I completely forgot this picture of JJ with great grandma Parkinson! Jeremy's grandma recently moved to Corvallis, right down the street from us and she came to Elle's party. She was a lifesaver too, she held JJ for an HOUR before he was ready to eat! It was great and she really enjoyed all the little girls crawling around and barking. We are really excited to spend more time with her now that she's here.

Elle's 4! Finally.

It seems like Elle has been counting down the days till her birthday since...January?
Luckily the day finally came. We were pretty low key on her actual birthday, we went to Red Robin (for the first time in years) because we knew they sang happy birthday, we thought she'd enjoy that. At her preschool the day before her birthday we brought strawberries for everyone for her school celebration.
And Saturday we had a puppy party. I wanted to keep it really simple and stress free and it all went great! Success!
Here are pictures from her birthday and her party.

The only thing Elle has been wanting for her birthday is a unicorn pillow pet. She was certain she was going to get one. Of course we got her one (it was the only thing she asked for), here are her pictures leading up to us giving it to her:

I think she's pretty happy with her birthday present, what do you think?

Elle and I checked the mail and found a package from grandma and grandpa and she was more than excited to open it up!

"It has pockets!"



She was very excited to get a new outfit and apron, thanks grandma and grandpa!

Once Eva got home from school Jeremy got off work early so we could head to Red Robin early and beat the Friday night crowd. Elle of course had a wardrobe change into a new outfit we got her from Naartjie Kids. My aunt and uncle got JJ some clothes from Naartjie and I really liked them, and their girl clothes are definitely Elle's style, they had a HUGE sale on some of their clothes so I picked some up for Elle...needless to say, she loooooves her new outfit.
Elle is all about showing off her passe from ballet.

We just did a little mini photo shoot in her new outfit before we went to Red Robin

Once we were at Red Robin and I knew they were going to sing their birthday song, I got my camera out for a few pictures there.

She didn't know they were going to sing and I was shocked how embarrassed she got, you can even see her cheeks turning red! This girl cracks me up, she can go up to complete strangers and start talking to them but when she gets sung happy birthday she's mortified!

My camera focused on the stupid sundae, but if you look you can see her cheeks getting red.

And completely red!

This sundae was gone in about a minute.

She did not offer to share (she usually does and Eva was a little heart broken over that) but

I think you're allowed not to share on your birthday. :)

Onto the birthday party festivities. I was going to make a cake but then I figured, why stress myself out? I just had a baby, right? So I went with a cute cupcake cake from Safeway.
Eva helped me pick this one out since they didn't have anything puppy oriented.
So cute! And that fudge sauce on it was gooooood.

I made puppy ears, the night before (yes, I procrastinated) and the activities consisted of

making a collar

learning commands

getting a doggy treat

agility contest

cake

presents

reading "Go Dog Go"

and then playing till parents came for pick-up.

Here are the girls right before the party started with their puppy ears.

Making collars.



Eva showing the girls how to roll over.

Begging

Having their puppy lunch for being good puppies.

Our agility obstacle course.

Once Elle tripped on the blanket we got rid of it.

Eva really got into it

And then we let them play for a little while

Cake time!!!!!





Presents!!!

Reading "Go Dog, Go"

After that all the little girls played till their parents came to get them.

After everyone left Elle was playing with JJ and she said,

"Look mom, JJ's a puppy too!"

Isn't that so sweet? She wanted her baby brother to be part of her special day.

And the last picture! Whew! That was a lot of pictures!

I thought grandma would like seeing a full picture of Elle in the new outfit she got her.

Elle is a little firecracker and she has been since the day she was born. 

She keeps us on our toes...all the time!

She makes us laugh so hard and she's pretty good at getting in trouble but it's impossible to stay mad at her.  She's a performer in every sense of the word and she's extremely talented, she's been good at everything she's ever tried.

She's a charmer and our little princess that's not afraid to get dirty.

She's our Sweet Ellie Belly and our lives would be less without her.

We love our Ellie May, Happy 4th Birthday Sweet Girl!!!!

JJ Mania

That's right, come one come all, it's JJ mania time.
First up in the extravaganza, JJ loves the Vacuum

Peaceful, quiet, slumbering baby...right?

Well, it's not so quiet.

JJ just wanted to be held and I really wanted to attempt making dinner.

I heard that babies like the white noise of the vacuum so I started to vacuum,

as soon as I turned it off he started to fuss again.

So I just turned it on and kept it on in the background:

Out like a light!

And I got dinner and dishes done that afternoon!

Next up on JJ mania, JJ, Elle's Look-a-like

You tell me?

Crazy Girls Feeding JJ a Bottle

Yes, Eva is making a slightly disturbing face in this picture, but Elle's face is even more hilarious!

Eva loves to hold him but you can tell by her body language she's not totally comfortable. She's a bit rigid and stiff. She'll get there.

Elle on the other hand is pretty comfortable in any situation

JJ just being JJ

Trying to capture a smile...he's not a fan of my camera...yet.



Classic JJ face



That concludes this issue of JJ mania.