The Seviers

Superbowl Sunday!

2012-02-06T15:44:00.002-06:00

We went to Grandma and Grandpa's house yesterday for a Superbowl party. There were lots of family, friends, and delicious food to eat! Oh yeah . . . and some football game on t.v. Ellie had lots of friends to play with and had a blast (even though she only had a 20 minute nap!). I didn't get any pictures of the adults, but here are some cute ones of the kids!

Haven, Kenley, Brynn, Ellie, Sadie, and Gage Having a cookie

Coloring with the big girls

What's going on around here . . .

2012-01-31T17:05:00.006-06:00

Things have not been very exciting around our house lately . . . which I consider to be a good thing! We have been busy going to the YMCA, the library, trying new recipes, playing with old and new toys, and visiting with friends. One exciting piece of information: Ellie now has enough hair to wear a bow! I have had a lot of fun with this! Here are some pics from the past week or so.

9 week ultrasound- the heartbeat was strong and we could make out the head, rest of the body, and umbilical cord. Amazing difference from just two weeks ago! Ellie loves to climb on our backs and ride us like a horse!
Drawing pictures

Lunch with Ryder

Playdate with Gage

One of Ellie's favorites: building towers with her blocks

There is something wrong with this picture . . .

Doing laundry while wearing Daddy's socks!

Heading out for lunch with Nana and Nini

I LOVE this pic and am so sad it's blurry!

So cute I can barely stand it!

Ellie at 20 months!

2012-01-17T15:57:00.003-06:00

Ellie turned 20 months last Saturday. She is getting to be such a big girl and is enjoying doing things all by herself. She likes to put on her own clothes and shoes, feed herself, open/close everything, and she even peed in her potty for the first time last week! Her new famous phrase is "I'll do it!" Here are some other things Ellie is up to at 20 months:

-She weighs 26.6 pounds.
-She wears size 5 diapers, size 18-24 months clothes, and size 5 shoes.
-Her favorite toys right now are her baby dolls, baby stroller, kitchen, blocks, books, and soccer ball
-Her favorite books are Just Me and My Dad, Dora's Halloween Adventure, and her 3 Look and Find books
-Her favorite foods are sausage biscuits, cereal, macaroni and cheese, fish sticks, vegetables (broccoli, snap peas, carrots, celery, bell peppers) and ranch, fruit (apples, oranges, grapes, and strawberries), corn, and beans
-Her favorite snacks are fruit rollups, fruit snacks, peanuts, chips, goldfish, and animal crackers (but she'll only eat the last two at the YMCA!)
-My favorite part about this age is how much she is talking. She's talking ALL THE TIME and saying 4 and 5 word sentences. Here are some of her most common phrases:

"I'll do it" (We hear this A LOT these days!)
"I got you fool"
"Cook it"
"Baby cry"
"Poor Momma" (daddy, baby, etc.)
"Wash your hands" (She LOVES to wash her hands. She'll do it over and over. When I won't let
her do it in the actual sink anymore, she pretends in her kitchen.)
"Up here" (when she wants up on the counter to pick out a snack)
"Sit in that" (when she wants you to sit in a chair or next to her in the car)
"Another one"
"Just one" (She says this after she asks for a "rollup" or a sucker. She knows I'll say it if she
doesn't!)
"Strap in" (She likes to be buckled in in her carseat/booster, etc. and straps her babies in, too)
"Naked baby!" (At bathtime or when she undresses her babies)
"No, Momma" (daddy, Wylie, Pistol, etc.)
"Jacket off!" (She doesn't like anyone to wear their jacket in the house.)
"No way!"
"Don't want it"

Some other things she's done recently:

-Cut a new tooth. Her top right canine came in this weekend. I knew it was coming! She'd been cranky and crying a lot and requested "medicine."

-Got a new booster seat so she can sit at the table with us. She loves it! No more highchair!

-Had her first timeout. She drew on the couch with a black Sharpie. Luckily, it came out, but she was heartbroken that she had to sit in the recliner for a timeout. She would cry and every once in a while say, "paaaapppperrrr," (paper) to let me know she knew she was only supposed to draw on paper. I had to turn my head away so she wouldn't see me laughing. I think she learned her lesson!

I haven't taken a whole lot of pictures of her lately . . . she's hard to catch! But, here are a few!

Eating Spaghetti-Os in her new booster seat

This is what she does when you say "show me your mean face!"

She fell asleep in her chair while she was waiting for me to come play! I didn't take that long!

Serving Bullet some tea and cookies

Happy 20 months Ellie! I can't believe you'll be 2 before we know it!

Ellie's Exciting News!

2012-01-13T16:35:00.002-06:00

Ellie is going to be a big sister! As you can tell by the photo, she is super excited! She knows there's a baby in momma's tummy, but hasn't figured out why she can't see it when she lifts up my shirt!

We found out this great news the week before Christmas. It was TORTURE not being able to tell anyone in my family because we wanted to surprise them on Christmas. I made a slideshow of pictures of Ellie from last Christmas until this Christmas and ended with the pic below and one of my positive pregnancy test. Everyone was surprised and excited!

We went for our first doctor's appointment yesterday. We saw the heart beating and Dr. Hager said that everything looks good. I'm due on August 31st . . . seriously . . . the very last day of the hottest month ever! I believe Ellie and I will be doing lots of swimming this summer!

We are thrilled! Can't wait to meet this little boy or girl!

Conversation with my 19-month-old

2012-01-10T14:36:00.003-06:00

Ellie has begun speaking in 4 and 5 word sentences now and it is cracking me up! I love to hear her talk, and she says things so clearly. Even strangers can understand what she's saying. Last night, we had a full conversation that went something like this:

Ellie: "My soccer ball?"

Mom: "It's in the gameroom in the pink basket."

Ellie: "I'll find it."

*She ran into the gameroom and soon returned.

Ellie: "More bright in here! More bright in here! No lights!"

Mom: "Is it too dark?"

*I got up and went to turn on the lights.

Ellie: (holding her hands up in annoyance) "No lights."

Mom: "Your ball is over there in that basket."

Ellie: "I'll get it."

In one way, I'm kind of sad that my little baby is growing up, but in another, it's so much fun to be able to communicate with her. She is so funny! She already gets sarcasm, teasing, and joking (which is a good thing in this family), but she's so sweet at the same time. I love her so much!

Chuck E. Cheese and A Happy New Year 2012

2012-01-05T17:31:00.005-06:00

Last Friday night we took Ellie to Chuck E. Cheese. She'd been twice for birthday parties, but it was a year ago and she didn't quite know what was going on. I pumped her up for it all day, and she was running around screaming, "Chuck E. Cheese!" like she knew what it was! When we got there, she was so excited! She kept saying, "kids!" However, she soon decided she'd rather watch all the other kids play than actually ride anything herself. Every time a ride would start up, she'd reach for us and want off. She did enjoy handing us the basketballs and skee-balls for the games we played to use up all her tokens! She has mentioned Chuck E. Cheese everyday since we went.

Riding a horse and holding on for dear life!

Playing basketball with dad

Playing skee-ball with mom

She was dead asleep standing up!

On New Year's Eve, we went to the casino for dinner and some gambling with the Vanderbilts, the Whites, and the LaFevers. Afterwards, we went to Hayley and Jordan's to ring in the new year. I was exhausted, so it wasn't long after midnight before we headed home! How things change when you become a parent!

I brought this home for Ellie and took her picture on New Year's Day. Both were so cute, I couldn't decide!

Here's to 2012! We're looking forward to it!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T15:13:00.009-06:00

This year we had Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at our house. On Christmas Eve, Kyle's parents and my mom came over to watch Ellie open her gifts from us. Ellie really got into opening her gifts. She would immediately say, "open!" and we would have to open that toy or outfit and she'd play with it for 10 or 15 minutes before we could get her to open the next. Opening gifts was a long process!

On Christmas morning, we woke up and Ellie got her Santa gifts and stocking. We opened presents and cooked breakfast. That afternoon, Kyle's parents and my whole family came over. We had dinner, opened gifts, and watched an exiciting slideshow (more on that in another post). Ellie got lots of new toys (I mean, lots. As in, I don't know where they are going to go!), new clothes, shoes, and pajamas. She had a blast this year!

Our Tree Ellie's new car
Her new pillow pet, Bullet
Another favorite . . . Magna Doodle

New PJs and houseshoes

Us with Kyle's parents

Family pic

Us with my mom

Love those sweet cheeks! Look what Santa brought!

Ellie: "OMG! I must've been so good this year!"

I didn't take very many pictures on Christmas Day which is not like me at all!

But we had a great time and that's what matters most!

Hope you had a very Merry Christmas!

Sevier Family Christmas 2011

2011-12-19T19:35:00.006-06:00

The last week has been somewhat rough around here! It started last Thursday morning at 3:30 a.m. when Ellie woke up throwing up. That continued until Thursday night at 8:30 p.m. Poor baby! She couldn't keep anything down but kept begging me for "eat," "drink," "milk," "juice," and "snack." She asked in every possible way and it was so hard to tell her no. Of course, when I would let her have something it just came right back up. Luckily, she woke up feeling better on Friday. We went ahead with our Christmas celebration with Kyle's family on Saturday although I was a little nervous for her to be around everyone else, especially the girls. However, I had called her doctor on Friday and got the okay. We had a wonderful Christmas with lots of good food, crafts, fun, and presents! I was all set to get everything put away on Sunday, but woke up with the virus! Not only did I have it, but Ellie seemed to have a relapse and got sick again Sunday morning! Then I got the call from Des . . . Haven had it, too! What a terrible time to get a stomach flu! I haven't had one since I was in high school, and I've had it twice in one month. I'm now crossing my fingers that Kyle and the rest of his family doesn't get it.

