And what's your name again?

This morning Eliana was laying down and smiling. Poppy came over, looked at her with a grin and said, "You have the sweetest smile. I love you."

Without skipping a beat, Eliana gave him a blank look and said, "What's your name again?"

I don't recommend sharing a bed with Ellie.

FlickrDroid Upload, originally uploaded by elizabethwickland.

We had some water damage in our home last night, so Leif and I slept in Ellie's room. I shared the full-size bed with her while Leif slept on the floor. This is how I woke up this morning. She was completely sideways, kicking me in the ribs. I was pushed right up against the wall. I have shared my bed with her before and never gotten this treatment from her, nor have I given her this treatment.

On the plus side, at least I'm not having to share a toddler bed with her! Thank goodness we switched that out earlier in the week!

Mother's Day Lunch

To avoid the rush that always happens on Mother's Day, we went out to lunch on Saturday. It was wonderful! We ate at the fabulous Rib & Chop House in Livingston with Leif's parents. Since Leif's birthday is next week, we celebrated that, too. Here are just a few pictures from the day...


Ellie with her chicken strips


This is what I got when I told her to smile. Great.


This is what I got when I asked him to smile. At least I know where she gets it from.


Terry and Wenda. Happy Mother's Day, Wenda!


Me and the reason I get to celebrate Mother's Day!! I love you, Eliana!!

Since we were celebrating Leif's birthday as well, a candled dessert was delivered with song. Happy Birthday, Leif!!




Creme Brulee. Yum!!

Skippity, skippity, skippity... faceplant!

Eliana is currently running around the house wearing a bib on backwards, pretending to be a super hero. She's toting around a kitty stuffed into a sock, pretending it is a kitty mermaid who must be rescued from the monsters. (The monsters would be us, Leif and Elizabeth. I am apparently a robot and Leif is a monster, and we scare the kitty-mermaid.) Ellie informed me that her name is "Super Eliana" but her big girl name (her non-super-hero name?) is Jessuar (Jess-you-are). Then she proceeded to skip across the room and dive head first into the couch. Because that's what super heroes do.

Skippity skippity skippity FACEPLANT.

I am in a constant state of confusion and awe in the face of that girl's imagination and energy.

Eliana these days...

FlickrDroid Upload, originally uploaded by elizabethwickland.

It's been a while since I've recapped what Eliana is up to these days, so here's a glimpse of what she's like:

* Ellie LOVES braids. She wants braids every day. I have learned that if I braid her hair right when she gets out of the tub, it stays that way for a couple days. =D

* Ellie loves to wear dresses. She wants to wear them every day. I'm pretty happy to let her.

* Ellie is in imagination city right now. You never know when she's talking to you, or when she's talking to the imaginary mommy. It cracks me up!

* Ellie is still talking every waking moment. She wakes up talking and falls asleep talking and pretty much talks every moment in between. It's impressive how many words she can rattle off in a day.

* Ellie is still off milk, and does very well with it. She was given some trail mix with M&M's in it the other day, and she picked out an M&M, gave the lady a "you should know better" look and said, "Um, I can't have M&M's. They have milk in them." I let her pick them out and give them to me so I could eat them. She's good about staying away from milk. I'm thankful. =D

* Ellie is still pretty self-sufficient and has no problem getting herself food when she needs it. For the most part, she even gets herself healthy food like apples, bananas, toast, etc. She's a good kid.

* Ellie's favorite colors are pink and purple. She can't decide between the two now, so she lists both.

* If you ask Ellie how old she is, she will proudly proclaim that she is "FREE!"

* Eliana's favorite animal is a cat. She is always pretending to be a cat, and has 3 little stuffed kitties that she plays with incessantly. They go everywhere with us, at least one of them. See the orange kitty in the picture above? Yeah.