lia can lift him out of his bassinet or bouncy seat or swing, walk around the house with him, play with him while sitting on the couch, watch him on her bed at night while I get ready for bed, and even do tummy time with him.  Without me knowing, Lia picked Emmett up from his bouncy chair the other evening while I was working in the kitchen and laid down with him on the couch, belly to belly.  After she was all settled, she told me what she was doing.  After coming over and seeing this adorable scene, I just had to take a few pictures!  Lia loves Emmett so much and constantly tells him how cute he is and how much she loves him.  It just melts my heart.  I hope that these two stay close forever.

King Emmett

This is what I found yesterday morning after Logan and Ella had been playing with Emmett in the family room while I was making breakfast.  The poor boy.  He's probably going to be victim to a lot of this kind of treatment in the years to come.

Look Who Found His Thumb!

Emmett did!

Luckily, he went back to the pacifier soon thereafter.

We've been blessed to have four children who prefer the paci over the thumb which makes it so much easier to break the habit when they are older.  You can take the ya-ya away and throw it in the trash, but you most definitely cannot do the same with the thumb!

Papa and his Babies

This is the scene that I found laying on the couch today.  Papa with all of his babies (both big and small) minus Logan who had chosen to lay on the other couch while watching a Sunday afternoon movie.  Just precious.

Lia's Pajama Party!

Due to the arrival of baby Emmett in January, I promised Lia that I would still throw her a friend birthday party this winter--just a few weeks late.  So, yesterday, Ron and I hosted our first evening birthday party of our parenting career.  Lia and I decided to have a pajama party/"late over" theme last year before I even knew that I was expecting a baby.  This party theme turned out to be a blessing in disguise since this kind of party requires no games, crafts, or activities which made things so much easier for me!  We decided to simply provide a dinner, dessert, and a movie for the girls in addition to Lia opening up her gifts.  We asked everyone to come in pajamas and bring their sleeping bag and pillow to watch the movie in.  It required way less time and work to prepare for which was exactly what I needed with a brand new baby. 
After shopping at Michaels a few weeks ago, I found an adorable party set by Martha Stewart that featured stars and moons.  Since I thought this went along with a pajama party perfectly, I bought it and tailored all of our decorations after the pink, silver, and white color scheme.  Besides putting some vinyl letters on a banner that I bought already cut out and ready to go, I didn't make anything in the way of decorations.  It was super simple and fast to put together and still looked really cute when the girls arrived.  Much to Ron's chagrin, I allowed Lia to invite as many girls as she wanted to again this year.  As a result, we had 20 children here last night--17 friends, plus Lia, Logan, and Ella.  It was a large group to say the least! 
The girls all did a great job eating dinner around the table and only a few got rowdy during the lengthy gift-opening session (since there were 17 gifts to open).  After singing to Lia and eating cupcakes and ice cream, the entire group went to the basement to watch the movie, The Water Horse, that Lia had picked out a few weeks ago after watching it on Netflix for a family movie night.  Sadly, only a few girls ended up watching the entire movie.  This was a total surprise to me as I just assumed this group of girls would watch the movie quietly like they would in a movie theater.  The majority of the group ended up just playing in the basement or wanting tours of the house led by Lia.  Since I was busy nursing Emmett at the beginning of the movie, I wasn't aware that any of thing was going on until about 30 minutes into the movie when it was just to late to undo things that had already been done.  Consider it a lesson learned.  A large group of girls is not made for watching a movie at a friend's house.  Regardless, Ron and I managed to keep the group under control until the last five minutes of the party as parent's started to arrive.  By the time it was 9 p.m., there were girls running all over the house while baby Emmett was tired, hungry, and crying to go to bed for the night.  In the process, one of my collector's plates hanging in the dining room got knocked off the wall by one of Lia's friends.  It was pure chaos for a few minutes!  Needless to say, we were all relieved when it was over and we have officially declared to Lia that she will never have another birthday party that big again--especially to watch a movie! :-)

Lia standing outside next to the cute welcome sign that she drew on our white board complete with stars and moons.

The darling cupcakes I made sitting on the table before the girls arrived.

The grand table in all of its pink, silver, and white glory.

The decorations on the mantel and fireplace.

The food set up and ready to go on the kitchen island.  We served pizza, chips, veggies and fruit, and fruit punch for dinner.

Lia and some of her friends enjoying dinner at the head of the table.

Bella, Eva, Allison, Sophia, and Logan sitting at their end of the table.

Ella, Lindsay, Alyssa, and Bella giving me a smile.

Addison, Maddison, Rian, and Mila on the other side of the table.

After dinner, Lia opened up her birthday gifts.  Here she is opening up a beautiful journal from her good friend, Lilah.

Lia opening up a wooden, doll-sized dresser (that she gets to paint) from another good friend and neighbor, Alyssa.

Lia talking to Bella about the slime she got from her.

Lia reading a handmade card from another very good friend, Sienna.

Lia smiling as the group sang "Happy Birthday" to her.

Blowing out 11 candles!

The entire group all cuddled up in their sleeping bags and blankets in the basement before the movie started.

Ella and Logan ready to watch the movie.  This was the first time that they were allowed to participate in one of Lia's friend parties and they were so excited!  It was fun to have them join the group.

Ella, Logan, Eva, Mollie, and Lilah waiting for the movie to begin.

Sophia, Banna, and Addyson perched on the large window sill.

A close-up of our birthday girl eating her popcorn as we started the movie.

Since the movie ended at 8:30 p.m., Ron and I had to come up with an impromptu activity to keep the girls busy until their parents came at 9 p.m. to pick them up.  Luckily, Ron had seen this team building activity before and tried it out with several groups of girls in our family room until pick-up time.  They all seemed to get a big kick out of it--especially when he laid Ella on top of one group of girls that included Lia, Ryann, Maddison, and Mollie.

Laying Ella down on the girls.

It actually worked!  They were able to hold Ella on top of them until Ron took her off a few seconds later!  Look at their laughing faces!