Ella's 2nd Birthday!

I know I sound so, so, so, cliche when I say, that it seems like Ella was born yesterday... but nonetheless, it literally seems like yesterday that Ella was born. I just look at her and I can't believe the sweet (and fiesty) little girl that she has become! She is such a blessing! I am so thankful for her. 

Just a few things that I LOOOOOOVE about this little girl: 

-She is so friendly! This wasn't always the case, but she has turned into quite a little social butterfly! She waves to everyone, talks to every child she sees, and loves to make new friends. I love her little personality!

-She loves arts and crafts! I'm sure this is just her age, but she absolutely loves creating things! She loves to string beads, play with playdoh, color pictures, glue ANYTHING, and her absolute favorite, PAINTING! 

-She loves to read! We've been reading to her since she was a baby! And for a few months (after Cora was born and life was extra crazy) we had gotten out of the habit of reading to her... but now we read to her every single night and she loves it. Her favorite books right now are Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Goodnight Moon. She asks for "Boom Boom" and "Dight Dight Boon." I LOVE reading to her! It's one of my favorite parts of our days.  

-She loves movies & music! Her favorite movie FOREVER, was Frozen, which she calls "Go!" Then she was in love with The Little Mermaid, which she calls "Sea!" And now her favorite is Beauty and The Beast, which she calls, "Beast!" She also looooooves music and loves to sing! She will sing "Let it Go" which sounds like "gooooooooooooooo" and she is starting to sing  Jesus loves me! I love listening to that sweet little voice sing! 

-She loves animals! She has loved animals since she was a teeny tiny baby and she still does! She loves all of the dogs in her life, our goats, Grammy and Pawpaw's chickens, and her very favorite, our kitten panther, who she has named, "kitty kitty." 

-She LOVES her family! Of course she loves her mama and daddy, but she loves all of her grandparents, great grandparents, and aunts and uncles! She loves to ask where each one of them is and if your answer happens to change, she will remind you where they were the first time she asked.  She also loves her baby cousin, Braden! She loves to feed him his bottle! 

-She loves Cora! She absolutely LOVES Cora. She will NOT say her name at all, but she calls her "Baby!" She has only said her name one time! haha She loves to see her when she wakes up in the morning and from her nap! If she doesn't spot her right away she starts asking, "Where baby go?" She loves to hug, kiss, and hold her! I love when she says "Hold you baby!" Which means, she wants to hold Cora! She loves to snuggle up with Cora and watch a movie. I can't wait until Cora gets a little older and they can truly play together! I love watching their sweet relationship grow!! 

 On her actual birthday we ate some birthday cake and sang happy birthday!! 

For Ella's birthday this year we decided not to do a big party with friends... So a few days after her actual birthday, we had all of her favorite people over also known as, her grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and Braden! We were just missing Nene! Nehemiah made gumbo & potato salad, Ella & I made cupcakes, and Grammy & Pawpaw made ice cream! It was perfect and a fun little evening!

 

Walking her balloons to the mailbox!

She didn't really want to leave them at the mailbox! haha

She helped me stick the sunflowers on the cupcakes... Then later on I noticed somebody had tasted one of them... lol

Blowing out her candle!

Trying out her new easel before she went to bed!

A couple weeks later, Ella & Cora's cousin Kade came in from Tennessee! His birthday is just a few days after Ella's birthday, so we had a little birthday party at Grammy & Paw-Paw's house for the two of them! So much fun!

Three SWEEEEEEEEET babies!!

Grammy & Paw-Paw with their favorite people on the planet!

Ella eating her "icee cake!"

Kade eating his lunch!

Playing with his new toys!

Trying out her new toys and wearing her apron Aunt Ann made for her!

I love Ella's face in this picture!! We only see Kade a few times a year since we leave so far away, but Ella always remembers Kade and asks about him all the time! She calls him "Tade."

They had to play in the "wa-wa!"

Cora wanted to play in the "wa-wa" too!

PRECIOUS!

We had such a great time celebrating Ella's 2nd Birthday!!! We love that little girl, SO MUCH.