Ella's 4th Birthday!!

Well, we have a 4-year-old.....and she's the sweetest 4-year-old on the face of the planet!! Since March 30th fell on a Saturday this year, we could have her party on her actual birthday!! Such a fun-filled time at MoJoBas (or the "jumpy-place," as the girls call it). Check out our celebration of FOUR FABULOUS years of our precious "E-Bobby-T!!!"

Ella got all dolled-up in her "Birthday Girl Outfit" given to her by Grandmommie....

.....and we headed out to MoJoBas to party with our friends and family. :) :) :)

Here's Nora greeting one of her BFFs, Annabelle (her momma hugs me like that everyday, also) :)

Ella and Addie share the same birthday. Addie is about12 hours older, and 12 inches taller. :)

Audrey and Halle are also just a few days apart in age....

I still can't get over Halle's head FULL of hair!!

Nora and McKayla....

 Lilah, Nora, & Annabelle....

Tyson, Michelle, and Audrey :)

 Daddy & Claira (who wasn't feeling very well.....as you will see in the upcoming Easter Blog, all that dang bunny brought us was a bunch of GERMS!!)

PawPaw was feeling badly, too......he was getting over pneumonia, so he and Clairy bonded. :)

 The "big kids" and little kids played for a while..... here's Uncle Bug and Halle on the slide...

Slay-Bear and some other adults played the golf simulators.....

.....and of course, it can't be a party without some dancing and cheerleading....

Finally, it was time to sing "Happy Birthday," and have cupcakes!! I mistakenly bought some "extra-skinny" candles, and we had a time getting those things lit!!! Leave it to me..... ;)

 Ella's and Rhett's post-cupcake faces :)

Then, we opened presents!! Ella loved all of her gifts!!

 After the party, Grandmommie took the "big girls" to the mall so they could "Build a Bear." They've been wanting to do that for weeks!! I thought it was pretty neato that they each got a "carrier-sling" for their bears so that they could "match mommy when she carries Claira." :)

I honestly can't even begin to verbalize just how special Ella is. She is way beyond special, with a heart as big as Texas. She tells us she loves every hour on the hour.....sometimes, she will even run in from playing outside just to remind us that she loves us!! When I asked her what her favorite part of her birthday way, she replied, "just having my family with me." What 4-year-old says that?!?! She is an unbelievable gift!! And she's made these last 4 years so very sweet.

Here's to Four FaBuLoUs years of our Extraordinary Ella.

Mama loves you so very much, baby.
"To the moon and back." ;)

 

Eager for Easter!!

Even though it's officially "Spring," it is ridiculously cold, and we've had gross weather off-and-on for more than a week!! However, today made for a PERFECT lazy Sunday!! We decided to go ahead and dye some Easter eggs and get ready for Easter. Easter falls early this year (it's next weekend, the day after Ella's 4th birthday.....oh, be still my heart!!) When our kitchen smells like vinegar and boiled eggs, you know it must be Easter (or it could just be Josh after taco-night) :) :) :)

Here's our egg-celent setup :)

Our "big bunnies" went at it and dyed 18 eggs!!

 Here's our egg-citing finished products!! (Some eggs were consumed during the process. Believe it or not, Nora eats boiled eggs like they are going out of style.)

Clairy-Berry slept through the entire thing on her Daddy.....or is that a possessed Easter Bunny??

While we await Easter, I'll reflect on a few of my favorite Easter memories......

Easter 2007

This was Nora's first Easter. The Easter Bunny brought her a large duckie that she still sleeps with to this day. :)

Easter 2008

By this time, Nora's full-fro had emerged. :) This first picture is one of my all-time favorites of Nora and I....

And here's Grandmommie and Paw-Paw with their TWO grandchildren at the time.....now, they do not have enough arms to hold them all. :)

 Easter 2009

This was Ella's first Easter....she was actually only a week old!! Grandmother and Mammie were super-proud of their newest great-granddaughter. :)

Paw-Paw thought she was pretty swell, too!

