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!!!

Turning 3

I cannot believe Ellie will be 3 in a little over a week.  I loved this quiz last year and couldn't wait to ask her these questions.  Some are SO funny and some are spot on.  This girl is a character.  

Enjoy!

1. What is your favorite color? Purple and pink

2. What is your favorite food? rice and noodles

3. What is your favorite toy? Baby Caroline and my easel

4. What is your favorite T.V. show? Caillou

5. What is your favorite movie? Wizard of Oz

6. What is your favorite song? She started singing out a self written ballad she made up herself!  No clue...

7. Who is your best friend? Jolie

8. What do you like to play outside? My Barbie Jeep that Santa brought 

9. What is your favorite animal? Giraffe

10. What are you good at? Cleaning up my toys (Oh really!  Good to know! Ha!)

11. What is your favorite book? Tea With Ruby

12. What makes you happy? You! (She pointed to me!  Aww..)

13. What makes you sad? You and Daddy (she made up for the sweetness)

14. What do you want to be when you grow up? A Princess

15. What is your favorite game? Twister

16. What is your favorite place to go? Allison's.  The restaurant across the street.  Hilarious!  I promise we don't eat there that much!

17. What do you like to do with Mommy? Cook

18. What do you like to do with Daddy? Play

19. What are you scared of? The Witch of the West

20. Who loves you? You and Daddy

Baby Brother

I am starting to believe all of the myths about the "poor second child" that I have heard in the past.  It's true, there's just not as much time in the day to devote to dreaming up nursery ideas and filling closets with way more clothes than they'll ever need.

Now, don't get me wrong...this child will NOT go naked, crib-less or hungry.  It's just SO much different this time around!  Yes, we are doing another nursery.  And yes, I have already started shopping for sweet little boy blue bedding and john-johns.  There's just this one little obstacle that seems to be my hold up...and that would be BIG SIS!

She is SO excited about her brother.  She kisses my stomach and talks about him daily.  I feel bad I haven't really talked much about this pregnancy on the blog because I don't want to forget anything.  It is flying by and I have felt really good pretty much the whole time.  So I am going to step out of my comfort zone and post my first ever "bump pic"!  This is sooooo not me.  I love reading others updates and seeing their pictures, but I have never been big on them of myself.  I am trying to embrace it all this time, so here we go!

Baby Brother:  21 weeks

How far along?  21 Weeks

Size of baby? 14 oz, about the length of a carrot

Total weight gain? 1.8 pounds

Maternity clothes?  Not really, only when I want to be comfortable.  I have started shopping for some!

Sleep?  I am always so tired by bedtime that I am sleeping pretty well.  Just the usual middle of the night potty break.

Gender?  BOY!

Movement?  Constant!  He is a little wiggle worm!

Food cravings/aversions?  COLD fruit.  I have been all about some peaches, pineapples, and oranges these days.

What I miss?  Nothing really.  Maybe being able to take Advil?  Ha!

Moment of the week?  A healthy report at the doctor and another ultrasound!

2012

Is it really already 2013?  I feel like we were just ringing in the new year, celebrating Ellie's 2nd birthday, and making big plans for our family.  Instead, here we are one week into 2013.  What a year it was!

In true "Pitt Crew" fashion, we didn't have a dull year, at all!  We seem to like to keep things interesting around here, and this year was no exception.  On New Years Eve last year, Don got a call that would change many things for us.  He accepted the job at Greenfield to be their new head football coach!  This decision did not come without MUCH prayer, discussion and deliberation.  We went back and forth for weeks and talked with many people before we finally decided to make the move. I am so happy to say that I really think it was the right decision at the perfect time for our family.  Everyone has been so supportive, encouraging and welcoming.  Yes, I miss my convenience to good restaurants, Target runs, my Jackson friends and only being ONE hour from family, but small town life really isn't so bad!

In January Ellie turned TWO!  We celebrated with a Barney Birthday bash with lots of her little friends.

Don and I celebrated 3 years of wedded bliss and I turned 29!

We put our house on the market and began the fun task of keeping a clean house with a busy 2 year old.  That was fun...said no one EVER!

We had another Happy Easter with family and friends!

The first of June, we moved to Greenfield!

A few weeks after the move we headed to Gulf Shores for a week of sun, sand and fun. Just what the doctor ordered!

August, football season began!  Our weekends were busy filled with ball games and cheering on our Jackets.

September, we got another huge blessing.  We found out we were 

expecting baby number 2!  We were over the moon excited and didn't 

wait very long to share our news.  

October was a fun busy month with the prettiest little fairy in the land.

In November we celebrated Thanksgiving in the Bahamas.  Fabulous trip and the perfect family getaway with DeDe, Peeps, Matt and Rachel.

In December we found out we were expecting a baby BOY and had a wonderful month of Christmas celebrations.

2012 didn't go without a few trials and tribulations, but all in all I think it is safe to say that we finally feel settled and content and most of all extremely blessed to be where we are.  We've grown as a family, watched our sweet girl grow, and continued to establish our life together.  

Bring it on 2013, we are ready!

BB and Eric and SNOW

The day after Christmas they were predicting a BLIZZARD!  No joke, we were under a Blizzard warning.  I was prepared to be snowed in, playing games, drinking hot chocolate, and sledding with friends.  That didn't exactly happen, but we did manage to get a little bit of the white stuff.

Ellie and Don had a big time playing.  I wasn't feeling it so much this year.  The day after Christmas was my recovery day from all of the madness so I let them have fun together and went outside just long enough to snap a few pictures.  They are two peas in a pod when it comes to playing outside!

This past Saturday, BB and Eric came to visit!  Don cooked us a yummy breakfast and we visited with them and opened gifts.  Ellie got a new outfit for Caroline and a picnic set among a  few other goodies.  It was a fun, relaxing morning.  Ellie had been up that night with fever that seemed to last 3 more days so we just let her hang out in her PJ's (and a ballet skirt).

Don went duck hunting in Arkansas so he dropped us off at DeDe's on his way where we napped and were spoiled all weekend.  It was the perfect way to end 2012!

Christmas Day

Christmas day was a busy one, but at least there wasn't any traveling involved!  We had all 30+ Blackman family members over that afternoon for their annual feast and dirty Santa.  The kids drew names and played and played.  We ate a great lunch and had fun visiting!

After that crowd left, we headed to Mammie's house then to Maw Maw's house for more gifts.  Ellie sure was a blessed little girl again this year!

Christmas to me is such a great reminder of how lucky we are to have TWO wonderful sides of family that love and support us all year long.  Spending time with them is what matters most.  Not just on holidays.  Here's to a fun, exciting 2013!!