Keeping Up With The Joneses

Cute pigtails

2012-01-27T16:23:00.006-06:00

Ellie and Morgan...BFF

2012-01-26T11:29:00.001-06:00

Ellie and Morgan just get cuter everyday!!!
I really think they are best friends! The way they can make each other happier, just by showing up really makes me happy. :) Every morning, Ellie just squeals and claps when Morgan gets here and it is so cute!
They play together so well! On days when it's just the three of us here, I get so much done! they play together so well, and they know what they can do and where they can go and it's so nice to not have to worry about them! Sometimes I just sit and watch them and listen to them and they are so funny!!! Morgan is Ellie's number one fan and protector! Anytime other kids at church try to talk to Ellie, Morgan tries to block them OR she will hold on to Ellie and lead her with the other kids. AND...all this, and Ellie loves every minute of it!!
We had a nice day yesterday and spent some time outside. Morgan LOVES to play with the sidewalk chalk and Ellie likes to copy what she does so it's pretty fun!

I love that these girls are such good friends!!!

Fun with MawMaw and PawPaw

2012-01-25T21:15:00.005-06:00

Last weekend MawMaw and PawPaw came to see us!!
We had so much fun playing that we didn't take very many pictures, and the few we did get, well, let's just take a moment and remember how hard it is to photograph a VERY BUSY 16 month old!!! :)
Ellie loves being outside so MawMaw and PawPaw were very happy to make that happen! :)

Thanks for coming to see us MawMaw and PawPaw!! We love you!!

My Precious Family

2012-01-23T16:22:00.010-06:00

Our friend Lauri Ann is starting her photography business and took some family pictures for us. She did AMAZING!!! This was our second day with Lauri Ann, the first pictures turning out so good too! But, this day...Ellie was just not feeling having her picture made!!! I cannot believe that Lauri Ann was able to get this many good ones!! :) Please enjoy A LOT of pictures!! ;) {I think I left out the sad, crying face, but I did include an inside look of how it was "behind the scenes"!!!} :)

Good friends

2012-01-19T11:15:00.001-06:00

Good times

Lots of laughs

Love my friends

Fantasy in Lights

2012-01-18T16:42:00.004-06:00

We all bought a groupon for Callaway Gardens Fantasy in Lights way before Christmas. We all had so much going on and traveling so much that we didn't have time to go before Christmas. So we went the week after Christmas while Mudge and Lolo were here. Mudge has been wanting to go for years!!!
I didn't know how Ellie was going to do with these characters, especially since she didn't ever do great with Santa but she seemed to love them!! (I know that it's a little creepy to see people through the eyes of the costume....) :/

I think she liked Frosty a lot better than the gingerbread man....

But Morgan makes everything better!!! :)

We had to wait for a while before getting on the trolley (YES...we rode the trolley and yes it was freezing, but SO much fun with Ellie and Morgan!!)

The colors are kind of crazy on some of the pictures because I was playing with the settings on my camera!! :)

This was right before the trolley started going. We were bundled and ready!!

Ellie BEYOND loved it!!! She would squeal and clap and it was great to see it with her!! It was cold, but seeing how much Ellie loved it and eating one of the best funnel cakes ever, I definitely think we will do it again!!! :)

Ellie's first real zoo visit

2012-01-17T11:38:00.000-06:00

We went to the zoo yesterday. We have been before but it's always been for Zoo Boo and that doesn't count. You can't really see the animals then. So, we have a pass and I've been dying to use it but we just haven't had time! Yesterday when Dustin asked what I wanted to do, I said I wanted to go to the zoo. So we did. :) It wasn't too cold so that was nice too! Ellie didn't have a morning nap so I wasn't going to be shocked if she slept through the whole trip, but she didn't! She was a trooper and really seemed to enjoy it!

All of the animals seemed so close!!

Can you see the elephant's foot propped up??? It cracked me up!!

She would try to call all the animals to her. It was so funny!

I really liked the bald eagle! That's the closest I've ever seen one!

She liked the jaguars. I think she just thought they were big cats, just like Walt!!

Dustin's favorite... :)

This bird....it was upset about something! It was squawking so loud and flying around it's cage like crazy!!!

Every time it made it's loud noise, Ellie would squint.

Then she would laugh and clap!! :)

The monkeys put on a pretty good show. They were swinging and running all around and she just sat and watched!

We all had a really good time. We weren't in the car 5 minutes before Ellie was OUT! She was worn out. She took a really short nap, but went to bed early and I'm happy to say...SLEPT {pretty much} ALL NIGHT!!! :) (She woke up a few times but there were none that required us to get up!! That's a win!!)

16 on the 16th

2012-01-16T20:35:00.002-06:00

I haven't done a monthly post on Ellie since she turned one. One reason is because she keeps us so busy!!! SO I decided that I need to make a note of some things about Ellie at this point in our lives.

We just went for her 15 month check up (a little late...). She's 32 1/2 inches tall (96%) and she weighs 25 lbs. and 10 ozs. (84%).

Ellie is walking everywhere now. She can even go different speeds...it's not just turtle speed anymore! :)

She is so funny when she sits in her chair. She always plops down and lays her head back like she's just exhausted. It's so funny!

She has a ton of teeth....like 14!

Ellie is a pretty good eater. Her daddy taught her some sign language for "eat" and she is really good at telling us when she's hungry.

Bless our hearts, she's just not a great traveler. :(

She is very talkative! She will just jabber back and forth with you like a conversation! It's just precious. She can say some words: Momma, Dada, Titus, Walt, car, ball, shoes, juice, and Piper :)

Ellie's always been a really good sleeper. She goes through times when she wakes up in the middle of the night....we're in one of those times right now. We're praying it passes quickly!!

Ellie still takes 2 naps a day and really seems to still need them. (Thankfully) :)

She's getting very good at letting us know when she's unhappy....some might call it a temper....I call it expressing her opinion.

Ellie loves to wave. She waves all the time and she waves to everyone!

She gets so excited when she sees people she knows. When Dustin gets home or when Leigh or Laurie come to visit, she gets so excited! It's so cute!

When we say something, she knows what we mean. When we say, "You want to take a bath?", she will walk to the bathroom. When we say, "Want to go?", she will always raise her arms for us to pick her up or walk to the door. It's so much fun to actually get responses out of her when we talk to her.

Ellie has some babies and she loves to take care of them! She will put them on her shoulder and "shhhs" them and pat their backs and it absolutely melts my heart!!! It is the cutest thing!!

We have 2 cats and a dog. Titus and Ellie just kind of live around each other. He's too big and hyper for her to really play with. However, the cats, mainly Walt, are some of Ellie's favorite toys! She will follow him around and squeal and it's so funny! Walt likes to sit in Ellie's chair and he is pretty patient. He will sit there and let Ellie pet him and pull his ears and yank his tail and pat him. Walt may not like me or Dustin, but I'm glad he at least tolerates Ellie!! :)

Ellie is so good in church for the most part. She is busy and she constantly wants something to keep her entertained but she stays quiet for the most part. In her lifetime, we have probably only had to take her out less than 10 times for being loud. She also knows how to pray. When we ask her to pray, she will bow her head and put her hands together. They don't stay like that through the whole prayer, but we're making progress!!

There are so many things about Ellie that I want to remember! She is so much fun, even when she's tired or fussy! We've had to deal with some sickness in the past few months, but even sick, she's not a bad baby!!! We are so blessed and we are continually reminded of that with Ellie!

Walker Christmas!

2012-01-14T09:02:00.000-06:00

Christmas morning we got up, opened a few presents with just the three of us then went to church. I really thought I got some pictures of just the three of us, but apparently not.

Anyways, after church, we went to IHOP. It's becoming a tradition and we really enjoy it.
Afterwards, we came back to the house and Leigh and Nate came with us.

Ellie got these house shoes in her stocking...even on the wrong feet, are they not precious?!?!? :)

Ellie got this zebra for Christmas from MawMaw and PawPaw and Nate put it together for us so Ellie could play before we had the next Christmas! :)

She loves it!!!!

Lolo, Mudge and Grandma got in town around 3:30. Ellie got up from her nap and was so excited to see them! (So excited, actually, that she wanted to crawl after them, right out the door as they were bringing their stuff inside, and skinned her nose all up!!!)

Skinned up nose...she really took to the Rudolph book this year!!! ;)

Love him! :)

Mudge got this dress for Ellie and we waited to wear it until she was there to see how cute Ellie was in it!!! I never got a great picture, but she was SO cute in it!!! :)

After church Sunday night, we went home to eat and open presents. We put Ellie in her Christmas pj's. So cute! :)

Lolo wanted the first gift to be the car that they got Ellie. He wanted to just bring it in and set it down.....unfortunately, it has been a few years since Lolo had to deal with kid presents and he forgot that there was "some assembly required". So, he just brought in the main part. She sat in it and opened some of her presents! HA! :)

She really liked the part of the car she could play with!!! ;)

It was so nice to have Grandma at Christmas this year!!! We hope to do that more often!!!

Laurie, Leigh and I decided not to buy each other gifts, but to make something we liked from Pinterest. Leigh made us these cute magnetic boards and then the calendar that is sitting in front of me! She did so good!!!!

I made Laurie this wreath. I am really happy with how it turned out! I don't have a picture of Leigh's that I made.....(mainly because it's not completely finished yet....) {MAJOR SLACKER=ME}

I don't have a good picture of what Laurie made us, but you can kind of see it in this picture. It's the frame of our first house with our address. I really love it! Leigh and Laurie both did SO good!!!!

Lolo let Ellie do whatever she wanted...including sticking her hands all in what little bit of tea was left in his cup, which made the drink really dirty and then drinking it....GRANDPARENTS! :) But they both loved it! :)

Dustin got a tackle box he's been wanting.

The sisters and spouses wanted to do something special for Mom and Dad. We were able to find a steal of a GREAT deal on a cruise. They never had a honeymoon so we thought now would be a perfect time!!!

We wrapped up 2 magnets for Mom to open....a Bahamas and a Mexico one. Then Dad opened up a cruise ship magnet.

They were both a little confused so we handed them the papers that explained what we had done. It was so special!!

They were both shocked and so excited!!!!!

I had this picture out from last year and Laurie wanted to get a comparison shot...Ellie didn't really want to cooperate, but you catch the drift! Oh the difference a year makes!!!

We had another wonderful Christmas with the Walker side of the family. It was fun all being together!!

All of these wonderful pictures were taken on MY NEW CAMERA!!! Dustin went above and beyond and got me my own Canon camera and I'M SUPER EXCITED!!! He did so good!!!

