Thursday morning we made our way into Ellie's room with a shower of balloons and a birthday song, as has become our tradition. She squealed and jumped and was beyond thrilled with her little wake up call. What was even better was when she heard "Ellllieee...." coming from down the hall, and she bounded off her bed in one giant leap. She ran down the hall as fast as her legs could carry her and found her grandparents in the guest room! Grant's mom and dad, Baba and Papa, drove in from New Orleans late Wednesday night and Ellie was already asleep when they arrived. She was so excited to see them! She opened a few presents with them and then made her way downstairs to find a few more from her Mommy and Daddy:
Yes, that is a giant magnadoodle. On an easel! And the other side is a dry erase board. She loves it! I found it on Amazon - it was well priced and a big hit!
After she opened our gifts, we told her about her other birthday present - we had to get in the car almost immediately because we were going to the circus! The circus started at 10:30am and it was so fun. She felt most of it was a little too loud but she loved everything she saw and she loved sitting with her grandparents. They even got her a "stick light" that she is still obsessed with. She almost puts our eye out with it every time she plays with it, but so far we've all been spared from any major injuries.
Here we are before the circus started:
I'm only about 24 weeks pregnant, but the puffy face has already decided to join us. I mean, mercy. I. Am. So. Puffy. Just like Princess Kate, right?
We grabbed lunch after the circus and then got that little birthday girl home for a nap! We spent our evening at one of our favorite restaurants in Katy, Mom's Eats, and topped off the big day with ice cream.
Friday was a day full of getting ready for the party and running various errands. We spent the evening in the pool with Baba and Papa and Ellie practically had to be dragged out of the pool at 9:45pm. She is becoming quite the little fish and loves the water.
Saturday was spent getting ready for the big event, which started at 4pm. I am really bad at taking pictures on busy days like that, so I don't have too much to show you. All I know is that our home was filled to the brim with family and friends, the food was plentiful, and the birthday girl had a great time. My heart was and is very, very full.
HEB cakes for life.
For food, we started the party with chips, veggie trays, fruit kabobs, cookies, brownies and Goldfish. Around 5:15 pizzas were delivered from Papa John's, and then we busted out the cake around 6:15. So, you know, it was a super healthy party.
Here's my husband eating pizza while swimming, setting a great example for children everywhere!
I loved seeing a full backyard. It was so fun to throw our first big party in this house.
We opened presents in a flurry of chaos, and Ellie was beyond pleased. She walked around in this Elsa dress for quite some time. In case you were wondering, that Elsa dress lights up. And it sings.
After the party died down, I collapsed for a bit because DID YOU KNOW THAT IT IS HOT OUTSIDE?! I didn't think I would ever get cooled down again. Our Louisiana family joined us for a big, family slumber party. Our house was full! Baba, Papa, Chase, Ronda, Evan, Emily, Olivia, Me, Grant, and Ellie. All under one roof! After we got the kids to bed, Chase, Ronda, Grant and I stayed up till almost 1am because we are just wild party animals and we played Scrabble.
When I walked out of my bedroom the next morning, I walked out to find this:
I love sweet kiddos in pajamas. Especially cousins all snuggled up watching Baymax. :)
We took it easy that morning. Grant picked up Black Walnut Cafe for breakfast while we all took our time getting ready and the family packed themselves up for their drives home.
I really, really can't explain how grateful my heart felt this weekend. Grateful for our home and for our people and for our girl. Grateful for 3 years with the absolute honor and privilege of being Ellie Paige's Mommy.
Not to mention that Baba happened to show me these pictures of my girl in the hospital. I thought I was going to have to go crawl in bed and sob. I mean, I can't even process.
I am just so thankful.
And now I shall return to the mountain of laundry this weekend created. It's a small price to pay....
If you follow me on Instagram or the So.Many.Words. Blog Facebook page, you'll be able to see a few small video clips from this weekend, including a clip of Ellie showcasing how she lost her voice from all the fun!
No comments:
Post a Comment