First Baseball Game!

A couple of weeks ago we took the girls to their first baseball game…actually it was also mine and Ronnie’s first MLB game together. I hadn’t been to a MLB game since I was 16 and saw the Braves play in Atlanta, and I hadn’t been to a Reds game since Spring Break my sophomore year of high school. It’s a shame, since we are under 2 hours away from Cincinnati!
On Wednesday, June 8 we traveled to Cincinnati to watch the Reds play the Cubs. We met up with our friends Sarah and Nate and their boys Cooper and Hank. They were a few days away from moving to Knoxville, TN. It was a great day to spend together and the kids, especially Ella and Cooper, had a great time playing, though it was HOT. Plus 90 degree temps at a baseball game can be pretty miserable, especially with a 3 year old and a 14 month old. But thankfully our seats were high enough up that we were shaded. If not we probably wouldn’t have lasted very long! Unfortunately we weren't able to pay a whole lot of attention to the game, but we do know that the Reds ended up losing to the Cubs. Here are a few pictures of our day. You'll notice that Ella has a blue mustache in all the pictures - about 3 seconds after we arrived at the park Ella drank a blue Gatorade...it obviously stayed with her! These pictures are completely out of order. I don't know what happened, but I got tired of messing with it so here they are!



Ella said, "Take a picture of me with him!"



 

Ella and Cooper being silly





Me & Sarah





Ella up to bat!

 














Ella the Catcher!





The whole fam







Kendall and Daddy!

 


Beautiful park



Shrek!

On June 7, Ronnie and I were so excited to take Ella to see the Broadway production of Shrek...Shrek: The Musical. It was playing at The Kentucky Center here in Louisville and Ella was fortunate enough to win tickets through a great Louisville newsletter called Macaroni Kids. Ella colored a picture of Gingy, from the movie Shrek, and her masterpiece received the most "likes" on Facebook, so we won four tickets. Thanks to everyone who voted for Ella's photo!

We won four tickets, so we took my cousin Charlie with us. After enjoying a nice dinner at McAlisters, we finally made it to The Kentucky Center and Ella was about to jump out of her skin. She was so anxious to see Shrek! We all had a great time. Shrek: The Musical, like the movie, was full of "adult humor" that was pretty hilarious. Fortunately Ella is not old enough yet to understand any of it! Ella was so funny during the show. Her commentary was a repeat of, "Where is the Princess?....Where did the gingerbread man go?....I want something to drink...Where is the Princess?" We love watching plays, especially Broadway productions. We saw The Lion King in 2007 and it was absolutely amazing. Hopefully there will be more kid-friendly shows coming soon so we can enjoy more shows with the kiddos. Here are some pictures!

First Haircuts

Last Monday, the girls had their first official haircuts. This was Kendall’s first cut ever, and Ella’s first cut from anyone other than Mommy. Let’s just say we were 1 for 2.

I made appointments at Short Cuts 4 Kids…in Springhurst about 5 minutes from our house…right after naptime so they would be fresh. That worked perfectly. They were so excited when we went inside and they saw the toys to play with. Ella went first and chose which car she wanted to sit in. They had 4 cars to choose from, 2 for boys and 2 for girls. Ella chose the purple Princess convertible over the purples Barbie jeep. She was excited when the hairdresser turned the TV on Dora for her, but not so excited when she went to put the apron around her neck. She was ok with that once I explained that the apron would keep her pretty dress clean. (If you haven’t heard yet, Ella will ONLY wear dresses these days.) She did great and sat still while she trimmed her hair. I only wanted a trim. I hope one day Ella’s hair can grow long, but the front has still not quite caught up with the back and it needed a little trim to thicken it up a little. She did great and was excited to hear that she could get a sucker when she was finished. Next up was Kendall. The funniest part of the trip was Kendall's reaction when Ella was getting her hair cut. She was having fun playing with toys, but once she noticed what was going on with Ella she walked around right behind Ella's car and kept pulling at her hair and looking at the hairdresser...it was like she was saying, "Do mine, too!" When it was her turn she sat in the convertible with Ella and, much to my surprise, she didn’t move a muscle!! She sat completely still while the lady cut off her mullet!! Kendall’s mullet had gotten ugly. It pained me to have any of her hair cut, but the mullet had to go.