Jones Family Christmas

2012-01-13T11:13:00.001-06:00

We went to visit MawMaw and PawPaw for Christmas and had so much fun! Ellie got to rule the roost and she wouldn't have it any other way!! :) Ellie loves crawling around, exploring everything and she LOVES Prissy (the dog). She gets so excited to see her!
MawMaw and PawPaw's Christmas tree was a big hit too!
Ellie got to open a few gifts early. ;) She got a book that she loves!!!

MawMaw and PawPaw got to open their gifts early too!!! We got them some computer stuff so they can skype with us and see Ellie more often! (And the true Christmas miracle was that Dustin didn't ruin someone's Christmas that he had to talk to when the computer wouldn't work! And then that we were able to find another one, 2 days before Christmas!!!) :)

Ellie is all into sitting like a big girl these days. This day it wasn't by her choice. She fell asleep in the chair with Dustin and he got up and she sat. :) She didn't sleep for long........

He went around to get a better picture of her sitting there sleeping, and she caught him!! :)

WHEN did she get so big???

Love him...always a good subject. :)

Ellie loves MawMaw's toys! They are new to her and she will sit and play with them for a while!

We got to spend some time with Uncle Scotty, Aunt Susie, Joshua and Jordyn! Ellie had so much fun playing with them!

Ellie was so sweet to want to share with Jordy!!!

Joshua and Jordyn got Ellie this tea set and it has been a hit!! She's been pouring tea ever since Christmas!

She also got a little laptop from MawMaw and PawPaw and Jordy and Aunt Susie were showing her all about it!

She also likes to drink the tea!!! ;)

We had so much fun at MawMaw and PawPaw's! The gifts were great but getting to be with family was the best!!

Santa, yet again!

2012-01-12T09:09:00.000-06:00

As I look back at my pictures from December, I can't help but notice how many times we saw Santa!!! We kept him very busy!!!! ;)
Santa came through Laurie and Matt's neighborhood so we went over! It was a very cold morning to wait outside for Santa!!!!!

We were practicing: "Ellie, where's Santa??" :)

And there he is!!!

She did it for real!! There he is!!!

She liked him at this distance. :)

After Santa came through and we loaded our pockets with candy, we went in to make breakfast! How cute is Ellie's apron?!?!

Breakfast was good and then it was time for a nap!!!!! :)

Pizza with Santa

2012-01-11T09:38:00.000-06:00

So, in an effort to blog more often, and keep up, I'm still catching up!!
Sometime in December (at this point, does the date matter!?) :), we had pizza with Santa at church. Ellie wasn't a huge fan of Santa in person this year. We went to see him at the mall and Ellie wouldn't even look at him and was screaming the whole time. This was the second time we saw Santa in person and she did a little better. The first thing I think that helped was that Michelle handed her to him and not me. She still didn't look sure of him, but at least sat there and didn't scream her head off. The second thing that helped was Morgan being there. Ellie always does better when she has Morgan!

We didn't get a great picture with Santa, but we made progress and that's what counts, right?!

After that, we tried to get a group shot of "my" girls. The candy canes helped with the little girls but Morgan was posing and it was hilarious!!!

Then we added Cutter!!!

He was ALL smiles that night!!!! So cute!!!

Our little China doll

2012-01-10T11:42:00.007-06:00

Uncle Ervin, Kristen and Samantha went to China to see Walker and Elizabeth and brought Ellie back this adorable little China dress!!!

Ellie was tired and ready for nap time and tired from some medicine she's on so we weren't sure how she would do so we just put it on over her shirt.

Laurie got here and needed to see the dress without the shirt on under it and once again, Ellie didn't fuss about it!! :)

How cute is she in that dress!?!?!

She loves shoes and can say it so when she wanted to put on La's shoes, who would object?!?! :)

She walked in them pretty well!!!!

I kept her in the dress until Dustin got home to see her. She was just too cute! Dustin said, "Now she's going to want Yeung's for dinner!" Haha!!! :)

Thanks again Samantha!!!!!

Happy Anniversary MawMaw and PawPaw

2012-01-09T21:39:00.000-06:00

Happy anniversary MawMaw and PawPaw!!! We hope you've had a great day!!! We love you!!

The Ice Cream Truck!!!

2012-01-08T18:36:00.003-06:00

We had a really nice day here most of the day. Dustin worked outside some and Ellie and I needed the fresh air {sick....again}. We heard the ice cream truck music and we're like magnets!!! :)
I ran and got our money and Dustin grabbed Ellie and we met out front.

Dustin got a fudge pop and Ellie and I both got bomb pop juniors. I ate all of mine and Ellie took a few licks from hers and was done with it. :) I'm ok with that!!!

After the ice cream truck turned from in front of our house, we could still hear the music every now and then and Ellie would make a surprised face and turn and listen to it!!! Like father, like daughter!!! :)

We have been a little under the weather this weekend. Ellie started running a fever Friday night. It went along with her barky cough that has just gotten worse. We are calling the doctor in the morning, but the weekend wasn't like I thought it would be!! Her fever has been down today mostly but she's been kind of fussy like she doesn't feel good. :(

Hope you had a better weekend than us!!

Homecoming, first Christmas and a fever virus

2012-01-06T16:03:00.001-06:00

A few weeks before Christmas, we started Christmas traveling. (If you don't know how terrrrrrible it is to travel with Ellie.....but imagine wailing and gnashing of teeth...) We got to Gin's late Friday night and somehow managed to keep Ellie asleep while moving her from the car to the pack n play. It was magic!!! :)
Saturday morning we got up and ready and everyone came over for breakfast and presents. We had a delicious meal of Chick Fil A and then a fun game of Dirty Santa. I got what I wanted! ;)
Ellie was really fussy during presents but I just thought it was traveling and being away from home. Well, after her morning nap, it was clear that she was running a pretty high fever. The one time I left the house without a thermometer happened to be that weekend so I headed to the store. Leigh and I took her temp in the car and it was at 102-something. Lovely, right??
I called Dustin and asked him where he and the rest of the boys were and told him about Ellie. We were supposed to go to the Georgia Christian homecoming and basketball but it was clear that Ellie wasn't going to go. Dustin said he would stay at Gin's with her. GinGin and Uncle Kenny would have kept her but I just felt like she needed one of us if possible. They both went back and napped.
Meanwhile, Leigh, Nate, Laurie, Matt and I all went to the game. It's always fun to be back at GCS. Fun....and weird. Time passes, things change, people change and places change. It's crazy to go back but fun to think about when we were there. Being at the gym reminded me so much of playing basketball, cheerleading, tripping and twisting my ankle, hanging out with so many different friends...it was really fun. And having Dustin and Ellie there make it all the more fun...and weird. :)
Anyways, enough of that! During halftime of the boys game, the cheerleaders always have some of the little girls, teach them cheers and help them perform in front of everyone. They are always really cute! We got some cute pictures of Kayden and Amelia.

Avie and me are really good friends these days! :)

Afterwards, we took some pictures....I promise there was a picture of Laurie and Matt, but they've disappeared! Sorry La!

After the game, the girls went to visit Steve and Bev and out to eat and then went back to Gin's. The guys went to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch a fight on tv and they had to leave a little bit before we got back to Gin's so Gin kept Ellie for a few minutes. I called to see how she was doing and she was still running a high fever so Gin gave her a bath and then I got there. Her fever was still in the 102's. We all decided there was no use in going to Urgent Care so I put her to bed. She didn't sleep very good and I kept having to get up so I put her in bed with us. She seemed to sleep better, but was still burning up. Sunday morning I got up and started to get ready. When she woke up I took her temp and it was 104.2. SCARY! I called my Dr.'s emergency line and waited for them to call. While we waited, we decided to pack up and head home. I called everyone and told them and told them we would stop by the church building to say bye to Nana and Papa. The Dr. called and said as long as she wasn't throwing up, just to keep giving her tylenol and ibuprofen and to be at the office on Monday when they opened.
Guess who was DREADING the ride home????? However, it was amazing.....LONG, but amazing! :) Ellie slept most of the way, only waking up for more medicine and diaper changes. It took a bit longer to get home with all the diaper stops, but I can't complain about that!

Here's the condensed version of the next week:
Monday, I wake up feeling bad. Ellie's doctor at 8:30, where they do all kinds of test and it takes forever. I had called and made me an appointment for 11 and we had to rush out of Ellie's appointment to make it to mine. Ellie had a fever virus and I had an upper respiratory infection.
Tuesday, I feel better, Ellie's fever is gone in the morning. Comes back about 3 and rises up to 102. I call the nurse's line and she says it's all quite normal for a fever virus.
Wednesday, we notice a rash. {I'm thinking, "You have GOT to be KIDDING me!!! WHAT is going on?!?!} So, I call the nurse's line...again. She says it's fine, it's very normal and that the virus should be gone in the next 48 hours.
Thursday, fever is gone and rash is mostly gone.

It was a crazy week that I thought was never going to end but it did!
We had fun in Valdosta and we were happy to get home and then we were SUPER happy to feel better!

Happy Birthday, PawPaw!!!

2012-01-03T15:31:00.004-06:00

Today is PawPaw's birthday!!! Happy Birthday!! Wish we could be there to celebrate with him!!

Love you PawPaw!!!

Thanksgiving

2011-12-28T22:43:00.004-06:00

I'm going to try jumping back into blogging...time will only tell how this goes!! :)
We had the Walker family Thanksgiving the weekend before Thanksgiving. Didn't take many pictures but had so much fun!!!

We were at MawMaw and PawPaw's on Thanksgiving and we had so much fun playing with everybody!!! Ellie loves exploring everything!

Better late than never, right?? :) More to come.....hopefully!!! ;)

The Fair

2011-11-11T08:09:00.000-06:00

Before we begin with this year's pictures, let's reminisce!!!

Fair 2010

Fair 2011Oh the difference a year makes!!!!

The fair was really fun this year! Ellie loved seeing all the lights and watching all the games.
Before we went, we practiced walking at home. Ellie isn't loving walking yet. She has taken a few steps, but she doesn't like it! It's just like it was when she started crawling. She didn't like it but all of the sudden one day, she just started crawling! :) It will be like that with walking.

We're all ready!!!!!
We loved watching the racing pigs. We were sad that they didn't swim but the racing was fun.

Ellie really enjoyed it. :)

I think here she is pointing at her Daddy's turkey leg! We love fair food!!!

The guy was asking for volunteers to be cheerleaders for each pig from each section and Morgan really wanted to be a cheerleader. However, once we saw the little dance that the cheerleaders had to do, we were glad Morgan didn't get it. She would have never gone in front of all of those people! :)

We all loved the animals!!!!

There is always a little country band playing music and last year Morgan really was cute dancing. This year, Morgan and Ellie danced and it was so cute! Ellie is doing really good at standing. :)

The animals were, obviously, very stinky!!! :)

Have you ever seen a cuter pig?!?!

