Elise's 2nd Birthday

My baby girl is 2!!

Elise doesn't really get birthdays yet, but she was thrilled when she woke up to a house full of balloons.

When I got her dressed and tried to take some birthday pictures she wasn't too interested anymore...

...then she saw the pretty presents and the yummy cupcakes!

Cole taught her that she was 2 and tried to get her to hold up two fingers. She got the words down, but she kept holding up four fingers. It was really frustrating for Cole...he kept saying "No Ellie, 2 not 4" :) When we were at Target the checker asked Ellie if she was 1. Ellie said "No, I two!!" and held up four fingers. Later she told our neighbor Jan "I four" as she shook her head no because she was trying to tell her that she wasn't four. I love my girl!!

After Daddy got home from work we had a birthday party with some friends at the clubhouse. I'm not sure if Ellie remembered the birthday candle incident from her first birthday, but she kept her distance from the candle this year :)

Surprisingly El didn't try to open her presents all day. Cole tried many times, but Ellie just admired the pretty paper and ribbons. When it was finally time to open presents she was amazed to find fun things inside. Her favorite seemed to be the purse. She kept it on her shoulder while opening the rest of the presents :)

Elise also loved her Dora jammies, the West Virginia teddy bear from GG and Grandpa Green's mission, and getting a box in the mail from Grandma and Grandpa Coombs. Although she loved all the goodies in the box, she had fun playing with box itself :)

To Cole's great disappointment Ellie didn't get an automated side loader garbage truck this year :)

I love you my sweet baby girl!

I love your perfect size and your fun personality.

I love your adorable chubby cheeks that flap in the wind when you run :)

I love your perfect dancer legs that you use every time you hear music...and I LOVE to watch you dance and dance with you!!

I love that you are a thumb-sucker and that you like to cuddle with me when you do suck your thumb.

I love that you adore your brother and try to do everything he does...even the dinosaur roar :)

I love that you love books and want me to read to you all the time.

I love that you are a tough girl who laughs when you fall down and say "konk!"

I love that you are a girly-girl who loves pink, purses, and shoes.

I love that you have Daddy under your spell and can get him to do anything for you :)

I even love that you have a talent for trouble and that you think it's funny to do naughty things like dump a whole box of goldfish crackers in the dryer or nail polish on the carpet or make-up ALL over you!

I love every bit of you, inside and out!!

I don't want you to grow up, but I know it's inevitable...and I'm sure you will just get more and more fun as the years go by!!

Little Kickers

Back row: Rykker, Grace, David

Front row: Anna, Ethan, Cole

Coaches: Travis Tidwell and Ben Coombs

We signed up Cole to play soccer for the first time. He ended up on a team that is all neighbors, so most of the time he is goofing off and doing somersaults:

But occasionally he will get his head in the game and go after the ball:

Ben is the assistant coach so he gets a little frustrated with Cole's goofing around, but the rest of us have fun watching all the 4 and 5 yr old antics on the field...it's quite the show! And hopefully Cole is learning something about the sport.

Make-up Artist

The picture says it all.

El's first make-over was quite the mess...and she was pretty proud of herself :)

Back to School

Cole was so excited for the first day of preschool! We almost didn't send him this year because of rotations, but he had his heart set on preschool. I am so glad he is able to go.

Drive-In

Our friends found a drive-in theater not too far away. It's our new favorite thing!

Ben's finally glad we have a minivan ;)

Meals From the Heartland

Our branch helped serve at Meals From The Heartland tonight. It is an organization in Iowa that one week a year will put together prepackaged meals for thousands of starving people worldwide. There are a bunch of assembly lines that put rice, protein, and dried veggies together in one sealed bag that when mixed with water can feed six people. It is a really neat organization and a really fun family service project. The kids love wearing the aprons, gloves and hair nets and scooping the food.

This is the second year we have been able to help. We had a lot of fun serving with our friends again. I hope this is a tradition that sticks!