Here is my sweet girl napping the day she was sick Getting ready to load up presents on Saturday. I tried to use some mousse to fix her hair. You can see some curls if you look closely. Poor thing. She has a mom with board straight hair who has no clue how to fix curly hair. Lucky her Aunt Des has lots of experience!

The main thing Ellie was interested in: candy!

New shades

Opening gifts

The baby was a big hit, of course!

A Sid the Science Kid talking doll!

Christmas craft

Love this sweet baby!

Finished product: Little Rudolphs (idea courtesy of Pinterest!)

Sadie (Say-Say), Ellie, and Haven (Hafen)

Ellie and Grandma

The yearly attempt at a good family picture

Family Pic- Ellie is very in to making faces right now!

Christmas Pictures 2011

2011-12-12T09:30:00.005-06:00

Here are some of the Christmas pictures that didn't make it on the Christmas card. We had them done with Angel Porch, and of course, she did a great job! It was so hard to narrow it down to just a few for our card and even for this post.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-29T12:47:00.008-06:00

On Wednesday we loaded up with Kyle's parents and headed for New Mexico to spend Thanksgiving with Kyle's side of the family. Ellie did great on the 8 hour trip, as usual! We had a great time visiting, eating, talking, eating, playing games, and more eating! Ellie was very shy with most of the family (as she usually is), but started warming up right about when it was time to go. We had a great time! We are already looking forward to next year!

Grandma with her girls Ellie and Sadie (or Say-Say, as Ellie calls her)

Sweet Cousins

She looked so precious on Thanksgiving. Like a little grownup!

Pinball . . . a Thanksgiving tradition at Ma and Pa Bill's house

Yum! Ellie did not hold back on Thanksgiving! She had turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, broccoli and cheese casserole and buttered rolls. For dessert: Ma's famous chocolate cake.

Grandma, Ellie, and Ma

Our nephews, Josh and Caden

We don't get to see these boys nearly enough!

Nap time!

This has nothing to do with Thanksgiving . . . it's just funny!

Early Christmas gift from Aunt Kelli, Uncle Michael, Josh, and Caden

A new baby doll! She loves it!

Love her face here!

With Daddy and Aunt Lori

Kyle, Randy, and Michael

Me and My Sister-in-law, Kelli

The whole group!

Stopping off to say goodbye to Granny Jean

It was great to see everyone! Can't wait till next year!

Christmas in the Park

2011-11-21T15:30:00.005-06:00

On Saturday evening we went to Christmas in the Park at the Yukon Community Center. Aunt Tammy, Uncle Mike, Jaiden, and Jasmine joined us! We took a horse drawn carriage ride through the park and looked at the hundreds of thousands of Christmas lights. Ellie fell asleep during this time right after she insisted, "Off. Off. Off." Apparently, she wasn't very impressed. She wouldn't wake up for pictures with Santa, but did so right after. We walked around and did a few of the activities, had some punch and popcorn, and then went to dinner. It was a lot of fun and I think Ellie will have even more fun next year!

Santa and Sleeping Beauty The Girls
"Peace, Love, and Presents"

Riding a camel

With Mom and Dad

Petting the horse

The Price Family

Party Pooper

Jasmine helped her make this headband

Dog balloon from Chester the Clown

Thanksgiving in a few days and then we'll be getting ready for Christmas!

I love this time of year!

Ellie at 18 months!

2011-11-19T14:29:00.002-06:00

My sweet girl turned 18 months last Monday. She is getting more talkative and a little more outgoing everyday. I think going to the YMCA is definitely helping her with her shyness, although it still takes her a while to warm up to people. She talks constantly now (at home) and is actually easy to understand. She has started to enjoy playing independently a little more and doesn't have to have me watching her 24 hours a day (only about 23 1/2 hours a day now). Here is what else Ellie is up to at 18 months:

-Weight: 23.8 pounds (35th %) and height: 30 7/8 inches (25th %). She has actually lost weight lately due to having croup. She weighed about a pound more the week before when we took her to the doctor. After 3 days on steroids and lots of nose blowing she started feeling better.

-Diaper size: 4, Clothing size: 12-18 months, some 18 months, Shoe size: 4

-Favorite foods: yogurt covered raisins, grapes, sugar snap peas, broccoli, corn on the cob, sausage, oatmeal, strawberries, apples, carrots, cheese, milk, apple juice, suckers

-Favorite toys: baby doll and stroller, bike, zebra, balls, books, puzzles, farm, blocks

-New words she's saying (the word and how Ellie says the word)

raisins- "freeses"
cuck-cake- "cupcake"
grapes
broccoli- "brockey"
jacket
house
home
mouse
coke
girl- "gool"
French Fries- "Fen Fies"
Kleenex
Wylie- "La-La"
Mickey Mouse
Minnie Mouse- "Me Mouse"
Linny
Tuck
Ming-Ming
Oscar; "Ocsar"
Cookie
Elmo- "Melmo"
Abby
Grover- "Gover"
milk
apple juice
sunshine
pacifier- "sass"
so sorry
all gone- "gone-gone"
diaper
toenails- "nonails"
mommy's car (you can pick it out in the parking lot)
bubbles
Get Back (to Wylie when you have food)
fart- "fark" (you say this when you do that . . . I know, so proud!)
All animals and family members names and too many other words to list right now!

-You love going to the library. Here are some of your favorite library activities:

Craft time- this is the turkey we made last Thursday.

Puzzles

Reading books

Playing at the Lego table

Playing with the puppets

You are doing and saying so much right now, I can't fit it all in one post! I can't believe what a smart, funny, sweet little girl you are . . . I'm so proud of you! Happy half birthday, Ellie!

Halloween 2011

2011-11-02T19:27:00.007-05:00

Candy!

Ellie was all about the candy this year. She sometimes says, "pize" when she wants some because we've given her a surprise, aka dum-dum sucker, when we've bribed her. Yes, we bribe her. Like when I'm only halfway through Wal-Mart and she starts to wail, or when we're taking our family pictures and she starts to cry, etc. Anyway, she likes candy. So do I. So we took her trick-or-treating. She had a blast! Mostly she just loves to be with all her cousins.

She is talking so much now and you can really understand most of what she says. At least I can. She would say, "trick treat" when we went up to a door, "tank you" when the nice person dropped candy in her basket, and "buh-bye" as we walked away. She's very polite. After 2 fun size Skittles and 2 suckers (the most sugar she's ever had in her short little life) she was up until 11:00 p.m. and then slept in until 9:45 a.m.!

Here is my little Minnie Mouse on Halloween 2011!

Visiting Nini's house before trick-or-treating With Nana

Jasmine and Ellie (have I mentioned that Ellie adores Jazz?)

Ellie, Mommy, and Daddy

Ellie and Nini

Ellie and Uncle Timmy

Ellie and Papa Dean

Ellie and Grandma

Nini with Jett, Jasmine, and Ellie

Grandma and Grandpa with Ellie and Gage

All the kids: Gage, Jasmine, Haven, Sadie, Ellie, Finn, and Rooney

Gettin' momma some candy!

Grandpa, Daddy, and Ellie

I think I have a pic from this same house last year

Grandma with all the kids

And my sweet little Elliott last year. I can't believe it's already been a year since she was a precious little flower!

Minnie Mouse

2011-10-30T19:55:00.005-05:00

On Saturday, we took Ellie to the community center for a costume contest/Halloween carnival. They had a dog costume contest first and Ellie loved looking at all the dressed up dogs. She would point and crack up! Her age group was next and I paraded my little Minnie Mouse around the circle for the judges to see. She looked precious, of course, and should have won, of course, but she didn't. First prize went to an 11-month-old Elvis and was well deserved. He was hilarious! The other two, however, were not so deserving. A tinkerbell and a hobo. And I'm not just saying that because Ellie didn't win. Or maybe I am . . . whatever. She was adorable and she had fun! That's all that matters. We didn't actually stay for the carnival because it didn't start for another 45 minutes and we were freezing!

On our way . . . Daddy drawing on her little mouse nose and whiskers.

Waiting patiently

Go #4!!

Nana came to see her sweet Minnie

No trophy, but a dum-dum is so much better anyway!

Go Rangers!

2011-10-27T20:00:00.001-05:00

Game 6 of the World Series . . .

Go Rangers! Beat the Cardinals!

Busy, but Super Fun Weekend!

2011-10-24T19:52:00.011-05:00

This weekend was a lot of fun! On Friday night, my mom, grandma, and cousin, Jasmine came over to watch Ellie while Kyle and I had a date night out at Louie's and The Loony Bin. Ellie loves Jasmine (or "Jazz" as she calls her).

We woke up on Saturday and headed over to Sadie's house for her 3rd birthday party. It was a Halloween themed party with a bounce house! Of course, Aunt Des outdid herself on decorations. Everything was so cute! Ellie liked bouncing and jumping in the bounce house, but liked sliding down the entrance even more. She would come out saying, "side!" (which obviously means "slide."). She had a blast and fell asleep before we even got out of the neighborhood. After 3 1/2 hours, I had to wake her up!

On Sunday, we went to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa and then headed out to the pumpkin patch at Chester's Party Barn in Piedmont. We went to the petting zoo, Ellie rode a pony (which she LOVED!), and then she picked out a pumpkin for each of us. Another fun day! The weather was beautiful all weekend!

And to top it all off . . . OSU is still undefeated and moved up to #3, while OU lost to Texas Tech. What a weekend!

Here are a bunch of pics from our weekend. (It's always too hard to choose just a few!)

Happy 3rd Birthday, Sadie!! Princess Sadie

Sadie in action

Opening gifts

Daddy, Grandma, and Ellie

Ellie in the bounce house

with cousin Haven

Playing ring-around-the-rosie (the older girls were so sweet with her)

Can't quite get a good posed shot these days

A little preview of this year's Halloween costume . . .

Cupcake!! Ellie says it, "cuck-cake"

At the petting zoo with Grandpa

Feeding a llama

Feeding a baby goat

petting a pony

Ellie would say, "Donkey. Haw-haw, haw-haw" (for hee-haw). It's so freakin' cute!