Practicing our walking again!

Rainsville Pumpkin Patch Part 2

2011-11-09T16:02:00.000-06:00

Happy Birthday Mudge!!!!!

2011-11-06T07:38:00.000-06:00

Today is Mudge's birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!
We hate we can't be with you today, Mudge, but we love you and hope you have a great day!!! We will see you soon!!!!!

Rainsville Pumpkin Patch Part 1

2011-11-05T21:11:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago we went to Trenton for a shower for Laurie. Ellie, Morgan, Michelle, Leigh and I all rode together. Mom told us about a pumpkin patch that was about 30 minutes from their house. At first I said no because I thought after riding for 2 and 1/2 hours, Ellie would not be very good to go to the pumpkin patch, but I forgot that Morgan, Michelle and Leigh would be great entertainment and it wouldn't be 2 and 1/2 hours of fussing so I changed my mind and we stopped. And I'm so glad we did!!!
We pulled off the interstate and beat Mom there by a few minutes and we needed to eat lunch so we started to look for a place. We all figured that finding a fast food restaurant with a playground would be no problem so we went ahead and told Morgan we would play, but, of course, no playgrounds!! We ended up at Burger King. They had a grassy area (where a playground would go perfect!!!) so we ended up having a picnic. It was a really nice day and we all enjoyed it. We taught Morgan how to play Duck, Duck, Goose and she LOVED it!!!! It was so much fun!!
This pumpkin patch was awesome!!! There was so much to do AND admission included your pumpkin!!! Evidently, that is the rule and the pumpkin patch where I've been before is the exception. :(
Anyway, we had a really great time!!! And nearly three hours later, we were back in the car with some VERY tired little girls!!!

Our precious new friends

2011-11-04T21:54:00.000-05:00

Greg and Rayla have been in the adoption process for almost two years and in the beginning of October, all of that finally came to be!!! They came home from Russia with Olivia Ann and John Mark and there was, of course, a crowd waiting at the airport to greet them!!!
Granny and Tucker got to go back so that Tucker was able to meet his new brother and sister before everyone else! It was so nice of the security people to let them back!
Some of the crowd:

HERE THEY COME!!!!!! :)

Meeting Greg's mom and Rayla's dad. Such special moments!!!!

When they had a chance to greet everyone, a man from their church said one of the most touching prayers ever. Many tears flowed!!!

Olivia Ann was very attached to her Momma. It was so sweet!

John Mark playing with Uncle Charles. John Mark took to his brother, cousins and Uncle almost immediately!!

Tucker is equally smitten with his new brother and sister!!! SO sweet!!!!

John Mark loved running in the airport! They were on one of the last flights arriving in Montgomery that night so the airport was pretty much ours!! He was having a blast and just wore the biggest smile!!! :)

A first attempt at a family of 5 photo!!! :)

I am so extremely happy that I was able to be at the welcome home for these wonderful people!!! I love Greg, Rayla and Tucker, and now Olivia Ann and John Mark like they are family and getting to be a part of this was amazing! It was a night I will never forget!

When they got home, they all got sick. They were down and out for about a week so after they had time to get better and a little rested, we went to let Ellie meet her new friends!!!

Olivia Ann loves the camera!!! She will cheese almost automatically....but not when she sat with me. But we'll get that shot another day!!! :)

The sweet big brother! Tucker is doing so good being a big brother!!! I was his babysitter when he was one and now he is getting so big and he is so smart!!!

Tucker has always loved to read books and Granny is always willing to read with him!!! They put the little rocker beside the big rocker in the little kid's room and every time someone sat in the big rocker, one of the little one's would go sit in the little rocker!! It was so cute!!!!

Sweet Olivia Ann :)

John Mark has stolen my heart!!! He is so precious!! He wanted to come to me as soon as we got there and he walked out to the car with me. He is just a sweet little, snuggly boy!!! We were playing in their room and he just came and sat with me. SO sweet!!!

When it was time for Ellie and me to leave, John Mark cried!!! (I am aware that he just wanted to go outside again, but he cried for me, and I'm leaving it at that!) :)

I am happy to report that all are feeling better and getting very well adjusted to each other! I am so excited for Greg, Rayla and Tucker and super excited for Olivia Ann and John Mark as well! They already know and recognize Momma, Daddy and Tucker and they say it and apply it correctly. (They came home knowing them too.) The little ones, Granny, Rayla and I were in their room playing and Tucker was in the front room. We looked at a little photo album that was made for the kids that had pictures of all the family. When we got to Tucker's picture, John Mark said "Tucker" and went running in the front room to find him. Then just came back, he just needed to check on Tucker!!! So sweet! :)

The Half Marathon!!!

2011-11-02T11:23:00.000-05:00

I just have to say that I have some pretty talented friends!!! Michelle, Kristen, LaSha and Devon all ran in a half marathon at the beginning of October. We went to cheer them on and it was so much fun!!! We, of course, got there late (that wasn't me a few years ago, but now, late seems to be the name of my game!) but got to at least see our friends, even if we didn't see them finish!

The race is downtown and everything always looks so nice and festive!!! They got to run right in front of the capital.

Oh, the anticipation!!!

There she is!!!

Morgan, cheering on her Momma! :)

She ran right past us.....

and on to the Biscuits field!!

We all hurried down there to see her and Morgan was so excited!!!

The runners!!! LaSha, Kristen, Michelle and Devon

Some of my friends from college were there cheering too! It's always so good to see Summerr and Sha!!! They are always good for a few laughs!!! :)

It was such a fun morning to a full, fun day!!!

October!!!

2011-11-02T10:23:00.002-05:00

WOW!!! October came and went so fast and was SO busy!!!!
A quick rundown of the month would go something like this:
The Fair
Welcoming home Greg, Rayla and meeting their two, new, precious additions, Olivia Ann and John Mark
Cheering our friends on in a half marathon
2 pumpkin patches
Wearing our pink for Bev!
Trunk or Treat
Zoo Boo
Trick or Treating
A trip to Trenton
A trip to Valdosta
A trip to DC
A trip to Orlando

Whew!!! Tired yet??? :) And all that was just the extra stuff!!! That doesn't include the regular stuff like football games and hanging out with our friends!!
It was such a busy month but we had a great month and wouldn't have changed any of it!!! :)
Stay tuned for pictures from most of these events!!! :) (in no particular order!!) :)

13 Months...

2011-10-24T22:52:00.000-05:00

Her thirteen month birthday came and went with no pictures, no sign, I don't even know if we talked about it!!! Oh the change a month can make!!! Our baby is less and less of a baby everyday!!! She is looking like a big girl and {sometimes} acting like a big girl!!! We're not really ready for this just yet!!!!

I don't have a scale so I don't know how much she weighs or how tall she is, but she's almost as tall as my legs are long...how's that for measurement?!?! :)

She finally got a big girl carseat. I wasn't dreading it, I was just dreading her sleeping in her big girl carseat. We even got one that reclines and she still her little head just falls and bobbles. Some say it helps build neck support, but I just hate it!!!!

She is just so stinkin' cute in it though, don't you think??? :)

This is one of our last pictures of our baby in one of her infant seats. She never really minded being backwards. In this picture, she and Morgan are going for a ride in the jeep with Dustin with the top off. They all really enjoyed it! She has liked riding in the jeep with the top off her whole life! :)

Ellie doesn't mind mascots yet. This was the day after her birthday, the day of her birthday party. The Daddies took Mo and E to the game so the women could set up for the birthday party. They were sweet and sent us this picture! :)

Ellie's tricks: She can throw her hands up when you say "touchdown!" (but she won't put her cracker down to do it...) :)

She will clap and pat her head when you sing If You're Happy and You Know It (we pat our head instead of stomping our feet since most of the time when we sing it, we are in the car or she is in her high chair and she can't stomp her feet.) She is starting to get the stomp your feet part though. But she doesn't even acknowledge the say amen part!

She loves to clap for herself and when other people are clapping!
She loves football games, especially the band. She claps for them too. :) (still holding on to that cracker though!!) :)

She can stand up with the best of them....when she wants to. She will even let you walk with her while holding her hands.....when she wants to. But don't be fooled...if she doesn't want to do it, she.will.not.

She will "stand up" on her knees in her chair, facing backwards, and try to steady herself by sticking her hands out like a mummy. It's too funny!!!

The girl can sleep through anything!!! She tends to go to sleep better with noise and lots going on....I guess you can tell what our days are like at home!?!?!

She loves her puffs....and really all food. She will grab the puffs out of her bag, pop the top off with her teeth and just sit there and eat it like popcorn!! Sometimes by the handful and sometimes just one by one! She really is a good eater. She currently loves the Gerber ravioli's. She eats the spinach and the turkey and veggies ones.

Her hair! Her hair is getting longer and I love it and I hate it! She fights a bow. Does she not know how adorable they are in her hair?!?! :) Michelle put it up one day in a rubber band on top of her hair and we love that hairstyle now!!!! We put it up like that a lot....so it doesn't look like this (below)....but I have to put it up when she's asleep because she fights that too.

This picture (above) is probably one of the last pictures we have of Ellie with a bottle!!!! :) We are bottle free and loving it!!! She kind of had some issues adjusting in the beginning (she wouldn't take milk from a cup), but I just let her have some time then started trying again and she really took to it! I went to only having a bottle in the morning and at night with milk and then juice and milk during the day in a cup and then one day, I just dropped the bottles all together and she did great! She hasn't looked back. I was happy to claim all of that counter space back that the bottles took up!!! :)

Ellie doesn't mind shoes. Once they are on, she pretty much leaves them there. However, there is this **precious** pair of pink sparkly shoes that she just won't wear. It's so sad. But she will wear the squeaker shoes...and she LOVES them!!! She will stomp her foot just to make them squeak. And she gets kind of sad in church when she stomps and tries to squeak and it doesn't work.

Ellie is very attached to me these days. I am leaving her for the first time soon and I don't think either one of us are ready for it. I {might} tear up when I think about leaving her! I know she's going to be fine and probably won't notice I'm gone, but I'm going to miss her!!! But I am looking forward to the possibility of sleeping in on a Saturday!

Ellie gets so excited when she hears the door open. She gets the cutest little excited face!!!

We started about a month and a half ago giving her baths in the big bath tub. She was still in her little bath tub until then and if she hadn't of outgrown the little bath tub, she'd still be there! It was so much easier there not having to worry about her sliding or falling over or slipping! There haven't been any major spills yet (with her body, at least.....there was a time or two that she's gotten a hold on the sprayer and sprayed the bathroom and me and Dustin!) :) but I know there is probably one coming.