We always have a blast at our "Nesbitt egg-hunts!!"

Easter 2010

The following Easter, Ella and Paw-Paw still dug each other....

She has always had such a special "thing" for him.....I guess it's because he's such an egg-head!!

These next two pictures are also two of my all-time favorites. The first is at Mammie's house - Daddy took a break from our "Easter woofle-ballgame" to smooch with Ella. The second is such a sweet pic of our bunny taken by my sweet pal, Cori. :)

Easter 2011

More great egg-hunts with the Nesbitt clan!!

 2 more all-time favs.......Papa with his greats, and "Ella vs. Cat"

 Easter 2012

Last year, Lea and I had the brilliant idea of painting my preggo-belly like an egg!! While it seemed kinda bizarre at the time, it was a lot of fun!! Plus, I really like seeing these now of my Clairy-Berry-belly. :)

Reflecting back, I have to add that Easter eggs ALWAYS remind me of my Grandmama (Mammie). She would hunt Easter eggs with us anytime, any day, any season. Nora still talks about Mammie and her Easter egg hunts.....so thankful for those memories that will live with us all forever!!

Cheers to Easter and Egg-strodinary blessings!!

He Is Risen.

That's a fact!! ;) 

Toothless Wonder

I was going to keep this post for a later time, like when Nora had lost ALL of her teeth. However, Nora has lost THREE teeth within the last couple of weeks.....they're just falling out like crazy!! She looks like a little jack-o-lantern, and I LOVE IT!! Here's a little re-cap of our "teeth excavations:"

Tooth #1: Josh pulled Nora's first tooth on June 3, 2012, the day after Nora finished Pre-K!! The tooth fairy left her a little bit of money under her pillow, and also left her some "fairy surprises" in the mailbox (the tooth fairy did the same thing for Lea and I when we lost our first teeth). :)

Tooth #2: I pulled Nora's second tooth two months later on August 5, 2012. This was the day before kindergarten began. As you can see, her "big" tooth had already emerged from her first "pulling." The tooth fairy brought her TEN WHOLE BUCKS (I bet that's all she had on her....I'm sure it hurt her feelings a bit that she had to leave her last $10). ;)

Tooth #3: We waited a few months for the third tooth, but I finally pulled it on January 12, 2013. Once again, the tooth fairy ONLY had a $10 to leave (she needs to be more prepared when she makes her rounds).

Tooth #4: The fourth tooth was pretty special because it was the first TOP TOOTH!! I pulled it on February 15, 2013. This was the day that "Winter Break" began, and Nora had stayed home from school with a fever and pink-eye (thankfully, the red, swollen, goopie-eye had gotten much better throughout the day so I could snap a decent picture). :) The tooth fairy was more prepared this time, and brought her one of every coin (including a half-dollar and a gold-dollar) to help her learn the names and values of all of them! :)

Tooth #5: Eight days later, the fifth tooth popped out while we were in Panama City Beach for Winter Break!! Look at that SNAGGLE - have you ever seen a space like that?!?! :) :) :) Since we were at the beach, the tooth fairy brought her a "beachy" anklet and a cool pen that was made of floating-shark-teeth (the tooth fairy was extra-generous and brought Ella the same thing.....they haven't taken their anklets off yet!) :)

Tooth #6: One week later, Nora woke up at 5:00 am and pulled the sixth tooth all by herself!! Such a big girl!! That night, the tooth fairy brought her a "collage" that consisted of one dollar and four quarters with a little explanation of how 4 quarters = 1 dollar. :)

Now that Nora has lost almost half of her teeth, she doesn't have anymore loose right now (thankfully, or she would be eating yogurt and tomato soup......it's quite comical to watch her attempt to eat an apple). 

She is so beautiful with all of these holes in her mouth....

.....but it's just another bittersweet reminder that she's growing up.....TOO fast!!

Our gorgeous TOOTHLESS WONDER!! :)