Happy 4th Birthday Ella!

Four years ago, at 11:12 am, you entered this big world and made me a mom. Not just any mom, but Ella's mom. I took one look at your sweet face and saw every bit of your daddy in you. Even though I was still in pain I managed to laugh, cry and smile at the fact my dream finally came true...I was a mom to this beautiful little girl. When I held you in my arms and looked in your eyes, my life has never been the same.

I can't believe you are four today! You've been in my life for 1,461 days and each day I am more and more thankful. I am blessed to have a daughter as amazing as you. You are my girly girl with a tomboy side. You love pink, princesses and dressing in tutus. You sing along to the radio and memorize the words to songs better than I can. I love that you are obsessed with reading as much as me, and you are a master at anything "I Spy".  You love to pick flowers and put them in your hair. As of right now, you want to be a mermaid when you grow up, but also a doctor. You are protective of your little sister and adore being around her. You have this beautiful shyness to you that I have learned to embrace and you have a keen sense to know just when I need a hug. You were my little buddy during your daddy's Korean tour and now you are my little buddy during this deployment. You will never realize just how much I depend on you to keep me smiling.

I will forever have a special bond with you as my firstborn. You keep my world a busy one filled with love, laughter and tons of hugs and kisses. Thank you for changing my life and making me understand why being a mama is the BEST and most important job in the world. I love you to the moon and back, and back around, my sweet Ella. Happy 4th birthday.

Love, Mama

Just a few hours old

One day old...your first Halloween.

1st Birthday!

Celebrating your 2nd birthday in South Korea...you still ask for chopsticks at meals.

Waking up to a balloon filled bedroom on your 3rd birthday

3rd birthday at the Science Museum

Happy 4th birthday!

My Almost 4 Year Old...

..is having a birthday this weekend...and we are off to a surprise magical getaway. She has NO idea:)

Love them.

How do I love these girls? Let me count the ways.

I love their cute little faces.

I love their idea of breakfast in bed(room).

I love their selfishness with food. "Don't you dare take my 'nana, mom"

I love her silly side.

I love her sweet side.

And together, I love their sisterly bond.

Party Animals!

Did I mention I love October? Well I love it even more now that I have children. They get invited to some pretty cool Halloween parties. Ella's friend, Emme, had a spider party. Of course I didn't get any pictures of the fun things they did, but they went on a spider hunt (I say they, but Ella was throwing a fit during that), they made a spider craft, had spider face painting (Ella refuses to get her face painted..ever.) played on the playground, ate yummy food and just enjoyed time with friends. I loved meeting new friends and catching up with old ones as well. SO nice to be around some of my best friends from high school who now have these beautiful babies!!

She loves slides. She has no fear. At all.

Taylor and Emme pushing Madeline on the swing. Such good mama's little helpers.

I'm pretty sure Madeline wasn't enjoying this.

But she was enjoying this cookie.

Do you see what I see? HAIR! She's finally growing some. And it's way lighter than I ever thought it would be.

We also went to a really cool Halloween party at Airheads Trampoline Arena. One of my sorority sisters and her hubby own this place (read: we had the entire place to ourselves) and it's AMAZING and FUN and my girls had a blast. The two of them were so sweaty by the time they took their helmets off, it looked like they had just taken a bath. The girls ate pizza and cookies, made a pumpkin craft and played arcade games. Skee ball with a 1 yr old is quite interesting. She may or may not have thrown the ball at someone. I still adore her even though her aim is SO off. Again, I probably had more fun than my kids because I was bouncing off the walls as well AND I got to hang out with some of the most beautiful, classy ADPi's out there!

Hunting for tokens...do you see how sweaty she was??

Ella won 100 tickets at her first game and from there she was a gamer. Hooked.

My little Madeline...not so little anymore bouncing like a big girl. She had quite the tumbles, too.

One of my sorority sisters Jaclyn and her daughter Eva. Jaclyn went into labor that night. Haha

Ella bouncing and kicking!

She was hesitant at first, but ended up asking to go back again before we left the parking lot.

Soccer mom?

It's a love-hate relationship with this sport for Ella. She loves practice. She hates playing in the games. I am beginning to think she is not a team player. But, my dreams of being a soccer mom are not over just yet. (Come on, who doesn't want a minivan with a soccer ball magnet and their kid's names plastered all over their vehicle?...insert big sarcasm please). I have faith in my child that she will pull through and LOVE it. After all, she finally kicked the ball during a game last week. My mom and I believe it's the boys who scare her. They are a bit rough and intimidating. They fight their own teammates for the ball. Must be a boy thing because the girls are all off picking dead grass bouquets or crying or discussing their uniforms. Either way, I am totally that mom because I swear my kid has soccer skills. (She obviously gets that from her dad because this mama has never played a day of soccer in her life). But Ella does really well dribbling, kicking and she can even do tricks with the ball! I feel like all of that amazing talent will be thrown down the drain never to be seen again all because the team just had to be co-ed. And well, Ella and boys...don't mix yet. Although she does mention the cute boys in her class being her friends. Too bad they aren't on the soccer team. I wouldn't even care if she chased them on the field. At least she would be chasing something!

Of course Madeline loves any and all attention.

October...whaaaaat?!

Is it really the last week of October? I blinked and my favorite month of the year is closing in on me. Why is my life flying by? Oh that's right. God wants this year to be the fastest one of my life so I don't have time to miss my husband. (Sorry God, but it's not working. I still miss him every second of every day.)

Let's see. October, October October. You have been very good to me. I turned 31 this month. It was probably the best birthday I have ever really celebrated (and actually remembered). My wonderful husband made sure that I had an unforgettable weekend. It started off with dinner and drinks with close friends. A quiet, but just what I needed, kind of night. The next day, my sis-in-law Monica came by the house with a video message from Tom telling me to pack an overnight bag because I was getting a night away from being a mama. The mother-in-law took the girls for me and Monica and I headed to St. Pete Beach. We laid out, had cocktails until the sun set, went to a nice dinner, crashed a bachelor party, made new friends, laughed until we cried, and had more cocktails until the sun *almost* came up. Finished the weekend with more sun by the pool and a pina colada, angel food cake at my in-laws house and tons of snuggle time with my girls. I have to say Monica was the perfect person for me to go away with. She's one of my very best friends and I can't thank her and my hubby enough for the most fabulous birthday ever. Turning 31 was a piece of cake. :)

Yup, they sang happy birthday to me at dinner.

My beautiful preggo friends (whom make awesome DD's) and my future SIL Jenny

Monica and I

Sad we didn't get a group shot of everyone at dinner, but I guess we were too busy stuffing our faces to break out a camera.

Post Card Inn on St. Pete Beach

October is to be continued...