Arizona

This was the start of our 2 week long adventure.

James, Ellie and I flew to AZ for my sister's graduation. Ellie did marvelous on the plane. It wasn't even 1/2 full (I would think that would be unheard of for a flight into PHX) so we got to take her car seat on the plane. Once I convinced James to stop playing with her, she fell right asleep and slept the entire way.

We first stayed a few days in Mesa. 

Last time I was in AZ was when Ellie was 6 months old. I was a little nervous to see how she would do sleeping this time around because she hasn't slept in a pack n' play since that trip. I thought sleeping in the same room as her might pose as a problem so I set her up in my sister's old room. Ellie had got into the habit of not sleeping through the night so I was expecting her to wake up. The first night was rough. I can't remember the exact details anymore but I do remember the bedroom being cold in the middle of the night so I knew I had to get a heater in there. Also, it was either the same night or another but James wanted to "help" and went to get her but she was used to being fed and put back down so when daddy goes in it's hard for her to fall back asleep. He brought her into our room and blah, bad idea. She takes up too much bed and I'm afraid to move and wake her and she wants to change positions 1000 times. It was not comfortable. Actually, I'm just remembering, she fell OFF the bed too! I remember James saying, "At least the carpet is plush" or something of the sort. After we got a space heater in that room and we agreed that I would be the one to go in there in the middle of the night things were fine.

While in Mesa, my mom, James, Ellie, me and my Grandparents went to see the lights at the Desert Botanical Gardens. This is an annual thing for my family to do.

James, Ellie, me, Pam and my Dad also met up with my other Grandparents in Casa Grande and had lunch. I miss being so close to them. My Grandma is such a hoot.


After lunch we drove back to Mesa. A friend and I took each other's family pictures. We just ran across the street to the park and up the hill to the desert. Wasn't our ideal location but we made it work.
Grace, Jeff and Camden

 Now, it gets confusing, but Ellie and Camden are "kinda step cousins."

Camden was born October 20th and Ellie was born December 6th. 

They are 6.5 weeks apart. 

Here is my dad with Ellie and Pam with Camden.

The next day James and I drove up to Flagstaff to spend extra time with my sister and meet up with Tania and her family. We were all going to meet up at Cassidy's apt first before heading to The North Pole Experience later that night. I had Cassidy make us all Chili for a quick dinner. I figured that would be an easy crock pot meal for her to make for so many of us. Funny story though, at least to me, we were driving to Flag and Cassidy text me, "This chili is out of control." I was DYING laughing. It took me a solid 5 min to tell James what Cassidy had just text me. I could not see I was tearing up so hard. This is my selfie to Cassidy.

I THINK I was laughing so hard because an "easy meal" to me was "out of control" for Cassidy. When I got into her apt, I started laughing all over again. Her crock pot was so tiny! She got it all to fit, but for real, it was out of control!

Anyways.
So Ellie didn't have a late enough nap and was totally needing another nap before we left for The North Pole Experience but with no time I was hoping she'd at least fall asleep for a 5min car drive to the hotel we were supposed to go to. Thankfully she did and continued sleeping as we got her out and slept on the trolley all the way until our destination.

The North Pole Experience was fun. Tania's two oldest, especially Sadie, were the perfect age for this. She loved every second of it. We all bought our tickets prior so when we got to the hotel that we were supposed to go to we checked in for the trolley and we took the Christmas Trolley to the North Pole. The elf, who is like "150 years old", has the kids sing songs to pass the time (10-15min) and then you go through a portal. He tells you what say, the magic phrase, and has you close your eyes (so you aren't blinded by the seizure inducing lights) and poof you're at the North Pole.
It was pretty crowded just on our trolley (our group that goes through the tour together). It felt like there were a high number of adults to kid ratio. I wasn't paying that much attention as we walked through, but basically first you enter Santa's retired toy shop and from there you go into the the new toy shop. Then you sit down with an elf and make a toy for "a little boy or girl who may not otherwise have a Christmas." Then you go into the sorting room and they throw toys down a ramp into the bins (the kids stand around the bins). Santa also makes an appearance here. Then the kids get to have a cookie and snowman soup. After kids started getting up from the table I had James sit Ellie down to get a cookie too. After the elf handed Ellie her cookie I could hear people say "look at that little baby with the cookie." Ha. After cookies they piled us into a classroom. I forgot what they were teaching though, ironically. It was probably something about being a good boy and girl. Then, you see Mrs. Claus and write letters to Santa. Following that, you get to see Santa's sled and then each family gets their individual time with Santa. We were first, score. And it was pretty nice. They don't rush you or anything and you can take as many pictures as you want and they throw them on a usb for you to take home. We all loaded back on the trolley, went through the portal, and we were back in Flagstaff safe and sound.

