Nice weekend

We had the best long weekend!  Not much on the agenda, and lots of rest and family time.


Sweetness before church.

27 Weeks!  I head back to the doc next week for an ultrasound and glucose test.  It's flying by and I have still done NOTHING to prepare for this poor child.  It will get done, I hope.

Ellie insisted that we walk to church.  This was just too sweet not to snap.

She also surprised us by writing her name yesterday!  Out of the blue, instead of telling a little girl her name at a restaurant, she just came out and wrote it down.  We were shocked but very impressed!  We clearly still need to work on our lower case "e".

Since we were both off yesterday, I asked Ellie what she wanted to do.  All she said was "go to the store and get groceries".  Poor thing got her wish.  She even said "mommy, I just love Wal-Mart".  We really need to get her out more!

The Past Week

This has been a long week!  I still managed to take lots of pictures (of course) and now we are looking forward to a nice, long weekend with few plans.  I can't wait.

We started off last weekend with a trip to DeDe's!  Don was at a coaching convention and met us there on Saturday.  This little cutie was excited to go!  How cute is her suitcase?  It was mine when I was little.  Love that she is using it now!

Friday night we watched The Little Mermaid that Rachel and Matt gave Ellie for her birthday.  I'm pretty sure I love Disney Princess movies more than she does.  Her Disney collection is really growing!

Saturday we went to Pump It Up for Turner's birthday and that night Don took me out out dinner for my 30th birthday.  THIRTY.  Wow.

Matt and Rachel joined us and we had a great time!  It's always fun to hang out with them when we are in town.  It's also lots of fun to indulge with people that love to eat as much as we do.  Ha!  We ate at Folk's Folly and it was delicious!!

Have I mentioned that Rachel is due 9 days before me?  How fun and crazy is that?  We cannot wait to meet baby Evie!

Sunday is when things started going down hill.  Ellie woke us up in the middle of the night (in the middle of our bed) throwing up.  Fun times!  We were convinced it was the stomach virus because it has been running rampid around town.  So we were up half the night doing laundry and nursing our pitiful girl back.  Thankfully Don called in and took a sick day to be at home with us.  I am so thankful for that.  Poor girl was so pitiful that we decided to give her her Valentine "happy" a little early.  We needed some sick day entertainment!

You know this girl is sick when my usual no-napper naps twice and sleeps 13 hours at night.  VERY unusual for her!  Poor thing.

After she ran a fever all day Monday and complained of an ear ache, we were off to the doctor.  Come to find out it wasn't stomach virus...it was Strep and an ear infection.  Who knew?  Thank goodness for antibiotics.

Wednesday was a fun mail day!  Lots of fun Valentine's treats to cheer her up.  So glad she is finally feeling better.

Yesterday she was finally well enough to go back to Ms. Carla's.  They had a fun party full of crafting and treats.  Here is my little Valentine with a few of her cards.  

 

I went the easy route this year on her Valentine's.  I thought they were pretty cute!  Bubbles for "you blow me away".

Don and I cooked a yummy meal at home and rented a movie.  He even got me flowers!  Don't get me wrong...I love flowers.  But he did the dishes.  I'll take dishes over flowers any day.  Love him!

 TGIF!!!!

First Dance Class

Last week Ellie attended her first dance class.  I called a local studio right after her birthday and to my surprise, they were holding their "visitors day" the following week!  We decided to go and check it out.  I really did not go into this with high expectations.  Ellie has a tendency to act very excited about something right up until the moment she is to begin.

I know how much she loves to dance around at home, so I had a feeling she would enjoy it but I didn't know how she would feel about jumping in with a group she did not know and start dancing.  She really surprised me and did SO well!  She has talked about dance class non-stop ever since, so I guess we are really doing this!

She got this leotard and tutu for her birthday so we of course had to wear it after our class.  Such a pretty ballerina.

Only problem...her recital is May 17th...4 days before my due date!  This could get tricky, but I guess we will just take it one day at a time.

Here is a little video I took from the class.  I am so proud of her!

4 years

Happy Anniversary Don!  I love you more today than yesterday, and can't wait to see what the future holds for our family.  You are a wonderful father and husband.  You go above and beyond to make sure we are happy and taken care of.  You work extremely hard and we are SO proud of you and your career path.  You make us all very proud.  

Thank you for always being patient and providing our every need.  I love you to the moon and back!

Introducing...

Little Brother finally has a name!

Let me just preface this by saying that naming children is not my favorite part of this whole process.  Trying to come up with names that flow with last names, sibling names and middle names is not easy.  Worrying over approval of others is also difficult, although we have finally come to terms that not everyone is going to LOVE what you name your child, and that's okay as long as WE love it.  And I will admit that the way it looks in a monogram may or may not have to come into play in the decision making process.  I kid, I kid:)

So, here it is...

