Spring Clean-Up

After Jonathan got home from volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and did a yard spruce-up. Ellison was excited to have her very own gardening gloves, and went to town stuffing garbage bags and spreading pine needles, until she realized they were "pokey", then chose to play instead. Thank God for the twins - they were there to play with her.

Daddy made a fun game of "stuffing the caterpillar", which Ellison thought was great.

[March 27, 2010]

Bunny Day

OK, that's better...

Since we were all husband-less/Daddy-less this day, Megan & Baity and me & Ellison ventured out to take on "Bunny Day" at the Natural Science Center. Thought it'd be great to be in the Easter spirit. Well, Ellison must've left her spirit back on Mackinaw Drive, because she was so NOT into it. She loves animals - as long as their stuffed with cotton or behind a 2-inch thick wall of glass. She didn't want to pet the bunnies AT ALL. Wanted me to hold her the whole time. You could've told her that her beloved Teddy decided to join the Animal Discovery zone and ran off forever, and she would've just looked at me blinking her eyes. Just an off day for Moo-Moo.

Not sure how we managed to get such an animated smile captured in photos when they seemed non-existent that day. At least indoors. She perked up some out in the animal area.

She requested a pink flower for her face painting session.

And Baity had a little bunny face.

Ellison has amazingly never been afraid of mascots. Just the opposite in fact. That seems to be slowly changing right now. She's really excited to see them, but as soon as they get super-close to her, she wants to be held. After fretting for some time that she wanted to see the Easter Bunny, and becoming upset when she saw him/her from afar and we said we'd have to wait a little while to see him/her, we eventually lucked out seeing the Bunny walk down an empty hall toward us. Ellison did not want to be close to the furry creature when she saw the imminent meeting ahead of her.

Now, I know Ellison... she'd say she didn't want to get close, then 2 minutes after the Bunny left she'd cry because she wanted to see it. That is so her. She has this thing with goodbyes lately. She has to have closure several times before she's satisfied. When saying goodbye to me or Jonathan, we do our normal hugging and kissing, and then 30 seconds later as we walk away or get in the car, she starts getting very upset wanting to give one more hug and kiss. And then one more. This happens about 2-3 times before we actually part. And heaven forbid we actually pull away from the driveway or street without waving as she stands in the front door watching, waving, and blowing kisses. Daddy made that sad mistake recently and had to drive back - she was crushed! I swear I about needed a therapy session after witnessing that - so heartbreaking to hear, after watching a face go from smiles to utter sadness and sobbing, "Daddy didn't wave to me!".

Okay, let's rope this sucker in... Digressing... Where was I?

Oh yeah. So because of all of this, I coaxed Ellison into standing, albeit far enough away, by the Easter Bunny for a pic. She looks like she's really enjoying herself, doesn't she?

Baity's turn

As I said, Ellison became more lively outside, and the girls were enjoying themselves.

After a scraped-knee-with-torn-tights incident (poor Baity), we headed back in where Megan and I decided we were in dire need of getting the heck out of dodge and getting some food. After resettling back at their house to eat, things went downhill from there, so Megan and I threw up our hands and realized the day was just "off" for all of us, parted ways, and prayed for some good naps.

[March 27, 2010]

Easter Party

Ellison was in rare form for her preschool Easter Party. She nervously played with the collar on her dress during all of the song performances, but managed to mouth a few words and do some half-hearted choreographed bunny hops toward the end.

Baity, Ellison, Anna, and Nevin

Before snack time, the little people partook in an Easter egg hunt.

At snack/lunch time, Ellison completely was not herself. She wouldn't eat a thing (except for the mini-doughnut) and just pouted and whined for me the whole time, and repeatedly kept asking for the Easter favor baskets. Very non-playful, and I have no idea why, just an off morning, I guess. Poor babe.

[March 25, 2010]

Daddy's Day

We so enjoyed celebrating Daddy's 42nd birthday this year. Complete with homemade cards with the cheeziest decorations (Tools made out of construction paper? Really, Christina? And Ellison's decorations were of course precious and beautiful). Ellison obviously thinks highly of my sick skills, though, 'cause I had to duplicate each paper tool so she could put them on her card, too. I'm not sure Jonathan even knew what they were. Back on track, though...