LOVE this picture. Ellie sure isn't a big fan of Santa this year.

So I ran through that pretty quick. I think from start to finish was around 2 hours long. It is definitely the perfect set-up for a 4 or 5 year old. Sadie kept saying she was going to go back next year. I did think it was a little expensive for us to go and not get the same benefit out of it only having Ellie. But being there with Tania and Cassidy and watching Sadie was definitely fun. 

Side note: in Flagstaff, Ellie did have to share a room with us and she did JUST fine with us only being a few feet away.

The following day we went shopping and had lunch at Olive Garden. Tania lives in a small town now and an Olive Garden is like a huge treat to her. Also, we totally unknowingly matched our babies in the same sweater! Too funny. Jane rocked a better bow though. Ellie 12.5 months, Jane almost 11 months.

I hate being so far from my bestie, but it is always fun to get together and see each other's kids. 

Then, Cassidy graduated! Yay! She graduated with a degree in Criminal Justice and she was 1 of 2 Summa Cum Laude's to graduate. Pretty awesome.

Here is Cassidy and Kristina. They have been Best Friends since KINDERGARTEN! Crazy, right?

Her cap says, "My Parents Are Proud of my BS"

Ellie and I spent the majority of the graduation walking the halls. It was like baby central out there. Haha. I kept checking in though so we didn't miss her walking across the stage.

 It started snowing right after she graduated (you can see it coming down a little in the picture). It made us all flustered. It was cold and Ellie was screaming so we rushed through pictures and weren't able to get all the combinations she/we wanted.

Later, we went out to dinner all together. My dad, Pam, my mom, Grandparents, James, Ellie and I. Cassidy wanted money for graduation but I wanted to make it fun so I looked up ideas on line (Google: fun ways to give money) and James executed the idea I liked best. He taped all the ones together and cut a slit in the top of the box. Then on the bow it said "Pull Me" and out comes the money. Top right picture she is say, "You're so dumb." Haha.

 It continued snowing that night and we were moving her out of her apt that next morning (3rd floor). I, thankfully, have a baby so I got to stay indoors cleaning and throwing the random stuff left over into a box.

Oscar Mayer was parked at our Hotel.

Then we all drove back to Mesa and came across some thick fog.

We got back, unpacked the truck then that night my mom made a small Christmas dinner and we exchanged gifts.

The final day we hung out for a little bit and then flew back to ID. This time the plane was full but Ellie still did awesome. While at the airport, Ellie saw some people at our gate with their little dogs. James took her over to them. She loves doggies.

Woah long post!!
Next will be our trip to Utah.

Ellie's Birthday Party

The day after Ellie's Birthday we had her party. I feel like a one year birthday is a pretty big celebration. I wanted it to be a big celebration and wanted a lot of our friends to join us since none of our family lives here. I was ecstatic that Emily, my friend from college, was able to make it though. I consider her family! Also, she took the majority of the party pictures allowing me to enjoy being a mom. 

It snowed the night before her party and I was pretty worried people would cancel because the streets were pretty bad. However, everyone was able to make it and I was grateful!

Like I had mentioned in the previous blog post, James and I spent a few nights tracing, cutting, sewing and hanging the decorations. That sounds like a lot. But it really was only 2 nights. I don't remember why I decided on Pink and Gold as her theme, but there were a lot of pinterest ideas to borrow. The cut out "Happy Birthday" is a big one I see circulating on pinterest a lot. I think James did pretty good at cutting the cursive letters out. I did the block letters. Hehe.

I wanted to do a luncheon for her party and on the menu was Curry Chicken Salad Sandwiches on Croissants, Fruit Kabobs, Veggie Cups, Pink Lemonade and Cake. 

My plan was to pick 12 pictures to hang up (one for each month of life) but that was impossible. So I printed many pictures and hung them up. I still can't believe how much she's grown. 

Emily and I stayed up very late prepping the food and making the cake. I think the cakes took around 7 hours. Lots of layers. 2 cakes. And lots and lots and lots of butter. Emily really over saw most of the baking, I was the taste tester and vegetable cutter.

Ellie was in heaven having so many kids/friends around. She really is a social butterfly. The older girls really love playing with Ellie too. 