She is still taking two naps most days, but sometimes I think she is wanting to go to one. That's sad for me. I'm going to keep trying for two for as long as I can. It helps her during the day and it gives her more time with her Daddy when she's not tired and grouchy at 7pm.

The girl LOVES a phone or anything she can pretend is a phone! She will hold it up to her ear and then hold it between her head and her shoulder without her hand. {I don't know where she learned that!!!} ;/ She had Leigh's phone the other day and we called it while she was holding it and her expression was hilarious!!! And we called her a couple of times and each time it was so funny!!!

Music is one of her favorite things. She will start dancing when she hears it and look around to make sure someone sees her. The Jessie's gave her a CD for her birthday that sang songs and said her name in them and it is one of the best things ever!!! It was a lifesaver on our last trip!! She gets so excited when she hears it come on and she will clap when she's supposed to and she just laughs. And the very beginning starts with, "Ellie! How old are you!?" and every time, Ellie puts her finger up to tell the CD that she's one!!! SO CUTE!!!

Ellie is still a really happy baby....toddler. She loves to be around people. I think she gets a little bored on the weekends when it's just us at home. She must wonder where her friends are!?!? :) She has started loving on people. She will do it on her own with little kids but will sometimes do it to adults when prompted. It's so cute....she leans in and puts her arm around them and it's enough to completely melt my heart!!!
Her personality is really starting to shine and I love the little person that she is and that she is becoming. She is really going to be a helper. She will put her toys up in the bath tub. She will help a little when we're cleaning up the front room toys. She always gets Maddie's paci and takes it to her and puts it in her mouth. You can ask her to get things like her cup, paci, Maddie's paci, the ball, etc., and she will look around and get it and bring it to you if she sees it. She's SO smart!!! ;)

I really understand why people always say that their kid is at "the best age"! It's because every age your kid goes through is "the best age"! She is getting really good at testing my patience some but she's still just so much fun to be with. I try to remember everyday how blessed we are with her!

Present time

2011-10-14T11:18:00.005-05:00

We have so many friends and family who were overly gracious to Ellie!!! And she was so funny opening them!!! She, of course, liked the paper in the bags but she did really good at tearing the wrapping paper too! She got some great things!!! Thank you so much everyone!!!!

She smashed it....eventually!

2011-10-13T15:57:00.007-05:00

The Cakes and food!!!!!

2011-09-29T11:21:00.006-05:00

I'm hungry right now so it's easy for me to blog about the party food!!! :)
Adam did his thing as wonderfully as always and made us some wonderful bbq and homemade sauce!!! It was so good!!! We had fruit, cheese and crackers, baked beans and corn dip to go with it. It was all SO good!!!! For the kids, we had hot dogs and chips and little hugs to drink. They were so cute.
And, of course, we had cake for dessert!!!!
I was torn as to whether I would make Ellie's cakes or Rayla would. As we all know, Rayla makes the BEST cakes and they are always decorated so cute but I thought it would be nice and neat if I made Ellie's cakes. {Call me sentimental!!} :) As it turns out, Rayla was going to be in Russia for Ellie's birthday so it was nice to have the decision made for me!!! She was a lifesaver and made the icing though!!! It was perfect!!! And I did use all of her little tricks that I learned from her for decorating the cakes and I am tickled PINK with how they turned out!!! :) {Even though I was up WAY too late working on making them perfect!!! Just adds more sweet memories, right!?!?}
Ellie's little smash cake!

I used The Pioneer Woman's baked beans recipe and they were a hit!!! They really are the best baked beans ever!!!! You can find the recipe HERE!

The Guest of Honor's seat!!! :)

Party People!!!!

2011-09-21T10:50:00.000-05:00

The best husband, Daddy, grill-master, run-to-the-store-at-10:30pm-the-night-before-the-party guy, tent put-er together-er, pool washer, party put together-er EVER!!! :)

I didn't think to get posed shots of everyone so these are all just VERY random....but pretty funny!! :)

Party Decorations

2011-09-20T09:12:00.000-05:00

So the birthday party came and went and it was perfect!!!! I have no "I wish I would have done this..." or "I wish this would have happened". And I had lots of help so I wasn't too overwhelmed!!! :)
We decided on a home birthday party. We talked about a park, but being close to a kitchen was SO nice!!! :) We just sat up the tent and had bag chairs and it was great! We had some things for the kids to play on and I think everyone was happy!
The pink and white napkins are the napkins that started my "theme" (if it can even be called that!). I saw them and loved them so from then on out it was going to be pink with white polka dots. The "Sweet One" napkins, Leigh saw in Party City or Hobby Lobby and said we need them! So the bigger ones were for the food and the little ones were perfect for the cake.

I couldn't be happier with the way the food table turned out. I had the idea to make table runners from fabric with the fabric glue....no sewing required!!! :) But when we were talking to the lady who was cutting our fabric, she told us about this iron on hem stuff. Leigh went to work on these and they turned out super cute!!!!!

I hung up Ellie's monthly pictures behind the food table. It turned out pretty cute. Of course, everyone had their favorite pictures. It was cute hearing what everyone thought!

Morgan helped decorate by decorating the fence with chalk! Didn't she do so good??

Morgan was so sweet to let us borrow her bouncy house so that the kids would have something to do. It was a hit!!!! We also had the little slide that LeighLeigh got Ellie for her birthday set up to slide into a little pool of balls. It was all really cute!

Ellie's seat! :)

We have a 1 year old!!!!!

2011-09-16T21:32:00.000-05:00

This morning began as usual, I got up, showered and got dressed then woke Dustin up and we heard Ellie over the monitor talking, as usual. We both went in and sang her Happy Birthday. She is always the happiest in the morning!!! She just smiled and squealed and clapped for us. Precious!

We didn't play too long because we had to get up and get dressed for her 1 year old checkup. LeighLeigh and Michelle both got Ellie one of these "1" shirts so we get to wear it today and we will wear it tomorrow too.

Morgan and Michelle brought Ellie these balloons for her birthday! They are a big hit!!! :)

LeighLeigh came over to stay with the other kids while we went to the doctor. She brought Ellie her birthday breakfast....hashbrowns. :)
At the doctor's office, she was a little doll. :) There was a little boy in the waiting room with us and they were "talking" back and forth. She showed him all of her tricks (how old she is, waving, blowing a kiss, etc.).

Missy came in and took all of her stats.
Ellie is 31 inches tall (95th percentile) and 24 pounds and 9 and 1/2 ounces (90th percentile).

She was still in a really good mood. Dr. B came in and sang Happy Birthday and Ellie showed her all of her tricks. Dr. B is always so happy and so sweet with Ellie. She always says, "She's just perfect" and it does this Momma good. :)
Ellie got really tired while Dr. B and I were talking and went right to sleep. The poor little thing was awoken to 4 shots. She was a trooper though. She only cried for the last one and Missy said that one is always the worst. She recovered quickly though.
We got home and had the whole day to just play. Truth be told, Ellie, Morgan and Keenan played and I worked on getting ready for the big party!!!! More to come on that matter...

MawMaw and PawPaw got in town that evening. We did a few more little things and then we went to eat. Longhorn's is one of our favorites and I had really been wanting to go there so we decided that Ellie would like to celebrate her birthday there! She did really good and MawMaw told our waiter it was her first birthday. He asked if she could have the birthday ice cream and we said, "why not!?!" so out it came!!! She didn't love the cold ice cream. She's had ice cream before, but always on a cone so she just kind of put her mouth up to it, not really getting any in her mouth. This time, with a spoon, she didn't exactly love it. But some of the rest of us did!! ;)
We also got Ellie's one year picture. She was not exactly in a great mood to take these....she was a little tired and someone decided that right before picture time would be a good time to take off one of her bandaids from her shots. Not a great idea and needless to say, the other three stayed on her!!! So, this was the best we got....

She looks SO big in these pictures!!!!!

Her first birthday came and went with only a little tear drizzled this morning when I was looking at her on the monitor. I'm sad that my baby is gone but I'm really looking forward to this part of life with a toddler!!! I've just got to start taking more time to remember how fast the time goes!!!!

A year ago today...

2011-09-15T13:37:00.011-05:00

A year ago today, I think I slept in {if I didn't, I need to kick myself!}, took my time getting ready, met Dustin, Laurie and Leigh at Jason's Deli for one last "no-baby" lunch. Dustin went back to work for a few hours and L,L and I went to get a pedicure. At my doctor's appointment the week before this, Dr. M had told me to bring my packed bags. He didn't assure me that we would go to the hospital and I wasn't getting my hopes up but everyone but me and Dustin were really thinking it was going to be the day.

After the pedicures, we went back to our house. I was just kind of piddling around, cleaning a little more for the guests that were moving in, and making sure I had my stuff together and got a little carried away with time. All of my appointments had been at 3:30. Today my appointment was at 3:15 but that slipped my mind. I remembered at 3:12 and was panicked because I was going to be late. I was rushing around and got in the car and headed that way. I was meeting Dustin there so I called and told him to go ahead and sign me in. I didn't wait very long at all when I got there so I got back to the room and was still very rushed, anxious, etc.

When Cathy took my blood pressure, she said, "Yeah, it looks like you'll be going to the hospital today!" I asked her if it was high and she said, "maybe a little". I prodded her a little more and she gave me nothing except, "Dr. M told you to come packed, right? So, whether you are ready or not, high blood pressure or not, you are going to the hospital." Dr. M came in and checked and told me my instructions.

It was all about to begin and I got a little emotional when Dr. M and Cathy left the room. Dustin asked me if I was ok and I said, "yes, I just really didn't think it was going to happen today." Believe me....I was BEYOND ready to have her, I just hadn't prepared myself because I really thought I was going to have to wait the week that I had left.
We went and checked in and tried to settle in and started calling everyone. Laurie, Leigh and Michelle got there first. We sent them to get dinner. I'm pretty sure I had them go to three different places for me. :)

They brought it back and I ate and ate until 12 when I knew I was cut off. :)

September 15, 2010

September 15, 2011

Today, I got up and got a shower and then Ellie was awake. She is always the happiest in the mornings! I knew that on her actual birthday, we had her doctor appointment first thing so we had birthday pancakes today. She really seemed to like them! :)

Keenan and Morgan enjoyed the pancakes too!!!!

Maddie enjoyed playing :) She's not quite ready for pancakes, just yet!

I was practicing on some balloon things I wanted to try for her party and she LOVED playing with the balloons!!!!

It's so hard to believe how much things have changed in a year! She wasn't even out of my belly yet this time last year and this year she is crawling around, pulling up, playing with anything she sees! I can't believe how emotional this is making me! I think it's just so much change crammed into one year!!! Our thoughts have changed, our schedules have changed, our lazy days are, umm, not exactly as lazy as they used to be :), but the energy and love in our house has grown more that we ever thought it would be!!!

