Because Aunt Shannon Says So...

This is a picture of Ella and Sami at Little Gym Last night. They each have their "Dance Bag" that holds their shoes for class because they enter without shoes (gymnastics part) and then put on their tap shoes first and then ballet shoes. At the end they put their shoes back in their bag. Ella chose her bag from Aunt Shannon as her dance bag- which is fitting since Ella now thinks Aunt Shannon rules the shoe world.

Background: We were reading Ella's blog together, and looking at the comments, when I read Aunt Shannon's suggestion about no shoes ("Barefoot dolls rock"). I said to Ella, "See, Aunt Shannon says it's okay for your dolls not to have shoes." When given the chance to choose a bag, she said, "Aunt Shannon's. She said I don't have to wear shoes". Okay, a bit of a stretch, but it was sweet. I thought it was so sweet until this morning when I was trying to get Ella to pick out shoes for school and she said (you could see this coming, I'm sure) "Aunt Shannon says I don't have to". I felt a bit of, I don't know, empathy (?) for Robbie because I have a feeling she had her own version of this a while back.

Snow Day

In all honesty, it was more of a "Rain Day" but the threat of icy roads was enough to close Wes' office so he picked up Ella early and came home. I'm amazed Ella doesn't get cold- but every day, at some point, she is either in a bathing suit or her ballet leotard. So here she is yet again in her bathing suit with a twist of dancing on the counters in her bathroom. I do know better than to encourage this sort of behavior- I don't know what I was (or clearly wasn't) thinking.

Skiing in Virginia

Yes, I am well aware of the fact that a good majority of you are laughing at the thought of skiing in Virginia. I can hear it now, "You call that skiing Sara?" Trust me, I had my reservations too. It was 60 degrees in Crozet, and I was beginning to wonder if we were going to see any snow this year at all. So we decided to go to Wintergreen to check out our "local" mountain. Although we didn't have a chance to really ski, I saw the slopes and they looked great! Ella played at the kids park and mostly made snowballs, went sledding without a sled, and periodically visited me in the tepee enjoying the fire (thank you Wes for taking on the cold!). The indoor section was a big draw for her also:

Aunt Polly

Well, I have a couple things to discuss here. This weekend we were talking with Steve about Isabella and Grace and especially about how wild Grace is and how much Ella is like Isabella. We were telling stories, laughing, and out of nowhere Wes says, "Well, Aunt Polly is on my s^&$ list." WHAT? How dare you Wes! Of course he was joking but I was a bit ready to reach across the table and shake him for saying such a thing! It turns out Wes has a bit of an issue with Polly Pockets.

A little background: Polly wanted to get Ella her first Polly Pockets (only fitting, right?) and Ella LOVES them. She has a cruise ship for them, a Mini ("Just like Stevie's") and some even sleep with her. She and Caroline play with them a lot. Wes' issue is with the shoes. They are hard to get on but come off easily and get lost even easier. Ella gets a little (understatement) frustrated and Wes gets a little (even bigger understatement) frustrated. So Wes is not feeling the love for Polly Pockets like the rest of the family. Me, on the other hand, I am ecstatic for something Ella plays with on her own.

Issue #2: When Gracie was little Polly would go to the Starbucks drive-through and get a mocha. As soon as Gracie could, she said, "I want a mocha!" (This means chocolate milk in a coffee cup to her). She taught Ella this fine trick. So tonight after dance class Ella was pretty upset at leaving Sami and in the car after calming down, she said, "I just want to get a mocha with Sami!". Then we passed Starbucks (no drive through here in C-Ville though) and she screams (screams!), "There, there's my mocha! I want a mocha with Sami NOW!". I completely caved and we got mochas for the ride home. And just to top off her sassy quotient for the day (and test my breaking point for the day) Ella refused to drink it until she was in the car. Wow- an entire new level of being spoiled. It just wasn't the fight I was up for for today. Probably because I knew I had the "time for bed" fight ahead of me I'd have to save myself for.

So Polly, I have to say, you come into play a lot, more than you know. For being so far away you are a huge part of our day-to-day world. Thank you (and Mark, Isabella, and Grace) for all your calls and skyping to keep in contact with Ella. She doesn't even realize you are far away.

A Princess

This morning Ella and I were looking at pictures from the Inauguration and when she saw the above picture she said, "ooooooooohhhhhhhh, a princess with Barack Obama". Then she saw a picture of soldiers marching and asked, "Where's Uncle Matt in that?" I was touched she remembered when Matt came home from Iraq and marched in formation.

01.20.09

I hope you remember today Ella. When I picked you up at school our conversation went like this:

Me: Ella, we have a new President, do you know who?

Ella: Yes.

Me: Who?

Ella: I don't know.

Me: Yes you do, who?

Ella: Barack Obama?

Me: Yes!

And then I did to her what I hated when I was young and made her watch the speech. I don't know, she's three, maybe won't remember, or maybe will but it was such an important day that I wanted to see it with her.