I was super happy with the haircuts at first, especially when we were only charged a “bang trim” for Kendall instead of a cut, and they gave me a piece of her hair for her baby book and let me take my own pictures instead of charging me for the “First Haircut Special.” Then we got home and after Ella had bounced around a little I realized that the back of her hair was completely uneven and I had to cut it myself. I probably took another full inch off myself trying to even it up. So, we had a great experience AT Short Cuts, but I think I learned my lesson and will continue to cut the girls hair myself until we have a change of style…which hopefully we are several years away from!

Ella trying hard to sit still

Good job, Ella!

Kendall's turn!



Way to go, girls!

No more mullet! Unfortunately I didn't think to get a "before" shot...it was pretty bad!

Water Slide!

Today was Ella's last day of swim lessons. I really hate to see it end because she had really made progress this past week. She started using her arms to swim, instead of just doggie-paddling all over the pool, and she has overcome her fear of the backstroke, which Ella often refers to as "the backrub." The last two weeks on the way to swim lessons..."Mommy, I don't want to do the backrub today." "The what?" "The backrub." "The backstroke?" "Yeah, the backstroke. I don't want to do that." But, while she still doesn't like being on her back in the water, she at least got to the point where she would cooperate without crying and didn't seem nearly as terrified.

Today her regular instructor wasn't there, so another instructor taught the class, who also taught it once before. She kept laughing at Ella constantly saying, "No I can do it myself!" when she would try to help her with something. She is definitely an independent little girl when it comes to doing things. Even as we were leaving today and telling her thank you she mentioned Ella saying, "I can do it myself!" I told her that it's something I hear a lot!

Today at the end of the lessons they let the kids go down the slide. Ella was super excited, until we got in line with the big kids. Then she was nervous and started crying. But she was brave and went down the slide, and then went down a second time. I was so proud of her! I got her second slide on video...

Special Delivery!

Today the girls received a surprise package in the mail from Aunt Tara and almost-Uncle Daniel. Aunt Tara went on a little shopping spree at Crazy 8 (one of my FAVORITE stores to shop for the girls!) and got the girls all set up with new clothes for summer! Ella was so excited to go through her new things when she woke up from her nap. She's turned into my little girly-girl...always wanting to wear a dress and sparkly shoes, carrying a purse wherever she goes, always packing around "lip stick"...it's really funny. Ronnie is mortified, while I think it's adorable. She starts "wee ball" next month - there is plenty of time to roll around in the dirt! Anyway, she was so excited to see her new clothes, especially her two new dresses to add to her lineup. Thanks so much, Tara and Daniel, for the cute new clothes for the girls!

We love our new clothes!

Fashion Show!

Ella the Fish

Two weeks ago Ella started swim lessons! I was so excited to get her signed up, especially since she is in a class with two of her buddies, Gavin and Reagan. I’m not a great swimmer, and Ronnie is counting down the months (or weeks, or days, who knows!) until he buys a boat, so I foresee lots of time on the water for our family! I really hope both our girls become strong swimmers, better than me for sure!
Ella hasn’t had a lot of experience in the water. Our YMCA has an outdoor water park, but we didn’t spend a lot of time out there last summer because Kendall was so young. And her first swim lesson was only her second time in the indoor pool. The first being the night before, when Ronnie took her to get her “warmed up” for her lessons.

We couldn’t be more proud of her. She is doing GREAT!! During her very first lesson the teachers evaluated the kiddos and put them in groups based on their abilities. Ella is in a group with two little boys, so it’s great to have a 3 to 1 ratio. At her second lesson the two boys weren’t there, so Ella got a private lesson!