Pony Ride! She had a blast doing this.

Although, she had just as much fun riding the wooden pony! Go figure . . .

Picking pumpkins!

I love this time of year! So much fun stuff to do! Looking forward to Halloween next week.

Our Trip to Washington D.C.

2011-10-18T13:31:00.013-05:00

Last week, we took a trip to Washington D.C. Actually, Kyle had some business meetings there and he left on Wednesday. Ellie and I flew out to meet him there on Friday. I was so nervous to fly with Ellie all by myself, but she did great! The hardest part was getting through security and around the airport with a baby, a stroller, my biggest purse, a diaper bag, and a carry-on bag packed with snacks, books, babies, and a DVD player. Other than that (and having to wake up at 4:30 a.m. to get to the airport on time), everything else was great!

We arrived Friday afternoon and met Kyle at our hotel. We stayed in Arlington, Virginia. After getting settled, we walked around until we found a place to eat and a grocery store to pick up some snacks and drinks. We just relaxed at the hotel and took Ellie to the indoor pool that evening. We were exhausted! Ellie and I fell asleep watching TV at 9:00 p.m. our time! About 30 minutes later I woke to Kyle yelling at me. Ellie had thrown up ALL OVER THE BED, HERSELF, AND ME! We had to strip the sheets and call for new bedding and towels and both of us had to get in the bath ASAP. I was so worried that she was going to be sick the entire time and we were going to be stuck in our hotel room. But she woke up Saturday morning feeling fine, thank goodness!

On Saturday we had breakfast near the Capitol and started our tour there. We walked from the Capitol building through the National Mall. We went to 3 of the Smithsonian museums: The Museum of the American Indian (of course!), The Air and Space Museum, and the Museum of Natural History (my favorite!). After that, we found a place to eat lunch and watch the OSU vs. Texas game. It ended up being a Texas watch party and we found out later that the OSU watch party was just down the street! After watching the Cowboys win, we headed back to our hotel room to watch the Rangers win their game that is sending them to the World Series! Great day!

After a good night's rest (Ellie slept for 12 hours!), we got up and headed to the Lincoln Memorial. We'd planned on checking out the new Martin Luther King, Jr. memorial, but the dedication happened to be that day. I've never seen so many people in my life! It was crazy! Luckily, we were heading in the opposite direction. We walked from the Lincoln Memorial to the Washington Monument and then to the White House. We did the White House garden tour and suprisingly got close enough to touch the White House (although we didn't)! It was really cool! We were in the backyard and got to see the vegetable garden, basketball court/tennis courts, etc. After that we went to the Museum of American History.

We were about worn out by this time and had to be at the airport in a few hours, so we headed back to the hotel to get our bags and head to the airport. The first 3 hour flight to DFW went great . . . Ellie slept the entire time. We were sitting in the floor fixing to board the flight home when she threw up all over me again! We had to rush to get ourselves all cleaned up before boarding the flight (where she threw up again), but we made it! She must have had a little bug. She is totally fine now, although I haven't given her any milk because both time she got sick it was right after she had milk.

I'm still recovering from all the walking and traveling in such a short period of time, but we had a great time. D.C. was so cool! Lots of great sight-seeing and interesting things to check out. I took about 250 pics, but here are some of my favorites!

Snacking on the plane to D.C. Playing in the DFW airport play area

Swimming at the hotel pool

The start of our self guided tour

Library of Congress

U.S. Capitol

The reflecting pool in front of the Capitol building

The ceiling in American Indian History Museum

The discovery room

The Air and Space Museum- they had the actual planes flown by the Wright brothers, Amelia Earhart, and Charles Lindbergh. This museum was very cool!

Archives Building- it's amazing how much detail there is in all of the buildings

Museum of Natural History

Ellie loved all the animals in this museum

The Lincoln Memorial- one of the most impressive things I saw

The crowd for the MLK JR. dedication. . . crazy!

Veterans of the Korean War Memorial

Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall

Washington Monument

The White House

Ellie did a lot of walking over the weekend!Department of Treasury

The White House

The White House vegetable garden

Ready to go home!

Cuteness

2011-10-12T16:49:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pics of my little cutie from the past week.

Last week before the OSU game. She knows who Pistol Pete is and anytime she sees him (which is a lot in our house) she says, "Pete?" I put the ? because she says it as if she's asking a question. Wearing Daddy's hat

Breakfast with my silly princess

Presenting . . . Mr. and Mrs. White!

2011-10-03T13:53:00.005-05:00

One of my very best friends, Sherri, got married on Saturday! We have had so much fun preparing for the big day . . . a super fun couples shower in August, a great night on a party bus for her bachelorette party in September, and a relaxing day of pedicures and getting our hair done before the ceremony on Saturday. The weather was gorgeous, the bride was beautiful, and I didn't fall down the stairs before I walked down the aisle! Everything was perfect!

Unfortunately, I didn't get a whole lot of good pics. My mom and nini had to take Ellie and leave shortly after the reception started, so I have no pictures with them. I didn't even get one of the bride and groom together. But, I did get a few good shots of the bride!

Mrs. Steve White and Me Sherri and her bridesmaids, Karla, Hayley, Cassie, Me

(Love how you can see her red shoes here!)

Des, Rita, me

Me and Cassie

Me and Hayley

Kyle and me

Sweet Family . . . Jordan, Hayley, and Gage

Tiffany, Kara, Kelly, and me

Me, Kyle, and Rita

Steve and Sherri are in Jamaica this very minute. Wish them all the best!

Love this weather!

2011-09-21T15:48:00.007-05:00

Lately, we have been enjoying the beautiful weather! We've been playing outside even though there are piles of laundry, dishes to be done, and dog hair to be vacuumed. We can do that when it turns cold! We usually only get a few good weeks in the spring and fall before it becomes too hot, too cold, and/or too windy!

These are inside pics, but they crack me up! Only Wylie would let Ellie ride him like this!

We have been taking walks and when we get back, Ellie puts her baby in her new baby stroller and takes her on a walk around the driveway. This little stroller belonged to Jasmine and got handed down to Ellie. She loves it! She puts her baby in, pushes for a minute, gets the baby out, repositions her (usually in the same place), pushes some more, and repeats! It's so cute!

Ellie also enjoys playing with our neighbor's cat. She's not really quite sure how to though. She's used to dogs, and I think it kind of freaks her out when the cat rubs up against her over and over. But she likes her and takes off running when she sees her outside.

Another fun things we've done to enjoy the nice weather is visit the Oklahoma State Fair. We took Ellie Tuesday evening. There still isn't a whole lot for her to do, but she shared a corndog and a funnel cake with me. She LOVED the petting zoo and touched and fed all the animals in there. (Don't worry . . . I gave her a Purell bath quickly after.)

This is a baby chick that started hatching right there in front of us!

This is her annoyed face. Like she has time to stop and pose for a picture!

She loved climbing up on this rock all by herself.

The Petting Zoo

Goodbye Summer! Welcome Fall!

At the lake in Logan

2011-09-12T21:30:00.007-05:00

This past weekend we went to Ute Lake in Logan, New Mexico. Kyle's grandparents have a lake house there and I hadn't been in 12 years! Me, Kyle, Ellie, and Kyle's parents drove the 6 hour drive there on Friday morning and came back Sunday evening. We hung out, ate Ma's delicious cooking and baking (she made my very favorite chocolate cake!), went for a few boat rides, fed the ducks, watched and fed some deer and foxes, and just visited! Ellie did great and we had a wonderful time!

Trying out her new booster seat

Heading out for a boat ride

Feeding the ducks with Grandpa

Sweet kissy face

Honking the horn

Drivin' the boat!

Our "deer" friend

This deer came by several times. On Saturday night, we sat on the porch and watched her eat the watermelon and corn we'd set out for her. She could see and hear us, but stayed and ate for a good 20 minutes or so! She was only about 20 yards away. It was so neat!

Momma and Ellie in front of the lake house

Ridin' on the boat

Pa Bill, Daddy, and Ellie

Ma, Grandma, and Ellie

Can't wait to go back and visit again!

Cutest Cowboy Fan

2011-09-03T14:51:00.003-05:00

Today's the first Cowboy game of the season! Kyle and I are headed to the game and Ellie is going to stay home and cheer on the Pokes with her Nana. Of course, she looks like a doll in her new Cowboys outfit (thank you Tiffany, Ryan, and Ryder for the precious birthday gift!). Here's my Cowboy Cutie all ready for the game!

Go Pokes!

My little cutie pie!

2011-08-30T13:58:00.004-05:00

Some recent pics of my little cutie pie:

With Daddy and her buddy, Gage Having dinner with her cousin, Jett

Helping momma bake a cake for Hayley's 30th birthday

Playing in her fort

Serious Ellie

Love this little duck tail!

Smoochin' Ellie! This is the face she makes when she wants a kiss!

Nice nap on a Sunday afternoon

A Day at the Zoo

2011-08-17T13:08:00.006-05:00

When we saw that last Saturday was going to be below 100 degrees, we decided to take Ellie to the zoo. She's been to the OKC zoo once and the zoo in Indianapolis once, but we thought she'd actually enjoy seeing the animals more this time. She did, but still really enjoyed all the kids a little more!

Checkin' out the map with Dad.

First stop: The Petting Zoo!

Ellie knew how to make all the sounds of the animals at the petting zoo.

Walking in the water with a new friend.

Checking out the meerkats

Riding the carousel

The new baby elephant, Malee

Cooling off with some ice

Watching the disgusting gorilla eat his own, well, you know . . .

On the elephant. She kept saying, "ears?"

With Dad at the Welcome sign (which we always seem to see on our way out).

Same sign, but this was taken last October. Not my little baby anymore!!!

My little sunbathing beauty

2011-08-11T22:08:00.003-05:00

Princess Party!

