This seems to be turning into a crazy, hectic week, and we started off with a blast yesterday celebrating Ella's second birthday. Here she is after tasting her chocolate birthday cake. Not too messy, as you can see.



I've gotten so used to having two children - Accalia and Cole - who are so into every little thing about birthdays, and here we have Ella who gets excited about it all but really doesn't care about all of the festivities. So I just made sure our little celebration had plenty of things that Accalia and Cole would have fun with - decorations, playing a few games, etc. - and Ella seemed to enjoy their enthusiasm most of all. I think her favorite present had to be a pack of crayons. She was so excited when she opened it and started taking out each crayon one by one (24 pack) and setting them on the rug in a row.

Actually, Ella was probably most excited about picking up Accalia from dance class later in the day. We arrived a few minutes early, and Ella ran out on the dance floor to be right next to Ella. She stood right by her as they formed a big circle to say goodbye and followed along with all of the dance moves. Right now she's wearing Accalia's dance clothes for tap.

Today we took Ella for a well child visit. She's gained almost six pounds since her 18 month checkup and weighs in at 38 pounds. She's also grown three inches and is 38 1/2 inches tall. The doctor said that she's actually a little overweight and could be 2 1/2 pounds less. Cory said I should have asked what diet he recommends. Uh huh.

The kids are really excited about Halloween. Cory most likely works in the evening, so I'll be on my own for all of the festivities. We're all pretty bummed about that. Accalia's planning to be a witch, and I think Cole is going to be a frog. If Ella lets me put a costume on her, she'll be a bee. I'm not convinced she'll let me do that, though.

Okay, I should really tackle this pile of emails I have after not getting online for basically all day yesterday and much of today.