Easter Celebration

We had a wonderful Easter. While it wasn't Ella's first Easter, last year she was only a few weeks old so this year we had the chance to really celebrate. Here are a bunch of pictures from Easter weekend.

Here is Ella with the Easter bunny. She was laughing the whole time! I thought she'd be scared but she was LOVING it!

Dyeing Easter eggs. Ella really didn't participate as much as she just tried to put them in her mouth. A few pictures after this, her lips actually turned purple because she tried to put the egg in her mouth!

The finished product. Aren't they pretty? :)



This Easter was very special for Tom. Since September, he has been going through RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) at our church. He was always raised Christian, of course, but had never made a decision about which church was right for him. These classes have been wonderful, and he is now officially part of the Catholic Church. We are so excited. The RCIA program ends at the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday with baptism, confirmation and first communion. So, in front of the church, family and friends, Tom was baptized and it was wonderful. A friend of mine has pictures of it that I don't have yet.....I was Tom's godparent/sponsor for baptism/confirmation so instead of taking pictures, I was standing there with a towel waiting for him when he got out of the baptismal font. This picture is of us after the ceremony. It was one of the neatest things I've ever seen. Tom is so happy that he made this decision.

EASTER MORNING

Here is Ella's Easter basket. We filled it with all of her favorite things.....Spongebob, toys and books. And some M&M's because hey......what's an Easter basket without a little candy?

Ooooh! What's this?

This is fun! (Notice that the M&M's are still in her hand!)

Working on her new puzzle.

Giving Spongebob a big hug!

Hmmmm..what's this purple one do?

The three of us at my parent's house after church on Easter. We had a brunch complete with Breakfast casserole, biscuits and gravy, fruit salad, muffins, croissants and punch!

Ella and Mommy :)

I'm outta here, man.

I love her Easter dress. Of course, she wouldn't leave her headband on...so I gave up! Isn't this precious?

A weekend this busy makes a girl tired! She had already fallen asleep when we left my parent's house on Easter. It's hard work being so beautiful, ya know!

We hope everyone had a very Happy and Blessed Easter this year. We know we did. Let us all remember the reason we celebrate this most special day. God Bless you all!

A Week in Pictures

Wow! The past couple of weeks have been crazy busy! I haven't even had time to make a post, so here are some pictures we captured over the past 10 days or so. They are pretty random, but hopefully you'll enjoy them anyway.

This is Ella eating chicken. I thought it was funny to note how much actually ends up on her as opposed to in her mouth. She loves it, though!

Mmmmmm......

Hey, Ella. You've got a little something on your shirt there sweetie :)

Now that Ella is a year old, she gets to face forward in her new big girl car seat. This is the precious face I get to see when I turn around now. I love it! We just talk all the time now in the car!

Here is Ella with cousin Emma when she was at our house last weekend. Ella LOVES Emma!

Emma's birthday was on St. Patty's Day! She turned 8 years old. I can't believe that my little baby niece is 8. It just doesn't seem possible! Here we are at her birthday party. She's a smart girl.....her request for dinner was homeade spaghetti and instead of cake she wanted Turtle cheesecake from Slice a Pie (an AWESOME pie shop here in town). She is such a wonderful little girl. When we hang out now, it's like having a girlfriend over! And Ella loves to play with her.

Uncle Tommy with Emma. This picture is precious.

Ella with Emma and her other cousin Miah. Look at those gorgeous girls!!

Hope you all like the pics, I needed to play catch up! Next up be looking for all of our Easter pictures! Love to you all!

Party

Ella's birthday party was on Saturday. It was a great day. I was so happy, but a little sad at the same time, too. Just watching it all, the presents, the cake....I couldn't believe that only a year ago she was a tiny, helpless little baby in my arms. Now she's a big girl :( But we sure did have a great time watching the guest of honor open presents and eat the cake! Hope you all enjoy the pictures....there were so many to choose from, so I tried just to pick my favorites (it's so hard!)

The Birthday girl in her party dress (eating a cracker!)

Snack/Cake Table
Decorations and snack table
Ella's cake!
This was Ella's cake for her to eat/destroy. Her Daddy made it for her :)

Ella with Mommy and Daddy.

Reading birthday cards with Mommy.
Opening presents.
Family. Adam (Tom's brother), George and Parrie (Tom's parents).
Ella sliding down her new Climb and Slide castle from Mommy and Daddy :)

Ella's high chair and cake...ready for a messSinging 'Happy Birthday' to the Birthday girl!
Hmmmm....what's this?Let me get a better taste....

Chubby, chocolatey hands!

Ella was clapping a lot.....the cake must have been really good!

This face is hilarious. Here we are getting ready to put her in the bathtub. I think she's a little glazed over here from all of the sugar!

Getting cleaned up....I think Ella is a little tired!

After bath, nice and comfy. My happy girl :)

Ella and Mommy after her party.

We had such a wonderful time. It is a day I know I'll never forget. We got 75 pictures ALONE of the cake eating frenzy! It was great not only to get to celebrate Ella's first birthday, but to get to celebrate the most wonderful year of our lives!

My New Hair

So, I got my hair cut off last Friday. I had been wanting to for awhile, so finally decided to go for it. I really like it, although I was actually hoping for something a little shorter, a little more drastic. Oh well. I suppose you can always get more cut off...but you can't add to it once it's gone, right? I also got some highlights. You like?

One Year Old

Here are our pictures from Ella's birthday last Wednesday. Since her party wasn't until Saturday, we still had to celebrate big on her actual birthday! So we took her out for her first pizza at our favorite local pizzeria (Alex's) and then had ice cream afterwards. It was a great time. She loved the pizza, of course. And the ice cream was a huge hit, too. (hard to believe?)First thing in the morning, a picture of the birthday girl. Poor thing....I think the flash blinded her! A bit of a rude awakening....but I couldn't help myself!
The Birthday Girl!
Hanging out at home.
Playing in her room.....trying to find something good to read :)
This is at Alex's Pizza. She had to be tired of the pictures by now ;)

Daddy, Ella and Mommy
Yum! This pizza is good!
This face is so funny....like she's not quite sure about it. But she did love it!
Mmmmmmmm......
Ice Cream.....you think she likes it?

It was a great day! I can't believe she is 1 already. My how time flies....