Friday, April 23, 2010





I can't believe my baby girl is 5 years old! When the kids turn 5, they get their first "friend birthday party"...so this was Elli's big year! She wanted to have a Princess Party - so all her friends dressed as their favorite princess and we played all Princess games including pin Cinderella in the castle, pass the glass slipper, princess dress up relay, decorated "princess picture frames" and of course ate cake!
Her cake was awesome - it was a pink purse that my neighbor made and the girls all loved it... I had a hard time when it came time to cut into the masterpiece! Elli had a great time being a Princess for a day!(who am I kidding, she thinks she's a Princess every day!)
She also got to celebrate her birthday with all the McDougal side of the family at Chuck E Cheese with her cousins, Olivia and Shelby, who also have March birthdays - what could be more fun than bad pizza, delicious cake and ice cream and all the germs...oh I mean games you could wish for!
As if 2 parties wasn't enough, we then had a party celebration with cousin Adam and all the Gallacher side of the family also - there is nothing like a whole week of parties to keep our little red head grounded!!
I can't believe she has gotten so big...she will be starting Kindergarten this summer and she keeps all of us on our toes with her crazy personality and attitude. The other morning she came in at her normal 7am to let me know that she was starving and that she needed her daily dose of oatmeal and she couldn't wait another minute (which basically explains anything in Elli's life)...so I said to her "I think you have a hole in your stomach because you are always hungry" and she responded very matter of factly, "No Mom, that is my belly button and it can't leak".
We love our little Elli!

Almost a Year!




Wow - look at me , I can stand up all by myself in my crib ... good thing Dad lowered my mattress a few days ago! March 20, 2010



How cute is this little man - he is starting to look so much more like a little boy than my little baby boy. He is now 11months old and can crawl and chase all his sisters and brother with no trouble at all. I can't believe how fast time is going by - just today I was preparing dinner at the kitchen counter and Connor was hanging on my leg as usual and I thought to myself how crazy is it that this is the last little one to hang on to me as I try to cook dinner. (Now don't get me wrong - most of the time I am constantly moving him and being a little annoyed that I have a permanent attachment to my leg ... but today for those few moments it seemed like a wonderful thing. Kind of like when you peek in on your sleeping children at night and love how peaceful they look!) This little guy is so much fun to have around - even with his 2nd ear infection since easter and also a 2nd round of croup, you would never know it - he is almost always happy...especially if mom is holding him - but I might as well enjoy it while I can.