A baby changes everything. :)

Beach - Part 2

2011-09-12T01:00:00.000-05:00

Jessica wanted to cook fresh crab so she spent her time in the ocean and her diligence paid off!!! She caught nearly a dozen and brought them in and they cleaned and ate them! The ones that eat crabs said they were good. It was quite impressive!

Ellie has gotten so good at standing up by herself!

The girls ate dinner Saturday night at Lulu's. I was really excited about it...until we got there. I didn't know that it was all outside. I didn't think that getting there at 8 at night that there would still be an hour wait. I didn't know that there would be a live band and we wouldn't be able to even carry on a conversation. I should have figured that all that put together that Ellie would not have a great night....and that proved to be true!!!

This was the view from our top floor condo! It was amazing!!!

She was quite the model that weekend!!! :)

Beach - Part 1

2011-09-12T00:19:00.000-05:00

So this is the first of I-don't-know-how-many beach posts. We had a really good time and lots of cute, fun pictures were taken!!!
We went to the beach the weekend before Leigh's wedding. The guys stayed at Seth's beach house and the girls stayed at Jessica's beach house. They were both really nice and it was so nice to be so close to the beach!!! We were able to go down to the beach and come back up as much as we wanted, which was nice with Ellie!!! We also had a pool that overlooked the ocean which is MY DREAM!!! I love to be able to look at the beach and be in the pool!!!
This was Ellie's first trip to the beach so we were all really excited. She did good. She wasn't crazy about sitting in the ocean but she did good in her float....more to come about that! ;)

I love this girl!!!!

The girls

The family :)

The crew

I can't believe it's been ten years

2011-09-11T22:59:00.001-05:00

I'll never forget...
Many tears...
Many prayers....
I cannot imagine.

Go Vols!!!

2011-09-02T09:33:00.002-05:00

Random....

2011-08-30T15:45:00.002-05:00

So, in the afternoons during nap time, I watch Friends reruns. Today I watched the one with Soleil Moon Frye as Joey's girlfriend.

I promise that if I was a betting girl, I would put money on the fact that you couldn't find a better person to play Casey Anthony in a movie than SMF!!! They look so much alike to me!!!

What do you think?

Help!

2011-08-17T15:52:00.003-05:00

I have gotten in a recipe rut......It's gotten really bad.
WHEN I cook, it's always the same things. I'm not really tired of them but Dustin could use some different options though. :)
I should mention that I'm a pretty picky cooker. I don't like a recipe that has a lot of ingredients. BUT, if you promise that it's not too hard and I won't have to buy the grocery store to make it, I'll probably try it!!!
So, I'll take any recipes for chicken, pork chops, round eye steak, ground beef.
Can't wait for some help from you!!!!

A year already?!?!?

2011-08-13T21:22:00.003-05:00

I cannot begin to tell you how fast this year has gone! A year ago today we were at UAB as Laurie donated her kidney to Janet! My memories are still so fresh seeming that surely there's no way that it has been a year!!! But, I can look back on everything else that has happened this year and know that it really has gone by this quickly!!!
Here are my thoughts from our six month celebration....http://weezej.blogspot.com/2011/02/where-were-you.html
Tonight we got together to celebrate the one year kidneyversary!!! :) Justin said that it was the kidney's first birthday in it's new home. :)
Some of Janet's family got to be there, Tiffany, Belle and Everett, Justin and Michelle and Morgan, and Greg and Rayla, and one of Laurie's favorite nurses, Seth, got to be there too!!! ;)
We had a really good time and ate a lot of food that Janet couldn't really have before she got the kidney! It was so much fun and it was just fun to celebrate the hardest part being done and everyone being healthy!!!
We have so much to be thankful for!!!
Here's Janet and Laurie, looking and feeling a lot better than they did at this time last year!!!

Random!!!

2011-08-12T16:44:00.000-05:00

There has been so much going on here lately, my blogging has really slacked off!!! We had Leigh's last shower last night and now we will be out of town a little, have a wedding, have some showers, have a first birthday party and have another wedding.....all of this by September 24th!!! :) We are planning for October to be a month of calmness and no plans!!! :)
So, here are just some random facts and pictures!!!

Ellie crawls everywhere. She crawled up and down a step at Matt's house the other day. This day we were outside doing sidewalk chalk and she crawled all over the grass and concrete and wasn't bothered at all. Then went up and down the step!
Can you see all this hair??? It seems like there is a notable amount more every morning!!! And the curls are coming in and I LOVE them!!! :) It is getting pretty long in the front....it is getting in her eyes!!!

She really enjoyed playing with the sidewalk chalk. She really got into it. :)

And sometimes she would eat it and Morgan would give her this look.... How funny!!!

Morgan's favorite color is pink...who knew?!?!? :)

Isn't Ellie so cute?!?!?

There she goes up....

Ellie loves to watch Dustin, especially when he's on the lawnmower! So we always try to go out and let her ride around. I think Dustin really likes it too... :)

She absolutely loves to ride the lawnmower! She squeals and it's so cute!

She also loves to play with his hat. We put it on her head and play peek a boo under it. She's so funny!
Another love she has is sunglasses (and anyone who sits behind us in church knows that...sorry...)!!!

I finally got hot outside so we came in, but Ellie still wanted to watch!!! Every time he rode by, she squealed and waved really big.

She loves to watch out the front and back doors. Sometimes when I know someone is coming, I will put her in front of the door and when she sees them, she goes crazy!!! It's so cute!!!

This past week, Ellie had to have some tests run. They think what they thought was a UTI was actually a kidney infection. They are very rare in babies and can cause some serious damage so Dr. B. wanted to make sure there was no structural damage to the kidneys or bladder.
We had to be at the hospital at 8 am and she wasn't supposed to eat or drink before we went. {Does anyone else thinks this sounds like a recipe for disaster??? I was nervous!!!!}
We got there and then they were running behind so we didn't go back until 9 and she was getting a little bit ill about the whole situation. The first part was just an ultrasound on her back...it wasn't too bad. Dustin got to hold her and she was ok through that. Then we had to go across to an xray room. They had us hold her top part and they held her legs and they put in a cath. She cried but we made it. Then, we had to leave and they shot a dye through the cath and took xrays to see if there was an reflux in the kidneys. We were just right outside the door in the hallway and she was screaming bloody murder. {Oh wait...I forgot to tell about when we were getting the ultrasound done, the nurse asked us if we had any questions about the next test. We both asked what it was going to be like. She told us about it and then said, "they aren't going to sedate her or anything, they just don't want them to eat or drink before they come because they get so upset and worked up that they might throw up if they eat or drink before they come." Oh. Ok. Sure.......... :/}
I'm pretty sure it was the longest 3 - 5 minutes of our lives. To say I had to be consoled in the hallway would be a slight understatement....BUT, we made it!! :) And we are even HAPPIER to say that the results came back normal!!!!! Hallelujah!!!!

Leigh had her church shower and Ms. Elizabeth (one of E's namesakes) came and I was so glad!!! I used to see her a lot when I worked at school and we went to the same prison for prison ministry but now we don't go to the same prison and I obviously don't see her at work anymore! I just love her!!!

Leigh came over one day and took off her heels and Morgan tried them on. She walked in them really well!!! I think she's a natural!!!! And please look at that pose?!?! :)

Ellie has started pulling up on things to get to her knees and just VERY recently started pulling up to stand. She doesn't do it a lot....I don't think she knows that she can pull up on everything, but it won't be long!

Daddy's favorite shrimp!!!!

She still loves to point!!!

And she loves to read!!!! You can look at any book in our house and tell if Ellie has seen it!!! She chews on all of them!!! Whenever there is another baby in our family, they will need their own books....these are all chewed up!!!

Ellie has also realized that she loves to pull all the DVD's off the shelf. Thankfully, she just does the bottom shelf with the Baby Einstein movies instead of all the movies!!! She chews on these too. It's a sign of love, I think!!! The wedding plans are all coming together and her birthday party plans are starting to come together! I'm getting excited!! I just got the invitations finalized today and I am SUPER excited about them!!! I'm just glad that I've been able to get this far along in the planning...there for a while I couldn't think about it without coming apart!!! I just can't believe she's almost one!!!

Happy Anniversary Mudge and Lolo!!!

2011-08-03T09:09:00.003-05:00

Happy Anniversary Momma and Daddy aka Mudge and Lolo!!!! 32 years and going strong!!! We love you and hope you have a wonderful day!!!!

Camo, baby and gorilla, oh my!

2011-08-02T15:35:00.000-05:00

Mawmaw got this shirt for Ellie before she was born, right after we found out she was a girl. She said that Ellie needed a shirt like her Daddy! Besides it looking like a boy shirt, Ellie is SUPER cute!!! :) Look at all those teeth!!!! That would be 8, if you're counting!!! :)

All of Ellie's pj's were dirty so I washed them and had not gotten them out of the dryer when it was time for Ellie to go to bed last night. I wasn't home so Dustin was putting her to bed and he didn't know her clothes were in the dryer so he just got out this onesie. :)

The bow makes everything girly, right?!? :) How cute is she?!?!

LeighLeigh and Jessica came by to play for a little bit this morning and Ellie always has so much fun!!

Ellie has really started loving her baby. We say, "Love the baby!" and she pulls it up to her face and loves on it. Oh.My.Word.Adorable! We found out today that she will do that with anything...including a cell phone. :)

Love the baby!!!

At night, we read "Goodnight Gorilla". Dustin showed me the other day that if you ask Ellie where the gorilla is, she finds it!!!

Where's the gorilla???

Ellie, where's the gorilla???

She's just so smart. :)

She also shows her true feelings.....if she chews on it, she loves it!!! You will find the proof of Ellie's love to many books on their corners and pages......bite marks and/or the pages are missing! Laurie and Leigh assured me it was the perfect amount of fiber. HA!

She's just so much fun!

Our sweet 10 month old!!!

2011-08-01T14:20:00.000-05:00

The days are just flying by A LOT quicker than I care to talk about!!! Ellie turned 10 months old on Leigh's birthday and we were SO busy!!! We spent the day hanging out with some family, looking at wedding dresses, taking off and putting on makeup and then at a shower. So much fun was had but there was not a happy/non-fussy time to take Ellie's pictures and blog about her! So we made it up on Laurie's birthday!!! :) We took her pictures that day but I am just now getting around to blog!!!
Ellie is so much fun! She is just crawling all over the place and following us around and it's so much fun! If I can't find her, she is always back in front of the mirrored closet doors in our room or in my makeup, which sits on the floor in front of my mirror. She LOVES to play in my makeup....her daddy is so excited about that!!! HA! :)

Church is a little more of a battle these days. She always wants to be going and doing and church is not really the place for that! We have started using puffs to keep her quiet, which doesn't even always work, and I really don't like her snacking during church! This is just a phase...I hope! She always has figured out that she has control over throwing things. Before, it just happened and she didn't really understand, but now she knows so if she doesn't want the toy or whatever you give her in church, she'll just throw it. What a mess!!!

