The power of candy

This last week while Ella was playing in her room she managed to lock the door and locked herself in. We tried and tried to get the door unlocked, but we just couldn't get in open. Ella was starting to get desperate and kept saying "Mom/Dad help me!" I had to capture this cute, funny, scary moment. When we couldn't get it open we told her to put her hands on the nob and pull down. This lock is one where you just push the button in, so just a little movement would have opened the door. She tried so hard, but just couldn't get it. At one point she had given up and started playing with her toys instead. Then I had a brilliant idea - CANDY! Ella is definitely my little girl, because she loves candy. I put a piece on the floor and told her to look at it (under the door). She kept saying that she wanted it, but I told her she had to twist the handle in order to get it. Low and behold she opened the door! All it took was a little piece of candy.

I don't know if you can tell what these pictures are but the first one is Ella sitting against the door, totally frustrated by us. The second is Ella looking under the door at us, waiting for help. The last is my favorite! She is standing by the door trying to figure out how to twist this tough handle.

Party Time

Ella's Birthday was a week ago, but here are some of the fun things that we did

Make a wish

Ella received a lot of presents and really liked to rip them open

Princess cake for Princess Ella

I'm 2 mom!

John and I took Ella to Lehi's Dinosaur museum at Thanksgiving Point on her Birthday. It was really nice to have some one on one time with her. We left the babies with Nana Eisenhart. Before this experience Ella didn't know what a dinosaur was - now she thinks they are awesome and even wants to read her dinosaur book every day. She really liked the hands on exhibits. She played in water and played in the sand.

Ella playing at the erosion table

Ella was so excited to have mommy and daddy all to herself!

The scary dinosaurs were trying to get us.

We went bowling at Fat Cat's and had pizza at the Pizza Factory, the Tuesday before her Birthday. Ella absolutely LOVES bowling. She gets so excited when she knocks over pins. Look at her face, you can tell that she had such a great time.

Spare!!!

The Birthday Princess

It was so nice to have most of the family there to celebrate Ella's 2nd Birthday.

Ella got lots of nice presents

Nana and Papa Eisenhart - Table and chairs, art easel, plates, cups, bowls and silverware

Grandma and Grandpa Briggs - bag of yummy treats, wallet, and money

Aunt Megan and Uncle Bryce - singing magic unicorn and magic wand

Uncle TJ - homemade bracelet, and money

Aunt Lisa, Uncle Jeff, Alyvia, and Ainsley - Ballerina book

Andy - baby doll (for the water)

Corinne - bug puzzle, squeaking puppet bird

Mom and Dad - bat and ball, clothes, Curious George Book and nightgown, Ella book, apron, Tinkerbell wall art, and barbie doll

Bubbles Bubbles Everywhere

My friend over at Running Away? I'll help you pack is having a Palmolive giveaway and it made me remember this funny story that happened to us.

Great story for you! My sister was catering my mom's company Christmas party and needed some extra help. Of course I went to help and so did my sweet husband, John. Well John was in charge of dishes while my sister cooked and I served the dinner. When I went into the kitchen I noticed that it was REALLY clean! John had cleaned everything so far and had already started a load of dishes. I was 7 months pregnant and was so excited to sit for about 10 minutes while they ate. All of a sudden I look across the room and I see bubbles EVERYWHERE! My sister, John and I all grab bowls and we are trying to keep the bubbles off the floor. It turns out that sweet John couldn't find dishwasher soap, so he used regular dish soap. I had seen this happen in the movies, but I didn't know that this could really happen. I'm telling you bubble were all over the floor. Just writing this is bringing it all back and I'm laughing so hard(tears and all)! Has this ever happened to you?

And the winner is...

Thanks to all of you who entered my Scentsy giveaway! All of you who would like to try Scentsy, you can still order on my site. Your house will smell amazing!

You can still get free product from me if you would like to host a Scentsy party. Even if you live across the country, you can have a Scentsy party and earn lots of free product.

If you would like the opportunity to sell a great product and earn extra money click here!

