Fall Fun

Ellie Kate is super amazing these days, like she has been all of her days. She's growing bigger, talking more and more, and seriously on the move. We've been keeping here really busy all fall.

Before Halloween, we went to a pumpkin patch/ farm. The weather turned chilly and rainy on the way down, and we were not prepared for it...so we didn't stay very long. Ellie Kate still enjoyed seeing all the animals and riding on the little train.

Ellie Kate and Daddy

Notice Ellie Kate's first owie on her nose and mouth. She had never walked on gravel before, and she proceeded to face plant immediately.

Does Greg look more frightened of the rooster than Ellie Kate?

For Halloween we had two events. First, we went to ZooBoo. I think EK was a little too young this year to fully enjoy everything there, but she still had fun seeing all the other kiddos.

My little Buggy dressed as a ladybug

Eating dinner on the go

Then, we had our neighborhood bash. This year they went all out adding a d-jay to the normal pizza party, hay ride, trick-or-treat extravaganza. Ellie Kate publicly debuted her signature dance move of dropping it like it's hot. I swear we don't watch rap videos with her!!

EK Cow/ Bull and Daddy Bull Rider

Mommy Rodeo Clown and Ellie Kate making bull face/noises

We've also started Little Gym which she LOVES! And Music for Aardvarks which I'm hoping she warms up to more.

We're going to my friend Marcy's wedding reception in Martin, TN this Saturday, and EK is staying with Meme and Grandpa Jay overnight. She has already spent the night out two or three times, but this is our first time more than twenty minutes away from her. I'm already getting a little anxious just thinking about it.....

Big Catch Up

Let me see if I can get through a long overdue blog post while Ellie Kate entertains herself crawling in and out of the dog kennel.

Since I last posted two hundred seventy five years ago we've been to the beach, had a first birthday, started walking, and loads of other stuff I can't remember at this moment.

First, the beach trip. EK loved the sand and the ocean.......and the pool at the condo. She also loved making little friends at the beach and the pool. Apparently eight to eleven year old little girls love to entertain babies. This was awesome!!

(Okay, I'm picking this post up four hours later. The dog kennel wasn't that entertaining I suppose)

Ellie Kate feeling the ocean for the first time

loving the beach

sandy baby

little toes saying hi during dinner

looking at the big boats with Mommy and Daddy

We all had a terrific time on our much needed first family vacation. The beach was lovely and the six plus hour car ride went surprisingly well. We did have to pull out the emergency, travel dvd player for the last thirty minutes on the way down (making another first, the first time she watched tv. Not one that I was excited about, but you gotta do what you gotta do sometimes.)

A few shorts weeks later we celebrated our precious babe's first birthday. What a big girl!! We didn't really do a "theme", but we did do colors......pink, white, green.

food table

dessert table

some of the decorations, made by yours truly

(the other side of the banner said " Ellie Kate's 1st")

B-day Girl and Mommy

opening gifts with Daddy

birthday song and candle blowing time

( Mommy is a wee bit sweaty after present marathon)

cake tasting ( she got the entire top tier)

digging in

Mommy's delicious, little mess

After cake we cleaned and cooled off in some sprinklers in the back yard. Ellie Kate was a perfect little birthday girl the whole day. We had no melts downs, well, not from Ellie Kate at least.

In the last month Ellie Kate has started walking some, but crawling is still her preferred mode of transportation (besides being carried).

She also has started using one of her b-day presents sometimes. Her big girl potty. We aren't potty training or anything, but it's nice to know she likes using it.

And her biggest, big girl accomplishment? Her first boob free day today. She did really well. I would not have believed that weening would have gone so well if you would have told me so two months ago (when she was still nursing every two hours).

Everyday I see less and less of a baby and more and more of a toddler. It's definitely bitter sweet, but I know she loves getting to do and say more....even it's a little hard for Mommy.

Lots Going On

Happy 4th!! I just watched a great documentary on HBO that made me fill quite patriotic. It is called "Citizen USA: A 50 State Road Trip". It really shows you how great America is through the eyes of the people who have known how life can be in places without freedom and opportunity.

We have had a lot going in the past few weeks. Greg and I celebrated our 8th anniversary. We really needed to celebrate too this year because being parents can put a huge strain on a relationship, so there were times we couldn't stand each other over this past year. We had a great dinner at Sweet Grass, and Greg surprised me with a great, new camera.

He got me a Nikon D3100. I'm still learning how to use it and picking out fancy new lenses for future purchases (that will undoubtedly make me shoot like a pro), but I love it so far.

In other new purchase news, I got a new car. Not to sound ungrateful, but I'm kind of sad about it. I LOVED my old car. I had a 2004 (the last year that they were made) Land Rover Discovery (which was the second one that I've owned).

You know that you really love a car if you trade it in for a newer model of the same car. Oh, I miss her so much already. But sadly she was not as safe for the little one ( and wasn't really great for the environment or my gas bill) as I need my car to be.

So now I drive a new Subaru Forester. It is suppose be one of the safest cars that you can get. I sure hope Ellie Kate appreciates me giving up my beloved (and paid for) car so that she is safe. She's definitely worth it though.

Today was no exception in our busy life. We went to our neighborhood parade this morning after EK woke up from her nap. She loved seeing all the bikes, strollers, wagons,dogs, and people all decked out in red, white, and blue. And Daddy ran her through the water that the firemen shot up into the air from a hydrant, which she thoroughly enjoyed.

After we got dried off, we headed over to our cousin's house for Noah's first birthday. We had a great time with family and celebrating this little guy's first year of life. My cousin, Agnes, went all out with the adorable decorations appropriately themed in red, white, and blue.