Sick of being sick

Lately I have been sick a lot. I was flat out in bed sick at New Year's and since then it has been this low-key sick. A hot shower/steam room helps get me going in the morning and I'm able to get through the day. Yesterday our offices were closed and I had a bunch of things I wanted to do but ended up in bed all day thankful for a break. I thought I was feeling better last night but this morning it was the same old all over again. Ella keeps saying she can make me feel better. So sweet- she even got out her doctor's kit last night. Needless to say I haven't been good about writing. Maybe it is the winter or maybe it's just being sick, but I haven't had much to say.

Last night Ella also put on a fashion show. There is usually some version of this every evening and it always includes a bathing suit, a ballerina outfit, and a version of Uncle Matt. Last night Wes had to play the role of Uncle Matt swimming with Ella. The day before it was one of her Polly Pockets. And lucky you Matt, she put you in a hammock on her Polly Pockets cruise ship!

Vacation!

We are all looking forward to our vacation coming up. I forget it is a vacation because we are all so focused on seeing Matt- especially Ella. Once we had our passports, I scheduled a visit to the Travel Clinic. I took Ella with me just in case there were different shots for her. She was getting a bit antsy waiting for the doctor and a bit scared about what that doctor was going to do so I started talking about Grandpa Bill and Rhonda being doctors and Uncle Matt being a doctor. Well, she would have none of that, she straightened herself up and said in no uncertain terms that Uncle Matt was a dolphin swimmer. Hmmmm- okay. So when the doctor came in and asked Ella where she was going, she said, "I'm going to see my Uncle Matt, he is a dolphin swimmer". And so we continued our visit and went over all the shots and medicines needed and as we were leaving Ella shook hands with the doctor and said, "Can you bring out my Uncle Matt now?". And so I was ready to explain, yet again, that Matt will meet us at the beach.

Happy 40th Birthday Uncle Matt!

Happy Third Birthday Gracie!

Our little Gracie is Three! Sure, it was amazing when Ella turned three, but when Gracie, the baby (even if only by a month) of the family turns three, it just, I don't know, it just feels so grown up. I'd post a video of us singing Happy Birthday, but thanks to Skype we were able to do it real-time. Below are pictures of us Skyping with the Cuenys to say Happy Birthday to Gracie.

Ella- this will be so archaic to you when you are older and reading this, but for us, this is how we get to see all your cousins these days!

Perfect Saturday

Hmmmm... just what might make a perfect Saturday? For me, it is waking up leisurely (thank you Wes), and having a low-key day. Today was one of those days. Ella started Ballet today too which was an extra treat. That was on schedule, but there was no stress involved so it still fit into my low-key day. Ella is taking classes at Albemarle Ballet Theatre. I volunteered there last semester so I know her teacher and that made it all the better. I was curious how Ella would do, and a little bit of me wondered if she would even go to the class. This is a classic dance studio so there are rules to be followed: pink leotard, pink tights, ballet shoes only and hair up. A big contrast to The Little Gym where anything goes. You also cannot wear your dance clothes to and from class, but must at least have a cover-up on. So we get there and Wes gets Ella dressed and when the other little girls arrive and go into the studio I asked Ella if she was ready; without a second thought she was off. This is Ella's first class experience outside of her school and I was really happy to see how much she enjoyed it.

My perfect day continued with a visit from Robbie, Barry and Alex. I have to say, I am lucky to have in-laws that are okay with ordering pizza and hanging out on the sofa for a bit. Robbie even put Ella down for her nap. Thank you! Thank you also for the presents for Ella- she brought the hat to bed tonight. Here are a couple pictures from our day:

Wes, Alex and Ella playing Guitar Hero.

Ella Opening Barry's Birthday presents for him.

Slacker, Slacker, Slacker...

Okay, perhaps that is a bit harsh, but as I was logging in today I realized I hadn't posted since, well, about three weeks ago. So, a bit of a catch-up:

Sleeping: Ella is back to sleeping through the night. Many thanks to everyone who called and offered support and suggestions. And Judy- thank you so much for your post. I have directed a couple friends to your wise wise words. You should consider a new career here in consulting sleep deprived, tired, frustrated mothers.

Christmas: We had a great Christmas with Bill and Rhonda here. Lots of playing, eating, drinking and just a really good time. We also visited my Dad and Nancy's in Rock Hall. We made it in time to see my Aunt Margo and Uncle Jeff (visiting from California) along with their daughter Heather. Heather is a professional dancer (currently finishing up college in London!) so Ella dressed for her appropriately and Heather was kind enough to teach her a few moves.

New Year's: Wes and I went out for dinner while Ella and Grandma had fun. Thank you Grandma! If you look closely in the second picture, that is Robbie sleeping with Ella. It was also our sixth anniversary so it was a great night. Unfortunately it was followed by me being sick in bed for three days so that brought a quick end to our holiday.

And finally, a picture of Ella as she was leaving for school today. I had her clothes from this summer out to get her bathing suits for our trip in February and Ella grabbed this dress and has a fit if she can't wear it. I forgot to hide it when she was sleeping last night so here it is again... My only saving grace is, 1.) I wrangled a shirt underneath the dress and, 2.) she absolutely had to wear her new favorite boots. So off she went with a note to her teacher to please add leg warmers if they went outside. And of course her duck hat and scarf. So really, this is a Karen/Robbie outfit if I ever saw one!