After Ellison called Daddy to sing him "Happy Birthday", we swung by Maxie B's Bakery to pick out the most delicious cupcakes ever, picked up a birthday balloon, then headed over to surprise Daddy at work, the whole while praying we could catch him before he skipped out for lunch. Ellison was SO flippin' excited. We quietly made our way to Daddy's cubicle, where she exclaimed, "Surprise!" Jonathan actually was surprised, even though he told me Ellison busted our cover a few nights previously after I went to work. After repeatedly telling her not to tell Daddy about our plans for his birthday, she apparently did just that. Jonathan explained that he was a little puzzled when she mentioned it, but completely forgot about it until he saw us. So I guess you could say it was successful. It was fun, nonetheless. :-)

After making Daddy's requested birthday meal, we enjoyed some yummy ice cream cake from Carvel's (Daddy's fave). Teddy joined in on the festivities, too.

Hope it's a fabulous year for you, Papi!!! We love you to pieces!

[March 26, 2010]

High Fashion

Little did I know I don't have to worry about getting rid of my old clothes anymore. For some reason, I've had trouble parting with a skirt I bought in Spain, and Ellison apparently took notice. She asked to put it on, and we "refurbished" it into a flowy dress that she loves wearing around the house. It now has a halter top with some lovely safety pin detail.

Stories with Papi

There's just something I love about stumbling upon special Daddy and Mookie moments.

[March 20, 2010]

St. Patty's Day

After going to Miss Debbie's class on St. Patrick's morning while I went to Bible study, we headed home where our little leprechaun felt content that I let her use my Philosophy lipstick - her favorite. I love turning around in the van to see lipstick shmeared all over that cute little mouth.

Daddy came home to join us for a picnic lunch outside since it was such a beautiful day.

Setting the table, a chore she loves to do.

Sucking on a bite of food, like always. She still does this, and mealtimes still take 67 minutes each because of it, and after 3 bites she claims she's full, then runs off to play, only to start whining 10 minutes later, "I'm hungry! May you get me a snack?"

Spring has arrived!

[March 17, 2010]

Lunch with the Perez Gals

After a fun morning at school (Ellison excitedly described how a leprechaun, whom she called "a little man", came into their class and did tricks like turning their chairs upside down), we met up with the Perez girls whom we hadn't seen in forever! We got together for a fun lunch at Tex & Shirley's, and all the girls were great. It was so nice to catch up since our meetings have been rare this past year with Ellison and Caroline being on opposite preschool schedules. The two big girls played SO well together! It was so sweet - they were playing doctor with their little dolls with each other, and giggled together like 2 school girls. We're looking forward to summer and hopefully being able to get our circle of moms and kiddos together more often. Our little Latinas need to stick together! Ha! Thanks, Perez chicas, for a great lunch!

We had to hit the "Hopscotch store" (aka Carters) to return something, then I made the executive decision to scrap the nap/quiet time that day to take Ell over to Barnes & Noble to play. She headed right for the Disney Princess books, and just sat and perused them for the longest time before having me plop down to read them to her.

Sitting with her legs just like Aunt Carrie always used to...

[March 16, 2010]

The Pillow Pet Project

Thank you, Nick Jr. or Disney's Playhouse, for gearing your commercials toward children. Ever since the commercials for Pillow Pets came on, Ellison would stop dead in her tracks and be in complete awe, saying how much she wanted a Pillow Pet. It got to the point, and I'm not exaggerating at all, where she actually pitched the concept to me. "Pillow Pets are washable, and it's a full size pillow, and I can put my jammies inside to go to Grandma's house." I think it's fair to say she was REALLY listening to the commercial every time. Anyway, we decided we would introduce the concept of working for something to her. If I had only known how well it would work, I would've made her work for it for 3 months instead of 8 days. OK, so we were just as excited for her to reap the rewards as she was. Anyway, we made a chart for her with 2 categories, and each time she went to bed like a very big girl (without calling for us for non-emergencies, and without getting out of bed needlessly) or she got ready in the morning without any spunking, she would get a sticker to put on her chart. We were having such frustration with both areas until the chart was developed, and it WORKED LIKE A CHARM! She was Pillow Pet owner-bound in no time.

The day arrived when the unicorn Pillow Pet (she immediately decided on the unicorn from the 20+ animals) finally arrived in the mail. We were SOOOO excited!

Explaining to me how to turn the pillow into the animal...

Way to go, Mookie! You did such a great job earning "Unicorn"!

[March 11, 2010]