Isadora Elizabeth Baker turns FOUR!!!

Dora and I had a deal.  She promised she wouldn't grow up and she'd stay little and live with me forever. 

I'm afraid she's not honoring her promise!!  My little angel is getting BIG BIG BIG!  I love this little girl so much.  I was so afraid I wouldn't have a girl.  Now I have three, but that doesn't lessen the amount of love I have for this one!  I love you so much Dora.  Now and always.  

We had a little party at our house.  Dora got a (small) trampoline from mom and dad (me and Whit) and we also sprang (pardon the pun) for a "balloon lady" to come make balloon animals, et al. for the kids.  I think it was a big hit!

She brought Dora a wrist corsage and a pink kitty.  She also made her a cool crown!  You'll see that in a minute.  And she brought a bag full of balloon swords.  

One last thing.  I've been pestering Dora for years to do a Valentine's themed birthday.  I love Valentine's and her birthday is so close!  This year she acquiesced.  HEART PARTY!! 

Loved this action shot! The kids loved the swords.  

 Here's Dora in her crown.

 Dora and her daddy...

 The balloon lady at work.

 Dora sure likes Greta and Elsa!  Here she is with Greta.

 Since it was a Saturday, Whit wasn't the only dad there.  I think that made him happy!  Here's my brother Clint and our old family friend, Jeremy.  Old as in we've been friends for 20 years.  Not old as in actually old.  34 isn't old!!!

 Hayley!

 Whit and his boyfriend, Brock. Apropos they are in front of the hearts.

 Here's Dora and Elsa.  Dora needs to work on looking at the camera.  She does a (slightly pained) smile on demand but doesn't really feel the need to commit by looking at the camera.  Doh!

 My new besty and her cute baby boy Luke.  Oh did we mention Luke and Emmy are betrothed? Yeah.  They are.  Wouldn't that just be great. ;)  Isn't he adorable?? Love the spiked hair.

 Here's Alexa, looking so cute.  Isn't that mermaid balloon neat!?

 Instead of a cake, Dora wanted cupcakes "with rings in them."  Thanks mom for doing the frosting!!

 Dora looked so SERIOUS here!! If these are the best shots of the party, you can thank Linsey.  My mom handed her the camera so, 1) they are great shots, and 2) I am actually in one or two!

 Finally happy!  Of course, Dora wanted the cupcake with a dog ring.  She's so funny.  She wants to be a "doctor, like daddy.  Only for animals."  So, not really like daddy.  Haha!

 Here's Papa. Right where you'd think--by the food! ;)

 Party People!!

 Aunt Linsey--gorgeous as always.

 OH, Rachael.  We love you so much.  She is amazing.  We invited her to Dora's party (Dora asked for her specifically) and she watched Tessa at least half the time.  She's so sweet!  I don't know what I'd do without Rachael.

 See?  Tessa was there!!

 Emmy decided it was time to open presents...

 We thought we'd let Dora do it.  She was flanked by her best pals, Morgan and Bailey.

 JOY! So much joy!!

 Alisha did a great job picking out the guitar and microphone.  There's been some really hilarious singing in the last 24 hours!

 The biggest hit, though, was my mom.  Whit says "she won".  Dora has not put her "vet kit" down. She LOVES it.  Seriously, she's sleeping with it every night.  (Two nights now.)  SO funny.

 My mom made this little box from a build a bear box to hold her stuff.

 Here's my mom with Tessa.

 What a cutie!

 Not to be completely ignored, my mom made Eli some star wars pajamas.  You see Jake by him.  They were best pals the whole party.  Eli was SO happy he came.

 Here's Rachael giving Dora her present--little animals (littlest pet shop).  So fun!

 Mom and dad got her some too!

 VET KIT!!!!

 Happy Sydney with Dad...

 Cutest people at the party!

 I just love this age.  Sydney is just too cute!!

 Here's Papa with baby Tessa...

 Clint and Jeremy know how to roll when it comes to Blue Bell... straight out of the container.  I think Jeremy got the short end of this stick though...

Here was my very relaxed and not at all fancy "spread".  I forgot to take a photo until it had already been picked over! Oh well!  I had a photo of Dora on display! That counts for something right!? 

Happy Birthday Dora! You brighten (and kind of run) our whole family!! Life has never been the same since you were born.  I've been wearing my heart outside of my body ever since--you've had it from day one.  Love you!!

Eli's Class Valentine's Day Party

OH my sweet little kindergartener.  I may already have mentioned this.  I love this little guy to the moon and back.  He's still SO SO SO Sweet!  I say ELI I LOVE YOU every time I drop him for school... and he yells it back!! He doesn't even act embarassed yet!! I hope he NEVER does.  I know that's not likely.  

Here he is at his valentine's day party at school.  It was the Friday after Valentines (the 15th).  That's conversation heart bingo.  When they won, they got a sticker.  I was there with Emmy, and this sweet little guy gave her his stickers so she'd be happy.  It was SO SO sweet and really about par for the course with him.  

 Emmy had a pretzel break...

 Eli and his best friend Samantha.  They sure do get along well.

 Oh and here he is doing an "action".  Sheesh.  I call this one "Stop... in the name of love!"

Family Valentine's Photos 2013

My mom showed up just as we got everyone into their valentine's day shirts... and snapped a few shots of us on our new patio furniture.  I should give my story here I think.  Whit knows I love Valentine's day.  I usually get more in the way of a gift at Valentine's than at Christmas.  This year was certainly no exception.  I asked for patio furniture.  We got this green set for our back porch.  We got a red set for the man cave/entertainment room back porch.  We also got a bigger picnic table for the kids.  And two pool chairs!! WOW! I was so excited.  After two summers here, we are finally ready for fun around the pool this year! 

So I didn't expect anything on Valentine's day.  After all, I had my furniture (which I loved!)  I should also mention I got Whitney a "judge" handgun.  Like he needs ANOTHER gun! Sheesh!  Anyhow, on Valentine's day I was so surprised--Whit and Dora had picked out two necklaces and a ring.  One necklace and ring were amethyst to match the newest addition to the family.  

Here we are all ready for dinner.  We went to Masraff's, which is where we were going to do our wedding reception if we'd gotten married in Houston instead of Seattle.  It was SO GOOD! It was also fun to get dressed up!  Even if I'm still sporting 20 extra pounds (depressing)...

I love this man so much!  Since we didn't have enough time for a movie, but we had some time before dinner, Whit took me shopping and I got THREE new pair of shoes at DSW!! WOW, what a Valentine's day!

So I look like a little less of a dud, we did go to THREE academies on valentine's day looking for ammo for Whit.  They didn't have any at any of them! Good grief!  (See? We did stuff he likes, too!)