2011-08-04T15:52:00.006-05:00

Tuesday was my niece Haven's 7th birthday. We celebrated last Saturday with the ultimate princess party! We had a fancy tea party with appetizers and sparkling grape juice. Then the girls got their makeup done and fingernails painted. (I prepainted Ellie's toenails just in case, but she actually did well! I did it while she was awake this time!) Then we loaded up in an awesome pink limo and went to our very own fashion show! The girls dressed up and modeled for us before having pink cupcakes and pink lemonade. We sang to the birthday girl and then played some more! We took the pink limo back to Princess Haven's castle and opened presents, visited, and ate delicious taco salads. Ellie only had a short nap on the way home so she was exhausted, but it was such a fun party! Happy Birthday, Haven!

Having fruit, cheese and crackers, and crown shaped PB&J sandwiches. The older girls had these rice krispie wands. (Ellie managed to get a hold of one that evening.)

Ellie and the Birthday Girl

Ellie stealing some honeydew from her cousin's plate!

The Limo

All the pretty princesses

Ellie and Grandma riding in the limo

Ellie stiking a pose at the fashion show!
She immediately spotted this pink pony and wanted a ride. She didn't understand why she couldn't squeeze its ears and hear horse sounds like on her pony at home.

The whole group. This is the best picture I got!

Singing Happy Birthday to Haven!

Having a tea party

Ellie started in on this cupcake very quickly . . . just in case I decided to take it away!

Yum! Who needs a fork?

Sweet Sadie all dressed up!

Ellie found this purse and insisted on carrying it around (even though it was really just a decoration).

My sweet little Princess Elliott.

A is for Accessories!

2011-07-22T21:14:00.006-05:00

Ellie is a true girlie girl. She loves accessories! Shoes, bracelets, watches, necklaces, glasses, hats, purses, belts, and everything in between . . . she loves it all! She wears her shoes all day long and says the word "shoes" at least 100 times a day, no kidding! She points out every person's shoes at Wal-Mart, the library, and at home. She MUST be wearing shoes at all times. The other day, I had her dead asleep in the recliner. I started to take off her shoes before taking her to her room and she woke up and said, "No, no. Shoes." As soon as I put them on she went back to sleep and took her nap in her shoes. As for all other accessories, she points them out on strangers, and loves to wear them herself. Of course, the only things she won't keep on long is a headband! The only thing I wish she'd wear! Isn't that how it always goes?

Here are some pictures of my little fashionista!

She does have shoes and a headband on here, but mostly this is just a really cute picture of her and Wylie. Hat and sunglasses (wore both for 2 hours at the pool!)

I hooked my earrings over her ears and she was SO excited when she saw them in the mirror. She clasped her hands together over her chest and squealed!

Here she is with Papa Clint wearing some beautiful bracelets.

She always wears a bracelet to the library. I actually don't think about it much anymore because she wears them all the time, but someone there always comments on her jewelry.

With her cute jellies, 2 bracelets, and some arm candy! (Mr. Gage Vanderbilt)

Earrings, mom's shoe, and the remote. I guess you could count the remote as a man's accessory.

One of my favorite pictures of Ellie! She truly is "Mom's Sunshine."

Her normal morning wear . . . her pj top, shoes, and a bracelet (on her right arm).

She lover her Crocs that are 2 sizes too big!

Here's to my stylish sweetheart!

Ellie at 14 months

2011-07-16T11:54:00.005-05:00

I figure now that we're through the first year, I don't have to do montly updates, but I don't want too much time to go by without posting some fun facts about Ellie. Here is what she is up to at 14 months:

-You weigh about 22 pounds. You haven't grown much lately in any area. You still wear 12 month clothing and size 3 shoes. Your weight has hovered around the 22 pound mark for the past few months.

-Foods you like to eat: any kind of fruit, especially strawberries, blueberries, and grapes, eggs dipped in ketchup, macaroni and cheese, chicken nuggets from Chick-fil-a, tortillas dipped in queso, waffles dipped in peanut butter, (you LOVE dipping and you are so cute when you do it!), turkey sausage, french fries, graham crackers, goldfish, nutra grain bars, any kind of pasta, juice, regular milk (only in cups, no more bottles!)

-Words you can say: uh-oh, dog, fish, hey, ice, no, yes, eyes, light, cheese, momma, dada, hat, head, ears, hair, (ears and hair are words that only I understand), baby (your newest word), this (sounds like "deeees") and that (sounds like "dat"), hot (this word can only be whispered), and shoes (your favorite)

Cute story: I am curious about what you will call your pacifier. We just call it a pacifier, and of course you can't say that yet. The other day I pointed out some things you could say and had you name them (light, dog, eyes) and then I pointed to your pacifier. You concentrated really hard for a second and them you shrugged your shoulders as if to say, "I don't know how to say pacifier yet. Geez mom, I'm only 1!"

-Things you like to do: point at EVERYONE'S shoes and say "shoes?", throw things on the ground and say "uh-oh", give eskimo kisses, flip the light switches, play the music from your toys on the fridge and dance, "say" your ABCs (sounds like c, c, c, c, etc. but mostly to the beat of the actual ABC song), swing on your swingset, play tea party, spin in circles, read books, play puzzles, dump the dog food out of the bowls, eat the dog food (when will this ever stop??), walk around in the backyard, wear bracelets and shoes, get on the couch/recliner and get down by yourself, drink out of straws, name and point to body parts, make animal sounds (you can do cow, horse, monkey, and dog)

-Your schedule: You usually go to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 p.m. and wake up between 7:30 and 8:30 a.m. If you wake up between 6:30 and 7:30, I'll bring you to bed with me and you'll usually sleep another 2-3 hours. It's nice for both of us! I enjoy you sleeping in with me in the mornings (or with dad and me on the weekends), but my rule is that you only get in our bed after 6 a.m.! Although, I worry more about myself getting into the bad habit more than I worry about you. You love your bed. You are now taking just one nap a day, but it's usually a long one (2 hours on average) unless you get up unusually early. Then you may take 2.

You are so much fun! You are the sweetest baby; so laid back and easygoing, you love to give sweet hugs and kisses. You're sweet to the dogs, giving them hugs and just laying your head on them anytime they're around. You crack me up all day long and I'm just so happy that I get to stay home with you and see each and every new discovery you make. I love you my sweet Ellie Rose!

Swimming

Sliding

Being silly!

Feeding yourself oatmeal

Falling asleep between bites of your dinner

It's tough . . .

2011-07-11T19:40:00.001-05:00

being this cute!

Ellie's Swingset

2011-07-06T13:57:00.008-05:00

We got Ellie a swingset for her birthday. She obviously can't do everything on it now, but she LOVES to swing and slide, and it is a nice toy to have when other kids come over to play since it fits a large age group. Man, that thing took forever to put together! I did help a lot even though there are no pictures of me drilling, measuring, or sweating in the 102 degree heat. However, it was totally worth the 20 hours it took putting it together. Ellie loves swinging and cries, shakes her head, and says, "No" when we ask her if she wants to get down. Here are some pictures of the swingset building process:

Step 1: Sort the wood into 65 piles with several pieces in each pile.

Step 2: Take inventory of swings, glider, and slide.

Step 3: (The worst part, by far!) Take inventory of thousands of pieces of hardware and sort them by the steps in which they will be needed. Spent HOURS on this.

Step 4: Start building. Step 5: Take a snack and drink break.

Step 7: Admire your hard work.

Step 8: Enjoy your new swingset!

Here's a short video of Ellie on swinging and saying, "no."

The Day We Almost Went to the Bean Supper

2011-06-27T16:23:00.005-05:00

The Bean Supper is a Fourth of July tradition that's been going on in Mustang since way before we even moved there back in 1990. We used to go when I was younger and we've been a few times since we moved back from Texas. Kyle's regional meeting usually falls on the same weekend so we were excited about going this year. That is, until we saw that it was going to be 105 degrees with 20-25 mph winds! We decided to cookout at Mike and Des's and watch the fireworks since you can see them from their house. We ended up having a great time! And it was nice to have a place to go in and cool off.

Des made the girls these matching 4th of July dresses. I'm glad I took these pictures when I did because Ellie's only lasted about 30 minutes and Haven's lasted about an hour. Luckily, I brought Ellie a backup!

Sadie, Haven, and Ellie

Cute dresses, Aunt Des!

She even got them matching bows and we gathered enough hair for Ellie to wear hers!

Sweet kisses for her mommy!

Feeding the geese

Ellie actually never gave the geese any bread. She just ate it herself!

With Phinn

He is such a cutie and was so sweet with Ellie! He kept kissing her and holding her hand. :)

Ellie and Rooney were amazed by this huge bucket of golf balls.

Watching the fireworks

Great Wolf Lodge and Father's Day

2011-06-20T21:06:00.015-05:00

This past weekend we went to Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas for Kyle's annual regional meeting. We had a blast! Although we couldn't do everything at the waterpark since Ellie is too little, we were able to have a lot of fun with her in the kiddie areas. She really enjoyed the pool, fountains, and lazy river. She also liked playing with the other kids there. There was also a little show each night with animals and music. She really like that. She's very into animals right now, so she was constantly pointing out all the bears, wolves, and deer in the hotel. We will definitely go back to Great Wolf Lodge when she gets old enough to enjoy all they have to offer.

Ellie's first pedicure! (She didn't really have a pedicure. I just bought some quick-dry polish and waited for her to fall asleep!) Her pink toenails are precious!

Ellie and I were killing some time while Kyle was in a meeting. Love this look!

This is the face she makes when she says "UH-OH!"

In her wolf ears

First day at the waterpark

They wouldn't let us bring in her floatie, and yet this was the smallest lifejacket they had for her to wear. She couldn't even move in it, much less swim!

The indoor waterpark

Ellie takin' a nap and having a snack in the shade!

Another one of my favorite faces!