Little Miss has *8* teeth!!!!! She has a really cute toothy grin and we see it a lot! :) She just finished her antibiotic for her infection and at first, it was easier to give a cat medicine than give her her's!!! But, her VERY smart Daddy figured it out!!! With puffs in one hand and the medicine dropper in the other, she picks up a puff, eats it and then opens her mouth for the medicine!!!! Thank goodness for Daddy!!!!!! He also got her to sit still for him to suck the snot out of her nose....how, you ask?!?! He did it to her arm a few times to show her it doesn't hurt and then she just sat there!!!! I think he's a little baby charmer! :)

Ellie tries to pull up every now and then but she hasn't quite got it down yet.....thank goodness! I'm really not ready for that yet.

She has also decided that traveling is not her favorite anymore. She demands a lot of entertaining these days so traveling has not been our favorite thing either lately!

Ever since Ellie started going to bed and sleeping through the night, we started reading to her every night. The number of books varies but we at least do either "Goodnight Moon" or "Goodnight Gorilla". She really likes "Goodnight Gorilla". It's a board book and she came really handle like she's likes without ripping a page or anything. It has a couple of different animals but the gorilla is on every page and we always point out all of the animals. Well, she can point out the gorilla on the pages!!! She's so smart!! :) We are working on her holding up her finger when you ask her how old she is. We'll see...

Ellie will eat most anything we put in front of her. She is still mainly eating baby food because that way I know she is getting all of her nutrients....after that, I've got to start cooking....something healthy!!! And that's a lot of pressure for me.... She really likes fresh fruit though. She has had watermelon, peaches, cantaloupe, grapes (just the inside), strawberries, bananas, and pineapple. She likes banana baby food, but not a huge fan of a real banana.

This morning she was up super early but she was just talking in her bed so I just watched the monitor for a while. I kept thinking I should be recording this, but never got it but she was stinking adorable!!! She is really babbling like she is carrying on a conversation these days and I just love it!

Everybody always that the age their kids are at is the funnest age and now I know why! Everyday she is more aware, fun, busy, and exciting. I've loved her whole life but this really is the most fun so far!!! We are so blessed!!!!

A sick little baby.....

2011-07-30T07:01:00.000-05:00

Last Wednesday, on Dustin's birthday, Ellie woke up with 102.7 fever. She had been whiny for the past few days and Dustin said that the night before that while I was gone, she just sat with him. She kind of dozed in and out of sleep but just sat there...didn't have to be entertained, he never picked up a book or toy or anything. Weird...and we understood when she woke up with that high of a fever!

(We spent alot of time like this....Ellie would wake up really early so I would go get her, calm her down and we laid in our bed to get a little more rest. I loved it but she was so pitiful!)

I called the doctor's office and left a message for the nurse. While we waited for her to call back, we gave Ellie a bath to help her feel better (she LOVES baths, but not this one...) and to hopefully help the fever come down. It did come down some. When I took her temp after the bath it was 101.1 but by the time we got to the doctor's office at 10, it was back up to 101.9.

She was such a sad, pitiful little thing!

Dr. B wasn't there so we saw Dr. D and she was great! She checked her ears (perfect), throat (fine), checked her for strep (negative), listened to her chest (sounded ok), and pricked her finger to check her white blood count. Her wbc came back 29,000. A normal child's is around 12,000. So, they came in and did a urine test, which meant they needed to do an "in and out cath". Sounds fun, huh? Dustin had to leave the room...Ellie was not happy about the cath. But she was a trooper and did great! They sent that off and we had to wait a day to find out. She got an antibiotic shot before we left. They said it was a super painful shot and she let me know that it was REALLY painful for her!!!! :( Then, just to be sure, we had to have a chest x-ray done to make sure there was no pneumonia.... I was trying not to freak out....I think I did ok...

We headed to the xray place and waited. Only one of us could go back with her so Dustin volunteered to do that. I was torn about going back so it was great that Dustin stepped up! He said she did SO good. Of course, she didn't like laying still or being held down so that she would stay still but he said over all, she did great!

How cute is she in her little hospital gown though?!?

The xray turned up no pneumonia. We had to go back to the Dr. the next day for her test results and it came back a urinary track infection. How miserable for our sweet girl!?!?! No wonder she had been so fussy!!!! She got another painful shot and we were out!

She's been on antibiotics since and she has acted some better. She just developed a runny nose yesterday so she's still been fussy but I hope we're getting better!!

Last Week...

2011-07-29T09:18:00.000-05:00

Last week was SUPER busy!!! The 16th was Leigh's birthday, the 18th was Laurie's and the 20th was Dustin's!!! Mudge came in town for the week so we started out Saturday with her and the day was extremely busy! We had two showers for Leigh that day and we went and tried on wedding dresses with Laurie! Fun stuff!!!

Monday night had Laurie's birthday dinner. Our tradition of birthday dinners means that the birthday girl {or boy} gets to pick the meal....no matter how weird of a combination!!! Laurie definitely proved that!!! :) We had lasagna, asparagus and cheese, mashed potatoes and cucumber salad. Random but so good!! Ellie loves crawling around different places!

{The pictures are not in any kind of order...they do not coordinate with the story!}

Tuesday night I had prison ministry so Mudge hung out with Leigh and Ellie and Daddy had a date night at home. :)

Wednesday was church.

Thursday we celebrated with Leigh's birthday meal!!! Leigh wanted the Walker Family meal. We had chicken casserole, cheese potatoes, Sister Shubert rolls, green beans, creamed corn and it was all delicious too!!!! And, of course, we had cake at both parties too. :)

Friday Lolo came in town and so we all just enjoyed being together!!!!

This picture below is of Leigh and her new bag!!! She wanted a big bag to take on the cruise and boy did she get a big bag!!!! Ellie fit inside!!!!!

We are all SO glad that Mudge was here last week!!! We had a busy week and then Ellie was sick on top of all of that {more on that later...} so Mudge was here to keep the house running smoothly and we greatly appreciate her!!!!

I forgot this part....

2011-07-28T13:57:00.003-05:00

I don't know how I forgot this part!!! The weekend we were in town was the annual slugburger festival!!! They had really cute shirts but they were out of my size when we went. :( They set up a whole carnival and it was fun...but really hot!!! Even when we got there at 9 pm!!! Anyways, there was a really fun little train for little kids so we HAD to let Ellie ride!!! She was practically begging!!! ;) (As always, Dustin took better pictures than me....so please excuse!)

These are pictures from Ellie's first trip to The White Trolley....the only place I get my slugburgers!!!! I think she enjoyed it!

These are the pictures from the train ride at the festival!

I think she really enjoyed it...and we did too!!! :)

A weekend with Mawmaw and Pawpaw

2011-07-27T10:31:00.000-05:00

A few weekends ago we went to Mississippi to visit with Mawmaw and Pawpaw. Ellie has grown into not loving long trips anymore. These days she demands constant entertainment in the car, which usually means me back there doing anything to keep her happy. About halfway through the trip, I was tired of entertaining to Daddy saved the day! He got in the back and I drove and they both watched The Three Amigos. She really enjoyed it...or at least it kept her from crying!!! :)
Once we got there though, she was great! Saturday we got up and just played for a while. We went into town and had slugburgers and they were so good....as usual! Don't ask what they are....some sort of batter made up of soybeans, some kind of cornmeal or something and then it's fried. Anyways, it's really good!
We went by and saw Aunt Kathy, went to WalMart and then back to the house for a nap. Pawpaw and Daddy took really long naps so Ellie had time for a bath before we went to dinner!!! One of the highlights of Ellie going out of town is getting to use her duck bathtub!!! She loves it and it makes bathtime so fun and easy...no matter where we are!
Aunt Jeannie and Aunt Boggie brought over a family dress. Mawmaw's mom, who died when Mawmaw was 13, made this dress for her granddaughter. The dress is 48 years old!!! She just saw the dress in a window and drew a picture of the dress and went home and made it!! Since then, they try to get all the little girls picture made in it!

It is so cute!!!! BUT, unfortunately, Ellie was not so happy to get her picture made in it....she had to be bribed to sit still without crying with Daddy's phone. :)

Then they looked at some pictures and we finally got a smile!!!!!

Then she got distracted and we got a couple of ok shots! :)

After the pictures, we played until Daddy and Pawpaw were ready to go eat. We found Mawmaw's stash of toys and Ellie quickly found a favorite!

Sunday we went to church and then there was a wedding shower for a cousin so we made an appearance there. Ellie got a lot of good lovin!!! We came home and it was time to pack up and get some pictures!!! I thought this was so funny and cute of Mawmaw and Pawpaw with their phones out, taking pictures of Ellie. :)

We had so much fun but it was good to get home! We were home in time to get ready for another busy week!!!

Our trip to Valdosta!!

2011-06-26T15:00:00.000-05:00

Father's Day weekend was spent in Valdosta. Leigh had her shower there and we wanted to be there so we were off again! We got in late Friday night and the shower was Saturday morning. Dustin and Matt went golfing with Dad and Uncle Ervin and Nate hung out with his Dad. His family came to hang out for the weekend.

The shower was so nice and it was so good to see some people that we hadn't seen in a while and be with family.

These girls and their families and our family are super close and they call us their cousins.
They were all SO excited to finally meet Ellie!!!!

She was equally excited! ;)

Then everyone wanted to see her new skills!!! Anna was so excited that she was crawling to her!!!

Bobbie and Hayden were at the shower and Samantha charmed Hayden. Ellie loved getting close to him...close enough to touch his hair and paci, try to pull his paci out of his mouth and touch his face....all the things that she loves to do!!! :)

After the shower, we took advantage of GinGin's pool!!! It was Ellie's first visit to a pool and I think she loved it!!! :) She looked SO cute in her swimsuit!!!

Lolo loved swimming with Ellie!!! He took her all over! They visited the fountain and Ellie loved putting her hands and arms under the running water! She was so funny!!!

We had a great trip to Valdosta! Ellie did pretty good on the four hour drive. She demanded a little attention, but finally fell asleep and was ok the rest of the way! Thanks GinGin for letting us stay at your house!!!

His First Father's Day

2011-06-25T08:53:00.000-05:00

On September 16, the world got a little sweeter!!! It made me a Mommy and Dustin a Daddy! Dustin has been a better Daddy than I ever could have imagined him! I always knew he would make a great father but the way he has slipped right into being a Daddy has been one of the best experiences in my life! I am so blessed to have this precious little girl but to have a wonderful husband who is also a great Daddy....SO BLESSED!!! :)
For his first Father's Day, Ellie wanted to make her Daddy something super special!!!

