Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Traditions

We are starting a few new traditions during the holidays this year.  Once again, we can thank Pinterest for this cute idea.
 Source: katherinemariephotography.com/blog/archives/3773 via Emily on Pinterest
Since Ellie's favorite things in the whole world are books, I knew this would be the perfect tradition to start out with.  The idea is to collect 25 books for each day in December leading up to Christmas and to read one a day.  The original pin says to wrap and date each individual book, but I don't have all 25 just yet (we are now up to 19!)  so we are just going to grab one out of a bag or box each night to read.  The thought of wrapping all of those books tonight made me tired:)




And yes, we have an Elf on the Shelf!  He does have a name, you will meet him and hear all about our adventures (hopefully) tomorrow!

Let it Snow!

We had a day full of wild weather this week...it snowed over 3 inches!  The biggest kid in our house (AKA my husband) danced all night hoping to get out of school--but it didn't work.  He did however get out and build Ellie her first snowman of the year.  We didn't stay out long...I was not prepared for snow!  Poor girl didn't even have a pair of gloves that fit, or any warm shoes.  (She is so deprived, I know).

But you can guarantee she had a "snow day" outfit just waiting for her in the closet.  Priorities:)  I was glad she was able to wear it so early in the season.  I am pretty sure it is my new all time favorite!



It is slowly melting and was fun to look at but it can stay away for a while.  I've got too much to do to be home bound because of silly weather!

Monday, November 28, 2011

22 Months


Ellie, you are 22 months old!  This time last year I had your first birthday party planned and was so on top of things.  This year, not so much!  I just can't get it together!  I cannot believe you will be TWO in TWO months.


Unofficial weight: 30 lbs. 5 oz.
Clothing size: 24 month, 2T and some 3T t-shirts
Shoe size: 6!  2T socks
Diaper size: 4 (finishing up the last box!  It is time for 5's!)
Favorite toy: Puzzles, babies, Barney, books, Elmo, coloring books and crayons
Favorite foods: Chicken nuggets, grapes, blueberries, yogurt, apple sauce, string cheese, gold fish, mandarin oranges,  mac-n-cheese, cereal, grape tomatoes, SALAD? with ranch dressing and spaghetti.


Your vocabulary has really taken off, you talk ALL DAY LONG.  You say:  be careful, come on, toys, I'm sorry, kiss it, i'm hungry, i'm scared, let's color, let's read, let's rock, I watch it, I love you, I dropped it, there it is, and my favorite..."PEEPS, WHERE ARE YOU?" So funny!

I thought Christmas was fun with you last year, but wow I can already tell how special it will be this year!  You love your trees and say "Christmas" and want to watch the Elf on the Shelf movie ALL DAY LONG.

You are a wild, silly, cute little mess.  You are doing great at MDO, so much so that they are moving you up a class in January!  You can count to 10 and sing your "AB's" (abc's) all the time.  We like to think you are pretty smart, but I know that you are right on track for your age and I am so proud.  I just hope you stay that way!

We love you sweet girl!

Friday, November 25, 2011

Christmas cards from Tiny Prints!

I absolutely love Christmas cards.  I love having our pictures made, finding the perfect card, and mailing them to all of our family and friends.  Most of all, I love receiving Christmas cards.  The highlight of my day during the holidays is running to the mailbox to see whose card has arrived!

This year, Tiny Prints has a great selection of beautiful cards to choose from.  They are making it VERY hard for me to decide! I am thinking of making a scrapbook of all of the cards we send throughout the years and even a book filled with the ones we receive.  I just went through our collection from last year and it was so much fun to see how our friends and family have grown and changed! Just go here to view the Tiny Prints holiday collection for this year.

Here are a few that I really like.

I like this one because it's just a little different...

I am really loving a more simple look this year.

What a way to showcase the photo!

I better get busy with my decision...they will be filling up my mailbox soon!