After we ate and socialized, Ellie opened her gifts. 

(Thank you everyone!)

Saving the best for last. We had the cake smash.

Here are more cake pictures-appreciate them. Those cakes were hard work. 

Singing Happy Birthday

*It look me like 5 tries to blow out that candle.*

Since the frosting had a lot of butter we thought we should keep the cakes cool so we stuck them in the garage (in a clean location). However, we didn't bring them inside soon enough so the frosting wasn't that soft. I still kind of regret that. But shoulda' coulda' woulda', right?

Ellie loves sharing her food. It's a stage. But oh so cute.

I am very happy with how her party turned out and grateful for our friends who took time out of their Saturday to hang out with us. And I'm very happy I had Emily to help and I'm sure James is too. Ha.

(Ellie is obsessed with that Elf on the Shelf. It was a gift from her Great Aunt and Cousin and ever since she opened it she's been attached to it. We don't let her play with him but when she sees him she gets SO excited. We used him to get her to smile). 

Ellie's Birthday

My best friend from college, Emily, was able to make it to Idaho for Ellie's Birthday. I was so excited to have her here and she was the perfect person to help me with all the party details.

 (Thanks Emily! I miss you).

James and I prepared and hung up the party decorations a few days early to get a head start.

(really I was just super excited) 

Here is Ellie the day before she turned 1.

Since it was Ellie's first birthday I wanted to start some traditions. I wanted to wake her up singing Happy Birthday, but lets be real, she wakes us up...so I went and got her, brought her to our bed and then we sang to her.

James had to run into work for a little bit that morning, but he took the rest of the day off. While he was at work I prepared tradition #2. I made a pancake in the shape of her age. It is the most pathetic #1 you may have ever seen, but it was as good as I could do.  (pretty sure Emily was sleeping through all this?)

After daddy got home I got the presents out and he brought her down the hall. I didn't bother wrapping some of them because I knew she'd be more excited seeing toys than wrapped boxes. And I was right. It was hard to get her to unwrap presents after seeing the toys so I hid them behind me back and had her sit on my lap. She got a few things from my mom and a few things from James and me.

It's no secret that Ellie is obsessed with Yo Gabba Gabba. Someone I follow on Instagram showed her little baby the show once and said she was glued to the screen. I tried it when Ellie was really little and it was true-it sucked her in. I tried it a few more times as she got older and for whatever reason she LOVES it! My mom bought her Yo Gabba Gabba on DVD which we watch almost daily. She can't sit through a whole DVD (which has multiple episodes) but she can sit long enough for me to get away for a few minuets before she realizes I'm gone.

I had a coupon for "$10 off anything" to Babys' R Us and I found the characters for $10 (aka Free). She loved those too. I have so many cute pictures of her being so in aw of her Yo Gabba Gabba stuff.

Sadly, we lost Muno (the red guy) pretty quickly. James and I have turned the house upside down looking for him-no joke. My only guess is he fell out of the car. Ellie will throw stuff between her and the car door when she's done with it and it all falls out when we open the door. BUT we always pick it all up and I really don't ever remember bringing him with us anywhere. So who knows. I hope he shows up. It probably kills me more not to have the whole set than her because I'm sure she does't even realize he's gone.

Here is Ellie watching her DVD on her new Car.

After we all got ready in the morning we took Ellie to see Santa at the mall. Ellie is such a happy baby I did not expect her to cry. She loves almost everyone and "talks" to almost everyone. However, the second I sat her on his lap she SCREAMED. I was sooo sad. I know it's cute to have a screaming baby picture but it wasn't her personality. They let us get back in line to try again. We talked about him, I pointed to him I made him sound so fun. When it was our turn we showed him her toys and I tried to sit her on his lap again, but nope, she wasn't going to have it. We just stuck with the original picture. 

Last years picture. I think she was 6 or 7 days old if I remember right.

 Just look how much she's grown!

When you buy the Santa pictures you get coupons to Gymboree and Crazy8. I either needed to go there or just wanted to look, I can't remember, but that is where I found Ellie's pink party dress. I saw it online but I didn't even think to check the store to see if they had it but it was on clearance with an extra % off and then the coupon applied on top of that so it was cheap and I was happy to have a matching dress for her party theme.

I had to ask Emily what we did the rest of the day because it was all a blur. But apparently we went to Costco and Walmart and then the rest of the night we prepared for the party the next day.

Next up..Birthday Party