Santa's Winter Wonderland

I got Ellie's hair in pig tails today for the first time and she looked SO CUTE!! We took Ellie to Bass Pro Shop today to see the Wonderland. She didn't see Santa because she is terribly scared of him but she did enjoy seeing the train and all the fake snow. She also got to see the HUGE fish while we were there and she tried on about twenty pairs of glasses :-) Good trip!

Words, Sentences, and New things every day

We have something new going on around here and that is that we have been keeping Jackson three days a week and Ellie LOVES it. She calls "Jack" her baby and tries to help with everything from changing his diaper to feeding him a bottle. I have to constantly remind her that he is not a baby doll but a real baby and to be careful. She got a little carried away a few days ago and there was an incident but we have moved on ;-). On the days that Jackson isn't here she asks all day long "Where Jack?" and if you ask her where Jackson is she says "wit aunt anny" (translation= with aunt aly). We just love having him here!

New things Ellie is saying:
*My do it
* You see it?! (With such animation)
* I eat
* asasauce (applesauce)
* I nap (even bed time is called nap)
* I DID it!! (She helped decorate her Christmas tree and the big Christmas tree so now every time she sees either one of the trees she squeals "I did it!"
* I do it
* I dropped it
* My sool (step stool that she uses in the bathroom)
And a million other things that I can't think of right now. I mean she says new things EVERYDAY, all day.

Today I asked her if she wanted to help me make some cookies and she said "I make cookies"; when we walked into the kitchen she threw both hands up and went "woohoo". She is so animated and such a joy. She is so much fun to be around and is incredibly sweet.

November 18th

We had a Thanksgiving playgroup today and it was lots of fun. Ellie did really well sharing all of her new toys (electric jeep and jumpy horse that Mrs. Cynthia gave her) and only had a meltdown over Dora (which is normal). What I love about this Dora obsession is that she has really never even seen the cartoon. I mean, she's probably seen like five minutes of one episode but because she got this Dora mermaid for her birthday Dora is her all time favorite. We went to a friends Dora themed birthday a couple of weeks ago so now whenever I tell Ellie we are going to a party she says "Dora". Last weekend she went to a birthday at a place called Super Suppers and all she kept talking about beforehand was Dora :-)

Anyways, the party was a ton of fun; Ellie got to make her own pizza and decorate her own cupcake. She was the youngest one there, most of the kids were three or four but she fit right in. It was really funny because she didn't grasp the concept that the pizza had to bake before she could eat it and she kept trying to eat FROZEN sausage. Then, they get the cupcakes out and tell the kids that they are only decorating them and that they have to wait until after the pizza is done before they can eat them. Wellll, Ellie had her own ideas. She agreed not to eat the frosting but there was absolutely no stopping her from eating the sour candies that were SUPPOSED to go on top :-)

Speaking of candy, Ellie loves "chocate". First thing in the morning she wants it, last thing at night, she wants it. Mom and I were talking about where to eat and Ellie chimes in from the backseat "I like chocate". It was so sweet that she was putting in her opinion. Speaking of chocoalte I have to tell this story....the other day Ellie was playing with Dora and asked me for some chocolate. I said "no, you've already had enough chocolate today" so she says o.k and continues playing. Well, a few minutes later she told me that "Dora wants Chocate". It was just so cute and creative that I decided the effort was worth the treat. I give her the chocolate and she gives Dora a "bite" then she took a little bite. She gave dora another "bite" and then polished it off. I mean, it was just the cutest thing ever. I was reading in a magazine the other day where they talked about how kids (at this age) lying is actually an indicator that they are smart...well if that is the case I have a genius on my hands :))))

Anyways, Ellie is talking like crazy. She is still saying new things everyday and is putting sentences together every time I turn around. "Shower" is her new favorite word but she loves taking her dora bubble bath every night. She has also discovered how to do a flip so she's been practicing that a lot lately. She is also very particular about what she wants and how she wants it. If she asks for juice and you give it to her in the wrong cup she gets upset. Same thing goes with her bowls, plates, and utensils. She will pick out what she wants and that's the easiest way to go.

