One of my co-workers' daughters had outgrown this cute car so she offered it to Ella. It's called a "Cozy Coupe." We picked it up last week and Ella cannot get enough of it. She thinks it's so much fun to open the little door, put treasures in the little trunk, and use the hose to pretend to put fuel in it. It was even more fun when cousin Alex was over last week and pushed Ella all around the backyard in it. Thank you so much Laurie & Maeve!!
Last week Ella had to go to time-out in her bedroom because she put a bunny graham cracker into Nicholas's mouth while I was preoccupied in the kitchen. I know she was trying to be little mother hen that she is, and she said they were playing "kitchen" but she also knows that Nicholas cannot eat by mouth and she knows that she is not allowed to feed him any food at all. So I told her she needed to sit on her bed in time-out and when I checked on her several minutes later, she had fallen asleep. It's rare that Ella will ever take a daytime nap so I can assume it was much needed. I think she is going through a growth spurt because she has been extra clumsy lately as well. She's less than a month away from turning three...I can't hardly believe it.
A couple of weekends ago was the annual candle lighting for Spinal Muscular Atrophy since August is SMA awareness month. We lit our little candle for Nicholas and all those adults and children fighting every day to defy the odds and beat this disease.
Ella's bedroom got a mini transformation when we bought her a new big-girl bed and dresser. A good friend of mine bought her old crib and changing table/dresser which allowed us to buy these two great antique pieces for her bedroom.
I found this bed one Friday a few months back on Craigslist after searching for just a few hours. The whole family took a drive into Portland on Saturday morning to pick it up and we got an amazing deal! A church friend of ours donated the twin mattress and box spring, I ordered new bedding and, voila! Ella has a brand new bed. She absolutely loves it and no longer sleeps with us at night, which is a bonus for everyone.
I also found this adorable antique dresser at a local antique store for an exceptionally low price. I paid cash for it, brought it home, Jeff removed the casters from the legs, and I put all of Ella's clothing into it. I think it looks great with her new bed, they compliment each other very well.
I picked up a bag of chocolate chips when I was grocery shopping a few weeks ago and normally I just eat them by the handful or I make my own Reese's combo by getting a big scoop of peanut butter and sprinkling chocolate chips on top. This time, however, I decided to surprise my husband and make some homemade chocolate chip cookies with both kids. I searched Pinterest for "The best chocolate cookie recipe EVER" and found one that sounded tasty. The kids loved mixing and measuring, then watching the cookies rise in the oven. And it really was the best chocolate chip cookie recipe ever. They were absolutely delicious!
After we made cookies, I decided to make another dish that we don't eat too often. Stir fry. I added as many veggies as I could find from our produce drawers in the fridge and some pre-cooked BBQ chicken from a previous dinner. Needless to say, my husband thought I was a domestic goddess that day!
The summer evening sky has been absolutely breathtaking lately. I love to sit on our backyard patio and enjoy the warm summer evenings because before we know it, we will be back to all the gloomy Pacific Northwest rain.
Our sweet neighbor brought us these deliciously sweet cherry tomatoes last week. They were gone in a matter of days because we couldn't get enough of them. Keeping my fingers crossed she brings some more over again soon!
Last Monday, my good friend, Katie, invited the kids and I over to her house to swim in their pool. It was a beautiful eighty degree summer afternoon and we had a great time! Ella started out wanting to swim in this baby float...
but then she started becoming more adventurous and wanted to swim on her own (in her life jacket, of course).
By the time we left a few hours later, she was swimming all over the pool all by herself!
Nicholas went into the pool with me once, then he was perfectly content to sit in the shade, curled up under some beach towels, watching Ella swim with Gwen and later he watched a movie on the portable DVD player.
The Lewis' puppy, Blitz, joined in on the swimming fun at one point, too!
Thanks, Katie, for having us over, we all had a super fun time!!
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