On our way to dinner

Watching the show after dinner

Every day we were there Ellie would get up, have breakfast, then go back to sleep for 2 hours! This trip just wore her out! Of course, I had nothing else to do so I napped with her!

With her new pink wolf

Day 2 at the water park- Ellie was a little more comfortable in the water this day.

These are the other 2 girls that were born just days before Ellie.

At last year's regional meeting they were all about 6 weeks old.

Dropping Ellie off before the awards banquet. The theme was Cowboys and even Ellie joined in by wearing a jean skirt that matched mine and a pair of boots. She looked so cute!

Yee-Haw!

We had fun, but we were also happy to get home!

Unfortunately, Kyle had to spend half of his Father's Day on the road, but we did get home in time for him to hit some balls at the driving range and cook out some steaks.

Happy Father's Day!!

Ellie at 1 year!

2011-06-08T11:41:00.006-05:00

I'm a little behind with this post, but we've been so busy lately! Ellie had her 12 month appointment on May 17th. Dr. Moore said everything looks great! Her iron was a little low and since we're switching over to cow's milk we've started her on vitamin drops. She had 2 shots and had her finger stuck for the hemoglobin test. She didn't even cry when the nurse stuck her finger! She's a pretty tough little girl. Here is what Ellie is up to at 12 months:

-She weighed 20 lbs. 13.5 oz. (50th percentile- down from 95th at birth) and was 28 inches long (around the 25th percentile). She only gained 1 inch in height from her 6 month - 12 month appointment. I think we've got a shorty on our hands!

-She wears size 12 months clothing, size 4 diapers, and size 3 shoes.

-She points at everything: food she wants, the neon lights in the gameroom, Kyle's fish that is mounted in the gameroom, outside, etc. When she points and waves to the fish she says, "-ish." And when she points outside she says, "side."

-In addition to bellybutton, toes, and nose, she can point out her ears, eyes, and head. She also says, "eyes."

-She loves bracelets, necklaces, shoes, and purses, and also dirt, rocks, and playing outside.

-She will empty out my purse in 2 seconds flat, no matter where we are. She has also started going through random purses that are down on her level. I'm worried we're going to end up with someone's keys or wallet one of these days!

-She loves to eat! She really loves all types of fruit, applesauce, graham crackers, macaroni and cheese, tortillas, cheese, and beans.

-She likes books and has started to bring them to me to read to her. She really likes books that have different textures, flaps, and other things she can play with and move.

-She loves her baby doll she got for her birthday. She rocks her, pats her, kisses and hugs her. She also likes to bounce her and share her drink with her.

-She started shrugging her shoulders all the time. When we ask her something and she doesn't know the answer or if she hears Kyle or me say the words "I don't know," she puts her hands palm up and shrugs her shoulders. It's so cute!

-I've been taking her places to be around other kids her age. We've been to Gymboree, the pool, and we went to the baby storytime twice this week at the library. She's really enjoying the library once she warms up a little bit. She is still a little shy and holds on to me for dear life, but I think she'll start to loosen up as we go back each week.

I'm so proud of the toddler Ellie is becoming. She's such an awesome baby. We can take her anywhere and do anything with her. She just hangs with us no matter what!

Swimming and playing in the sprinklers with Jasmine, Jaiden, and Jett.

Playing at the lego table at the library. (She's trying to share her blocks.)

She wore herself out this day. She fell asleep while eating dinner.

Ellie and her baby doll.

Fun times!

2011-06-05T19:57:00.005-05:00

After a few days of unpacking, resting, and getting everything back in order after our crazy trip, we were able to do some fun summertime activities. On Thursday, we went to eat lunch with Kyle and Ellie went to her first Gymboree class. There were 4 other girls about her age in the class. It was funny to see her with a group of kids her age. She actually acted kind of shy, but I think she'll loosen up if we keep going. Between lunch and the class we had some time to kill so Ellie threw all the pennies I had into the nasty fountain in the middle of the mall. I sure hope her wish comes true!

On Friday, we ate lunch with my mom and made a trip to Target (always fun for me!). Kyle came home early and we tried out Ellie's new pool and sprinkler she got for her birthday since it was approximately 96 degrees! She wasn't crazy about the cold water, and I don't blame her! She did eventually play in the sprinkler once we turned it down to about her height. I think those toys will just take some getting used to.

On Saturday, we went to Bricktown armed with gift cards burning a hole in our pockets. I had one to a cupcake place called Pinkitzel that was from my birthday and Kyle had one to Bass Pro from his birthday. We also had one to Bourbon Street Cafe so we had lunch there before getting some extremely yummy, yet overpriced cupcakes and candy at Pinkitzel. We walked through Bass Pro for a while and Ellie got a stuffed bass fish that we named Doc. She LOVES Kyle's fish that is mounted in our game room. EVERYTIME we walk through there she waves and even says "ish" really well. So, we thought she needed her very own "ish." As for the name, we were watching Tombstone last night and named him after Val Kilmer's character on the movie. Now when you say "Where's Doc?" Ellie shrugs her shoulders and then goes and finds her fish. So stinkin' cute! Anyway, after some snowcones to cool us down, we headed home from Bricktown.

Today we hung around the house doing boring things like cleaning, laundry, and mowing the yard. However, we took a break and went down to try out another one of Ellie's birthday gifts . . . her floatie for the pool! I didn't take my camera, but she loved swimming in the pool with all the kids, so I'm sure I will have lots of swimming pictures in the future.

Tomorrow we are planning on going to the library for the baby storytime. Not sure how she'll do, but I also need a new book to read so I think we'll try it out. I'm so glad she's to the age where we can start doing some fun things like gymboree and the library. Of course, I wish I could just freeze this age and keep her my baby at the same time. *Sigh*

Throwing pennies into the fountain.

Not too sure about her new pool . . .

Well, if daddy's doing it . . .

. . . it must be okay.

Napping in Bricktown

I'm looking forward to the rest of the summer. We're going to have so much fun!!

Memorial Day Weekend 2011

2011-06-02T17:33:00.012-05:00

Well, Elliott's first Memorial Day getaway to Las Vegas, New Mexico was rough to say the least. Every year, Kyle's dad's family has a family reunion on Memorial Day weekend. It's very beautiful up in the mountains, and his family comes from all over so it's great to see everyone. However, it was rough this year. Did I already say that? Well, it was!

We left Oklahoma on Thursday afternoon and traveled to Amarillo, which is about the halfway point of our 9 hour drive. Ellie did fine on the way there. We stayed in Amarillo, had dinner, and went swimming at the indoor pool in the hotel where Des and Mike stayed. Ellie seemed extra tired and didn't seem to care about swimming. I have to admit I was a little disappointed since this would be her first time swimming since she was 3 months old (which doesn't really count). It was warm in the pool area and we had traveled all day, so I just assumed she was hot and tired.

Well, she was. But it was because she was getting sick. She woke up at 1:00 a.m. and she was on fire! She has only had fever twice, but it was nothing like this. I gave her some Tylenol and put her in bed with us. She was still hot in the morning, but we were already halfway there and Kyle's parents were riding with us, so on we went to New Mexico. She was a little cranky and wouldn't eat or drink anything, but the second half of the trip went well considering the sick one-year-old we were traveling with.

We went straight to lunch when we got there and Ellie ate a few bites. She did pretty well the rest of the afternoon because we were outside taking in the beautiful mountains and tall trees. She loves to be outside! That only lasted until bedtime. Now here is where it gets interesting: Sleeping in our one room cabin was: Rita, Randy, Des, Mike, Haven, Sadie, Kyle, me, and Ellie. That would be hard enough with a healthy baby, but Ellie was not feeling good and she hadn't eaten all day. She screamed and cried most of the night until she finally took a bottle about 5 a.m. (right before the sunshine started pouring in our curtainless windows).

I took her to a doctor in town on Saturday morning because I was afraid she had an ear infection. I knew there would be nothing I could do on Sunday or Monday, and since Ellie just got over an ear infection in April, I knew I better get her looked at soon. The doctor was said she had some fluid in her ears and her throat was red, but no ear infection. Basically, I just kept doing what I had been doing. She was still running fever that afternoon, but she's not much of a complainer so she was going about her business of playing in the dirt and collecting rocks in front of our cabin. She went down that night without much fuss and slept for a solid 3 hours before we all crept in the cabin and climbed into bed. Exactly one hour later: Ellie screaming bloody murder. My first thought was that she did have an ear infection and there would be nothing we could do for 2 days. However, she was crying so hard that I gave her some Mylecon and that seemed to do the trick after about 20 minutes. However, we had moved to the car in order to let everyone else sleep and we were afraid to go back into the cabin for fear she'd wake up crying again. So, we "slept" in the car for what seemed like eternity. Slept is in quotes, because I did not sleep. I sat there ridgidly holding Ellie in a very uncomfortable position so that she would sleep. When I finally couldn't take it anymore we went back in and crawled in bed. It had been 3 hours! We got a few hours of sleep the second night before that damn sun came up at an abnormally early hour.

By the way, have I mentioned that we're all sleeping in a one room cabin with no heat or air? And one tiny bathroom? And that it was built in the 1930s? And has no insulation? (I can tell you that a man planned this trip.)

Anyway, Ellie seemed to be better on Sunday and began to get her appetite back. But, Des was feeling so bad by then that they decided to pack up and go home, leaving Rita and me behind . . . jealous and dreading night #3 in the dusty ol' cabin. Although, I have to admit, it wasn't so bad after Ellie was feeling better. She slept all night and was much better by the time we left Monday morning (isn't that how it always goes?) and did awesome on the 9 hour drive home.

It was definitely an experience and something I'm sure I'll laugh about in the future. Until then, I am SO GLAD TO BE HOME!

The cabin
We had 5 cabins in all

There was writing on the walls that went all the way back
to the 1960s. We left our mark in a few places.

The trees were beautiful.

Kyle, Ellie, Granny Jean, and Grandpa

Ellie . . . hangin' in there.