The winner of my giveaway (random number generator - 59) is Jessica G. from DuckDuckCow

Happy Birthday Ella Bella

It's hard to believe that my little Ella is already 2 years old! It seems like she has grown up so fast. She has such a fun little personality and is extremely independent! Here is a list of Ella's favorite things and funny things about her. (Remember this is my journal so I am listing a lot)

-Favorite Book - "Disney Princess Storybook Collection"

-Favorite song to sing - "I love to see the Temple"

-Favorite song to dance to - Beyonce's "Single Ladies"

-Favorite show - just about any cartoon on Disney or PBS

-Favorite toy - any baby doll (she has one with her at all times)

-Favorite color - Pink

-Favorite foods - pistachio nuts, pizza from Sam's club, chicken nuggets and fries

-Favorite drink - pink milk

-Favorite dessert - snow cones (from our snowie machine) and Oreo cookies

-Ella can count from 1-10

-She kicks and throws balls

-She hops, jumps, can stand on one foot, walks on her tippy toes and runs REALLY fast

-She can do somersaults and balances on one foot

-Ella knows all of her colors and some shapes

-Ella can tell you her birthday

-She knows her first and last name, and if you ask her what her name is she will tell you, "Princess Ella"

-Ella sings the theme song to "Good Things Utah" every time it comes on

-Ella loves to dance and she is a good little dancer! She tries to do Beyonce's "Single Ladies" dance with all of the moves which Ella calls "hips"

-She likes to be a little mommy to her baby dolls (she even tries to breastfeed them)

-Ella loves her little brother and sister, but sometimes is a little bit rough (she tries to wrestle with them)

-She likes to brush her teeth

-Ella loves to take baths

-She loves to wear lip gloss, put on nail polish and brush her hair, even though she hardly has any

-Ella has figured out how to answer the phone, most of the time it's when I'm breastfeeding the babies and can't get to the phone fast enough

-She is scared of the vacuum and blender, yet she loves scary Halloween things

-Ella loves to play dress up, she is usually a fairy or princess

-She loves to make up songs, I often find her singing and talking to her baby dolls when she is alone in her room

-Ella loves to color and can draw a face complete with head, eyes, nose, mouth and ears

-She has very good manners saying, "please, thank you, your welcome, and excuse me"

- Ella likes to play hide and go seek and she especially likes to hide at Costco and Sam's Club (she now only wears her squeaker shoes to the store)

-If Ella sees another child her age she tells me, "that's my friend"

-She loves trains and gets really excited when she sees TRAX go by

-She's a little daredevil and likes to go down big slides

-She loves going to the pool and likes to "swim"

-Ella loves anything Elmo

-Ella likes to sit on the couch and watch home videos and look at pictures

-She loves to have books read to her

-She likes to watch cycling because she always thinks that it's her uncle TJ racing

-She LOVES to help me cook

-Ella is very independent and will get mad at you if you try to put on her shoes. She'll say, "NO! I do it!"

-She also likes to pick out her outfit for the day and has recently started to take off her clothes by herself.

-She gets giddy when I wiggle my fingers at her, she'll squeal "tickle bug" and start laughing before I even start tickling her.

-She is getting the hang of potty training and usually uses the potty at least twice a day

-She thinks that any church (or tall building) is a temple and insists on singing "I Love to See the Temple"

-Ella loves to go bowling (that is what we did for her birthday party)

-She really enjoys the zoo and knows all of the animals

Ella is such a joy in our lives. Every single day she surprises us with something new that she has learned. She makes us laugh and puts a smile on our faces every day. I can't imagine my life without her. I am so thankful that Heavenly Father has made her part of our family. Ella we love you!

Great Giveaways!

I found the cutest giveaway for a little girls modest outfit on modestly chic. Here is the link.

There is also a contest on mommies with cents for a humidifier (super cute!) and another contest for piggy paint, a non toxic nail polish and remover for kids (or adults)

All better

My little sweeties are finally ALL BETTER. About a month ago Ella got a cold. The usual runny and stuffy nose, sneezing and coughing. It was inevitable that the twins would get sick and they sure did! After about a week of their cough getting worse and worse we took them to the Doctor. He said, well I know what they have... RSV. Immediate panic - I have always heard horror stories about it. He gave the babies some medicine and now they are all better. Yea!!!