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Greenfield with Don's side of the family this year.  I think there were over 20 adults and 7 kids!  It took Ellie a little while to warm up to everyone, but as soon as she did we didn't hear a peep unless we went to check on her.  There was SO much food and lots of fun.  I managed to snap a few pictures before my battery died.







I couldn't bring myself to shop on Black Friday so instead we are in full Christmas decor mode!  Don has already hung lights on the house and is on his second trip to the hardware store for more strands and clips.  He secretly enjoys this, but he'll never admit it;)  Ellie has been an absolute angel all day.  She has been the biggest helper and has played and been so sweet among the chaos.

My 2 least favorite things about decorating...the mess and the tree "fluffing"!


Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Gobble gobble

If you think this little turkey is cute, you should hear her gobble!




She is ALWAYS reading.  Books are her favorite!  Makes me so proud:)

I had to literally tear one out of her hands at school this morning.  She was NOT happy!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Turkey Spaghetti


Here is Ellie in last year's Turkey dress!  I love getting 2 years of wear out of her clothes.  We did this with a few of her pumpkin dresses from last year as well.

I had my camera on the closeup setting so this is a little blurry but I could not resist posting it anyway!


Who is this bald little cutie?  What a difference a year makes!

We had spaghetti for dinner last night.  Somebody LOVED it!




I am happy to report that I think the dreaded "molar monster" has finally left our house.  Ellie's appetite is something I have never seen from her and her rash is SO much better!

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Fall family pictures

Here is a sneak peek at our Fall session with Kristina Only.  Once again, she did a great job and did not disappoint!  We still need to work on Ellie's smile in our family shots, but over all I am very pleased!  Here are a few that she posted to Facebook.





I have already picked out the picture we will use on our Christmas card from her website.  You will just have to stay tuned to see which one we chose!

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Busy, fun and productive

I am sure most of you could care less about our boring little weekend but since I am in the mood, I thought I'd do a little recap for the blog book that I still haven't ordered:)

Friday I worked my tail off getting ready for a last minute yard sale.  I wasn't trying to make a ton of money,  I've just felt so overwhelmed and tired of "stuff" being in every corner of this house that I had to do something about it.  I remembered about mid-morning that our office was closed for Veterans Day so it worked out quite well.


Friday night we went to dinner with Mammie, BB and "Eck".  We enjoyed our time with them and Ellie did very well.  I honestly cannot remember the last time we took her out to dinner after 7 pm.  Most of the time it's just not worth it.  She really surprised us!  We also had lots of help which made a big difference:)

Saturday morning we were up bright and early for the big sale!  Ellie of course slept later than she had all week while we were up and going way earlier than we wanted to be. Isn't that the way it always goes?
She was the perfect little assistant and just played away and charmed all of our "customers".
We ended up getting rid of my old laptop, Don's old Playstation, our Rock Band game, tons of PS2 games, DVDS, a few small baby items, a couple of toys and some home decor items that I've had since college.  It feels good to purge although I don't feel like our house looks much different!

After the sale and a Goodwill drop off, I went to get a pedi while Don and Ellie napped.  It was long overdue and felt so nice to get out and just SIT for a few minutes.

After naps, we went to see SANTA!  Yes, I am eating my words from my last post:)  I realize it isn't even Thanksgiving and I was talking about all of you people jumping the gun on the holidays, but our photographer was doing portraits this weekend only so we just had to be there!  Once again, thank you yard sale!

As far as the pictures go, let me just say this much...Ellie was hugging, kissing and talking to Santa as long as one of us were holding her.  The minute we let go of her to sit on his lap, she LOST IT.  I felt a little guilty putting her through such torture but it's all about the memories, right?  I can't wait to pick up the pictures next week.  Should be interesting!

We joined Leigh, Cole, Bubba and Aunt Jenny for some yummy ribs and chicken Saturday night and kept the wild 2 year olds in the nursery this morning.  We ended our Sunday with an afternoon drive and a Kroger run.  Exciting times, I know!

I honestly love weekends like this.  I enjoy staying busy, feeling productive, and being with my two favorite people on the planet.  Ready to tackle another week!