“for you are fearfully and wonderfully made…”

dear ellie,

today you are three years old and a full-fledged “big girl.” gone is the squishy baby with the roly-poly arms and wispy fine hair, the diaper-toting toddler who once slept in a crib. you are three, big girl! you hold up three fingers and tell me so, which is how i know it’s true.

your hair is still blonde, but its gotten longer and darker. we decided to give you bangs this year, a style choice i will never regret, not even when you’re older and want to grow them out and have to go through that awkward not-so-cute stage. your deep blue eyes continue to sparkle and your smile is as beautiful as ever.

the older you get, the more inquisitive you are, and the level of your intelligence continues to astound us. your memory is vast — sometimes you recall things that happened more than six months ago and i have to rack my brain before i realize for myself exactly what is it you’re talking about.

even in our new house and your new bed, you have continued to sleep well. you take one nap during the day and sleep between 10 and 12 hours a night. as well as you sleep, though, you are the personification of a morning person. every day you wake up bright-eyed, so eager to start your day. you are the most wonderful thing about every morning.

we spend our days together running errands, taking art classes and having playdates with friends. we go to the zoo and the mall and the park, feed ducks and have picnic lunches together. you will start preschool later this year, and although it’s only a few times a week, i will miss you more than i can explain.

milestones this year included your first haircut, your first art and swim classes, your first time in the snow, your first time on a boat, and the ever-daunting (but really not so bad) potty training. it took about two weeks and you were a potty pro. i am so, so proud of you.

it’s hard to believe it’s been three years since the first time i laid eyes on you, heard your first cries, held you, fell in love with you. there is no higher honor, no greater privilege, nothing in the world that makes me happier than being your mommy.

happy 3rd birthday, my sweet girl.

love,
mommy

ellie’s wonderful grandma shirley recently had a birthday, so in honor of her special day, we had her and robert over for appetizers, dinner, drinks, presents, cake, music and fun.

i prepared some finger foods and a yummy salad, and ryan made his famous tangy glazed pork tenderloin (by request of the birthday girl herself), and then we brought out the cake. it wasn’t homemade this year, but it was a baskin-robbins ice cream cake, and a very cute one if you ask me :)

of course ellie helped with the make-a-wish-and-blow-out-the-candles part, and then they all had a good time playing the “you have frosting on your nose” game, which made for some very cute pictures.

happy birthday, grandma! we love you!

hello! it’s been pretty quiet around here lately, i know. we’ve been so busy with the move that i even went a few weeks without uploading any photos to flickr. what? who, me? anyway, we’re very close to being completely settled, so i thought i’d break out the laptop and post a friendly update.

a few weeks before we moved, we had our annual family garage sale in san leandro. we made a nice chunk of change. ellie sold lemonade and it was the cutest thing ever.

we’ve had some super fun playdates with friends and enjoyed a few mommy-ellie outings as well.

we moved and spent our first night in the new house on august 15th. a few days later, ellie’s new mattress was delivered and ryan and eric assembled her big girl bed. she’s been sleeping soundly ever since!

we celebrated my mom’s birthday and mine with some delicious grub at two of our favorite restaurants. ryan and ellie made me a cake and it was definitely one of the yummiest i’ve ever had (the pictures aren’t loading properly right now, but hopefully i’ll be able to post them soon).

and that’s a quick recap of the past few weeks in the lives of the lacks. home improvement is an ongoing process, but we’re having some of our extended family over for a barbecue this weekend, so i’ll clean the place up a bit and post some pictures of what we’ve done so far. hope all is well with everyone!

dear ellie,

today you are two and a half years old and rapidly approaching the big three. since the day you were born, people have told me how fast time flies, to cherish your early years because one day i will blink and you will be headed off to college. i have always put that notion aside because the older you get, the more i love you. i didn’t think i’d ever miss the chubby little thing you once were because in her place i’d have the walking, talking, sassy little princess you are today. but looking back on all the pictures and videos of you when you were bald and drooly, i can feel the tears welling up because it’s true. you have gone from little baby to little lady in the blink of an eye.

