A royal backyard playground

I can't start this off without at least mentioning the Royal Wedding.  I can honestly say I did not watch a single pre-show before this morning.  One, for the lack of time (and Barney or Elmo) and two, because the weathermen have been on TV more this week than ever!  However, my DVR was set and ready to go and the coverage of the beautiful affair did not disappoint!

This surprise car ride was probably my favorite part...so fun and "young"!

This with her sister Pippa is so sweet.

Of course our own princess did not miss out on the Royal affair.  She dined on tea and crumpets this morning for breakfast...in a tiara of course, and loved every minute!

Back to real life...we have big plans to get some yard work done this weekend and since Don seems to have more time these days, he got started this morning!  Our next door neighbor had an obnoxious collection of kids toys in his yard and finally decided to get rid of them all.  Lucky for us, he gave Ellie a slide! It is a little faded but in perfect condition otherwise.  She loves it!  We also got her play cottage fully assembled and put back in the yard as well.  She's going to have lots of fun back there this summer.

 I am envisioning maybe a sand box or water table and I think she'll be set...I guess we'll see!

We met Elam and his parents at the park last night for a little play date.

Poor Elam, I hope Ellie likes you one day!  Sorry buddy.  We still had fun!

15 months!

Ellie, you are 15 months old!  I cannot believe we were getting ready to celebrate your 1st birthday 3 months ago.  Every month I say you are busy and all over the place, but this month I really mean it!  You are so curious and becoming more and more independent every day.  You love playing with your piggy bank and your ring stacker.  Your hand-eye coordination is fantastic!  You still love your babies and any stuffed animal. You feed them, love them, and rock them so sweetly.

You are like a bottomless pit these days.  You will eat almost anything.  We eat dinner together every night and you will pretty much eat anything we eat.  You really love grapes, string cheese, grape tomatoes and green beans.  You still love your mac-n-cheese the most, though!  You drink your milk very well now.  Dr. Amy said you were fine with the amount you are getting, so I have quit worrying over it!

Even though the circumstances stink, you have really enjoyed having Daddy home with you.  He plays with you, pushes you in your car, and now he has even given in to your new favorite thing...coloring!  

Elmo still rules in this house, but Barney is becoming a close second!  He has really caught your attention the last few days.  You still take 2 naps a day, even though they are shorter than they used to be.  Dr. Amy couldn't believe you still napped that well!  I have a feeling that won't last much longer.  

You still wear size18 month clothes, size 4 shoe, and size 4 diaper.  You were in the 90th percentile for everything at the doctor.  You are a healthy girl, and we are SO thankful!

We love you sweet girl and couldn't imagine life without you!

The Great Easter Tour of 2011

We have had a fabulous Easter weekend!  We did lots of traveling, but really enjoyed spending some time with family.  Friday we had lunch with Aunt Jenny...and of course she brought lots of fun Easter treats (2 new outfits included).  She loves her some Ellie!

Our tour of West TN started off on Friday night at MawMaw's!  Ellie and Matti had tons of fun playing together.  We even dyed eggs!  I can't remember the last time I dyed an egg.  Ellie even came home with 2 Easter baskets and a couple of outfits.  This girl is LOVED!

Saturday, we headed to Bartlett to spend the day with Peeps, DeDe and the crew.  We started off the morning with an egg hunt at BUMC!

After the hunt we came home for lunch. Ellie once again had a blast playing with her older cousin, Gracie.  They were such good playmates!

She left there with another basket full of goodies, an outfit and some $$$ for her piggy bank:)  Once again, LOVED!

This morning the Easter Bunny visited our house and we attended the Easter service at church.  The Easter bunny brought tons of books, some bubbles, a play outfit, a cookie,  toothpaste, a swimsuit and cover up, an Elmo DVD and even a Lambuth stuffed bear.  Ellie seemed the most excited about the books.  Gotta love Target dollar bins for all of the great Sesame Street stuff!

Our service this morning was awesome!  The music was beautiful and the message was great.  There were 1,400 people at our service alone.  We even had special visitors, Aunt Jenny and her parents join us.  We were so glad they came.

I of course tried to get some pictures of Ellie in her dress before church.  It is almost impossible to get her to stand still AND smile at the same time.  These were the best I could do!

 After church we made our last stop on the Great Easter Tour of 2011 in Selmer with Aunt B, Uncle E, Mammie and the the family.  We had a yummy lunch and Ellie once again ran around like a wild girl.  I wish I had half of her energy! Oh, and Ellie left Selmer with ANOTHER outfit!

So needless to say, we had a great time.  Every time Ellie is showered with gifts or when I witness all of the love shown to her, I get a little overwhelmed.  I am so grateful for our wonderful families and friends that love our girl!  

Most importantly, I am grateful for HIM for dying for us so we can live!  He is Risen!

