Ellary's 1st Birthday {April 9th}

Waaaay back on April 9th, my sweet girl turned 1. 

Ellary's birthday started out like birthdays always start out around here. 

 With chocolate chip pancakes.

She was eating very little food still, but chocolate chip pancakes definitely were a hit. :)

Daddy either takes a half day, or takes the whole day off on the kids' birthdays.  The whole day is about celebrating them, and I love it.  Daddy came home not long after breakfast (a half day for Daddy is at 10:00 because he goes in so early!).  DJ carried on the tradition of giving Ellary 1 rose for her 1st Birthday, just like my Dad did with me.

We went out for lunch at Hudsonville Grille.  They have really good french fries.  One thing we knew Ellary liked was french fries, so Hudsonville Grille it was.  Birthdays are about celebrating...not nutrition after all. :)

Next stop was Fredrick Meijer Gardens to see the butterflies.

It was a cold rainy day, so we had to come up with something fun and special to do inside.

Karson walked around with the guide and called it his "map" the whole time, trying to match butterflies.  

Too cute!

After dinner, we opened presents.

 

Karson was very excited for Birthday cake.

Some kids smash their cake.  Some do not.  Mine do not. Although, they do pick at the frosting.  

A few days later, we had her Princess Party.

 

Opening Gifts.

We made two cakes for her party.  

I was worried that if she smashed one, no one would have any cake to eat.  

This is how she reacted to being sung to, poor girl tried to hide. 

Big brother took care of blowing out her candle.

And again, she wasn't too thrilled about smashing her cake.  We had lots of cake left over!

 Happy Birthday Sweet Girl!

InstaFriday

Happy Friday.

Linking up with Jeannett at Life.Rearranged for InstaFriday.  

 I am a sucker for Little Tikes outside toys.

I love them.

I also love when they have matching toys, that include Ellary getting a pink one.

Also, while they were washing their Cozy Coupes, it started down pouring on us. 

Because that is what happens right after you wash your car.

These days are my favorite.  

There are so many little memories. 

 Like watching Daddy hook the trailer back up to Mommy's truck.

"Mommy, Me not know how to fall asleep in the trailer."

"Read a book, and you will fall asleep."

...less than 2 minutes later.

This is what mornings look like at our house. 

And don't let Ellary's paci fool you, so only plays with it. 

Breakfast at the little table makes them happy.

Alzheimer's Association's Walk to End Alzheimer's Kick Off.

Have you been affected by Alzheimer's Disease.

Horrible.  Awefull.

Click here to help us raise money to find a cure.

{{that is DJ's fundraising page...DJ is my husband.}}

Breakfast on the beach.

Another Full Beach Day.

Love.

My Mom even met us out there this day.

She brought donuts.

YUM!!

No beach trip is complete until you get ice cream.

We stayed at a fancy hotel in Grand Rapids last weekend.

We won a photography contest last summer, and finally used it.

We took the kids with us, because that is what we do.

A walk at 10:00 at night in downtown Grand Rapids, chasing down the horse and carriages.

They were the only people under 21 out.

But it was a fun memory, and they loved finding the horses!

Freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and milk before bed, brought to our room.

Because when you already up way past bed time, it is best to order room service.

She was watering the plants.

And herself.

Sweet Ellary got new pretties in her ears this week.

I love, love, love, love, love them.

Yesterday morning, she was angry.

And that is kind of an understatement.

Girl woke up on the WRONG side of the bed.

After and hour of screaming, hitting, throwing herself on the floor, and all around grumpiness, she finally calmed down and snuggled in.  

"Mama take a picture of us."

Oh I love him.

JW Marriott

Last year I took this picture.

DJ, without telling me, submitted it into a photography contest through the West Michigan Tourist Association.  We won.  He called me from work, ecstatic, because we won a one night stay at the JW Marriott in downtown GR.  Complete with a couples massage, and a gift card to Six.One.Six.  While we both were excited, at the time, High Maintenance Baby Ellary was only 4 months old.  She was still waking up every hour at night, and I couldn't get her to take a bottle.  Meaning, there was no way we could leave her.  We figured we would wait a few months, maybe we could use it for our anniversary in December.  Unfortunately, her sleeping got worse before it got better.  We were exhausted, and our gift certificate got tucked away in the hutch, and we sort of forgot about it.  We decided we would try to use it for our 5th Anniversary this December.  When we realized it would expire in August, if we didn't use it, we called to have it extended, but they wouldn't let us.  Part of me figured we would just lose it-there was no way I could leave Ellary for more than an hour.  Then, our sweet girl decided to became a little more independent.  She still definitely needs Mama at night, but we could leave her with Nana all afternoon, then Nana could bring the kiddos down town at night.  

DJ and I haven't gone out, just us, since before Karson was born.  We left after the kids went down for their naps, and headed downtown.  We checked in, went to TGI Friday's for a drink and some spinach dip, and took a walk along the river.   We had scheduled massages, and when we were waiting DJ started talking. I shushed him...it was quiet...I was enjoying it!  After our massage (amazing) we ordered a pizza and took it to Rosa Parks Circle.  

Nana dropped off our kiddos after dinner, and I was ready for them to join us!  I loved the few hours of quiet, but I missed my babies!  We took them swimming...they reminded us they are complete opposites.

Karson swam for a few minutes, got cold, and snuggled in a towel.

Ellary swam, and swam, and swam, and swam until she was blue and shivering.  

She cried when we made her get out.

One of my favorite moments from the trip was when the kids were eating left over pizza, that we had ripped into small pieces, off the ottoman, with a towel over it.  ...at the JW Marriott.  Nice

The view of the sunset from our room.

While the kids were eating their pizza, they saw the horse & carriages walking along the bridge.  They started jumping up and down and screeching with excitement.  We decided to get them dressed up again, and take them for a walk, in Down Town Grand Rapids, at 10:00 at night.  When we walked into the lobby, there was a band playing, and people all over with drinks.  We walked out of the elevator with our massive stroller, and our 1 and 3 year old started dancing and waving at everyone.  Priceless!  Needless to say, they were the only kids out and about, but it was a fun memory, and the kids loved every second of it! We walked around looking for the horses for a long time.  

"Look Mommy, its the white horse.  Look, Baby Ella, its the brown horse.  Mommy, look look!!" 

We knew breakfast wouldn't use up all of our gift card money, so we ordered room service when we got back to our room.  Fresh chocolate chip cookies with chocolate milk.

The next morning, everyone was a little sleepy...

...and a little disappointed that the horses weren't on the bridge again. :)

We all got ready, and went out for an amazing breakfast.  So, so, so, so good! So much so that I will be asking for breakfast there for Mother's Day, or my birthday next year...or sooner.  So so good!

Before we left, we took a walk down town to get some pictures of the kids....

It was a fun night away!!