Potty Trained

Sweet 18 month old Ellie is potty trained!! Last Sunday she decided that she was going to use the potty and she did, all day! Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday she had one accident each day but since then NO accidents :-) I mean we go out and do all the normal stuff she just wears panties. I was nervous to put her in the car without a diaper but if you're going to go go all the way right?!I have been putting a diaper on her for bed time but she hasn't wet her diaper at all! I am just so excited; I can't believe she is potty trained. I am so proud of her, she is such an amazing little girl. She is so smart and her language is getting better and better. She is so great at communicating so that makes life easier :-)
We (Stephen, Ellie, myself, and Stephen's mom) went to the Pumpkin Patch yesterday afternoon and then to the Monster Walk in Columbiana. Ellie had lots of fun and was even saying trick or treat :-). OH, and this morning Ellie and I went to the horse stables right up the road from our house and she loved seeing the horses. Grandmomma taught Ellie that horses say "naaaaaa" and she loves saying it so I wanted to take her to see real horses. She liked it but she didn't want to get too close. Anytime I take her to see animals she is like that. She likes to look at them but she doesn't want to get too close; very cautious :-)
Well this afternoon I am going to take Ellie to Trunk or Treat at the same church I took her to last year so I'm excited. She really likes getting "chocate"...I'll post pictures soon.

Such a Proud Moment

I am so proud~ Ellie said "Thank you" to a stranger for holding the door open for us today :-) She is so polite!!

I took her to baby praise at church today and she had a really good time. There were lots of kids there and she would wave and say "hi" to each person that came in. My angel~

September

I can't believe that we are 3 months away from Christmas! Where has the time gone? It's already consignment season!! I've bought Ellie a few things but overall I am doing really good about not overbuying. I even got Ellie some Christmas gifts at Wal-Mart last week that were on CLEARANCE!! Wooohoooo!!

We've all been staying busy. We went to Dothan for a few days so Stephen could play in a golf tournament then went to Orlando for a week to visit family and friends :-) It was a good trip, the weather was Perfect, and it was so nice to go to my old work and visit with everyone. I even got to see some of my old students! We visited with Aunt Rachel and her girls and Ellie had a blast. We stayed with Stephen's dad, Nina, and Pamela and it was really nice. They kept Ellie for a couple hours several mornings so that Stephen and I could sleep. Ellie would go with "mima" or grandpa to walk Pamela to the bus stop and see Pam off to school. She bonded really quickly with them so that was nice. They loved having her there :-)

Ellie did not really like the long trip and spent most of the 10 hours home complaining/crying/screaming. She only slept for 2 hours the entire trip. Towards the end of the trip it felt so nice outside that we rolled the windows down and turned the music up. Ellie thought that was really fun and I got quite a few really cute pictures from that.

So anyways....today was a busy day for us. We walked around the property this morning then went to church, ate Chinese, washed my car, vacuumed all three cars, played in the pool, finger painted with Chocolate Pudding (for the first time), played with markers (also a first), walked to the lake, played in the pool again, finally bathed (again), and put the little love bug to bed! WHEW!

I've uploaded a few pics from recently but it just takes soooo long!

New words every day

Oh how time flies. Ellie is 16 months old and weighs 20 pounds (Yes, she is a tiny little thing). Ellie is saying new things every day and her newest one is her name! It actually comes out "EhE" but she does get the "l's" in there sometimes. She has started using several sentences and is pretty good with signing. For months she's been saying "Let's Go" and "I don't know" but now she is saying "night night mama/dada", "I love you", and "I got it/you". She is soaking up everything she hears and is repeating a lot of it. For this I am grateful that she stays home with me so I don't have to worry about what she might pick up for her vocabulary :-). She is very good about saying "Thank you" every time you give her something or do something for her. She is just the sweetest little girl ever. If you remind her she will also say "please" or sign it. Speaking of signs she has put her own twist on them. She does all the signs I have taught her but she changes them a little. For example, water is supposed to be three fingers spread out like a w while you tap the index finger on your chin. SHE does the index finger and taps her nose while saying "water". I think it is just so cute.

For the past couple of days I have gotten to experience having two kids under the same roof. I have been watching my friend's son and it has been pretty interesting. He is almost three and Ellie is 16 months so sometimes they play well together and sometimes not. I find this rather exhausting; constantly saying "share" and trying to mediate. However, I will say that Ellie LOVES having another little one to play with. They like to chase each other around the house and spin in circles as they laugh out loud. I must admit that I feel a little lonely when she has company because she isn't depending only on me :-(. But anyways.... I will survive :-).

