"Oh No, Pablo!"

Ella has become a bit, okay a lot attached over the last several months to a stuffed animal named Pablo. Many of you with young children are probably very familiar with Pablo from the Backyadigans.

Pablo is Ella's holy grail, as Amanda so appropriately described him. Pablo goes EVERY WHERE with Ella, church, bed, playdates. He is always in her arms. It actually is really cute.

Well, while we were in Houston last weekend, I did the unthinkable. I LEFT Pablo! Amanda and I were about an hour down the road headed back to Dallas when I suddenly gasped and yelled, "I LEFT PABLO!"

When I called to tell Heath his exact words were, "You might as well have left Ella." Yes, that is how attached she is.

If I would have left Pablo at Amanda's moms house, it would not have been that big of an ordeal because he could have been mailed to me immediately. But I left Pablo at our friend Michelle's house when we were visiting her, Keegan (her 20 month old) and her new baby Jack. I just didn't feel right about asking a mother of two, one of them only 2 weeks old, to trek to the post office to mail him.

Ella did okay the first night without Pablo, but the very first words out of her mouth that morning were, "Dada, where Pablo?" in the cutest little voice on this planet. I explained to her that Pablo was playing at Keegan and Jack's house this week, but Amanda and Jackson were bringing him back to us in a week. Strangely, she looked at me like she understood what I was saying and she was okay with it.

All was good until that night when I was showing my mom pictures from our Houston trip and there was Pablo in the pictures. Ella saw the pictures of Pablo and had a meltdown, saying over and over, "Oh no, Pablo!"

Thankfully, my very sweet and generous friend Amanda, found an identical Pablo online and sent it to Ella as an early birthday present. So Ella only had to go 4days without him. She survived, but it was close for a while there. And now we are also reunited with the old Pablo. It's so amazing that we now have a backup so this mommy mistake won't happen again.

Oh Pablo, how did we ever live without you?

Ella loves to put on piano concerts for her beloved.


Of course, no outfit is complete without the Pablo accessory.


Nigh Nights with Pablo.


Playdates with Pablo.


Thank you Amanda!!!


Okay, I have packing, packing and more packing to do. We leave for Disney World in TWO DAYS!!!

Love,

Do I Really Leave for Disney World in 6 Days?

I am starting to panic a little over my little Disney counter over there that is telling me how little time I have to do so many things!

But the excitment of our trip WAY out weighs the panic of all the things that need to be done yet! We are SO EXCITED!!! We've been talking about this trip for so long, I can't believe that we are less than a week away from it.

To give you a little history, my family (as in me, my sister and my parents) are crazy over Disney World. We went for the first time when I was in 7th grade and have been many times since then. We love it. We go a little overboard with our trip planning every time. I actually made a notebook for this trip, with tabs for each day of the week that contains all the information that we will need for that day's activities.

However, we have never been to DW with a toddler. We are even more excited than we've ever been because of that. But a little apprehensive too. I've heard nightmares about DW with babies and toddlers. I've also heard amazingly magical stories with small children also. I'm going to pray for the latter.

So, if any of y'all have ever gone to Disney World with a toddler and has any advice for me, I would GLADLY accept it and appreciate it.

Another reason we are more excited than ever about this trip is because Heath's mom and sisters are going with us, as well as my parents. Heath's mom and sisters have never been to DW before, so I can't wait to see how much they are going to love it. There is a total of 8 of us going!!! SO FUN! And we are all staying in a 4 bedroom condo for the entire week! It's going to be fabulous!

Well, I'm going to continue with my packing list. I'll keep you updated.

Love,

Random Cuteness - Part 3

None of my other pictures to document our weekend in Houston fit into the same category. So I made up a new category for the remaining pictures...random cuteness. And they are!

Dance Party '08!


Bath time fun! Jackson blew me away with how he LOVES to throw water over his head! It's hilarious. Water touching Ella's face or hair is her most hated thing in life.


Ella jumped right in to participate with Bibby's night time exercises!




Just being cute!


Dinner at La Hacienda!


Jackson has been jumping with both feet off the ground for months. Ella likes to think she does, but she doesn't ever quite clear the ground. Well she does now and I actually caught it in a picture. You go girl!


Morning drawing time.


Ella and Jackson love to chase each other. They started this months ago. Even when Jackson first started walking and Ella was still crawling, Ella would crawl after him as fast as she could.
She is running from Jackson.


And here comes Jackson!


They play so well together!


Thank you again, Beth and Amanda, for an amazingly fun weekend!! Ella and I felt so blessed and spoiled by y'all! You treated us just like part of the family and we are so appreciative.

We love you!

The Tods - Part Deuce

The Houston Zoo

On Sunday, Bibby treated The Tods and their Mamas to the Zoo! We had such a good time. It was a perfectly beautiful day to be out.


