We have a FOUR year old!!!

Our sweet Ellie turned 4 on the 11th and we can not believe that for years ago she made us parents for the first time. The time has passed by at lightning speed. She is a wonderful little bundle of energy, joy, spunk, personality and beauty. She challenges me daily to be a better mom and a better person. She has a strong will like no other, but I know that will pay off BIG as she grows into a woman and faces the challenges the world brings. Ellie is an amazing big sister to Quinn. She loves her immensely and takes wonderful care of her. They have their sister moments of fighting, but the first thing Ellie asks about in the morning is when Quinn is going to wake up. She makes me laugh every day and her imagination is unmatched. Ben and I have enjoyed every moment of being her parents the past 4 years and are excited to see how she grows and changes in the next year.

For Ellie's special day Ben was off from work as it was a holiday. She chose a Doc McStuffins' theme, so Ben and I went on a shopping date the week before to buy her a few things. She had a few requests, one being a guitar and one being a light up stethoscope like Doc has. Nana and PopPop are bringing the stethoscope, so Ben and I got the guitar, we even found a Doc one. She also got a Super Why game, which she loves. She got a poster for her room as well. I took Quinn out shopping for Ellie and she picked out a Doc cup and shirt for her big sister.

Doc's favorite colors are pink and purple, so that was the colors of our decor. Ben and I decorated the cake together.(He wanted to make a Doc face, but time constraints did not allow for such details this year, maybe next year.) Ellie was so excited and had a wonderful day. We went to breakfast and the park and then opened gifts and played her new game. We then had her favorite, pizza, for dinner and Ben read her the birthday book.

On Friday we took her to the Great Wolf Lodge to enjoy the indoor water park for the afternoon. One of our MAXlife parents had given our family a free pass and Ben and I decided to make it Ellie's special birthday treat this year. She had a BLAST! I am not sure who had more fun, Ellie or Quinn. I included pictures of the fun we had at the Great Wolf, but not any of the girls since they did not stop for one second.

 Ben decorating the cake.

 The Cake. It was our first time using fondant. Ben was in charge of putting everything on and I made the cake and put the pink and purple candies on.

 We even found Doc wrapping paper!

 Her Traditional Birthday Banner

 Her Bedroom Door

 Birthday Park Time

 Have to bring Molly Monks.

 Opening Cards and Gifts

 Playing Super Why!

 Playing the Guitar

 These two took the perfect picture! They both bring me so much joy and are a complete answer to all my prayers!

 Quinn was not into taking birthday pictures.

 Great Wolf Lodge

 The Wave Pool

Kid Zone. Quinn would not stop going on the slides. We got our exercise for sure!

It's Raining Leaves

We have been reading lots of books about fall leaves during this season and so the girls and I decided to rake a pile of them and jump in. The girls did the jumping and I did the raking. They both had a great time and even Ellie helped with the raking! Fall leaves are always a welcome change in our home and we love all you can do with them!

Pumpkins and Trick Or Treating

We started our Halloween festivities one night earlier this year. We started by carving our pumpkins with our friends Andy, Katie and Baby Laine (as we like to call her). I think this is the 7th year we have done this together. We started when we could stay up as late as we wanted and now we carve and eat earlier so we can make sure the kids don't go to bed too late. Times have changed, but for the better! I carved an owl and Ben carved an Angry Bird. Our friend Andy carved FSU and Katie painted Minnie Mouse. Ellie even joined in by painting her own pumpkin.

On Halloween, we had Mummy Dogs and did some trick or treating. We stopped by our buddy Seth's house and enjoyed trick or treating in our neighborhood. The girls got lots of candy and Quinn walked the whole way carrying her candy bag. She refused to let anyone carry her or her bag! They did great and we all had a great time! I have to say we had the cutest little ones ever! Ellie was Doc McStuffins, which is a Disney Jr. character and is one of the main reasons she wants to be a doctor right now (that and she loves her doctor, Dr. Baker). Quinn was a giraffe, which is what Ellie was at that age, and she was too adorable.