My little love bug

Ellie is just the sweetest little baby EVER :-). We hadn't talked to mom in a few days and when we finally got her on the phone yesterday Ellie started kissing and hugging the phone. She was so excited to talk to her grandmomma and it was just so sweet. So then we got her on the web cam and of course Ellie was kissing "grandmomma", aka, the screen. She is definitely grandmomma's girl; I have to fight for my kisses when she's here :-)

(This was last month when we dropped off mom and bubba at the airport. Ellie was helping with the luggage)

We went to visit my dad last week and Ellie was saying "tito" and "tita". We got Pizza one night and Ellie wanted some so bad but I was trying to make her wait because we were in the car; well she just kept saying "itza" and signing "more". She is saying so much these days; she'll be using sentences before I know it. While we were there my nephew came to visit and he has gotten SO big. He is almost 9 and he is almost as tall as me and weighs almost as much as me. He weighs 97 lbs!!!! I can't believe how big he has gotten. I remember when he was a newborn and was so tiny. He is still very sweet and Ellie absolutely loves him. It doesn't matter if she hasn't seen him in months she goes right to him for him to pick her up every time. She just looks at him so lovingly it melts my heart.

Her other new thing is cereal with milk. When I put her on the counter she walks to the cabinet with the cereal, points at it, and then gets a bowl (which is also right there). I love that she knows what she wants and of course it is so cute. I think everything she does it cute ;-).

Stephen is doing good and staying busy with golf. He's been playing in lots of tournaments to try and prepare himself to go on tour this fall. He now has a golf trainer and a personal trainer so we're trying to get him ready. And the best part about this personal trainer is that it is FREE. His golf trainer is giving the guy lessons for free to train Stephen. He must have a lot of faith in Stephen so that makes me feel good. I am nervous about him going on tour but you only live once so he might as well go after his dream.

I don't know if I mentioned it last time but I am selling Premier Jewelry to make a little cash and I love it. I had nine shows this month so I was super busy but I love it. It's only a few hours and it gets me out of the house a little bit. At this moment I should be getting stuff ready because I am having Allison's baby shower here tomorrow. I really have so much to do and I don't know where to start.....Y'all have a great weekend!

Been a while

I

know it has been a while and my mom called me out yesterday for not updating sooooo I thought I'd drop a few lines :-)

May was SUPER busy. Mom and Bubba came in town and we had Ellie's first birthday party. It was fun and I'm glad that we decided to wait for grandmomma and grandaddy to be here. The kids played outside in the baby pool and sprinklers some and played inside too. It was soooo hot! Other than Ellie's party we didn't have any major events but did manage to stay very busy with grandmomma. Ellie didn't miss a beat with her grandparents and she loved having them here. After they left she woke up the first couple of mornings, looked at their bed, and said "granma"; so sweet! Of course, I accused mom of spoiling Ellie but turns out she had her very first ear infection :-( The poor girl was so pitiful.

(Alabama Th. and Ellie was giving mom the evil eye because she didn't want to get down but I wanted her to. It was so funny!!)

Ellie is walking, running, and talking up a storm. She says new words almost every day now. Oh, she said her first sentence at the end of May. She said "I love You" clear as day. Mom was taking her out of my room and in her sad/almost crying voice she said it to me. It was so sweet! Mom and I both heard it. I think she actually said it again to mom one day too. Ellie likes to "roar" like a lion and "ahah" like a monkey :-). At this very moment I can hear her through the monitor roaring and ahahing while sfhe is supposed to be taking a nap. She is also really into her golf clubs and bag and drags the golf bag around everywhere. Actually just this morning we took a walk around the property and she drug that thing the whole way.

We went to the beach for one night a couple of weeks ago and Ellie really liked the ocean. We were supposed to be there for another night or two but it didn't work out for us so we came home. She also likes the pool a lot and isn't scared at all to go under the water. Stephen and I took her to the pool last sunday and she stayed in for three hours. It was a zero gravity pool so she was able to stand and walk around and she kept going to where she would go under water and then I'd move her back and we'd do it all over again. She's a water baby, what can I say.

Ellie is a very sweet girl and is always giving people hugs and kisses; especially little kids. I really don't think she ever meets a stranger (if they are kids) which is strange to me because Stephen and I were both shy. Neither of us take immediatley to people the way Ellie does. I like to call her my little lover. She has grown so much and is such a good helper and listener. I don't have to tell her over and over to do something, she usually does it the first time. She also likes to help do the dishes, laundry, vaccum, and anything else I am doing. I pull weeds out of the pinestraw and then take them to the end of the yard and throw them into the wooded area and Ellie will copy me. The only differnce is that she gets the actual pine straw and takes it to the end of the yard instead of the weeds. It is so sweet and so cute that I can't bring myself to tell her no. I don't want her to think that I don't want her help. I just tell her thank you and think to myself that I can just buy more pinestraw, lol.

