Our Fifth Anniversary

Mike and I got to celebrate our 5 year anniversary with an overnight trip to Dallas! I told him months ago that I wanted to go away for our anniversary - I didn't care where, I just wanted to go somewhere! So when we found out that his favorite band, Steely Dan, was playing in Dallas the day after our anniversary, we decided to celebrate our anniversary in Dallas with tickets to see them in concert. It worked out perfectly and we had a great time!

Our friend Erin offered to stay overnight with the girls when she found out that we were going away. We really appreciate her and her two little kiddos, Graham and Annie, being so willing to spend the night at our house with the kids. I know our girls had a blast! Elaina is still talking about it and all the fun things they did. And our little Erin (who is very attached to Mommy right now) got attached to my friend Erin as well! For both of their sakes, I'm glad! The next morning my friend Robyn also helped us out by watching them all morning at her house. I don't think the girls even missed us, they had so much fun while we were gone! It makes the trip that much better to know that the kids had a great time too. So a million thanks to Robyn and Erin for helping us make this happen!

The concert was great! I really like Steely Dan, but I usually only listen to them when Mike has it on, but I actually knew most of the songs too...he does listen to them a lot! :) It's amazing how talented these musicians are, especially at improv, which they did a lot of that night. I have a new appreciation for this band after attending the concert. Mostly though, it was great to be there with Mike. This last year has been pretty busy and stressful that it was nice to have a worry free weekend before it started all over again. Elaina was so excited for us too when I told her that Mommy and Daddy where going on a date (she knows what a date is because Princess Giselle talks about it in Enchanted).

This song is called Kid Charlemagne, and it was the last song they played during the encore, and also one of our favorites of the night. The camera really distorts the sound pretty badly.

Happy Anniversary Mike, I love you! :)

I'm Done with Three!

Elaina and I had a funny conversation on Monday, just a couple days after her birthday party:

Mom: Elaina, did you have a fun birthday party?
Elaina: Ya, I did! I want to have another birthday party! I want to have a Dumbo party!
Mom: Well, we have to wait till next year when you turn four.
Elaina: I want to be four. I'm done with three.
Mom: Well, you won't be four for a while.
Elaina: I want to be one then. I'm done with three.
Mom: You don't want to be one again! You've already been one. Besides, if you're one, you won't be able to talk. Erin's one.
Elaina: Erin can talk! She can say "da-da-da"!!!!

Since then we've heard many many times that she is done with three. I can't believe it! She was so excited to be three and has been talking about it for months. Now as soon as she's three, she's ready to be done with it?!?!?!?!

Happy Birthday Elaina!

Elaina turned three this month!!! It was a special birthday because it was 08-08-o8 this year! So When Elaina was born she was 8lb 8 oz as well, so 8 has got to be her lucky number! So I'm pretty sure that this means it's going to be a lucky year, right?!?

Elaina is our little social butterfly and I always write about how talkative she is because some of the funniest things come out of this little girl's mouth. However, one other wonderful quality about Elaina is that she is so thoughtful of others. This is especially true of her relationship with Erin - she always makes sure that Erin has a toy or a cup or food, or whatever she feels that Erin needs at the time. It's so wonderful to see her be the big sister taking such good care of her little sister. The other day we were driving to Houston to a bbq with one of Mike's classmates and Erin was getting fussy. Elaina reached over to Erin and held her hand, whispering "it's ok sweetie....we're almost there...you'll be ok." It calmed Erin down and Elaina held her hand for several minutes. And each time Erin would start crying again, Elaina would reach over and do it again. She's the same with me and Mike, always asking, "what can I do for you?" or making sure that our owwies get lots of kisses. Her relationships with people are very important to her, and she considers everyone a friend. She remembers specific details about people and what she learns about them. It amazes me what she observes and remembers about her friends and family that she interacts with. We're also so glad to have Elaina part of our family and we love this little girl so much! Happy Birthday Elaina!

The cake I made for our little family party turned out to be a disaster! I'm such an amateur at this, but the cake was lopsided, the frosting was melting by the time we were able to eat it, I ran out of frosting to edge it. Ah, it was a mess! And right before we were about to sing one of the corners completely fell off, so we had to squish it back into place for the sake of a good picture. Thank goodness little Elaina loved it and can't tell yet that it was a disaster. In her eyes it was a masterpiece and that's all the matters! And thank goodness for that! :)

Opening gifts with family


These pictures are from Elaina's birthday party with friends. It was a great day and I think everyone had a lot of fun! We decorated party hats, played relay games, pin-the-tail, and each guest got to pick a present from the "close line" as their party favor:

Pin-the-Tail on the camel
*courtesy of Nana & Grandpa in Saudi Arabia!

Blowing out candles...thank goodness she chose a simple cake the second time around!

Opening Presents

Memories

I love reminiscing and saw this on a couple of my friends' blogs. So do it, it'll be fun!!! :)

1. As a comment on this post, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.