Ella is 11 months!!!

I really can not even believe that Ella is almost one year old.  It just doesn't seem possible that I'm sitting here working on plans for her birthday party!  Where did the time go?  Did I take it all in?  Did I take enough pictures?  Who knows?!!!  I've decided not to worry about what I maybe didn't do and focus on what really matters!  My baby girl is 11 months old and such a bright spot in all of our lives!  In this past months she has changed sooo much!  I feel like she has turned into a big girl right before our eyes.  She is talking more and more and interacting with Adda while she plays.  She has started to pretend play with Adda when she plays in her kitchen and with the baby dolls.  She crawls like a champ but thinks we are crazy if we try to get her to walk more than four or five steps at a time.  Adda was the same way!  She had croup over the Christmas break and had three molars all coming in at the same time.  Poor thing was a mess for about a week.  This morning I tried to have a little photo shoot outside because it was so beautiful out! 

 A little sad that I'm making her work too hard standing next to that tree.  She didn't really like the way the bark felt!

 Watching her sister!  She spends most of the day watching everything Adda does!

 All those pictures and standing wore her out!

      Some of her milestones this month:

•  She started using "more" and "all finished" in sign language!
• Words: Mama, Dada, Adda (only a few times), Papa, Hi, Wawa (water), and a few others when we ask her to say them.  These are the words she is saying in context. 
• Starting to take steps around things when she is standing.  
• Has 6 teeth right now and two more molars that are just about to come through.  
• Eats almost anything we are eating, or at least want to try it.  I would have never done that with Adda but with Ella I am much more laid back about what she tries.  
• Got to taste a French Breakfast Puff on Christmas morning!  Now I think she has a little sweet tooth! 
• Favorite Food: bananas, grapes, Annie's brand Cheddar Bunnies (she is over Cheerios because her sister gave her a taste of the Cheddar Bunny), sweet potatoes, apples, and peas!  We gave her some spaghetti the other night and she was not too sure about the pasta.    

Adda Turns 3! Birthday Blogging Catch Up!

This past summer Adda turned 3 years old!  Right before she turned 3 we were able to put her hair in a little ponytail and could even manage pigtails!!!  I wasn't sure she would have a bow until her 5th or 6th birthday!  We decided on an ice cream theme!  I'm not sure why, I can't really remember!  Seems like she told me she wanted that at one time probably not really being serious.  Nevertheless I ran with the idea!  It was fun!  Here are a few pictures from the birthday!

The Birthday Girl!  Awake and ready for the party!

 When does the party start??!!

 Adda and her twin Daddy!

 The inviataions!

I did decide to make a new birthday banner for this birthday! 

 Front door!

 The table of goodies!

 Neapolitan balloon banner!  I learned how to make it on Pinterest!  It's super easy!  I just need to take a nap after blowing up all those balloons.  Oh, and It lasted forever!  You can make it WAY in advance!

 Neapolitan candy dish!  Chocolate Whoppers, Vanilla Popcorn, and Strawberry Whoppers!

 Key Lime Cream Horns!  These were delicious and also very easy to make.  I made the puff pastry shells about a week ahead and the filling could also be made a few days ahead and kept in the fridge.  I put the filling in a ziplock and just snipped the end about an hour before the party to fill them.  So fast and easy!

 Mini Ice Cream Cone Cake Pops!  I have made cake pops that were very difficult and these were not!  The cake pops I made for Adda's first birthday made me want to say about 50 cuss words.  My mom was here helping me and she might have said about 50 cuss words!  Don't tell her I told you that!

 Neapolitan Cake!  The Inside was also Neapolitan!

 Iced Sugar Cookies!  Usually these are the biggest hits at the party!

 Party Favors!  An ice cream bowl, milkshake straw, ice cream bubbles, and a cookie!

 Blowing out the candles!

 Yum!  Delish!

 Unwrapping presents!

 Sweet Ella enjoying the party!

 Pinata time!

 She did not bust it on the first try.  Everyone when twice and finally Gonzo helped Adda give it a good beating to bust it!

 Candy!!!

  Happy 3rd Birthday Sweet Adda B!

Birthday Catch Up! Adda turns 2!

One of my reasons for doing this blog is to document our family events!  In August I posted about Adda's first birthday.  I never did get her second or third birthday party posted!  I figured I better post them before Ella has her first! 

Before Adda turned two she feel in love with this book.

Her love for the rainbow and it's colors started with this book.  Still she comments on anything that has rainbow colors!  Of, course her favorite is orange and she will tell you that in a split second but she love the rainbow too!  I decided to have her second birthday theme be "Rainbow Butterflies" because of her love for this book! 

The birthday girl when she woke up!  

 She helped Papa put the rainbow pinwheels in the front yard!

 Everybody took a pinwheel home when they left.

 All the rainbow food!

 Sugar cookies!

 I used the same banner as her first birthday and added glitter rainbow butterflies all the way down the banner.  I just didn't have it in me to make a new banner!

 Rainbow Butterfly Cake!  It was very fun to make!

 Front door!

 Party Favors!

This birthday party was very fun for me to plan!  I have a hard time choosing a color from the rainbow.  My favorite is orange but how can you choose just one!  It was a good theme!

Orange!...Rangers

Adda had her first soccer practice last night.  It was pretty amusing to watch all those babies running around chasing a ball.  You could definitely tell the difference between girls and boys!  The boys were running at full speed chasing their ball and the girls were moving at their own pace after their ball.  We have our first game on Saturday and I'm hoping Adda gets the concept of the game a little better by then.  She gets that you don't use your hands and you kick it in the goal but she is in NO hurry to do that.  Let's just say she wasn't sure what Gonzo was meant when he was talking about "hustling!"  Here are a few pictures from practice!  Ultimately it was fun to see her out there with other kiddos and with Abel her cousin, and she had fun!  When we asked her what her favorite part of practice was she said, "When Coach gave me my little bitty soccer water bottle!"  (It was one of those mini water bottles and she got to drink it "all by herself"!)

 Lee and Abel

 Adda is so excited that her team color is orange.  We talked about that she prayed they would be orange!  I even prayed they would be orange because I knew that when we played the orange team she might be a little sad about that game!  The girl LOVES orange!  In fact one of the girls on her team was wearing orange socks and I saw Adda really getting a good look at her sock during one of the drills.  She was down on the ground touching them!