Oh, and Ellie went to the potty all by herself last week! Twice!!! We haven't really worked on it this week because we've been out of te house a lot but we'll get back on it soon. She is really into sitting on the toilet, wiping, and then washing her hands. Smart girl I tell you.

Well I'm going to go. I want to try and do a couple things while Ellie is asleep. It's gotten pretty quiet on the monitor so I think she decided to take a nap. OH, and check my photo tab. I'm going to add a bunch :-)

Ellie is ONE

My sweet baby girl turned one yesterday. I didn't have time to post and I still haven't had time to put up the pics but will soon. We had a very busy day and had dinner and cake with daddy when he got home from work. She liked her cake but wasn't into smashing it. She just picked at it a little and was quite neat. Daddy smeared some cake on her face so I could get a "messy" picture. Ellie was able to talk to Grandmomma and Grandaddy on the web cam first thing in the morning and then her Grandpa Steve in the evening. I love having the web cam, thanks mom :-). Anyways, I'm going to play with little bit. I'll post new pics later!

Happy Easter

Happy Easter Everyone!!

Beautiful

It's been sooooo nice here lately. Ellie and I have been spending lots of time at the park. When we aren't at the park I am pulling her around in her wagon here on the property :-). She also loves to just crawl around on the grass and play with the dogs. Well I don't know if you would call it crawling. The grass is coarse and kinda hurts so she uses just her hands and feet. She doesn't let her legs touch the ground. It is so funny and cute to see. She has also become interested in walking. She has taken quite a few steps so I think walking is in our very near future- Yipee!!!!

Oh, and the other thing she still loves to do is stand in her rocking chair and go back and forth. She is quite the little dare devil, constantly climbing and lunging off of things, LOL.

Her eighth tooth is coming in, poor thing has had a runny nose and all the other stuff for about a week now. I can finally see the white coming through so hopefully she will be out of pain soon. She's been pretty good with the exception of a couple of nights. One night she woke up THREE times; it was like having a new born all over again.....

I took Ellie to the McWane center last week. I haven't been in about ten years but she has already been once. Grandmomma and Grandaddy took her back in October so this was her second trip. Lucky girl. There is so much to do there.

I just wanted to do a quick update. I'll try to load some new pictures to "my photos" but sometimes it is just so slow!!!

March

Wow, it's already March. Ellie will be a year old in one short month. She has grown so much and I have enjoyed every minute of her (even when I am exhausted and short on patience :0). She is such a sweet and funny little girl. She loves to give Stephen and me hugs and she loves playing games. Stephen will chase her around the house and she just giggles away. It is the sweetest thing to watch them play together. I taught her how to roll the ball so we do that quite a bit. She also has this cheap little baby doll that she absolutely loves and carries it everywhere; in the grocery store, church, the gym, her HIGHCHAIR, crib, she even tries to take her in the bath tub :). She has not started walking by herself yet. She will walk if you hold both her hands and she creeps along the furniture but nothing by herself. I really want her to walk before her first birthday but if she doesn't I'll survive. I'm just looking forward to holding her hand while she walks as opposed to carrying her everywhere. Although, I must say I sure do get some good lovins when I carry her.

Ellie also loves talking to her grandmomma on the web cam. She always reaches for the screen and touches moms face. We try to web cam every day so that Ellie can see her and vis versa. I think it helps a lot with her not forgetting her grandmomma. I have several pictures of mom and Ellie in Ellie's room and she gets really excited and starts smiling and babbling when she sees them. She is definitely grandmomma's girl too :)

We've been doing lots of stuff with our playgroup these past couple of months and I really enjoy it. I also joined a stroller fit group so that I can get a little exercise while Ellie enjoys the outdoors. I just started last week and we went to the Botanical Gardens. It was nice. Ellie held hands with her new friend, it was so cute!!

Other than playing we still go to the gym several times a week and to the church two or three times per week. Ellie has gotten really good about me dropping her off in the nursery at both places. She barely makes a peep anymore. She'll stick her lip out and look like she's going to cry but she normally pulls herself together and doesn't actually shed any tears, which makes it so much easier on me.

Oh, and Ellie went thorough this phase where she didn't want to use her hands to pick stuff up so she would just use her mouth instead. It was soo funny!!

