Woo-hoo!! Look Who's 2!!

I can't believe it, but our BABY is 2!! Not even a baby anymore, really! She has already hit the TERRIBLE TWO'S!! The hitting, screaming, tantrums... yep... we've got it all! And oh... it's such a thrill! Ha!
We really do love her very much, and she does bring lots of joy, laughter, and happiness to our home! Like, for instance, today... out in the street... Braeden (aka. Brenen in Ella speak) was out doing his "jumps" on his scooter, and doing his drama fall... on purpose, but every time he would hit the grass, Ella would drop her scooter, run across the way, bend down, and make sure he was okay! She is very sweet sometimes. But just like all other children... she has her MOMENTS!
Happy Birthday, Ella! We love you so much, and we count you as a blessing every day of our lives! We hope that this year is filled with fun, laughter, and learning for you, sweet baby of ours!

She got to have a party with her friends. I'm trying to make EVERYTHING POSSIBLE equal for all my kids. They each get a party each year until they're 3, then it's every odd year they get a friend party, and every even year it's for family only! That way it works out nicely for baptisms, and when they turn 16, I don't have to worry about boy/girlfriends showing up! Ha! Yeesh! I don't even want to imagine the teenage years yet!
So we started out with a tea party with Queen Ella... who would NOT dress up! But she loves tea parties, and she does very well at pouring, and eating all the non-healthy stuff I provide!

She had Macy (who was the only one willing to get dressed up), Alex, Tavin, and Ashlyn! And they had some serious fun with all the tea pots and WATER! Needless to say, we had some soggy pretzels, and watery marshmallows!

Below you will find the look of the hour. You will not see pictures of Lexi here because she got sent to her room when she had a TOTAL come-apart about not being able to sit at the table with all the little ones. Which is what Braeden is also having a cow about! We had even talked about this several times before everyone showed up, but to no avail. They were upset... and I mean UPSET!!! But I offered them all that the tea party had, even my English accent, only they would be required to sit somewhere else. There simply wasn't room. You get 5 two-ish year olds at one table... and ... well, you get it, right??!! They were mad for a while... oh, well! I try my hardest to keep everyone happy... and I'm pretty sure that's where I go wrong. Sigh!

Isn't Ella's expression lovely, too?? Nice picture, people!

We served grapes, red and green, apples, strawberries, mini meat rolls, pretzels, cheese stick slices, alphabet cookies, chocolate chips, marshmallows... and lots of "tea"!

If you can blow this up to take a peek... you will see Ella's dainty tea finger lifted as she drinks away!

Braeden is still obviously upset... But Vinny is okay now! I gave him several extra tea plates and he stacked and organized his treats to his heart's content!

Then we played a game where whoever popped their balloon and found a crown inside got a treat... and guess what? There were crowns in ALL of them! :) Imagine that! It was very funny to see them do this. The reason I picked this is because Ella just LOVES to sit on and pop balloons! She thinks it is the funnest thing ever, but she was the one that ended up standing there like a Dodo with her balloon in hand wondering what on earth she was supposed to do. REALLY??

Ashlyn... she just couldn't get it to pop. Weird! Braeden had to help her. He lifted, pushed, etc. and they finally got it to pop! He crown paper went FLYING! Too funny!

Alex was having much the same problem! ;)

But see how excited Ella is about her treat?? Just what toddlers need, eh? MORE CANDY!

See what I mean??

Nice pose for us singing happy birthday to her! The cupcakes are set on top of little cardboard cake pieces that had the party favors in them. Each child got to take not only a cupcake, but a piece of the "cake"!

Let the cupcake crumb mess begin!

I had also given the kids... not even just Ella... all of them... a new play set with tent, tubes, etc. They filled them with balloons and had a great time squealing as they crawled in and out of them!

Inside the "cake" favor boxes were some bouncy balls! I knew she loved balls before, but now... she REALLY loves them. She can't get enough of them lately, and she just SCREAMS when someone takes one that she KNOWS is HERS! Lovely!

This picture cracks me up for several reasons! #1: Vicky didn't read the invitation very well... it said NOT to bring gifts! (Though I should give her credit here... she did wait until everyone else had gone, so as not to make anyone else feel bad!) #2: Take a look at what happened right after Ella ripped off the wrapping paper... She is pushing Alex away from her new LOUD toy, and Vinny is trying to move her hand away... It's a popular toy around here right now! It has a microphone! Just what Ella needs... MORE VOLUME!! NOT!!!!!!! And #3: They are in a very crowded space right in the middle of the walk-way! Isn't it true that they always pick the worst spots to plant themselves?? ;)

This is what you get after everyone else clears out! Instead of crawling through, you can just stand up and play! Vinny and Lexi had a good time with this for a while... until they just started falling over without any control and decided that it wasn't very much fun to keep falling and hurting themselves!

Ella didn't have a nap at all this special day, so I took her up and gave her a quick shower before dinner, and then she got to open her gifts from us and other family... and Macy... who didn't read the invite either! Tavin did bring her a balloon... and she was so excited about that! But then Braeden took it outside and just let it go. STINKER!!! He's on Santa's naughty list right now... and not just for that... but for many little stinky things just like that! Oooohhhh! He just pushes my buttons!

Back to Ella's birthday... She got lots of fun stuff, and loved it all! Lexi even gave her something that has been very special to her for 3+ years. Her favorite teddy bear! Isn't that sweet?? I didn't even ask her to do that, but she made her a little card, and decided herself that she would give up something that she loves dearly for her little sister's birthday!

And look at her face! She loves it!

I had to put this shot in here because it was a RARE MOMENT that evening... She is actually opening a gift BY HERSELF!

But this is the usual scene! Unwrapping WITH LOTS OF HELP!

This is also a hot item... it's an art easel that Damian and I gave her! One side is a chalk board, the other is a white board. They have been drawing away ever since! They even opened it and assembled it by themselves!

And Damian was able to order something for her just from him! He sent her 100 blocks that fit with the Block-a-dile that lives here already! She loves those things!

She's easy to please! She even loves her new clothes!

And, of course, Lexi is doing her thing! She is always after the ribbon and bows whenever there's a party or gifts of any kind! She just can't get enough!!! She makes me smile! I love stuff like that, too!

And when all is done and opened... this is what my bedroom looks like! AAAHHHHH!!!

Notice that she is reading one of her new mini board books... with RINGS on ALL fingers?? My mom sent her a jewelry box filled with little rings and necklaces! She kept them on until she fell asleep!

She had an exciting, eventful, HAPPY birthday! Thanks to all who came and shared it with us! And to those who couldn't come who were with her in your hearts... THANK YOU, too! We love you all, and we're so grateful to have you! She loved all her presents, and has had a lot of fun with them since!

Happy Birthday, Ella-Bella! We love you so!