A Week of Festivities

San Diego Santa

We have a few San Diego traditions that we have grown to love over these last 3 years. Although these traditions had to be put on hold until Dan's pesky finals were over. I'm so excited that this will be the last year that finals will ruin the first half of December. (YAY!) I seriously never saw Dan between the day after thanksgiving until mid Dec. He basically slept at the library. Now that those are over (thank goodness) we could play. Christmas in San Diego is wonderful b/c you can enjoy being outside and not worry about freezing your toes off. A big plus in my book! Here are a few of our favorite SD holiday festivities we did this past week:

Parade of Lights:

Only in San Diego can you sit by harbor and watch as boats decorated in Christmas lights, Santa's, snowman's, and all the holiday glitz sail by in a parade of lights. Ella was so into it this year. Made it all the more fun :)

Christmas Card Lane: is a fun neighborhood in SD where each house has a theme and the whole street is decked out in Christmas lights. This year we strolled the lane along with some of our good friends and their little ones.

We all had to stop at this classic Elf cut out and snap a few pics. Although, if you look on the beans face, she doesn't seem to thrilled about it :)

Jungle Bells: SD zoo was all Christmas-y this year. It even had a full ice skating rink right next too the elephants exhibit. Too bad Ella was not quite tall enough to skate...maybe next year.

Ward Party: The cookie and gram cracker house decorating was a big hit. I'm pretty sure Ella ate her weight in frosting that night.

White Elephant Party: It wouldn't feel like Christmas without going to a white elephant party. We had fun! It's not like the mounds of frosting Ella ate the night before was enough....b/c she ending up picking the present that was a huge tub of cotton candy. I think our lil sweet tooth will be needing a new toothbrush from Santa with all the candy she been downing lately.

Thanks SD for a fun festive week. Now we are off to Utah to see friends and family and freeze in the snow...Brrrr. Merry Christmas!!

Got Frosting??

Hi my name is Ella and I'm a cupcake frosting junkie. Why is it that kids will just lick the frosting off a cupcake and leave the rest? Or is my frosting lover the only one?

Conversation With Santa

I took Ella to see Santa and this is how the conversation went down:

Santa: "ho, ho, ho, what do you want for Christmas?"
Ella: "Hmmm, (finger tapping on chin) Candy!?"

(funny, b/c I told her she could ask Santa for anything)

Santa: "sure I can get that for you"

Ella waves goodbye and Santa hands her a candy cane.

Later on that night, Dan asked Ella what she asked Santa for Christmas.
She replied: "Candy!!"
Dan: "Well hopefully if your a good girl, he'll bring you some"
Ella said: "No, he already gave it too me! I got a candy cane!!"

That was easy. I guess we're off the hook. :)

Joy To A Small World

A Really Rainy Small World!!

People who say San Diego doesn't get any seasonal changes, has never lived in San Diego. Yesterday it rained ALL day A LOT. We were invited to celebrate my friend's birthday at Disneyland with her and her family. Call me crazy or a really good friend, but despite my better judgment, we decided to go in the rain. Although is was freezing and our clothes were damp and soggy most of the day, we did have some fun. I have to admit, through all the gray clouds and very wet conditions, Disneyland was still very magical at Christmas time. Even with the rain, we managed to hit of few of our favorite holiday spots.

We got to admire the insanely huge tree on Disney's main street.

Ella was happy to use her umbrella and rain boots for jumping in the rain puddles.

Got to go on the "Christmas time" small world, more than a few times. (Ella's favorite)

Met and hugged Santa, (Ella was very excited about that, see above post). And checked out all eight, real reindeer next to Santa's barn.

Watch as the Christmas lights, light up the happiest place on earth to become a winter wonderland.

I will tell you that from this experience, I did learn that no matter how much I love D-Land, and even though it is magical during this season, I will never again go while it's pouring rain! (no brainer, right!?) Although, the no lines Almost made it worth it.