Easter treats

Last weekend was the Easter Eggstravaganza at church.  Since it was so cold and yucky, they decided to move it indoors.  Ellie was a hunting machine!  She got MAD if you tried to even lay a hand on her basket full of eggs.

  They read the Easter story, hunted eggs, made Easter baskets for hospital waiting rooms, and even had snacks!  DeDe and Peeps came along for the fun and even took us to lunch at Ellie's favorite spot...Chick- fil-a!

 I decided I wanted to get in the kitchen and bake up a few little Easter treats for Ellie's friends and teachers.  Let's just say...cake pop FAIL.

 Mine look like a kindergarten project.  They DO taste good, but I am no Bakerella.  DeDe also handed down all of her famous chocolate sucker molds so I could start making them for every holiday like she did for us when we were growing up.  Of course, every mold was in the bag BUT the bunnies.  Oh well!  I still found a "springy" mold and made a few chocolate butterflies, frogs and lady bugs.

 I even made chow mein "birds nests".  These were soooo easy.

I had a lot of fun doing it all!

Happy Good Friday, and Happy Easter!  We plan on doing a lot of traveling and visiting with family!

Bunnies, bad news, and blessings

I had been wanting Ellie to have her picture made with real bunnies, but we could never find a free weekend to have them made.  I stumbled across Amy Washburn's pictures of our good friends little boy, Elam and decided to contact her. She was available the next day, so Ellie and I traveled to Henderson to have a sitting with the bunnies!  I am SO pleased with how they turned out.  Ellie is so into animals these days that I figured she would have no problem with the bunnies.  I still cannot believe she actually held one, though!

If you read this blog and live in our area, then I am sure you have heard the devastating news that our beloved Lambuth University is closing its doors on June 30.  LU was not only Don's employer, but a place very near and dear to both of our hearts.  The university has been through many ups and downs over the last few years, but it was still a place we could never leave behind.  Don stuck it out through the best of times, and through the worst of times. Unfortunately, all of that is over.  For good.  Just like that.

To say we are surprised would be false.  We have been preparing ourselves for the worst for a while now.  To say we are sad and heart broken would be true.  How could a school 168 years old just close?  If we knew, I guess they wouldn't be in this situation. It is still a little surreal in that aspect.

Don and I met at Lambuth and shared some great times with dear friends on that campus.  Those friends love our daughter as their own and have been so uplifting, supportive, and encouraging throughout this entire roller coaster of a ride we have been on.  Lambuth gave us so much.  Not only an invaluable experience and education, but jobs, friends, contacts, and growth opportunities that we will be forever grateful for.  

As hard as this week has been, I cannot help but feel SO blessed.  We are so lucky!  We have everything we could ever ask for.  We have an incredibly supportive family that we could not live without.  A daughter who brings us so much JOY!  A loving church home that has prayed and cried with us this week.  Friends, co-workers and complete strangers that have constantly been asking, praying and supporting us.  My heart feels like it could explode with pride and gratitude.  What more do we need?

Yes, a job is necessary for our well being.  But knowing Don, he'll have something next week!  I am not worried about that at all.  We've been living on love for 2 years now.  That's all we need!

Butterflies

For Ellie's birthday, DeDe and Peeps gave her a semester of Kindermusik.  DeDe is all about giving "events" or activities as gifts, since Lord knows the child doesn't need another toy or outfit.  Don and I think it is great!

 Lucky for us, there is a lady that just moved to town that is teaching her own version of Kindermusik out of her home and calling it "Butterflies". We attended our first class tonight, and it went great!  Watching E in that environment with other kids her age solidified my thoughts on her "busy" behavior.  She was everywhere!  She would not sit still or let either one of us hold her, but she did really well.  Teacher Nancy supplied us with balls, finger puppets, a stuffed giraffe, and even sent us home with Dixie cups to make a homemade shaker with.  It doesn't hurt that Ellie's best bud/boyfriend Will is in the class too, so it's a bonus for us...friend time for Mommy and Daddy!  All of the babies had their Daddy's there and I just think that is so neat.  Even big Don and Cole were dancing and singing along with their babies.  Nothing sweeter in my book!

Hoppy Monday

Ellie just wanted to say...

Hoppy Monday!

Easter's on its way...

So you know what that means!  Egg hunts, baskets, candy, eggs, bunny outfits and...the Easter Bunny!  Ellie spent the night with my parents recently and my mom and grandmother decided they wanted to take her to see the Easter Bunny and to ride the carousel at the mall.  Much to my surprise, she didn't mind either one!  I thought for sure she would be terrified of the bunny.  She didn't smile...but she didn't cry either!

Just for fun...here is our sweet little 9 week old baby girl with the Easter Bunny last year.  I can't believe how tiny she was!

That bunny looks huge and a little scary!  It's all about the memories, right?  Stay tuned for lots of fun Easter events...and of course outfits!