From Noah's party, we headed down to my parents for a fish fry. I was too tired to pull out the camera at this point in the day. Ellie Kate had a blast playing with all her new toys that her meme got her and of course her favorites toys, all the little dogs at my mom's house ( 4 including my sister's that were over).

I'm hoping that the rest of this week will be a little slower paced than today. We will be going to story time and lunch tomorrow with my grandmother, EK's great grandmother, but I think that's all we have on our social calender for a while. That is until our big trip to the beach next month.....

Cutie Patootie

Whew, it's been hot!! I mostly love it, but we did have to cool off in Meme's pool a few times this week. The photo above is from our Friday swim day. Take note of the hair thickening up on my little bathing beauty!!

Last night, Greg and I ended up skipping the concert. It was way too hot to go sit outside and be able to enjoy the music. Also, someone kept us up the entire night, and we didn't want to pay for concert tickets just to sit there like the zombie parents that we are these days.

Instead, we went to dinner and to see The Hangover. I know, so cliche... dinner and a movie. We had a good time though , and the movie was pretty funny. Well, funny enough that neither one of us feel asleep during it.

Today we all went back to the pool, and I'm happy to say Ellie Kate loves swimming more and more each time. She even loves to splash around completely not caring when water goes all in her face.

I had two Cherry Cokes at my parents, so I'm all caffeined out and unable to sleep. Ugggg! So I've been perusing the internet for ideas for EK's 1st birthday party. I actually made some progress...... stay tuned for details.

Swim Day, Memorial Day, and Kiddie Concert

Sunday, Ellie Kate took to the water, well, like a fish takes to water. I was a little worried that the water was going to be too cold { it was only 80º}, but it didn't seem to faze Baby a bit. As soon as we put her into her little inner tube, she started kicking her little legs. What a natural.

She hung in the pool for quite a while before lunch and nap, and then she got back in again after her nap. And surprisingly, she didn't get a sunburn. Of course, she was covered in SPF50.

Monday afternoon, we went to a cookout at Chloe and Arden's, and they had Arden's baby pool set up. Ellie Kate had a great time in it too. It's a little difficult to let a 9 month old play in a baby pool though. You kind of have to just lean over the side and hold them in it. Sort of sucked for my poor back that I had just happened to pull a muscle in last Tuesday. We all had a great time celebrating Memorial Day friends and family {our cousins happened to be neighbors to our host and hostesses}.

This morning, the little bit and I went to the Levitt Shell to see Jack and Zinghoppers. Ek jumped { with a bit of help form mommy}, clapped, and sang. She was a little show stealer with all the people that were sitting near us, but that's nothing new {in know, in know I'm an annoying, bragging mom}.

Tomorrow is a work day for me. It should be a good and pretty busy day. Thursday or Friday, we are definitely heading back down to Meme's pool because it has gotten HOT around here. And then, I'm working Saturday, and Greg and I are going to Live at the Garden to see ZZ Top that night. This will be the first time Greg and I have done anything, without baby, since March......we need it!

9 Months

Happy 9 month birthday to Ellie Kate!!

We went to her checkup this afternoon , and everything went great. She is 28" long and weighs 17lbs. She is exactly the size a 9 month old Ellie Kate should be :).

We got to brag about how smart she is saying dada and mama and hi and hey, waving, clapping, crawling, pulling up, "cruising" ( creepy word that makes me think of her jamming out to a Sister Christian song in a muscle car rolling through a Sonic), and eating up everything we put in front of her.

We also asked about how she sleeps only two, thirty minute naps a day, and how she's not the best sleeper at night. Unfortunately, the only advice he had was desensitizing sleep training.....that's not happening. He did say that the shorts naps, while annoying, are not harmful. At least we get to get out of the house more than mommies with good napping babies.

The doctor told use to be on the look out for a top tooth in the next couple of weeks because her little gums were swollen. We'll have to say so long to her gummy smile. Even though she has two bottom teeth, you can't really see them when she smiles most of the time.

And her Cheeto orange earwax is apparently no big deal, just gross. Perhaps it will curb any desire I may have to eat Cheetos.

After the doctor's, we went to Ben and Jerry's to get ice cream. I actually let EK have a bite. That is huge for me considering I make all her food, so I know that it's all organic and unprocessed. She actually didn't seem to care that much for it. Not loving ice cream is another reason I need a maternity test. The first being she looks nothing like me.

This week we are trying beans and going swimming at Meme's for the first time. That combination reminds me of the packs of beans that Cracker Barrels sell that say "Redneck Jacquezie".

Yellow Nail Trend and Orange Earwax

Hi there! I'm posting from my jacked up laptap......which means no commas and lots of different fonts.

I just got done polishing my nails and toe nails with some cool yellow polish. Have any of you tried this new polish trend? I guess it got started when Chanel came out with their new color "mimosa".

I opted for a cheap bottle ($.98) (I wish we still used the cent sign) from Target to try the trend out. And even though I think I'm going to like it I'll be doing the OPI version instead of the $25 Chanel polish.

I had a kelly green color on my toes for the last few weeks ( "Don't mess with OPI") which Greg finally felt that he could tell me that he thought was weird....since he saw me removing it. This of course will have no bearing on me wearing it in the future. Do you care if your man...or woman... dislikes something that you wear? I'm pretty sure that the only thing I would change for him would be a scent if he hated it. I wouldn't want him to think that I stunk. He'll just have to put up with my green (or yellow) nails on occasion though.

I need to make an Ellie Kate post this weekend. We're heading to her 9 month checkup tomorrow. I'm hoping to get some answers to my questions like: Why does she have copious amounts of Cheeto orange earwax every morning? and Will she ever take more that two thirty minute naps in a day? (seriously I know people who get 4 hours a day of mommy time from their great napping babies) and Are the two related? ( can she not nap because she's hearing her orange earwax?)......okay that's probably a little far fetched.