From Baby To Big Girl.....Sigh.

E's 3rd birthday kind of hit me hard this year. I packed up my beloved ultra plush and comfy rocking chair (sigh) to make room for her big girl bed. A twin bed that my mom brought for her. Her room is teeny tiny and I have to be really creative how I arrange the furniture in there. I know you thinking to yourself, why was she still in a crib till 3? To my defense, there was really no reason to move her out. There was no new baby coming, She never figured to crawl out, she still took 3 hour naps, and I loved the fact that she was "trapped" I need the me time. While we were breaking down the crib, I got sad thinking about how I don't have a baby anymore (I know, I really need to get on that and have another one) But the fact that Ella won't be a baby anymore, made me sad. On the upside and to my total surprise, the thing I'd been dreading was really not such a bad transition. Ella LOVED her big girl bed and took right to it! She still takes 3 hour naps, even in her big bed. The only thing that was a slight hiccup, was that come bed time, she all the sudden acts like a 5 yr old coming up with every excuse in the book why she can't go to bed. "I need a drink," "I have to go potty," "I'm not tired" etc. But, she doesn't come out of her room repeatedly throughout the night and still sleeps in till 8:00. I lucked out. I had a bad mom moment though. I'll have to give you a little background 1st: Ella's new bed is HUGE for her. I mean it has drawers under the box springs etc. I knew there was potential of falling out. So being a dummy I thought I would just put her crib mattress on the floor next to her giant bed till she got the hang of it. Well, in the middle of the night on the 3rd day of the transition, we heard a loud thud and knew that she had fell out. Poor thing! It wasn't till the next morning we saw her sporting this shiner.

Ella's Shiner...poor thing.

The next day I went to get, what I should have gotten before letting her sleep in her twin bed, a mattress rail. I am happy to report that there have been no shiners or bruises since then. (yay) All and all it's been a cinch moving her into the next phase of growing up.....I just think mommy has been having a harder time with it....sigh.

Baby Room

Big Girl Room

(still waiting on her new bedding so this will have to do for now)

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like.....

CHRISTMAS!!

Our tree is up, our halls are decked, the mistletoe is hung with care, and of course our kitty cat has moved into his winter holiday home, nestled under the tree. What is up with cats and their love for Christmas trees?? I have to worry about the cat braking more ornaments then Ella. Oh the joys of the Season :)

Cooking With Chef Ella-Bean

Thanks for the chef hat and cookware Grandma Cindy! They are a favorite in our house. Ella is quite creative when it comes to her cuisine. Maybe a future chef amongst us? She'd be the 1st, since Dan and I both don't cook.

Gobble Till You Wobble

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our lil Jones family had quite the gobble-palooza this year. We were lucky enough to have two yummy Thanksgiving dinners. We spent turkey day with our good friends from our ward (Thank you Carolyn and Billy it was delicious!) Then we spent the weekend in Yuma AZ, for another scrumptious feast with family. I love that Thanksgiving is a time to gather together with loved ones to count your blessings. I am very thankful for my wonderful family and friends.

What A Feast!

Tables were set so beautifully

Good food, family, and friends! What more do you need?? :)

New Moon Anyone??

Went with the girls to see New Moon.....and I have a feeling that there is another movie night in the near furture, that may or may not be, to see New Moon again :)

Growth Spurt

We discovered during Ella's 3 yr well child check up, that she is now in the whopping 25%. Wa-hoo way to grow bean! That may still be on the smaller end of the scale, but that's huge for Ella. Her whole life she has been 5% or lower, so 25% feels like big growth spurt. She has gone through 3 shoe sizes in a year and now I understand why other moms complain that their kids grow out of the clothes too fast. During these past six months, Ella really has grown by leaps and bounds.

Time For Tea, Miss Ella Is Three!!

How can it be, that Ella is three?? Slow down lil bean your growing up too fast! This last year just flew by. Its no secret that Ella love tea sets and owns quite a few. So it was only fitting to throw my girly girl, a Tea Party Birthday and boy was it fun.