She loved the water!

She also loved to walk across the bridge all by herself.

Playin' with daddy, Uncle Mike, and Sadie

Ellie and Grandma

Peek-a-boo!

A little friend we made. He was eating cheese crackers!

The whole group

It was good to see everyone!

That will be a reunion I'll never forget!

Elliott's 1st Birthday . . . continued

2011-05-19T15:32:00.004-05:00

Due to the fact that I took over 150 pictures at Ellie's birthday, I figured it may take more than 1 post to get them all on here. We had many family members and friends there to celebrate her special day. Although I didn't get a picture of her with everyone (not even myself!), here is Ellie with some of her guests.

Ellie and NanaEllie and Grandma
Ellie and Grandpa

Ellie and Papa Clint

Uncle Casey and Ellie

Ellie and Jett

Ellie and Uncle Todd

All my girls

Jade, Ellie, and Jazz

Nini and Ellie

Ellie's wearing her new shades.

Ellie and Papa Dean

Thanks again to EVERYONE that came to her party and made

her first birthday so special!

Elliott's First Birthday!!!

2011-05-15T17:47:00.008-05:00

Yesterday was Elliott's first birthday! I'll go ahead and get this out of the way: how is it possible?!? How is it possible that my sweet little infant has grown into this energetic toddler? How is it possible that 365 days have passed since the day she was born? How is it that I've been a mom for 1 year and 1 day? I just can't believe it!

Now onto the good stuff: the party! Of course, I've been planning this party since January. You know . . . coming up with the idea, picking invitations/theme/colors, buying anything that related to ice cream cones or sundaes (the theme I decided on 4 months ago), etc. It seemed nuts to Kyle, but really paid off in the end. The party turned out very cute. Just how I pictured my first baby's first birthday. All of our family and a lot of our friends were there. Ellie looked precious, as always! We had lots of snacks, cake, and ice cream sundaes, of course! Ellie got some super cute clothes and lots of fun toys to play with. We were all exhausted last night, but it was the good kind . . . the kind of tired you feel because you've had so much fun!

Grandma let Ellie open an early birthday present so

the girls would have something to play with while we decorated.

Ellie wanted to stand on the box and play with the bow!

These were her ice cream cone birthday pajamas-
a present from Aunt Des.

Birthday Breakfast!

Ice cream sundae toppings

Ice cream sundae bar (on an actual bar . . . )

Decorations

The centerpieces I made (for about a dollar apiece!)

The cakes and cupcakes, which I am proud to say I made!

The cute plates that Aunt Des found

Treat bags filled with an ice cream cone popper toy (like the

kind from when I was a kid), ice cream cone shaped and scented

bubbles, and ice cream cone shaped candies!

The banners:

The bottom one has a picture of Ellie each month from

newborn to 1 year on a dip of ice cream.

Another personal creation.

The birthday girl's chair

The reason for the celebration:

Miss Elliott Rose

Can't wait to open presents!

Craft time! The kids poured colored sand through

funnels into (what else?) plastice ice cream cone necklaces.

Very cute, fun, and easy!!

Smash cake!

Ellie was an ol' pro at this. She did it last week for

her one year pictures. However, this was her first

taste of chocolate. . . a moment to remember!

All the kids! Talk about a difficult task . . . this was the best

pic I got. From left to right: Sadie, Alex, Ellie, Jaiden,

Jasmine, Haven, and the lone boy, Jett.

Time for presents! I actually opened them all, but

Ellie would check in every once in a while to see what she was getting.

A nice swing with cousin Sadie after a long, fun day!

Happy 1st Birthday to my sweet baby girl!

I love you so much.

P.S. If anyone knows why my captions keep double spacing themselves,

Please! Let me know!

My First Mother's Day!

2011-05-09T10:25:00.004-05:00

I celebrated my very first Mother's Day yesterday. It was wonderful! It started by sleeping in until 9:30 a.m.! Haven't done that in about a year or so! I got two very sweet Mother's Day cards . . . one from Ellie and one from Pistol and Wylie. :) Then we went to church with my mom, Kyle's mom and dad, Desiree, Mike, Haven, and Sadie. After church we went to lunch at Ted's . . . delicious as always! After Ellie had a nap, we went to Lowe's and bought flowers to plant in the backyard. We finished up a fun day by stopping for ice cream at Braum's and I even got to start a new book that I bought about a month ago, but hadn't had time to open yet. It was a beautiful day, and I had a great time with my family.

My Mother's Day gift was getting family pictures/Ellie's 1 year pictures done with Angel Porch. I know a lot of you have used her, and I love her work! The pictures will be precious, and I can't wait to get them in a week or so! Kyle also got me a Thunder t-shirt . . . maybe so I'll stop stealing his to wear during the playoff games. ;)

I hope everyone else enjoyed their special day! Happy Mother's Day to all the moms I know and love!

Happy Birthday Kyle!

2011-05-01T19:40:00.005-05:00

Kyle turned 32 last Monday. We actually celebrated his birthday for about 5 days! It's more fun that way . . .

Ellie and I gave him a present each morning starting on Friday- a pair of Sanuk shoes. He got a golf shirt on Saturday, some shorts on Sunday, and a gift card to Golf Galaxy on Monday. Then we went to Saltgrass for dinner that night. YUM!

The Saturday before his birthday, we celebrated with family and friends by going to Buffalo Wild Wings and watching the Thunder game. We had lots of fun!

Sweet husband With his dad
With his mom and sister

Besides turning another year old, Kyle has been very busy

being a dad. He and Ellie have so much fun together.

He's been working hard on getting our backyard ready for

this summer. Ellie loves to be outside and we want to

spend a lot of time out there this summer. So far, with the help of his dad,

he's planted 8 trees and put in a new patio. Next up: finishing the flower

beds in back and front and putting together Ellie's 1st birthday

present: a swing set!

Ellie was helping stomp on the pavers

Ellie thinks her dad totally rocks!

Even though he has a lot to do, he always takes time

to admire the rocks that Ellie brings him . . .

over, and over, and over, and over.

He also takes time to give her a bath,

dress her, and spike her hair like Alfalfa.

Love the tights tucked into the socks!

Gotta love when dads do the dressing. :)

Happy Birthday to a wonderful husband, an awesome daddy,

and a loving dog-daddy. We're all so thankful for you.

WE LOVE YOU!

Ellie's First Easter

2011-04-26T15:14:00.007-05:00

Easter was so much fun this year! Luckily, Ellie was actually feeling good on the days we celebrated. The weekend before Easter we went to the Mustang Community Center egg hunt with all the cousins: Jaiden, Jasmine, Jett, Sadie, Haven, and Ellie. We ate pancakes, hunted eggs, and had a great time. Ellie is actually a good little egg hunter for an 11 month old!

As excited as I am for her to be walking, I'm a little sad, too.

She doesn't seem like a baby anymore!

Nana and Ellie

Hunting eggs

The Grandmas and their granddaughters
Ellie's cousins

(Poor Jett. I'd say he's outnumbered!)

On Easter Sunday we went to church and then headed over to Aunt Des and Uncle Mike's house for an egg hunt and some delicious food. I made an Easter bunny cake and by the end of the meal I felt like I might pop!

Ellie's Easter basket

Her favorite thing in it was this piece of grass!

My Easter Bunny cake
Sadie and the Easter bunny

Sadie and Ellie

Grandma and Ellie

We just told Ellie the Easter bunny isn't real . . .

Not really . . . but, this would probably be her reaction.

This is just another one of the silly things she's doing right now.

I'm telling you . . . I've got a drama queen on my hands!

Trying to get a picture of the 3 girls in their

coordinated Easter dresses. Not an easy task!

Ellie and Haven

Filling her basket

Me, Mom, and Casey

She doesn't look old enough to have a 21-year-old and a 30-year-old, does she?

Ellie is 11 months old!

2011-04-18T19:29:00.004-05:00

It is so hard to believe that my little baby will be 1 in a few short weeks. I don't even offically think of myself as a mom yet . . . I feel like I just brought her home! It's amazing how much she has changed our lives. She's so happy and we have so much fun no matter what we're doing with her. She's very easy going and adapts to whatever situation she's in. She loves people and has never met a stranger (except Dace, but we're working on that!). I just love her so much I feel like my heart might burst!

Here is what my Ellie is up to at 11 months:

-She weighs 20 lbs. 10 oz. and is about 28 inches long.

-Still wears size 3 diapers, but we may try 4s after this pack. Wearing mostly 12 month clothes now.

-She has 4 teeth now. Her top 2 came in this past month. She's now taking bites of things that she used to shove in her mouth. I think she likes using them. Also, if you ask her where her teeth are she'll rub her tongue over them. If you ask her where your teeth are, she can point them out.

-She can also point out bellybutton, toes, and nose.

-She raises her hands above her head and smiles when we say "yay," or she does something she's proud of.

-She can point out family members and Elmo is books/pictures.

-She's walking everywhere! She took her first steps a few weeks ago, and now she's officially a walker! She doesn't crawl at all anymore!

-She knows how to wink and she'll do it on command. She usually blinks both eyes, but sometimes just one.

-She still loves yogurt, oatmeal, cheese, and chicken. She also really likes oranges now. She also loves Momma's egg and cheese omelet. Yum!

-She loves to play outside, go on walks in the stroller, swing in the hammock, and anything else that involves being outside. She cries every time we bring her in.

-Her newest thing since she's been sick is to put her hand on her head and say "oh." It sounds very drama-queenish.

-Some fun things she did this month: had her picture taken with the Easter bunny, went to her first Easter egg hunt, flew on a plane to Indiana, went to the zoo, went to the circus.

-Some not so fun things she did this month: got an ear infection- yuck!

Happy 11 months Ellie! We love you so much!