in the six months since you turned two, you have perfected the complex structure that is the sentence. you literally floor us with some of the things you say. the other day we were in a toy store and you held up a mountain lion-type animal and told me it was a puma. i know every mother thinks her child is bright, but you, my dear, are especially so ;)

you remember everything. from santa claus to the names of all of our friends, you are constantly surprising us with the things you recall. one of your very favorite things to do is come home and tell daddy about your day. you are so proud of your many accomplishments, your artwork, the fact that you (sometimes) finish all your vegetables at dinnertime. if it is possible for anyone to take more pride in all that you do, it’s me. i burst at the seams with pride for you. you make me proud every single day.

you love to run, dance, swim, jump and climb. we arrive at our gymboree art class a half-hour early so you have time to play. your best friends are jenna and audrey and their sisters, jocelyn, grace and baby kate. you are OBSESSED with baby kate. every time i see you with her, the urge to give you a little brother or sister of your own gets more intense.

we have several playdates a week and i try to make sure we do something fun every day, whether it’s going to the zoo or the park or painting pottery at color me mine. you are actually quite easy to please. one day we might have nothing to do but errands, and simply letting you push the cart at the grocery store can make you as happy as seeing the elephants at the zoo.

you love your grandparents like the stars in the sky. when we visit nan and pop in oakland or grandpa geoff and grandma rodi in placerville, you never want to leave. even getting you upstairs to take a bath in the evenings is hard when you’re busy playing with grandma and grandpa. and, if it’s possible, they adore you even more.

between exactly two and now, you’ve gotten your first haircut, participated in your first organized classes (art and swim), seen snow for the first time, nailed your third gig as a flower girl, and watched fireworks for the first time. i got teary-eyed, of course. it’s just something that happens when i’m doing that bursting-with-pride thing :)

your favorite foods are chicken nuggets, macaroni & cheese, turkey sandwiches and ice cream. luckily you’re also partial to fruit of all kinds. you love milk (especially of the chocolate variety), apple juice and lemonade. you continue to take one nap a day, you insist that i read stories and sing to you before bed, and baby bear is still your most beloved friend.

of course, as any parent knows, life with a two-year-old is not all sunshine and happiness. you throw fierce temper tantrums and you have a bit of a mean streak, but i know this time will go quickly like all the rest and eventually i will miss your foot-stomping, head-turning refusals to hold my hand in the street or finish chewing the food that’s been in your mouth for five minutes (arg!) … because most of the time you are absolutely enchanting. you melt my heart (and the hearts of everyone you meet) with that little voice and those big blue eyes.

for every tantrum, there are triple the smiles. for every refusal, there are triple the hugs. you are the best thing that ever happened to me and i love you more than life itself.

happy half-birthday to you, sweet girl.

love,
mommy

we threw a party at bingo tonight! thankfully the old folks didn’t get too wild ;)

happy 61st birthday, pop! we love you so much!

when i was pregnant with ellie, the doctor estimated her due date would be on or around february 11th. she was waaay off, but the date had special meaning because february 11th is also ellie’s grandpa robert’s birthday.

robert had to work on his actual birthday, so we celebrated with dinner, cake and presents a few days earlier. per his request, shirley made a delicious pot roast with carrots and potatoes, and she made plans to take him to a fancy lunch on the napa valley wine train <3

ellie, ryan and i bought him a frame (to be filled with a picture of him and ellie), a balloon bouquet (because who doesn't love balloons on their birthday?) and tim mcgraw cologne. perfect, huh? :)

oh, and that ribbon he’s wearing says, “aged to perfection.” like a fine wine. haha! i made him wear it.

one of the highlights of the evening was the cake. a few days earlier robert said he would like an angel food cake, so ryan found a recipe online (i’d link to it, but i’m not sure which one he used). aaaanyway, it wasn’t the most beautiful cake in the world, but it was SOOOOO good! yet another baking success by my husband, ryan crocker.

ellie helped blow out the candles and then cut the cake. she thought it tasted good, too :)

it was a nice little celebration for a 49th birthday. next year, WE PARTY. happy birthday, grandpa robert! we love you and hope you had a good one <3