The Invitation

The Table

It was so nice to be able to borrow my grandma May's beautiful teacups as well her tea pot. and BTW all the teacups made it back in one piece. Good job kiddies!

Teapot Cupcake Cake

Finger Foods

Dress Up Corner

As the kids entered the party, they were given a fancy tea hat, gloves, and pearls...the only way to have a proper tea party, of course.

We played teabag toss, sang I'm a little tea pot, made necklaces, took pictures in our tea party swag, and sipped lots of "tea" (pink lemonade). The best reward was before the party started, when Ella came running into the room where everything was set up, and shouted to me "Oh mom, I love it! It's so PERFECT!" It melted my heart and made all the time and energy going into it, worth while!

The night before, Dan and I gave Ella her big present. I found this Rose Petal cottage off Craig's list and have been hiding it in my garage for a couple months before. I was so excited to give it to Ella b/c I knew this is exactly what she has been wanting for a long time. I was giddy setting it all up in the front room during her nap. When she woke up and walked out of her room, her reaction was priceless. She was thrilled!

Rose Petal Cottage

Thank you Grandma Lola and Grandpa Allen for coming down to make her birthday even more special! We loved having you here with us.

I feel very lucky that I get to be Ella-Bella's mommy and I wouldn't change her for the world. Happy Birthday baby girl, we love you!

Drug Dealer By Day

Dan asked me to be a witness in his mock trial final. I was Ms. Imelda North, drug addict and dealer. Sounds just like me right?? :) It was so much fun to play this bad girl roll and have all the jurors hate me while I testified up on the stand. I was like a proud momma bear, watching Dan rock this case. I have never seen him in action and I was extremely blown away with his mad lawyering skills. BTW did I mention we won the case....yep we did! My super sexy lawyer hubby, gave such an amazing closing statement, I was convinced we'd win. I was all smiles just taking it in and visualize him as a future lawyer. I'm glad that he asked me to be his witness so I could be a part of this whole experience. During the trial, I was sitting really close to the jury and got to watch their reactions to the case as it unfolded (keep in mind these jurors are real folks from the street, they know it's a fake case, but there not acting like we are) Dan got up to give his closing statement and one of the jurors leaned over and whispered to the other "He's Hot!" I could help but giggle to myself thinking, yep he is. I had so much fun and would totally do this again, even if I played another shady character, all the more fun. I am so proud of my hubby and all the hard work he is putting into bettering our families future. I know his hard work and our mounds of debt will pay off in the end. Prosecutor Daniel Jones, I am your biggest fan :)

Such A Treat

I got a surprise phone call a few weeks ago from my friend Mandy, saying that she needed a get-a-way and she was bringing our friend Sophie, for a girls weekend in San Diego. Are you kidding me...Yes Please! What a wonderful surprise. Sophie, Mandy and I have been friends since the 6th grade and we are so close. They are my foodie and shopping friends, so I knew we were in for a fabulous time. It was like a stay-cation for me, because thanks to my wonderful friends in SD, and my darling hubby, I got to play kid-free right along with them. Oh such bliss of hours of uninterrupted talking, eating, shopping, movie watching, and laughing harder than I have in a LONG time! Thank you to everyone who helped watch Ella, you are all saints. And a huge thank you to my amazing friends, who gave me girl therapy for the whole weekend. It was glorious! :)

Picture Explosion!!

Family/Ella pictures 2009
My extremely talented friend Kim took our Family/Ella pictures this year and I couldn't be happier for the way they turned out! Thank you so much Kim, for all the hard work you did to make these pics fabulous! *As a warning* this post is a picture explosion, you might get a little overwhelmed. Sorry, I just couldn't narrow them down, there are far too many great shots to choose from.

Oh and PS all of our hair accessories that Ella and I wore, were made by Kim as well. I told ya, urber talented :) Check out her esty shop here