He loves pictures of her and SHE loves pictures of her too!!! :)

I think he liked it. :) In each picture she is holding a letter and it spells, what else but, DADDY!

Did I mention that she LOVES to see pictures of herself???

I got him a drill battery and charger that he's been wanting for a while. Not fancy or memorable but it makes him happy! That's all that counts!!!

I love you D and I couldn't be happier that we get to share this parenting journey together!!!!Happy First Father's Day!!!

Vacation!!! Day Two!

2011-06-24T11:30:00.000-05:00

Finally back to the vacation posts!!! Day two of vacationing (really the last of true vacationing), Mudge and Lolo kept Ellie at their house. We wanted to do some things in Chattanooga that we weren't sure how Ellie would do. Mudge and Lolo said they were (conveniently!) free so they could keep Ellie! :)

We ate with Mom and Dad at Randy's then headed to Ruby Falls. It is a guided tour that lasted a little over an hour and we didn't think that sounded like something that would be good for Ellie. I had never been to Ruby Falls and Dustin hadn't been but one time when he was, maybe, 10.

I wasn't really sure what it was going to be like but I really enjoyed it.

It was interesting and the things that they pointed out, like the donkey, were pretty funny!

And it made me hungry!!!! :)

Disclaimer: If you haven't ever been and want to be surprised if you ever go....don't look any further!!!

Evidently, the fall is the big thing and they do a whole big reveal when you get to it! It was really neat and so pretty!!!!

One cool fact is that they don't know where the water comes from!

You can kind of see some ropes going up the right side and those are the ropes that were left from some men who tried to find out where the water came from. In the 90's, they were given permission to try to find where the water came from. They had to stop not far from the top of the falls because they couldn't go any further without messing up the cave. It's pretty neat.

You can walk around behind the falls and look up and it is SO COOL!!!! This is the view from under the waterfall.

These are the ropes left from the guys that tried to find the source of the water.

This is just a shot to show how little room the cave is! It was just tall enough for us to stand in but there wasn't a spot that I couldn't reach the top!

This is only spot in the cave that visitors are supposed to touch, that's why it's so waxy looking. They call it the candle.

After Ruby Falls, we went to Point Park. It is a battleground and it was really pretty and interesting. I took this picture because it told a little about General Joseph Hooker. We learned about him on our Duck ride. He was known to have very pretty women come to his tent. It is told that they didn't do anything, he just enjoyed the conversation. But, that's how, ummm, certain women got the label as Hooker's. There's your history lesson for the day! :)

Here's a picture from Point Park. It is located up on Lookout Mountain so we had a very nice view of Chattanooga. You can see how the river runs though Chattanooga and why that area of the river is called "Moccasin Bend". It curves just like a snake does.

After the Civil War, the battle in Chattanooga, up on Lookout Mountain, was known as the Battle Above The Clouds because it took place on the mountain. The picture in the picture below is a picture that was painted by a man on the ground. It's what he observed during the battle. Pretty neat.

You can't really see it, but Chattanooga is behind us!

There is quite a bit of walking at Point Park and while we were walking around, there was a lady laid out just like this on this bench! I wondered if she was going to make it! It was too funny...which is why we needed to recreate it! :)

When we left Point Park, we headed toward Red Lobster and the movie theater! We were taking advantage of Mudge and Lolo having their one on one time with Ellie! :) We got to the movie theater and Dad called and reminded me about the drive in. We found out that the X-Men movie was playing at the drive in and that is what we wanted to see. And, an extra bonus is that the drive in is only $5 instead of $10! :) So we went to eat at Red Lobster before the movie started. The drive in doesn't start until the sun goes down so most of the time they say it won't start until 9:30. We made it just in time! The movie was good but we were so tired by the time it ended!!!

We had the best time on vacation this year! It was different with Ellie but I think it has just as good memories as the other three!!! I think she had a great time too!!!

Now, did you notice how nice our pictures were from our second day? No, I didn't take him up on the offer of a new camera! He was working very hard before we left that morning on fixing the camera. And he fixed it!!!!! I had accidently moved it from automatic to manual, and I didn't have the touch to do it myself, that's why all my pictures were fuzzy!!!! Dustin saved the day again!!! :D

On Saturday, we slept in and just hung out at the house until it was the time to head to Adairsville for Leigh and Nate's couple shower. It was fun. Then on Sunday, Mom, Ellie and me headed back to Adairsville for another shower for Leigh and Nate! They are very blessed with great friends and family and great gifts! We had a great time on our vacation!!!

In and Out!!!

2011-06-22T16:17:00.000-05:00

The nine months that I was pregnant went by MUCH slower than the last nine months has gone by!!! Nine months ago, we had this little 8 pound, 11 ounce infant that needed us to this big nine month old baby that would rather crawl around than be stuck somewhere!!!
Ellie now weighs 23 lbs. and 7 ozs. and she is 30 and 1/4 inches tall!! She was just 20 and 1/2 inches long when she was born! In this picture she was {finally} smiling at Morgan and you can really see her top teeth! All four top front teeth are trying to come in. So far, the top right two are in and it is just a matter of days before we see the other two! And let me just say, not that I think I'll forget.....THESE TEETH ARE LITTLE BOOGERS!!!! Poor Ellie has been so sad and grumpy and fussy. She has spent a lot of time from the last month just crying. It's really sad. I even took her to the doctor (a week before her 9 month appt. which is really frustrating!) to make sure nothing else was wrong. This pain really changes her!!! I'm hoping that the pain is not as bad with these next two (or the rest of them!) or that they just hurry up!!!

Ellie learned to crawl this month!!!! On Monday, the 13th, she crawled for the first time and we were all so excited!!! AND, I got it on video!!! Yay!!! We bribed her with Leigh's pen and it worked for a good little while! :) She just has realized that she can actually crawl to a person when she wants them.

Ellie has also started sitting up in bed. When she wakes up, she will sit up and play for a while. Then, two days ago, I put her to bed that night and she started fussing. She does that sometime and we just go back in and put her paci in and settle her back in and she will go to sleep. When I went back in there, she was standing up! I laid her back down, settled her in and left the room. I went back and told Dustin and he wanted to go lower the crib right then. I told him no, that we would do it the next day so we wouldn't wake her up. He was ok with that as long as we could put something by the bed, just in case she fell out. Our answer was the three big bags of maternity clothes that are out, waiting to be put in the attic! Too funny. I wish I would have gotten a picture!

So, when I got home from prison ministry last night, he had already lowered the bed...with Ellie as his little helper! :) I know that was fun!!

Ellie has started liking her sippy cup more. Today we went for a walk and it was a little hotter outside than I thought, so when we got back, I fixed her some water/juice in her sippy cup and she went to town on it! I was excited! :)

Ellie has been kind of clingy recently, and I think it's the teeth but some of the extra cuddle love time has been nice! Makes it hard to get things done but I really enjoy it. And she will actually lay her head on my shoulder and I promise that my heart grows each time she does it! So sweet!!! I can't believe she's nine months old!!!

She still really likes to point. If you point at her, most of the time, she'll point back at you. Really cute now.....in about a year, probably won't be so cute....

Ellie will also clap when you clap and say YAY! It's so cute and she gets so proud of herself!!!

She is just growing up so fast! It's fun and sad all at the same time!!!! We're so blessed!!

Vacation!!!!!! Day one

2011-06-16T12:53:00.002-05:00

Last week we were able to get away for a little vacation! Actually, it was a BIG vacation....our first FAMILY of THREE family vacation!!! :) We were all really excited. I used this time off work to get some doctor appointments taken care of so Monday was doctor for me and Tuesday morning was doctor for Ellie. Tuesday afternoon we went to school and saw everyone that I hadn't seen since I quit working there. It was so fun and everyone loved seeing Ellie!

We left Wednesday and headed to Chattanooga. Our family vacation was to be a tad different this year....we stayed with my parents and went and saw the sights in Chattanooga!!! And let me just say....I love Chattanooga!!!! We had the best time!

Our first stop was the Aquarium! Ellie was so excited! :)

I took my Leigh's camera with us and was able to get some great pictures! I'm no photographer but I was happy with my results! :)

Ellie and Dustin both really liked looking at everything in the aquarium! Ellie liked the bigger animals mostly because I don't think she could really get that there was something in there when it was just smaller fish.

Ellie really enjoyed looking at the turtles! They were little but they were moving a lot and the tank was small so she liked watching them. Dustin really did too. :)

Some things really cracked her up!

We had a new time having to fight her taking her bow out! But she is really enjoying the big huge fish that we are watching.

And this is the big fish we were watching!

When we entered the alligator area, they had a mirror by the stroller door so we got our first family vacation picture! HA!!! :)
Here's a baby alligator....

And a not so baby alligator....Dustin said it was weird to be looking eye to eye with his prey... :)

Then we went to the river otters. They were so much fun! They are quick little boogers! Ellie loved it because she got to get out of the stroller and she could really see them splashing in the water!

How cute are they?!

She wasn't too impressed with these fish (first go around, anyways!).

Finally, the aquarium got to her! She took a little nap and then was good to go!

When we finished with the river side of the aquarium, we walked around outside and got a snack. We also got a real family photo. :)

The ocean side of the aquarium had stingrays that you could pet. I didn't take part in that but Dustin was happy to!

Ellie enjoyed watching them for a few minutes.

Dustin really enjoyed this part. :)

Then we went into the butterfly garden and it was so neat! Ellie really liked the one butterfly that stayed still long enough for us to see. My hair grew three times it's size while we were in there...

Back into the stroller for some more big fish!!!

The penguins were my favorite part!!! I could have stayed a long time watching them, but Ellie wasn't impressed with the penguins :(

They had a shark tank out and we just couldn't pass up this photo op!

Ellie really enjoyed the shark because she got to get out of the stroller and ~~bang~~ gently tap the glass. :)

And she liked all the fish looking at her too... :)

Jellyfish=yuck but much entertainment!

After the aquarium, we rode the Ducks! It was so much fun! I had never ridden any ducks and it was so much fun! Ellie really did good. She seemed to enjoy it. We had a really good guide that was very animated and she just took it all in!

"Dad, are you sure this is ok?"

When we went from land to water, she didn't mind it at all!

