Ellie's First Birthday

I'm still having trouble with the fact that my baby is ONE. We were so lucky to have our sweet friends, the Slaton's, in town for a few days this week! We miss them daily so it was great to have them here to celebrate Ellie with us.

We had a fun-filled day and four over tired littles by the end of the day! We went to the zoo, cooled off at the zoo's splash pad, baked a cake and cupcakes, ate a delicious birthday dinner, opened presents, and ended with cake! Ellie loves chick-fil-a nuggets and kraft mac and cheese so that is what we had for her birthday dinner. I made her a funfetti smash cake.

Ellie was not to sure about the cake at first, but after some coaxing and her favorite utensil, the fork, she went for it! It was definitely good practice for her upcoming birthday party!

Here are some pictures of our day! Warning: there are a lot of pictures. You've been warned. PS ignore the boxes...yes I should be unpacking right now.

Ellie::ONE

Happy 1st Birthday Ellie!!!

This past year has gone by so fast! I feel like we were just meeting Ellie yesterday. Ellie is growing and changing so quickly!

Ellie took 6 steps on her birthday! Before that it was only one or two steps at a time. I'm sure she will be running around with Will in no time. She is full of energy. She loves to go hide and then crawl away as fast as possible while giggling when you find her. She has started really cracking herself up. Sometimes she just starts laughing hysterically out of no where. 

Ellie has quite an appetite. She has been drinking whole milk for awhile. She LOVES cookies! The other day I went to give her a small bite of my cookie, and she snatched the cookie and ate the whole thing! Ellie still loves pizza, chicken, blueberries, grapes, and strawberries. She recently started eating mandarin oranges, too. 

She says mama, dada, will (IiiiiLL), nonna, daisy, baby (babEE), and more. She's been working on milk and thank you. When she sees a baby she yells "babEE" and holds it close for hugs and kisses. She loves to give big, loud kisses.

She still has 6 teeth, but based on how she's been sleeping lately I'm guessing she will have more soon. We've had a few nights of sleeping through the night, but she normally wakes up at least 2 or 3 times. 

Ellie Bellie: We love you so much! You are such an amazing little girl. We've had so much fun watching you grow this year and form a relationship with your big brother. You make us laugh and fill us with love. 

This was the best we could do since Ellie thought it was hilarious to crawl away every time I sat her down!

Ellie's First Year: newborn, one month, two months, three months, four months, five months, six months, seven months, eight months, nine months, ten months, eleven months

Preschool Fall 2015

This week Will started in the 3s room at preschool. He's getting so big! It's hard to believe how grown up he is and how well he speaks. For fun I asked him some questions.

Will's Interview (8.6.15)

What is your favorite color? Blue
What is your favorite letter? W
What is your favorite food? carrots (This is completely false...he hates carrots! When I told him he didn't like carrots he informed me that they are "yummy in my tummy". Haha!)
Who is your best friend? Isabel
Who are your friends? Mae Mae (Amelia), Connor, Cora, Cole and Ibbie
What is your favorite movie? Frozen

Mommy and Will Date

It has been way too long since Will and I had a date! Matt and I got to go on a date Saturday for our anniversary so I thought it was only right to take my other main man to a movie the following day! Will and I saw minions. He was so cute holding the tickets and his snacks. He was really into the movie and at some points yelled out loud like the minions. "KING BOB!!" Too cute!! He did really well and only got up a few times. So lucky to have one on one time with my sweet boy.

Ellie::11 months

Wow! The last month before Ellie turns ONE. How bittersweet!

Ellie is now standing up by herself. Still no first steps, but I'm fine with that! :) She does the monkey crawl dragging one leg. It is pretty hilarious, and she gets around very quickly! Her new favorite game is crawling away from you as fast as she can. She goes crazy with laughter when you yell "I'm going to get you!".

She has 6 teeth: four on the top and two on the bottom. She still isn't a very good sleeper. I'm pretty sure she slept better as a newborn. Teething and getting used to new foods haven't really helped the sleeping situation.

Ellie is a great eater! She is still signing more but now also says (shouts) more.

She has also been giving big, huge open mouth kisses to us. It is the sweetest thing to see her give Will a kiss. Melts me every time...

And a picture of big brother, because he's just the cutest little boy there ever was!

Ellie::10 months

Somebody hold me! Ellie is growing so fast. She no longer looks like a little baby. She's stands so tall now.

Ellie loves to crawl around and pull up on everything. Sometimes she will stand for a few seconds and then fall to the floor clapping for herself.

She has started to show excitement when certain people (or Daisy) walk into the room. She squeals with delight and gets so happy. Ellie LOVES Daisy. They are so sweet together. Her new word is actually Daisy.

Ellie has found a love for mac and cheese. We usually have to cut her off. She also enjoys tacos with us now. Such a big girl!!

We love you Ellie Bellie!!

Oh and here are some outtakes because in real life it's really hard to get a 10 month old to sit still. Especially when big brother is around to entertain!:)

Ellie's Newborn Pictures

I titled this blog post less than a month after Ellie was born, and that was about as far as I got! So here it is...9 months later.

We were so LUCKY that a few days after Ellie was born our friends, the Slaton's, were in town visiting. Parker took some amazing shots for us even though Ellie decided to keep those big blues open during most of the session!

photo credit: Parker Slaton