Easter Bunny and Ear Infection

2011-04-13T14:39:00.002-05:00

Ellie had her picture made with the Easter Bunny yesterday. Once again, the ladies at the mall were very impressed with how well she did. Like she did with Santa, she smiled and waved at the bunny and let him tickle her cheeks. She even wore her headband and smiled! I am especially proud of her since we found out this morning that she has an ear infection. She was a little cranky on Monday evening, but happy all day Tuesday. Then came 11:30 p.m. last night! She screamed to the top of her lungs for about 2 hours straight. She finally fell asleep with Kyle in the recliner, but would wake up hourly screaming in pain. It was horrible! I took her to the doctor this morning and he confirmed that she had an ear infection. She's now on some antibiotics, so hopefully it will go away soon. Poor baby . . . but it didn't stop her from looking beautiful in her Easter dress!

Trip to Indianapolis

2011-04-11T21:15:00.007-05:00

Ellie just flew for the first time! We went to Indianapolis to visit our friends Shawn and Stephanie and their little girl Tatum. Tatum is 3 months older than Elliott. The first time they met they were 1 and 4 months old and we almost didn't even get a picture of them together because they both slept so much. Not this time! They had fun playing together. We got there on Thursday evening and went to the zoo on Friday. The weather was beautiful! The girls enjoyed people and animal watching, but were worn out! They both slept until 11:00 the next morning! While rain ruined our plans of going to the park on Saturday, it didn't ruin the guys' plans to play golf. We tried to take the girls to the mall for lunch and shopping, but poor Tatum was not feeling very well. So we postponed our shopping trip till the guys got home. The Hatfields cooked for us every night! We played games and watched movies after the girls went to bed. We haven't laughed that hard in a long time! Thanks Shawn and Steph for a great weekend!

After a long day of travel on Sunday, we were glad to be home. Elliott did great on the flights to and from Indy. She made lots of friends, including the pilots on our first flight. They even let her come into the cockpit and pretend to fly the plane. I was shocked, but they acted like it was no big deal.

Another huge milestone occured while we were gone . . . Ellie started walking. She's been taking steps, 4-6 at a time, but she saw Tatum doing it and thought it must be what all the big kids are doing. She's walking all over the place now! I just can't believe she'll be 11 months this week. I'm so proud of how well she did on the trip. She's such a great baby!

Here are some pics from the last week:

The day before we left- she was cheering on the Rangers.

Practicing her new skills

In the car on the way to the airport

On the plane

"Mom! You gotta see this!"

Luckily she slept on the 2nd (and longest) flight

Waving hi to the captain

I think Kyle was more excited about this than Elliott was . . .

Tatum showing Ellie around the playroom

Sharing books

Pajama Party!

Getting ready for a day at the zoo!

I love this one!

Ellie crashed on the way to the zoo,

but luckily woke up in time for . . .

. . . shark petting with dad. Mesmerized by the aquarium

Snack break

Watching the elephants

You can tell the girls are tired here. Tatum's looking the

opposite direction and Ellie's about to cry and lose a shoe. :)

Photoshoot in matching outfits. I wonder what they're saying

to each other??

We had a blast in Indianapolis! Can't wait till the Hatfields come to visit us!

Beautiful

2011-04-06T10:54:00.000-05:00

Walking and Ice Cream

2011-03-29T21:15:00.006-05:00

Ellie took her first steps a few weeks ago and has been practicing since. She still hasn't taken more than a few steps unassisted, but she practically runs when she's walking along the couch or holding our hands. She's also mastered her push and walk toy. I LOVE the face she makes when she's pushing it. You can see it in the pictures and the video.

"Let's see . . ." "Okay, Mom. I've got my game face on."

"Man, that's hard work, but I'm gettin' good at it!"

After all that practice, we went out to the backyard for Ellie's

favorite thing: pickin' grass. I also shared a push up popsicle with

her in hopes of getting a cute pic for her birthday invitation.

Let's just say . . . I got a lot of cute ones!

"Hmmmm . . . what is this???"

"It tastes good . . . "

"OMG! It's really cold!"

"I'd rather pick grass . . . "

(Notice the popsicle laying next to her where she threw it down.

Maybe she'll take after Kyle and not like sweets. I hope!)

Sunday Funday

2011-03-21T14:30:00.006-05:00

Sunday was a beautiful day, except for the wind, of course! We took Elliott for some ice cream (well, Mom and Dad had some and she got a few licks of Mom's orange sherbet). Then we went to the park. I couldn't believe how many kids were there! We barely found a parking spot. There isn't a whole lot for Ellie to do at the park yet, but she enjoys people watching and there were tons of people to watch.

Swinging

Sliding

Playing with wood chips . . . probably her favorite activity.

Riding on the car

Playing the piano- she's really into pushing buttons right

now so she liked this.

We will probably be visiting the park a lot this spring and summer!

Ellie turns 10 months and Jenny turns 30 (years, not months)

2011-03-16T15:08:00.006-05:00

Elliott turned 10 months on Monday and I turned 30 on Tuesday. I was way more excited about Elliott's milestone than mine . . . to say the least. However, I did have a great birthday and I am thankful to be alive and healthy so I can be the best mom possible for Ellie and the the best wife possible for Kyle. Bye-bye 20s! Hello 30s! (I'm secretly crying now).

Anyway, Ellie has been doing lots of fun things lately and getting to be such a big girl! Everyone tells me how fast it goes, but I CAN NOT BELIEVE she is 10 months old already. In a few short months she will be a year old. I'm trying to savor every minute with this precious little girl. Here is what she is doing at 10 months old:

-She weighs 20 pounds and is wearing mostly 12 month clothes and size 2 shoes (size 3 in the pictures which is why they're too big!)

-She shakes her head no, nods yes, and shrugs her shoulders up and down all the time.

-She tried some new foods and loves them all: scrambled eggs, whole wheat waffles, tilapia, spaghetti, fettucine, chicken noodle and vegetable beef soup (just the veggies/meat), and cheerios. We still haven't met a food she doesn't like besides cottage cheese. She loves oatmeal, yogurt, bread, and cheese the best!

-She loves to pretend and imitate us. She talks on the phone, turns the channel with the remote, tickles us, and so on.

-She loves to give hugs and kisses, especially to Wylie. *See picture below.

-She went to her first friend birthday party.

-She loves to stand at the glass door and look outside.

-She really loves to climb up in her Elliott chair and watch tv. She also stands up in it and has learned to scoot to the edge and stand up to get out of it.

-She took her first 3 steps on the last day she was 9 months old. She walked from the coffee table to the couch. She took 3 more steps on my birthday!

-She cut her first top tooth on my birthday, as well!

-She likes to put on bracelets and watches and show them off.

-She says Dada all the time and is starting to say Momma a lot, too.

-She is down to one bottle a day (sometimes two) and drinks her formula in a sippy any other time.

-She REFUSES to wear a headband anymore which causes me much frustration. I can usually snap one or two pictures with the headband and then the third is a picture of her pulling it off. Oh, well . . . I'm sure I'm not the only mom that feels this way!

-She will point out Kyle and/or me in a picture with lots of people in it.

Here is Ellie at her friend Jake's 1st birthday.

They had a little swing and slide that she loved!

In her Elliott chair

Woo hoo! A bow pic for mom!

And another!

Giving Wylie a hug . . . so sweet!

This picture is a little blurry, but I love it!

Hi Mom!

Should I take a step and thrill my mom

to death on her birthday?

Nah . . . I better play it safe while I'm on the phone.

Mom's favorite . . . Zio's!

The family

Happy 10 months Elliott Rose!

Your mom and dad are so proud of you!

Best Buds

2011-03-06T20:57:00.000-06:00

Wylie + Ellie = BFF

Cake Class

2011-03-02T15:26:00.002-06:00

Kyle's mom, Rita, and I have been taking a cake decorating class every Tuesday from 6-9 p.m. We thought it would be fun, and although I'm not a natural by any means, I've learned a lot. And I figure I'll have plenty of opportunities to use my newly acquired skills as Ellie gets older. For now I've been taking the cakes over to my Papa. Kyle doesn't really like sweets, Ellie can't eat sweets, and I'll eat the whole thing . . . not good.

Here are 4 of the 5 cakes we've done so far. I'm not including week 2 because it slid all around in my car on the way home. Not a pretty sight!

Week 1 Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Next week we're making roses!

Can't wait to see how that goes!

Happy Valentine's Day to our 9 month old!

2011-02-23T09:47:00.009-06:00

Well, we finally got our computer back from the shop! It's amazing how much I depend on it! I'd come in the office 10 times a day to get on before realizing it wasn't here. Now that I've had time to return a million emails, it's time to post an update about Ellie.

She turned 9 months old on Valentine's Day. She is getting more and more fun everyday! I'm a little partial, I know, but she is so freakin' smart! She's also adorable, precious, cute, silly, funny, beautiful, and FUN! She loves to play with her toys of course, but she also loves to play with us. She likes for us to crawl down the hall and wait around the corner for her to catch up. Then we crawl around the next corner and the fun continues! She also loves to play peek-a-boo and will do it with a blanket or even her own shirt. She also likes to stand in the office window and hide behind the curtains. Then she'll push the curtains aside and crack up when I say "peek-a-boo!"

She also loves to roll and throw balls. She loves to put objects in baskets or other toys. When she takes them back out she always hands them to us. She loves to share! She still loves her teapot that plays music. Now we pretend to pour tea and she'll pretend to drink it and say "num." She really loves to be outside. We're going to get her a swing set as her birthday present, but plan on getting it as soon as it gets nice outside. Right now, we go out and sit in the hammock and swing. She loves that.

Here are some other facts about Elliott at 9 months:

-She weighs 19 lbs. 6 oz. (75th %). She is 27.25 inches long (50th %). Her head circumference is 18 inches (90th %). She must have a lot of brains in there!

-She still wears some 9 months, but I'm mostly buying her 12 month clothes now. They fit well, but sometimes the pants are a little long (which makes since according to her height vs. weight). She still wears size 3 diapers.