MILLER LEE 

A little explanation...Miller we have both liked for a while.  It is truly rare that Don and I come up with a name that we both really, really like.  It is masculine, yet different and it sounds good with big sis's name.  Ellie has also been pretty dead set on this since the day we told her she was getting a sibling.  She would have been devastated if we didn't actually use it!  

Lee was Don's dad's middle name.  We wanted to keep it in the family somehow and thought Lee went well.  Lee also happens to be Grandon's middle name, too!  

Yay for little brother's with names!  Let the monogramming begin!!

THREE.

I've said it a million times, but it's true.  We have a THREE year old and I simply cannot believe it.

Here is a little update on our BIG girl!

Ellie, you really are full of personality.  Even though you may act shy in front of crowds, you really have a spunky and VERY animated personality 90% of the time.  You can be dramatic (wonder where you get that?) and a tad emotional.  You can also be bossy and sassy, something we are working on.  I know it's mostly your age, but I always want you to be sweet, compassionate, grateful and kind to anyone you come across.  You are a work in progress!

You can also be very sensitive.  If you get in trouble or witness anyone else getting in trouble, you automatically tear up and get very clingy.  You are starting to take directions well and your listening is steadily improving.  I know picking up toys isn't fun, but you are learning to love it:)

Your eating is still less than stellar.  This is our biggest battle.  It is a daily stress for me but I just have to stay patient and hope that the day comes sooner rather than later that you decide you want to eat.  You definitely aren't starving, but your choices just aren't ideal and the amounts you eat don't seem to keep a bird full.  Still not sure where this habit came from!

You are very loving and sweet to your Daddy and me, and you cannot wait to be a BIG SISTER!  I hope this excitement doesn't fade after he is born.  It will definitely be interesting when you are no longer the star of the show.  I'm a little nervous about this, although I know you will be a big helper to me...probably more help than I will ever need!

You love books, puzzles, dress up clothes, princesses, Barbies, and baby dolls the most.  Anything pink, sparkly and GIRLY!  You got a Leap Pad for your birthday and it has been a big hit!  I am hoping this will help with learning your letters.  I can already tell it is!  You have a great memory and you love to make up songs and stories.  Your little imagination is constantly running wild.  You have a little "friend" Molly that you talk about constantly.  She apparently goes to school with you and you play with each other on a daily basis. We just go along with it:)  I LOVE your imagination!

Your weight:  36.6 lbs
Clothing size: 3T, some 4T
Shoe size: 8

1st Birthday:

2nd Birthday:

3rd Birthday:

We love you with all our hearts and can't imagine how boring life would be without you here.  I am so thankful God chose me to be your mommy!

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

I cannot believe our baby is THREE!

Yesterday we celebrated with a Wizard of Oz party for Ellie.  Will everyone please remind me next year when I am planning a 4th birthday that I said I WAS NOT doing this again???  Maybe it's being 5 months pregnant, but I am absolutely worn out!  I hope Ellie had a good day and fun with a few of her little friends.  Party planning is a lot of work but I do enjoy it and I hope everyone else did too!

I could not have done any of this without the help of multiple people.  Don never complained and just went right along with my crazy self, as usual.  Ha.  He moved furniture, built the awesome Tin Man, set up tables and chairs, and made multiple trips to the store for last minute supplies.  DeDe made a trip earlier in the week and sewed the back drop curtains and helped decorate.  She also made all of the candy apple favors and wrapped and tied them for me.  HUGE help!  BB and Eric picked up balloons for us in Jackson and everyone that arrived early helped with set up.  So thankful!

This cake still blows me away.  It also tasted SO good!  And the icing isn't fondant...it's buttercream!  SO yummy.

 Candy apples by DeDe with witch hair clippies from Polka Dot Posies for the girls.

 Ruby slipper cookies.  They were also delicious!

Emerald City Punch...

 Thank you cousin Matti for dressing as Dorothy for us.  You looked great!!

We played "pin the heart on the Tin Man"

And had a rainbow pinata full of candy.

The birthday girl was not a huge fan of all the attention...

She needed a little assistance:)

Everyone was SO nice to bring such generous gifts.  It was like Christmas all over again.  We are saving most for a rainy day!

Don and I gave her this microphone and let her open it once we saw them having a sing along with the keyboard.  Ellie and Knox put on a show for us after the party.  It was so cute!!

So sweet for Uncle Matt and Aunt Rach, Granny, Grandon and DeDe and Peeps to come all this way!!

I think it was a great day!  We are laying low today and relaxing and playing.  Every year I realize just what a blessed little girl we have.  Cannot believe she is THREE!!!