Spring is FINALLY here!

Noelie in her Bentley's Bows hat.

First off let me start with, "I know, I know - it's been a while and you are sick of pulling up the blog and seeing Eli's foot on the dinner table!" Ha Ha! OK, we got that out of the way. Be sure and scroll down a few posts as I put several at a time including Easter pics... by popular demand, may I add.

Life has been quite busy for us Ellestads. Spring has brought us all kinds of exciting things like Kindergarten registration. Yeah, I know! It's time already. Noelie is having a time analyzing what this all means. She took cap and gown pics at school and I guess it hit her that she won't be going back there next year. I told her it's part of growing up and that's a good thing. She told me, "eh, I like being this big, I'll just stay this way." She's bummed she can't take her teachers with her. There were big tears over that conversation. I have never remembered a child analyzing the growing up process so much! It's crazy. I tell her get some sleep because that's how you grow and she tells me the next morning... "I slept good and I didn't grow, see it didn't work so I'll just stay with the Monkeys (her prek class)." I tell her she needs to grow to do fun things like her big cousins. Don't you want to be able to play and jump like Kinslie and Maddie and Megan and Erin and Peyton... "Nah, that's ok. I'm afraid if I grow too big, I'll hit my head on the ceiling." Sooo, taking any ideas of how to win this conversation!

Anyway, to help with this disagreement I tried to do what I knew best. Buy my way into proving my point. Those of you that know me and my mother understand that we are believers that a little shop therapy can go a long way. So I bought her a groovy pair of Sketchers that light up. They are also her first shoes with laces... which I explained she'll need to learn to tie as that is a very big girl thing. She loves the shoes and is very protective of them... only wears them where she doesn't think they'll get dirty. Very cute (particularly for someone I still have to constantly remind to pick up her toys)!

Eli is getting evermore independent. He loves washing his hands and brushing his teeth. This was a wonderful thing, I thought, until I left him with the tooth brushing a minute (like usually happens in the morning) to help Noelie put her clip in her hair. I turn around and found out what he must do when I step away. Oh yes, He was rinsing the tooth brush in the TOILET! UGH! What is it with these gross boys. Anyway, after rinsing him with bleach (just kidding) I had to go buy new toothbrushes and he is now under careful monitoring when anywhere near a restroom. Gag!

He is talking more and more. Many of you have read in previous posts how he loves to pack around his shoes and take them on and off. Well he now says "shoes" and will even go and pick out matching ones to put on. When he sees me getting dressed to run he'll grab my tennis shoes. Smart little bug. Maybe he'll grow up one day and be a very successful shoe salesman;) He also now says, "I know, I know" and "oh, man" when he's in trouble.

Monkey Class Egg Hunt - My "Big Girl" would be the one sitting in the teachers lap.
Big girl shoes