Ella Bella is 3!

Our little girl turned 3 on March 31, and celebrations fitting of the little wonder she is took place. She is such a special little girl.  She is hilarious, sweet and fiery all at the same time, brave, compassionate, devoted to her brothers, so smart it makes me nervous sometimes, focused, and undeniably beautiful.  She would eat noodles for every meal of the day if we would let her, loves broccoli (can actually be bribed with it), is obsessed lately with how words are spelled (you would be proud, Auntie Stef, our home is becoming quite a print rich environment!), can often be found making jewelry from her bead box, or doing dot-to-dots in one of her many puzzle books.  She loves to sing and dance, will snuggle for stories as long as someone keeps reading, is a precious caretaker of her little brother, and is becoming quite the little ice skater!! We are so blessed to be her parents as she makes us laugh like no one else in the world, and has taught us more in three short years about appreciating every moment and making time to have fun than we ever could have imagined possible.  She is a TRIP, and we love her desperately.

Here are some pictures from her Butterfly Garden birthday party and her recent adventures in ice skating lessons.

Birthday morning!  Hugs from Will.

With her "big" present!

A new bike!  No more sharing Will's! Look out- the sidewalks in our neighborhood will never be the same again!  Here comes Pinkalicious!

 It even has a carrier on the back for Baby Stella!

Ella helped me put together the treat bags for her party.  Her favorite sweets- mini butterfly cupcakes and M&M's.

The pansy baskets for the tables- so pretty!

Welcome to Ella's Butterfly Garden. 

The cake.  My first foray into fondant decorations...

Each of the kiddos got their feet painted and stamped onto a canvas to make an adorable butterfly keepsake. 
Hailey's turn.

Brooke's turn!

Ella making a butterfly bookmark.

Kaitlyn's turn! Kaitlyn and Gabe were born about 12 hours apart at the same hospital.  Her sister, Brooke, and Will go to school together.  Her mom, Emily, and I have become fast friends.  We just love them!

Will just could NOT stop laughing while I painted his foot.  He was SO ticklish!

The finished products. 

Singing Happy Birthday!

Benjamin!

Ria- our new neighbor and one of Ella's favorite people.

Brooke.

Maddy.

Uh-oh!!  Too much party for Gabe!

Here are some pictures from Ella's recent adventures in ice-skating.  Much to my dismay, she doesn't seem to have much interest in dance classes, but is really loving skating!  And, doing very well!

 She's the only girl in her class and is a full year younger than all of them.  She totally holds her own though!!

 Skating to Miss Gabby!

 Super girl-ing!

 Practicing.

 Taking a rest on the princess chairs.

 Touching her skates while moving.  Sorry the pictures are blurry, the glass around the rink is really scratched up from hockey!

 Skating around picking up the colored balls. 

 Skating one back to the bin!