Happy Birthday!

Ella was VERY excited about her Oreo Sundae!

















Ella and Ramsey




















This was one of her VERY favorite gifts





Ella turned 2 yesterday! It is amazing how fast the time goes.... We had dinner at Friendly's last night (a little tradition we started last year) and an ELMO
Birthday party today. She had a great day with all her friends and family here.... and, of course, she got LOTS of nice gifts!

Merry Christmas To All!

Usually our Christmas is very low key with just us and my family. This year was different as my Aunt and Uncle, Cousins, and Grandmother made it to Richmond for the Holiday! We had Christmas Eve dinner at mom and dad's before church and then visited some more afterwards. Ella thought she was a princess in her beautiful dress from her Nonna. On Christmas morning, we had breakfast and opened gifts at our house and then moved to mom and dad's house for stockings and dinner.

Ella had a great time and was especially happy to see her Aunt Brady and Uncle Dave and their puppies! I am not so sure the dogs were so happy to see her though! Ella figured out the art of opening gifts very quickly. She did poop out before we could finish opening gifts so she had to finish opening hers later in the day. Her favorite gifts included her squeaky shoes and crocs from her Nonna and Papa (she does LOVE shoes!) and her swing set from Santa Claus!

Santa Claus

We went to the country club today to have brunch with Santa Claus. Ella wanted nothing to do with him, however she was very interested in the candy canes he had! We were able to get her in the same vicinity as Santa so she could get a candy cane but that was it. There was no chance of her sitting on his lap! Better luck next year!

Trimming the Tree

Ella picked out our Christmas Tree this year. It took awhile because she liked them all and really just liked being outside at the Christmas Tree lot. The tree she finally picked is a very nice one. Trimming the tree with her was a lot of fun. She had a great time unwrapping all the ornaments and looking at them. However, I think she took as many ornaments OFF the tree as she put on! Mommy had to do most of it after Ella went to bed!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving at Smith Mountain Lake with mom and dad. It was nice and relaxing. Ella loves being outside, especially at the lake with her Nonna and Papa. Tony did a lot of hunting and the rest of us watched a lot of football.

BOO!

Ella's Pumpkin and Daddy's Pumpkin

What a pretty Butterfly!

Ella really enjoyed her Halloween. She was very excited about carving her pumpkin, but she really wanted to color it first. So that is what she did! She wasn't crazy about sticking her arm inside the pumpkin, but had a great time playing with the goop once it was scooped out!

It didn't take her long to get into the trick-or-treating either. First stop was at Nonna and Grandpa's and she quickly learned how to transfer the candy from Nonna's bowl into her pumpkin!

Pumpkin Patch

Today we visited the Pumpkin Patch so Ella could pick out her pumpkin for Halloween. She had a great time in the field finding just the right pumpkin and poising for pictures with Ramsey and Madison. Afterwards, she played in the corn pit. As you can see, she thought this was great fun!