Happy Birthday and Much More

A lot has been going on around the Hardister household lately! Ella Grace has been recovering from her surgery, Lucy has been working on her dance technique as well as her potty skills. We also went to Carowinds this weekend as we promised Ella Grace with our Gran Sandy and we celebrated July Birthdays! What a great birthday weekend I had! Here is a glimpse into our household over the past week! Before Ella's surgery we spent some time at Gran Sandy's pool! Lucy Anne and Ella Grace were introduced to floaties and loved jumping into the pool! Ella Grace floatin in the pool!Lucy Anne's face was pricless as she jumped into the water! Ella Grace wasn't feeling that great at the start of the week after her surgery, but was all smiles by the end of the week! Little Lu, like I said, has been working on her dance moves! You might not know exactly what she was doing, but she was using the stove as her "dance bar" as she tried to point her toes! Precious! As you can tell by the picture, Lucy has also been working extra hard on using her pink potty! How much longer do I have to sit here Mommy?Lucy is now trying to get all cleaned up, however, I must tell you she did not do one thing in that pink potty! Still working on getting all cleaned up! I guess practice makes perfect even if she hasn't yet used her potty! "A" for effort right? Finally we throw the toilet paper away! All done Mommy! Ella Grace and "Cheerilee" (her little pink pony) thought they would give Lucy Anne a little demonstration! Lucy Anne said that was enough and just wanted a cookie! I guess her reward for effort!Potty training continues, but Lucy would like everyone to know she thinks her big girl panties are fabulous!We took a break from potty training and headed to Carowinds for the day! What a fun time! Ella Grace has been wanting to go for the longest time! After she recovered from her surgery we packed up and had a fun filled day at Carowinds with Gran Sandy! Ella Grace was off to the sky when we arrived! Hey Doo Dad! Look at Me!

Still in the sky, but this time with Mommy! Next up.. A train ride with Dora! Ella Grace on the train!Lucy says, "Ride Train."Ella Grace on the swings!Of course you can't go to Carowinds without leaving with a fabulous "tacky" stuffed animal! Jay won the girls sparkley rainbow dolphins! Go Daddy! Jay and Ella Grace waiting to go on Ella's first roller coaster ride!Up they Go! Wouldn't you know Ella's first roller coaster ride would be in a pink car! Jay got them great seats on the second row! Hold on Guys!Lucy preferred the Merry Go Round! She only wanted to ride on her "pink horse" and over and over again she would ride! She was in the spirit saying "Hee Haw" as she went round and round Off in the Sporticoptors with Daddy! Ella bella peering out the window in the sporticoptor!It was really hot, but luckily we just headed over to the pool to cool off! Lucy had no worries!Ella Grace cooling off!One more ride before we left! Scooby Doo's Haunted Mansion! Ella's favorite is Daphney!

Next up was the annual July birthday celebration! We celebrated Jeffery, Bubba's, and my birthday!Lovin on Bess at the birthday party! I think Bess is smiling! Lucy Anne loved Uncle Jeffery's new shirts he got for his birthday!

Playing with Uncle Jeffery

And a good time was had by all! It has been a busy and fun few weeks at our house! We have had a wonderful time playing and sharing special times with family and friends!

The Princess Goes To Surgery

Princess Ella had her surgery on Friday to remove her tonsils and adenoids! She did SUPER! I was so proud of her! She was very BRAVE! Jay and I waited to tell her about the surgery until last Sunday! We explained everything to her and then at her pre-op visit on Tuesday her Doctor explained everything to her as well! We prayed for Jesus to help us all be brave and to hold our hands! When we were taken back to the pre-op room above there was a cross with Jesus on the wall that Ella Grace noticed. She said, "Look Mom! It's Jesus's wand and he is going to hold my hand!" It was so precious! She had a teddy bear waiting on her bed when she arrived that she

named "Bumblebee." Of course Bumblebee was quickly dressed in a dress when we arrived home! Thank you to everyone for praying for our family during this time! We are on our road to recovery and she is doing great! Here are some pictures from Ella's big day!

Ra Ra came to visit the night before and brought the girls suprises! They love surprises! I love how they wait so patiently with their little hands folded out and their eyes closed! The girls got perfect matching "lounge" wear for the next few days! Pink princess sleeping gowns! We had movie night the night before surgery! Everyone was there, even blankie! Don't you like how "blankie" has her own "spot?" Ella Grace and her Daddy in the waiting room! Ella Grace was all smiles and was actually dancing to the music that was playing in the lobby! Such a brave girl she was!Mommy was trying very hard to be brave just like Ella Grace. I'll admit though after they took her away I had a little mommy moment! Getting ready to go! And guess what? Blankie even got to go with her to surgery! How special!

After a few hours of recovery and few naps we were all smiles again! She has had lots of ice cream, popsicles, homemade mashed potatoes, and smoothies! She is doing excellent and getting excited about her trip to Carowinds after she fully recovers! Thank you Gran Sandy and Greatmommy for coming to visit and for all the goodies! And thank you Paw Paw Jerry and Doo Dad for calling to check on me! We love you all!

Need a Laugh??

We have a serious and huge upcoming event around the Hardister Household! In one week Ella will be having a tonsillectomy! After a few tests we ended up being referred to a ENT to evaluate Ella Grace. He recommended Ella Grace have a sleep study to evaluate her need for a tonsillectomy. Her study was actually the night Kasie went into labor with Bess! Anyways, on this particular night she was connected to so many wires it was unbelievable. She had so many electrodes over her head that were all connected to a control box. She even had a very small microphone that was attached below her nose to listen for snoring. She was covered in tape, wires, and electrodes. It all started out as a game and then as she fell asleep she became very irritated, understandably so, with all of the connections. Of course I left my camera on this fun filled night! I did manage to capture the memory on my cell phone and sent the picture to Kasie for a laugh while she was waiting the arrival of sweet Bess! With all that said, I found Ella Grace and Lucy Anne playing babies today as usual! Ella said," Mommy come look my baby is sick" and this is what I found.......

I could not stop laughing! I found this soo funny! Maybe one day I will have a post that doesn't involve babies! Of course still to come is the actual surgery day that I am absolutley dreading!