-She cut her two bottom middle teeth within two weeks of each other.

-She rubs her pointer finger and thumb together when she's nervous or anxious.

-She's getting good at feeding herself with a spoon (one that's already loaded with food, that is). She always gives herself the last few bites of the meal. However, if she's still hungry she'll cry and refuse the spoon because she knows that means the meal's almost over!

-She shakes her head back and forth to say no. She does it when she doesn't want something, but mostly she does it when she knows she's not supposed to be doing something (like getting into the dogs' water bowl or putting something in her mouth). If we catch her doing something she's not supposed to, she'll shake her head "no" and hand us whatever she has in her hand.

-She gives fives and waves hi and bye.

-She holds toys to her ear and pretends to talk on the phone.

-She recognizes the words oatmeal, snack, and milk. When we say these words she gets excited and starts saying "num, num."

-She's really into imitating us. She'll use her washcloth to give me a bath by rubbing on my arm or face. She also blows out air when I blow on her oatmeal or blow her a kiss.

-She tried lots of new foods this month: scrambled eggs, blueberries, squash, diced cooked apples, diced carrots, chicken and turkey, and pretty much anything else we eat. She loves it all! She's a great eater. We've also switched her afternoon formula from a bottle to a sippy and she likes that!

Here are some pictures of our big girl!

With her Ellie-phant
Her Valentine's Day present from mom and dad.

She also got some fun toys and books

from Grandma, Nana, and Nini.

Daddy's Little Love Bug

This is a picture of me at 9 months old.
A little darker and a little more hair, but Ellie does
look a lot like me.

I love this look. She's like, "I don't have to wear these

stupid headbands anymore! Woo hoo!"

(And she won't . . . I get so frustrated! She immediately

rips her headbands off now. I guess I'll have to wait

until she gets some hair!)

Ellie and Kyle are both Taurus, so I thought

this sleeper was really cute. Plus, it totally

describes them both on the back.

Oops! This ended up sideways, but it says,

"Strong. Warm and Loving. Charming.

Loves Kisses. Mommy's Little Taurus."

Ellie gives the best kisses! When you ask for sugar,

you better be ready for a big, wet kiss!

Another crazy sleep position. Her feet are under her chest.

Loves playing in momma's bathroom cabinet.

Two teeth!

Being silly with dad!

Hangin' out with Grandma

She loves getting all the mail out of the shred basket.

It can keep her busy for at least 10 minutes!

Happy 9 months Ellie Rose!

The Animal

2011-02-08T09:20:00.006-06:00

I jokingly call Elliott my "Ellie-phant," but she really has been acting like a wild animal lately! Last night, I was putting laundry away in her room and weeding out all the clothes that are now too small. Kyle was changing the lightbulbs in our room which is right next door, so Ellie was going back and forth leaving a path of destruction! She was coming in her room and doing her favorite thing . . . pulling all of the newly folded and stacked clothes from the drawer. Then she would crawl into our room and go from the laundry basket of clean clothes to the dog toy basket and back pulling out everything she could get her hands on. Then she found a hair band under the bench at the end of our bed. The funny thing about it was that she would pick it up, play with it, then put it back under the bench. She did that several times. Kyle and I were cracking up because she has all of a sudden figured out that she can go anywhere (fast!) and she acts like a wild animal! It doesn't help that she loves to watch the dogs eat, play in their food, eat their food, and of course, play in their water bowl.

Here is what would happen EVERYTIME we feed the dogs (if we'd let it):

She crawls over and attempts to grab the food, but doesn't

because she's expecting me to say, "No, No!"
She watches Wylie leave his food bowl for a mid-bowl break.

You can't see here, but she's disappointed as Wylie returns.

She continues to watch Wylie eat and inches closer to the bowl.

Wylie loves Ellie, so he gives her a chance to dig in.

She does . . .

And Wylie and I watch in surprise as she eats the dog food.

(Of course, I immediately grabbed it out of her hand/mouth,

and only let her do it for the photo shoot . . . I know . . . bad

parenting all for the sake of pictures.) I LOVE the look on Wylie's

face here. "OMG . . . she really did it!"

So, there's a glimpse of my little animal. Of course, you'd never know that she can be like that in these precious pictures from Super Bowl Sunday.

Cold Days and Warm Baths

2011-02-03T22:16:00.006-06:00

CABIN FEVER! What I . . . and probably most other Oklahomans . . . are feeling right now. I have not left the house (not even to check the mail) since Sunday. We finally ventured out this afternoon to get a few pictures of our little snow angel. Other than that, Ellie and I are as ready for the snow to melt as we were for it to get here. Funny how that works . . .

Ellie didn't quite know what to think of the snow. She didn't seem to like the -22 degree temperatures, of course. But, she also didn't seem too impressed with the six foot snow drifts in our backyard. Maybe next year.

She did, however, enjoy a warm bath. Inside. Where you don't have numb toes and fingers despite the 19 layers of clothes you're wearing.

Just relaxin' in the tub

Dad even managed to brush that little bit of hair into a mohawk!

The view from our back porch

(actually our dining room . . . I didn't even open the door!)

Front porch

Side of the house

Ellie's first snow angel

(no, we didn't really lay her in the snow, but Kyle

did a pretty good job making it look that way!)

Those are some serious icicles in the background.

Grandma and Grandpa came to visit.

All that playin' in the snow wore her out.

She passed out like this 2 hours before bedtime!

There's already more snow in the forecast for next week,

so get out while you can! I'm counting the days 'til spring!

Teeth and Texas

2011-01-31T14:02:00.009-06:00

Big news! Elliott finally cut her first tooth! At a little over 8 months, we were wondering if it would ever come in. Yes, I had to get her to cry so I could see it (although 4 hours strapped in her carseat on the way to Texas was a sure way to do it!), but I got a good picture of it. The trip to Texas was a spur of the moment trip to check on our rent house there. We had old tenants moving out and new ones moving in next week. We haven't actually seen the inside of the house since we moved out 3 1/2 years ago so I was a little nervous, but it looked awesome! Everyone has taken great care of it for us. We went down on Friday and got a hotel room. We thought we'd have to use all day Saturday cleaning the house and the carpets, but it was already done for us. So . . . we got to visit my favorite and most missed place in Texas . . . the Allen Outlet Mall! It was beautiful weather for outlet mall shopping! We just took our time, ate some good meals, and visited with our friends, Danny and Toni. It was a great time! Elliott hung with us so well. Poor baby . . . we just shuttled her around from place to place, getting her in and out of her carseat. That was the only time she was able to nap, but she was so good! Good to know she'll be easy to travel with in the future. Here are some photos from our trip (and a few before we left):

The tooth! Refusing to smile for the picture

She loves to play with Pistol Pete . . . good sign!

"Wait a minute . . . I can move now . . . I'm outta here!"

Waiting on Dad to come home from work

With her best bud, Wylie

At our house in Texas

I love this profile picture.

Don't you just want to squeeze those cheeks???

Enjoying the 76 degree weather!

Standing on her own

Happy girl!

Modeling Daddy's hat

Elliott at 8 months

2011-01-20T13:21:00.005-06:00

Elliott turned 8 months old last week. If you haven't seen her in a few weeks, you'd think she was a different baby! She's doing all kinds of cool things now. Here are some facts about Ellie at 8 months old:

-She weighs about 19 pounds and is about 27 1/2 inches long (based on our measurements).

-She babbles and "talks" a lot! She says and repeats words that sound like "da da," "momma," "dog," "bye-bye," and "num-num" (for yum-yum). She says "num-num" when she's ready for another bite or when we are eating something in front of her.

-When she is somewhere confined like her changing table, carseat, or highchair, she'll stiffen her body and grunt in frustration (over and over again!).

-She can pull herself up to a standing position, let go, and stand by herself for several seconds. She also "cruises" around her activity table or the coffee table. And of course, she is crawling everywhere!

-She feeds herself finger foods and her bottle very well now. She concentrates very hard to pick up her snacks with her pointer finger and thumb as to get it in her mouth as quickly as possible.

-She's learning to wave hi and bye.

-She moved up to a bigger carseat.

-She loves to play with anything that is not a baby toy: doorstops, pens, phones, remotes, dog bowls, cups, shoes, the computer keyboard, and any type of small plastic bottle are just some of her favorites.

-She loves to eat and having no teeth doesn't stop her from that! She loves cheese, avacado, macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, mashed carrots and green beans, small bits of tortilla and wheat bread, yogurt, oatmeal, and puffs or mum-mums. She does not like the meat baby food (who can blame her?) or cottage cheese.

-She's beginning to get more attached to her pacifier now and after reading some recent posts of friends with 2-year-olds, I may regret that. But, I figure 2 years worth of soothing at naptime will be worth 2 weeks of pacifier withdrawal in the future . . . maybe????

-She loves to listen to music and dance. She loves for me to sing "Tony Chestnut."

-She's beginning to understand the word "no." When she's fixing to get into something I'll say her name and then "no." She'll stop and sit up and look at me with big eyes. Then she gets in to it anyway. :)

"Hi, Mom!"

She was feeling very brave this day. . .

She LOVES to play with these doorstops!

We've now taken them all off because she pulls

them off and puts the small caps in her mouth.

After hearing, "No, Ellie."

Nothing stands in her way when she's crawling!

I love to see her standing like this. She looks so little,

but yet so big!

Visiting Nini and Papa Dean (my grandparents)

She has officially shopped 'til she dropped!

I know how she feels. I wish someone would cart me

around Wal-Mart, buy my food, and let me sleep through it all!

Big girl carseat!

I have to brag on Kyle. He built this table and painted

the butterfly on it freehand. We still have to pour a

protective topcoat on it, but I love it! He did an awesome

job, and now Ellie has a one-of-a-kind table and chairs.

Happy 8 months, Ellie!

You're growing so fast!