My Little Flower Girl :)

So, I've said it on here before, I LOVE that my girls are "girly". Claire is to an extent, but not like Ellie. Ellie is ALL about all things girly (which, I am coming to learn VERY quickly includes WAAAAYYYY too much drama for this mama, but we're surviving). Hair, lip gloss, sparkles, glitter, shoes, purses, clothes-she loves it all.
Using the aforementioned knowledge, imagine for a moment if you will, the sheer exuberance in my eldest when several months ago, my cousin Dustin and his fiancee Erica asked her to be the flower girl in their wedding. Oh my word...excited doesn't even BEGIN to describe it. She hung a calendar above her side of the girls' bed for the sole purpose of having someplace to write "weding flwr grl" or something along those lines (hey that was months ago-she can totally spell that now-go Ellie! :)). I had a gazillion times of being asked how many times I had to flip the calendar page before it was September, and then once it WAS September, "How many more days NOW Mom?". Like I said....EXCITED!
The big day is almost here. Tonight was the rehearsal and she could literally not even stand still for a second. She was trying so hard to be grown up but before we got started she was just kind of bouncing, twirling, strutting around she was so excited. We had to go get a new outfit for the rehearsal because I swear she grew a foot over the summer and all her fall dresses look like miniskirts. She was DEFINITELY on board with the whole "new outfit" idea, and was so pumped to have a "Mommy and Ellie" date. I have to admit, I love having some one on one time with the kids too. It just seems like things are so crazy the majority of the time and Ellie especially gets depended on a LOT to help with Kai and things like that, so some special one on one time with mom is pretty great.
This morning was the funeral for my Aunt Marcia. It was a wonderful funeral and such a great tribute to a really wonderful aunt. I am going to miss her SO much and I know her family will too-please keep them in your prayers. (This is connected to this flower girl story, I promise). So if you are keeping track, this is how my last several days have been-funeral visitation on Thursday night, funeral friday morning, wedding rehearsal friday night, wedding prep sat am (hair, pictures, all that fun stuff!! :)) wedding saturday afternoon, to Garnavillo Saturday night AFTER the wedding, meeting Sunday morning, Bday party for Mia and Owen Sunday afternoon. Plans for Monday: Rock in my chair ALL MORNING LONG (HA I wish....).
ANYHOO...the point of me telling you all this is to tell you how awesome my MIL is. She heard about my aunt's funeral and switched her work days around so she could have today off and came down and stayed with the 2 boy yahoos while the girl yahoos were in school today. She picked up Claire from school at 11 and headed with the 3 little yahoos to Garnavillo so I didn't have to try and deal with them while at the funeral and wedding. Jean, you are a LIFESAVER and I appreciate so much what you do for my family.
WHICH leads back to the Ellie story....So not only does Ellie get to be the flower girl tomorrow she has 2 whole days of being an only child! She is diggin' this let me tell ya! Sam and I walked up to the school this afternoon and picked her up. We then walked to Kwik Star where she got a BIG box of Dots and didn't have to share them with anybody. She did mention, however, that she missed Kai because she would give him all the colors of Dots that she didn't like and he would eat them. HA! We then walked home and she didn't have to share conversation time with anyone AND got Mommy AND Daddy all to herself. She then snuggled into Daddy's lap (again, NOT having to share space) to watch cartoons for a while. But wait, the joy isn't over yet! We got to ride in Grandpa and Grandma's car to the rehearsal, so she got Grandpa AND Grandma AND Mommy AND Daddy all to herself! AAANNNDDDD Eric was at the rehearsal so she even got ERIC all to herself! Pretty sure she's never going to want her siblings to come home!! :)
If I'm being honest here, (which I am all about on this blog! :)) I have to admit, I am LOVING it too. It's so fun. We painted her toenails, did her hair, she "helped" me pick out my clothes and told me my shoes didn't really match my outfit but she guessed they would do, she picked out a perfume to wear, we put some glitter spray in her hair, she put some all over the rest of herself (she was VERY sparkly tonight!!), and even got to wear lipgloss out of Mommy's makeup bag. Tomorrow we are going to get our hair done, and maybe even lunch out with Daddy. Then I get to see her all dolled up in a absolutely gorgeous dress, a crown in her hair, and little high heels on her feet. Erica and Dustin gave her a "diamond" bracelet, so she will be decked out from top to bottom. She's just growing up way too fast, and sometimes I just don't get the time to enjoy the special qualities that she does have because we are in a constant battle over which clothes to wear or why something isn't fair. So often I find myself expecting so much out of her and I need times like this to remind myself how cool of a kid she really is, and that she is only 6 and that even 6 year olds that try to be so grown up are really only 6 and need some quality Mommy and Daddy time.
So, to my Ellie Girl-I'm so proud of you. I can't wait to spend a whole day doing girly things together and then watching you all fancied up, trying so hard to be be so grown up, but radiating the nervous excitement that all 6 year old flower girls should. My heart can't help but think forward to not too many years when my little girl will again be wearing a beautiful dress, a crown in her hair and a diamond on her left hand instead of on a plastic bracelet on your wrist. I love you so much chica-try not to grow up TOO fast ok? And please...don't spill on your dress tomorrow and try to stand still up there and not fidget too much? :)
And to Dustin and Erica-thank you so much for letting my little girl be a part of your special day. We love you guys and we wish you all the best in your new life together. And Erica....don't spill on your dress tomorrow and try not to fidget too much up there ok? :)