Busiest Weekend Ever!

We had a non-stop weekend. It was a blast, but completely exhausting! On Friday evening, our friends Alison and Sean came over for dinner. Ella and Nathan were on their best behavior. Haha, just kidding. They were nuts, as usual. Ella LOVES to show off when new people are around. And when I say "show off" I mean jumping on the couches, running around the house, and wrestling with her brother. Alison and Sean are in the midst of the adoption process. They hope to adopt a little boy from Ethiopia in the next few months. I can't believe how extensive the adoption process is. They have so much paper work to fill out, have to get medically cleared by a physician, get a home study completed, and so much more! If only we all had to do that before we became parents!

On Saturday, Ella and I ventured downtown to the US Cellular Arena to see "Disney on Ice: The Princess Collection." When we arrived, there were little girls EVERYWHERE, wearing their princess outfits. Ella wanted to know why she didn't have on a princess outfit...it didn't even occur to me to dress her up! She did have on a princess t-shirt. That counts for something, right? Of course there was princess gear for sale, which Ella caught onto immediately. She picked out this beautiful spinner thingie for the low, low price of $20.00. That's right folks, I handed over $20.00 for that. I am such a sucker.

Oh well...it was worth it. When the lights went down and the show started, I got tears in my eyes. I know...silly, right? I'm not sure why it happened. I think it was because I was so happy to be sitting there with my daughter. My daughter. It still amazes me sometimes that I am a mother and that I have this smart, funny, beautiful daughter, who is now old enough to go with me to movies and shows, and have actual conversations with me. (Who also learned the phrase, "I hate you," and used it appropriately on Joe the next day.) I digress...so yeah, I think it just hit me at "Disney on Ice" and I got all choked up.

The show was about 2 hours long and Ella did pretty well. At intermission, Ella had to go potty, just like every other little "princess" there. All of the Women's bathrooms had lines down the hall, so some women started lining up at the Men's bathroom, which was still out the door and down the hall. At this point, Ella started holding herself and spinning in circles because she had to go so bad. Some nice ladies let us go in front of them, but there was only ONE STALL. One lady told me to just hold Ella over a sink and let her go. I couldn't do that. I thought Ella was going to pee right on the floor, right then and there. Then a woman in front of us said, "Here, let us make a wall around the urinal and she can go there." So, that's what we did. Ella squatted, with my help, and peed in a urinal. And then all the other mothers had their girls do the same. It was hilarious! And also disturbing. Why weren't there more Women's bathrooms???

After we got home, we drove up to Appleton to spend the afternoon and evening with our friends Paul and April. It's always nice to let Nathan and Jackson play together. We went to Monkey Joe's first, where Ella climbed and slid and ran and jumped! Nathan and Jackson were a bit leery at first, but then they warmed up and had a blast climbing around in the toddler area. We went to Applebee's for dinner, where Nathan threw his cup across the room and Ella feasted on a giant chocolate chip cookie sundae, even thought she "wasn't hungry." We spent the night at Paul and April's since we were headed to Green Bay the next morning for our nephew Harry's baptism and 1st birthday party. But first, April gave Nathan a much-needed haircut. He looks so grown up! And guess who's going to be a big brother??? No, not Nathan...calm down. Jackson! Congratulations Paul and April! Click here for the 1st view of the little peanut!

Harry turns 1 on February 10th, and I can't even believe it. He is such a sweet baby and I wish we could see him much more than we do. He was baptized on Sunday and then Julia and Greg had everyone over for a nice lunch to celebrate. It was nice to see our family and Ella always loves to spend time with her cousins.

It was the busiest weekend ever!