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!