I'll break down our last few months with some highlights. I realize this might be more information than most people want to know, but this post is about writing down some things I always want to remember.
March
My best friend from Australia, Eleasah, visited with her husband, Dave, and their 2-year-old girl, Willow. We had never met each other's kids, and it was so fun to watch Ellie and Willow become instant friends, like Eleasah and I did when we met on my first day of high school 11 years ago in Queensland, Australia.
We had so much fun showing them around. Utah seemed to become so much more exciting with Aussies to show it off to. Oh, and I turned 29 while they were here. :) I celebrated with a Favorite Things Party and dessert waffle bar. Eleasah helped me make my first batch of homemade vanilla, and between Australian IDs and a certain liquor store closing at 4 p.m. on a Friday night, we had a heck of a time getting hold of some Vodka to make that vanilla with.
{Eleasah's daughter Willow. Love her cheeks and little Australian accent}
{Eleasah and I}
{Eleasah's daughter Willow. Love her cheeks and little Australian accent}
{Favorite Things Party}
April
Easter was really enjoyable this year. It was fun to see Ellie start to grasp the meaning of the Atonement. Also enjoyable was the fact that we skipped all of the craziness of the local Easter egg hunts (we learned our lesson last year) and just had a family one.
{Easter}
{The Tulip Festival}
May
Ellie started swimming lessons and she loves them. I have really been wanting her to become more confident in the water, and the lessons have worked wonders for her in only a few short weeks. She went from crying during the lesson and fearing going under to jumping off the diving board and going under the water by herself. I feel a lot better about our upcoming Lake Powell trip now.
{Ellie and Kate}
Ellie at 3 1/2 years old
The highlight of this month was definitely when my sister Jen came to visit from Arizona. Ellie is best friends with her daughter, Kate, who is just a few months older than her. Ellie had been asking when Kate was coming for months. They squeezed in as much playing time as they could in three days and then said a hard goodbye. Ellie was genuinely sad about watching her sweet friend and cousin go. It broke my heart but made me grateful she has that bond with her cousin at the same time.
Ellie has also been spending a lot of time with her BFF Jayne, my good friend's daughter who I started a preschool co-op with in September. Jayne and Ellie love pretending together and dressing up. It's kind of funny to watch how competitive they get sometimes. That will be a plus when they become soccer stars, right? :)
Ellie has learned a lot over the past year with preschool. She knows the alphabet and the letter sounds, her numbers, and she can write her name and a few other words like hi, mom, dad, poo . . . you know, the essentials. She is great with scissors and loves drawing stick people with big heads and no necks.
Ellie is extremely social and always wants someone to play with her. She has started asking that question I remember always asking my mom as a kid: "Mom, what can I do now?"
She has such a sweet spirit and is very sensitive to her own and other people's emotions.
{Sweet Ellie after I gave her a haircut}
Camden at 10 months old
I just want to squish the kid all the time. He is so snuggly and I love when he comes up to me or Ellie and attacks with an open-mouthed kiss. When Ellie laughs, he joins in with a fake laugh. When Clay or I tackle Ellie, he wants to be part of the fun so he crawls over at hyper speed and lays a wet one on her. He has just starting pointing and waving. He pulls himself up onto everything and is very active. We can't get enough of his big blue eyes, his dimples, and his chunky bum. Sorry. That's just how it is. He says, "mama" and "dada" and "ah dah" (all done).
Camden is a good eater so far. He has had reactions to a lot of foods (dairy, gluten, nuts) so we make his baby food and he chows down pretty much anything we give him. He got over his bad spout of colic at about five months old and is now sleeping through the night with one feeding. Finally!
He is an extreme mama's boy and I love it. Clay reminded me about being worried that I wouldn't have as strong of a bond with him as I do with Ellie but I do have such a close bond with my boy.
Ellie and Camden are really starting to play with each other and it makes me so happy to see them have fun together. Ellie's obvious need for buddies was one of the reasons we jumped on having kid number two when we did, so this stage is fulfilling. Ellie often says, "I'm going to marry Camden Jed." She specifically asked me today if he can be her husband when she grows up. How could I say no? She will overcome the desire to marry her brother pretty quickly so for now, I'm letting it go.
{Camden at 9 months}
{Me and my babe}