This was the first “class” of any kind that Ella has ever taken, so I wasn’t sure how she would do following directions and listening to her instructor, especially with me sitting on the side watching, but she has been fantastic! She only got upset one time, and that was two lessons ago when her instructor worked with the kids on the backstroke. She did NOT like being on her back! But I was so proud of her because, even though she was scared and crying, she was tough and stayed in the water and kept trying!

I’m not expecting her to leave these lessons able to swim laps in the pool or anything, but she is definitely more comfortable in the water, which makes me more comfortable for the upcoming pool season. She still wears a swim belt, though she has briefly been in the water with no flotation device. But she does great with her swim belt on and can pretty much go wherever and do whatever she wants to do. She is halfway through her lessons – four down, four to go, and I can’t wait to see how she is doing by the end! Ronnie has been able to watch a couple of her lessons and he is really excited to have more pool time with her after lessons end to help her even more. It’s even made him excited about swimming again and he has been swimming laps in the pool. His knee has been really bothering him lately so that is a great cardio exercise for him right now.

Here are a few pictures of our little fish!

Ella loves swim lessons!

Swimming with the bar

Getting ready to "blast off" as they were introduced to the backstroke...Ella's did not enjoy this. :)

Getting ready to jump in with no swim belt! She jumped all the way to the instructor!



Mother's Day!

So Sunday was Mother's Day, and for the 3rd year in a row Ronnie had to work. Boo!! Since the girls were born he's only had one Mother's Day off, and that was when Ella was 3 months old, and only because the day before he graduated from Medical School. But I still had a fantastic Mother's Day and Ronnie made it very special!
Ronnie worked 12 hour shifts all weekend, but on Saturday night he surprised me when he came home with flowers, a card, a gift card for a massage and, proving that he truly knows the way to my heart, a French silk pie blizzard from Dairy Queen. :) Needless to say, I was excited and surprised. I can't wait to get my massage!
On Mother's Day the girls and I went to church that morning, then after they took their naps that afternoon we went to the park. Not a great idea, I think everyone else decided to go to the park that day, too. But we had a good time! Kendall loves swinging and playing in the dirt. Ella loves pushing Kendall in the swing, and is becoming a very "big girl" at the park and can pretty much do anything she wants with little assistance.
I did have another Mother's Day surprise. On Friday our neighbor Cheri watched the girls while Ronnie and I went to the Oaks. While we were gone, Ella and Cheri made me a beautiful pair of earrings and a necklace. I didn't know anything about this. When Ronnie and I got back Ella had just gone to bed, but she was still awake so we let her get up for a few minutes to say hi. She came downstairs and said, "Daddy, I want to give Mommy her earrings!" Ronnie had a panicked look on his face. It was hilarious. Ross was here when they were making the earrings, so he knew where they were. Ella was so excited to give them to me, and they are so pretty! And Ronnie was relieved. Ella has been known to ruin surprises (ex. On Christmas Ronnie was opening a gift and Ella said "Daddy I helped wrap your black pants!") After I opened the earrings he said, "I didn't know what she was talking about...I didn't get you earrings!" Then the next day Cheri came over with a box and Ella said, "Is that Mommy's necklace?!" Surprise ruined again. She's so funny. :)
I had a great day hanging out with the girls on Mother's Day. We spent a lot of time outside. Ella has pretty much mastered riding her bike that she got for her birthday. After Kendall went to bed Ella and I ate popcorn and watched Tangled. We hadn't seen it yet, but it is really cute! She loved it. Unfortunately she now wants to watch it all the time and we only had a one day Redbox rental. It might be one we will purchase for a special occasion.
And of course I hope my mom had a very special Mother's Day. She's the best!

It's hard to get a good picture when no one is home to take it!

But I think it's even harder to get a picture of the two of them together!