It was at this point in our family vacation that I almost got a nice camera of my very own!!! Halfway through our duckride, the camera just got so fuzzy and I couldn't focus or fix it. Dustin took it and tried to fix it and he couldn't. I was SO upset that the camera was not working and that we wouldn't have anymore pictures from our first family vacation!!!! So upset just doesn't get the point across at how sad I was. He kept saying we could use the iphone camera and that it would do good, but you can tell from the pictures below...there is a difference. I finally put on my big girl panties and decided that the vacation wasn't ruined. But before that Dustin did say that he would go buy me a camera if that would make me enjoy the vacation again! Should have taken him up on it! ;)

When Dustin was about 10, he rode the Chattanooga Ducks and was able to drive and get a picture. So when the guide was taking any one that wanted to drive, Dustin took Ellie up there...asleep and all! :)

After the Ducks, we went and rode on the Incline Railroad! Not Dustin's favorite thing but Ellie seemed to like it. :)

What's back there???

When we finally got done, Ellie was tired and needed a little nap! She fell asleep just like that!

Then she woke up and was good to go!!! This was me trying to get the camera to work :( Fuzzy but still cute subject!

She had so much fun playing with Lolo and Mudge!!!!!

What a face!!! :)

8 {and a half} months old!

2011-06-03T15:24:00.004-05:00

UPDATE: These pictures should be at the bottom of this post but it's too hard to move pictures so here they are!!! :) When I went to get Ellie up, right after I posted this blog, she was sitting up in her bed again! Morgan was here to entertain her while I ran and got the camera! That is exactly where she was! :) And the mobile is going because she can hit the bottom button. It turns on the picture and makes the animals spin but instead of it being a song, it's the heartbeat because that's the only one she can reach. :) So cute! Now, pretend that you read this at the bottom!! :)

So, eight months old came and went like lightning! Between not having Internet for a week and, just, daily life, I am just now blogging about it!
Ellie has gotten so big! She is getting more and more independent and I'm happy and sad about it! She likes to sit on the floor and play and she has started getting down like she is going to crawl. Then she is stuck. She hasn't quite figured it out yet but I'm ok with that! She will roll all over the floor and her bed though! She may not be crawling yet, but she is definitely mobile!

She is still eating rice cereal for breakfast with a bottle and at lunch and dinner she gets a bottle and a fruit and a vegetable. As I have mentioned in a previous post, I put some roast, carrots and potatoes that I made in the food processor and she really liked it!!! VERY proud Momma moment! I'm not going to start making all of her baby food, but when I have stuff like that, I will definitely throw it in the food processor! I have only found one thing that she doesn't like....Broccoli and cheese and carrots. It is a baby food, with some texture and I ate alot of broccoli and cheese while I was pregnant so I thought she would like it. Well, she didn't. Not at all. She didn't spit it out....she threw up! I had to strip her down right there in her high chair, take out the high chair cover and do a rinse off and then throw it in the washer! It was awful! We're going to wait a while before we try that again!

Ellie still does her growl. She growled the other night in church and there was a pew of elementary school boys sitting behind us and they erupted in laughter! It was a little embarrassing. She is also just very vocal! She will mimic sounds that we make and it is so cute! She still talks when she wakes up but not for as long anymore. She is ready to get up by that point, I guess!

She is alot more interested in the month sign now. It's really hard to get these pictures! I, thankfully, had a lot of help this month!!! She likes to grab anything really. When she is playing on the floor, she loves to go through the big bucket of baby toys. I just put it in front of her and she just goes through them, one by one. Makes getting things done a lot easier for me!

She moves all over the bed. She rolls and scoots until she gets stuck in the corner and gets mad. It is fun that she finds her paci and puts it back in her mouth without us having to get up though! The other day, I went to get her up from her second nap and she was sitting up in the bed! I called Dustin right then! :) She hasn't done it since but I know that she can! I wish I would have had the camera with me but I didn't and she would have gotten really mad if I would have walked out!

She has just gotten so big and she gets a little more personality every day! She is so much fun and we just love to watch her! She has made being parents so easy and so much fun! We love her! Her 9 month blog is going to be here SOON and that is so hard to imagine! It doesn't seem like it has already been 8 and a half months! But when we look at how much she has changed, it is hard to imagine Little Baby Ellie! We are so blessed!

Happy anniversary!!!!

2011-06-02T08:08:00.000-05:00

Happy Anniversary to the best husband ever!!! I couldn't have dreamed that the past 4 years would have been so wonderful!!! I get to live everyday with my best friend and I just love him! I thought that we were wonderful but then to see Dustin and Ellie together, my heart grows more and more!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, LOVE!

Ellie's first 4 wheeler ride

2011-06-01T15:39:00.000-05:00

Dustin had to move the 4 wheeler the other day so Ellie jumped on and went for her first ride! {Yes, she is still in her Sunday dress...} She acted like she really enjoyed it. I see many more 4 wheeler rides in her future!

Aren't they cute?!

No internet and exciting news!!

2011-05-31T15:25:00.002-05:00

So no internet for almost a week makes for a blogging nightmare!!! I don't even know where to begin!!! It's going to be all out of order, but at least it will be done!! :)
Our big news for today is that Ellie ate my food for the first time and loved it!!!!!!! :) I made a roast with carrots and potatoes and got out the leftovers for lunch for Morgan and me today. It was almost time for Ellie to eat and I thought that I would mash up some of the carrots for her. You know, save a jar of baby food because we have food she can eat! Well, then I just started thinking, she's had baby food with chicken and turkey, why not a roast? So I got out the old "food-processor-I-never-thought-I'd-use-that-Mom-got-me". Thank you Mom!!!! {Mother knows best!} :)
Anyways, it still had some texture to it so I wasn't sure how she would like it, but she gobblied it all up!!!! It was an exciting time for me!
When we first got married, it was exciting for me to make dinner and for us to sit down and eat it. I was always really glad when Dustin liked it and it made me feel good. Well, same thing with Ellie except there is a little more excitement because she wouldn't have even tried to pretend if she didn't like it!!! :) Anyways, just wanted to share my proud Mommy moment!!! :)

A little bit of Mudge & Lolo, Mother's Day and others

2011-05-15T13:49:00.008-05:00

I haven't updated in a while because the days just seem so busy (see previous post...)!!!! But I'm going to try to do a quick (yeah, right), catch up post...and hopefully finish before Ellie wakes up from her nap!!!
The week before Mother's Day, Mudge and Lolo came to town for a few days. It is always so fun when they come!!! Lolo had not been home from the Philippines long and he brought presents with him!!!! How cute is Ellie in her 100 Islands shirt??

Ellie is loving hats these days!!! This was Lolo's new hat that Ellie really enjoyed playing with!!

We spent some time outside and enjoyed the nice weather! Don't judge Ellie, sometimes she likes to stay in her pj's!!! :)

Mother's Day was wonderful!!! I was pampered royally and very well taken care of!!! Ellie did so good, it wore her out! We couldn't even get pictures before she was OUT!

When she woke up though, she was in the best mood!!! She found Daddy's new fishing hat and loved it!!! Gotta love the church dress and fishing hat!!! :)

While she was sleeping...we took pictures without her!

This is when I realized that Leigh really is as skinny as she looks!!!! I think I could wrap my arm around her multiple times!!! Maybe I used to be that skinny?.....probably not. :)

Ellie got a new swing!!!! Maddox has outgrown his baby swing and we grew into it at the perfect time!!! We are going to borrow it until Ellie outgrows it, and Griffin grows into it!!

She LOVES it!!!!

We don't really have a shady spot so we have to stay covered with our sunglasses and hat!

Laurie came by yesterday to see us before she went to a wedding! She looked so pretty!!!

MawMaw and PawPaw have been here this weekend and we have had lots of fun. We went out for lunch today after church and got some really sweet pictures!!! The weather was so nice and the area is gorgeous!!!

It was a little (pretty) windy so our hair got a little messed up at times!! But how sweet is that smile?!?!?

This is our attempt at a Morgan and Ellie photoshoot....not good. This is just as outtake, I'm sure you'll see more on Michelle's blog.

Another outtake. There are some really cute ones, but I'm leaving those for Michelle. Michelle and Justin were telling Morgan to put her hands around their necks, but Morgan thought they were saying to put her hands around HER neck!!! HAHA!!!! :) So funny! We got some family photos....remember what I said about the wind??? It went a little crazy with my hair!!!

Ellie is just the sweetest thing!!!!

What a day....

2011-05-05T10:21:00.003-05:00

Pee in the chair...not the leather chair...didn't find out until my pants were wet from sitting in it!
Sorting laundry this morning and pulled out a hand towel and bones fell out....we're out of paper towels so it just makes sense to put your late night chicken leg in a hand towel....then forget that the bones are in there and put the towel in the dirty clothes.
I drink out of HUGE cups during the day because I hate having to refill. Got my first cup this morning and it's already been dumped out...on the carpet....full.....thank goodness it was just water.
It's got to be close to bedtime, right???? NOPE....barely 10 am.
What a day?!?

On another note, a much better note, Mom and Dad were here for a few days. They left yesterday and we already miss them!!!

Easter

2011-04-27T21:55:00.000-05:00

Our first Easter as a family of three was wonderful!!! We are very loved and very blessed!!
We started the day out with worship. So many people were gone to L2L!!! I think we were down about 300 people! But worship was very uplifting anyway!
Our timing is not always the greatest on Sunday mornings and we didn't have time for Ellie to see what the Easter Bunny brought her. We came right home though so make that right!! :) The sad part was that Ellie was super ready for her nap so getting smiles were not so easy!!

Ellie wasn't super impressed with what was inside her basket....she just loved the basket!!!

Hey, did you know there's something in the basket!?!?

How Ellie shows her love these days....she chews on everything!!!

Ellie already had two of these "That's Not My...." books and she really likes them so the Easter Bunny brought her some more! She already had teddy and kitty and for Easter she got baby, lion and puppy. They've been a hit!

Mommy and her girl :)

My Loves!

Somebody's very sleepy at this point!

After she woke up, Leigh was here and had brought Ellie's Easter Bag from Mudge! Ellie really loved the bag.

More books!!!! Yay!!!!

We love books!!!!

You can tell because I chewed on everything that came out of that bag!!! :)

And a new, big girl Bible!!!

We love Precious Moments!!!

Samantha came over and had some Easter goodies for Ellie, but Ellie was asleep. Before Ellie went to bed that night, she got to open her present from Samantha! She was so excited to tear out that paper!!! :)

Daddy was such good help with Ellie!! :)

Samantha got Ellie two really cute outfits!!! The bright colored dress that came with bloomers and a grey and white outfit.

Once again...Daddy was such good help!!! :)

How funny is that!?!

Don't look at me!!!

I forgot to get Ellie's Easter bib out, so she wore it the next day! But she's still just super cute, on Easter day AND the day after! :)

Still enjoying those new books!!!!!

Hoppy Easter!!!!

2011-04-24T07:38:00.000-05:00