Bibby and Jackson checking out the elephants.



This is our favorite picture of the day.


Amanda, Jackson and Bibby.


Ella loved chasing the birds with stick in hand. That stick made it home with us she loved it so much. Saves me money on souvenirs. hehehe




I like Amanda's caption for this photo..."The Goat Whisperer"


Jackson preferred the slide over the goats.


Ella was loving it too.


Exhausted from a fun day.


Ella's lovely hat hair!


Thank you, Beth for a fun day at the zoo!!!

Weekend at "Jackson's Bibby's House"

I can't even begin to tell you how much fun Ella and I had with Amanda, Jackson and Bibby this weekend! We were so totally spoiled by the Moore family with all kinds of yummy food and fun outings! I took 218 pictures, but does that really surprise anyone?

It was the ultimate playdate for Jackson and Ella. Every morning when one of them heard the other wake up, they would immediately start yelling, "Jackson" "Ella" and then they hit the floor running and screaming and didn't stop until they crashed for bed time at 8:00 that night!

Beth said all weekend how well Ella and Jackson play together for 2 year olds. They really do. They are so sweet to each other. It was fun for us because they never got bored, therefore there was never any fussing. It was one fun moment after another at "Jackson's Bibby and Pawpaw's house". That's what Ella called them. Jackson's Bibby and Jackson's Pawpaw. Towards the end of our weekend, Ella started dropping the "Jackson's" and just called them Bibby and Pawpaw. So sweet.

Outing #1

Memorial City Mall. AKA: The greatest play ground in a mall EVER!

On the way to the Mall.








This is evidence of Beth's mad photo journalism skills that Amanda mentioned in her blog. :-) I love this picture.


On the way home from the Mall! Just a little tuckered from all the fun.


Bibby treated all of us to cookies on the way out and Ella just couldn't get all of hers eaten before passing out in the car. She had so much chocolate dripping out of her mouth after it liquefied from being in her mouth for so long.


Outing #2 To Be Continued...

Love,

The Movies and More...

The other night, Amanda and I met for one of our most frequent past times after the babies are asleep, (husbands home with them of course) the MOVIES! Is there much better in the way of relaxation than sitting next to one of your best girlfriends in a good movie? No. Sunni enjoys this past time maybe the most out of the three of us, but couldn't make it Sunday night due to circumstances that could be a blog post of her own.

Anyway, we saw The Bucket List and let me tell you, run out and see this movie RIGHT.NOW. There were so many things I loved about it and I can't even tell you about it because I don't want so spoil it. I will say this, a certain marking off the list (you'll know what I mean when you see it) at the end of the movie almost made me fall out on the floor in tears.

If you've seen it or when you do see it, let me know what you thought and what your favorite part was because I have so many.

Changing the subject...
Tomorrow is going to be a very exciting day!

First, my good good friend Melissa, is having her second son tomorrow, Gabriel!! I get to see Melissa almost everyday and have loved watching Gabe grow in her sweet belly. I can't wait to meet him tomorrow morning!!!

Shortly after that, Amanda and I are leaving for a roadtrip to H-town baby! Our good friend, Michelle, had her second son, Jack, two weeks ago so we are going to visit with them and meet him! Two brand new babies for me to love on. I am so excited!

Love,

23 Months

In exactly ONE month, my baby girl is going to turn TWO! I can't really believe it. Honestly, I haven't given into it to much emotionally this year. Last year at this time I was a basketcase and probably writing my 15th blog post on how I can't believe my sweet girl is about to turn one. But this year, it just isn't quite as emotionally difficult.

Maybe it's because I have a few more distrations this year. Like a toddler that never stops running, talking, playing, laughing, screaming (sometimes) and just plain having fun. I just don't have time to dwell on it like last year, which I consider a good thing.

So here's to Ella turning TWO in one month. Wow!

If this can't make the Cowboys win, I don't what can.

Pump, Pump Pump It Up

Thursday's playdate was at this place called Pump It Up. It basically is kid heaven, two big rooms filled with giant bounce houses. It's pretty fun for adults too. *wink wink




Jackson and Ella could not have been cuter bouncing like crazy.






Amanda and Jackson had so much fun going through the obstacle course.


Tobey and Ella are laid out with exhaustion.


Ava and Ella are out of here.




Ella loved going down the slide with Mama! Something you might not know about Ella is she is not exactly the adventurous type. She loves the swing, but not too high. She loves to play wrestle, but not too hard. She loves to slide, but not too fast. So I'm a little worried about how she is going to respond to the kiddy rides at Disney World (which is in 21 DAYS!). But she really loved the big slides here and they were really fast and high. So I have a glimmer of hope that she'll hold up okay on Dumbo and the Tea Cups.

Love,