Once Upon a Dream...Ellie's 3rd Birthday

Ellie's obsession with Maleficent started a few months before her third birthday. After spending the night with G-Daddy and Sheena, she kept talking about "Sleeping Beauty". After talking the Sheena, I realized it was Maleficent that was watched. We ended up buying it on iTunes (it really is an awesome movie.)Then the spiral of loving all things Maleficent started. So this was a no brainer for me when it came time for a theme.

I borrowed my moms spinning wheel for the main centerpiece. Doesn't every family just have an old spinning wheel heirloom in the corner of their parents house? Thank goodness we do! Then I used my old baby doll bed my great grandfather made me as the cake stand. The banners where made out of old Sleeping Beauty golden books. I actually keep it all pretty calm...for ME. I made the cupcake toppers to finish out the theme with Wilton crown molds and homemade maleficent horns. Ellie's party fell on her actual birthday which made for a special day all the way around. She loved that all her favorite people came. We are so blessed to have a great family and wonderful friends.

Corny Signs I forgot to take pictures of : "Please Prince Phillip Your Cup" and "Prick Your Finger-Licking-Good Pizza"...Haha...I love how annoying I am.

Disney

Our first pit stop was the Atlanta Aquarium 

^^I asked Ellie to pose for me...she decided the yoga tree pose was most fitting^^

After the playground and a few more stops...Win would not sleep in the car so we stopped in Lake City, FL. I never saw this so called Lake...should be called Shady City, FL. But we finally made it. 

We were right out side of the Ariel. Ellie loved it. 

We spent the afternoon at the splash pad at the resort. I seriously need one of this in my backyard. 

Fultons for Lyell's birthday dinner. The food was amazing and when we were getting up to leave, a family came up to Lyell and me to comment how well behaved our kids were. Our response was, "Well Thank You. They didn't even take naps so it must be a Disney Miracle."

^^Win could wait for a picture, he wanted to dive right into Daddy's birthday dessert. ^^

The kids loved Dumbo...We rode it three times.

Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor was one of my Fastpass choices. Weird one, I know. But Ellie loves Monsters, Inc and we really had no clue what to expect. It ended up being a interactive comedy show where they would pick people in the audience to play along. Low and behold, Ellie was picked to be Boo, the main little girl in the movie!! Ellie was flashed up on screen several times throughout the performance. Lyell captured the end credits. It was one of our highlights of the whole trip for sure. Ellie walked around the rest of the day acting like she was a movie star. 

Poor guy got three teeth and an ear infection during our trip. He was a trooper though. 

^^ Win might have fallen asleep but Ellie kept on dancing throughout the day^^

I was a magical day.

Our next day was spent heading our to Park Fare and had brunch with some charaters.

And what we all have been waiting for...Win meeting Winnie the Pooh. I mean, come on, it was the cutest thing I have seen to date!!!

We explored some more. Went to Downtown Disney for some shopping and one last night swim. 

^^ We bought a little Fuji polaroid camera for me and Lyell Ellie. I scanned in a few we all took on the trip...

It really was a wonderful trip. Yes, we might have been crazy for taking a one and two year old. We took it slow. One Magic Kingdom day, one resort day and one character day...its all they could have handled anyway. I know they won't remember anything. But I will. And Lyell will. And it was magical!! I may or may not  have already started planning our next trip for when Win turns three. We learned some things too...next time we will be flying. No question. Its not a small world after all on a 13 hour drive with two toddlers :)

A Decade in the Making...

Graduation. In some ways law school has been easy and hard. Easy, as in, I never went through it. I never had to sit in class three nights a week, read and reread and study groups two days a week. Hell, I still really don't know what a "tort" is. I have heard Lyell and my brothers talking about them in this weird second language when they get together. I had the easy part. Sit back and just say "good luck...I'll be asleep when you get home!"

But in some ways law school has been the toughest thing I have been through. In the four years of law school (ten years total) Lyell has been in school, we have gone through fertility treatments, had two kids, hospital visits, surgeries and numerous health issues. The stress of getting through a day and most of the time not even seeing Lyell was always tough on me. He is my center and when I only saw him to kick him out of bed in the morning so we wouldn't be late for work had me off kilter. Days where Lyell would step out of class to FaceTime Ellie good night. Days where the first thing Ellie would say when we got home at night "daddy have to go to school?".

These days are now over.

Forever.

Craziness. I am not saying our life is now a piece of cake. Its probably going to be tougher. But onward and upward.

I'm so proud of Lyell. I can remember sitting at a restaurant one night and Lyell was talking about some case that happened that day in my dads courtroom (obviously not a good one because I cant even think of what happen)...but he said he could have done better than the attorney that was representing the family. My response...then do it. Become an attorney. The rest is history. Six years later he now a doctor. WHOA!

Lyell,
  Can you believe it? It seems like yesterday we were teenagers daydreaming of your imaginary band opening for NIN and I was going to follow you around and be the bands photographer. Now we are adults with real vision, real jobs, and real accomplishments. You have amazed me with your tenacity, commitment and shear joy of a job that makes you happy. I hope you know how proud I am of you. Seeing you in your element makes me feel like a proud mamma bear. You did it! Knowledge is something no person can take away from you. No matter where our roller coaster road takes us, I am glad you went for it. I love you boo.

So I am off to watch Lyell and his friends walk across the stage. Its going to be a grand day indeed.