Autumn Fun

On the way to the park last week, we stopped and took a few pictures of the girls in the leaves. It happened to be one of those days then all three girls were happy and sort of looking at the camera.

I love this picture!!
And I love this one of Ella too.
She's so cute! (as I look at these pictures, I am reminded again that I need to schedule her 1 year photos).

Ella in the Kitchen

Ella's favorite place to play in the toy room is in the kitchen. She is in there so often, that we actually moved the kitchen to a new spot so we could see her better while she plays.

At the rate she's going, maybe she'll be making our dinners in a year or two.

Arts and Crafts

While Lydia and Ella take their afternoon naps, Grace likes to color, paint or read. One day, she had the bright idea to make Ella a hat. Thinking that this was waaaayyyyy out of my league. I can't make a hat!! After a few hours of persistence (aka whining) she came up with the idea of just making a Cat in the Hat hat.

Sometimes Grace gets focused and serious - and she gives me this look...

Here Grace is working on her hat.

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Pumpkins and a Few Apples Too

I'm going to 'fess up right away and admit that we took the pumpkin photos in this blog the same day as we took the apple picking pis from the prior post. The weather was nice and the girls were in a decent mood, so we frolicked in the pumpkin patches too.

This was the best picture of the three girls together. Some how it's way harder than it looks to get them all to look at the camera and smile.

Ella in a pile of pumpkins.
Lydia and her friend Lauren picking apples.
Grace picking out pumpkins.
Lydia thinking she should just smile and look cute. Why waste her energy carrying a pumpkin?
Lydia and I going into the corn maze.
Ella, by herself, since everyone left her to do the corn maze. (Thanks for watching her Margie).

More Apples

Paul was working on painting the house a while back and I figured it would go much better if I took the girls away. So we headed to the apple orchard to get more apples.

Grace took it upon herself to teach Lydia everything she knew about picking apples.
Three girls + three apples = three quiet girls.

Cinderella's Ball

A while ago I was outside snapping pictures of Ella while 'Cinderella' was dancing at her royal ball. Lucky for you, I was able to capture of few pictures of her. Unfortunately, I didn't get any shots of the prince. :(

Happy Birthday Ella!

Ella's actual birthday started with a little stack of pancakes and her favorite sisters and mom singing Happy Birthday to her. She was delighted with the singing, clapping and loads of attention from Grace and Lydia.
Since the day was beautiful, we played outside a did a mini Ella photo shoot. Ella can stand by herself and take a few steps, but sometimes she would prefer not to... (as I post this, the weather has become quite chilly. I swear, on her birthday a week ago, it was much warmer. Definitely warm enough to warrant just a onesie).
Here she is looking much happier playing in her little play cube.

My little peanut just chillin'
Since Ella's birthday party was actually going to be a couple days after her real birthday, we celebrated her real birthday with little cupcakes. By this point in her day, she had gotten accustomed to Grace and Lydia singing "Happy Birthday" to her at every meal and snack.
Ella sure does love cake! (Based on all the cake she's eaten in the past week, maybe she will no longer be on the smallest growth curve when we go to the doctor next week).
Every birthday we ask the girls what they want for a birthday cake. Their first birthdays are a bit tough because they usually don't say much. So we make a decision and hope it's not too tough. Since Ella loves riding on carousels, we decided to do a carousel cake. This seemed like a good idea, then I couldn't find the cake I had in mind at any bakery. So I was stuck making a cake. Here's what she got.