Well, I guess I'll go. Ellie fell asleep on the floor right next to me so I'm having to be VERY quiet.

A valentine from Africa

Thank you Grandmomma and Grandaddy for my beautiful Valentines Card! I love it and I really like playing with it.I have a card for you too but it hasn't come in yet so it's going to be late. SORRY!! Big hug and kiss for both of you and I can't wait to see you in May!!!

j/./../f,.kf/.j dfecx [;p cgf/.(from Ellie)

Back to normal

After spending the last half of January and the first few days of Feb. in Nashville with my dad Ellie and I are back home. Papa is doing very well. I took care of him for the first 5 days he was home and by the time I left he was walking on his own and managing to get around. I am so thankful that I was able to be there with him and to help take care of him. Ellie adjusted quite well to being out of town so much. She napped and slept in her pack and play like it was no big deal. Actually, since we were there and in the house nearly the whole time we got on a nice schedule. Ellie is now taking two one to two hour naps every day. One at 9ish and one at 2ish. It is so nice. Oh, she also has SIX teeth now (don't know if I already blogged about this) and is eating mainly solid foods. She doesn't like the pureed food anymore. I guess she figures she should use her teeth since she has them. So she basically eats whatever I eat :-)

I am so ready for some warmer weather. I want to go outside and take Ellie to the park and all that fun stuff. I can't believe she is already almost a year old. I need to start planning her party!!!

Good News!!

Papa was moved out of CCU yesterday and into a regular room. They took him off the oxygen today and he should be coming home within the next couple of days!!! We are so glad he is awake and well. Ellie and I came back up on Wednesday and I was able to spend an hour with him Wed. night while my Step mom watched Ellie and then yesterday Ellie and I spent two hours with him in his room :-) He is in good spirits and is ready to get home. Rocio has spent the last two nights with him and he has really enjoyed that. I am sure that he has been lonely since he woke up. I hated knowing he was by himself in CCU but they were super strict about visiting hours.

Ellie and I did not get to go see him today because it has been SNOWING all day long!! There is at least 4 inches of snow outside. I took her outside to sit in it but she didn't seem too impressed. I think she was too bundled up to enjoy it but I don't want her getting sick. It is so beautiful up here; I just love it!!

Since I've been here I've been trying to teach my little brother to cook. He is 19 years old but doesn't have a clue about how to cook anything other than mac n cheese. Today we made Spaghetti and tomorrow it will be some type of Chicken. I asked him what kind of chicken he wanted to make and he says "what kinds are there?". Too funny! So I showed him the cook book and we decided on a chicken/rice casserole but I think we'll have to change it bc we don't have rice or Cream of Chicken and I'm not going out in this snow to get it. Anyways, while I cook, Ellie has been helping by swiffering the floor. She loves it!

So Ellie's top two teeth have come all the way out and now she has one tooth on each side of those two coming out! She's going to have 6 teeth before she is 10 months old. I can't believe it. She is also getting really good at standing by herself for a long time. When she starts to lose her balance she wabbles back and forth before plopping down on her bottom. She is so stinkin cute!!

Ellie

Ellie is NINE MONTHS OLD! I can't believe we are so close to her first birthday. She finally decided to start crawling around Christmas and is now on the go. She is also pulling up and standing by herself a little bit (the standing part). EVERY opportunity she has she crawls over to something and pulls up. She is so cute. She likes to help me do laundry. She'll stand up by the dryer and take out one piece at a time. She then proceeds to throw the item on the floor; I don't know why, because that isn't how I do laundry :-) She is a very good helper.

She has three teeth that came in on top within the last few weeks so now she is really into eating "big people" food. She has been saying a lot of different things and a lot of times she'll only say it once or twice. She said "grandad", clear as day one time. She also likes to say "play" "cat" "bye" "momma/mommy" "dada/daddy"(one time), and her newest favorite is "gum". I think she is trying to say "grandmomma". As soon as mom went back to Africa she started saying it so that is why I think she's asking for her. We've talked to mom on the web cam a few times and Ellie gets so excited. She starts reaching for the screen and talking :-)

Ellie also loves to read. She will pick her book up and start talking and flipping the pages. She also gets really excited sometimes and kisses the book. She is such a joy and I absolutely adore staying home with her everyday. Stephen sometimes asks me if I ever get tired of staying home with her all day every day and I honestly don't. There is nothing I would rather do. I love taking care of her and playing with her.

She is actually sleeping next to me at this very moment and I think she is going to wake up soon so I better go. I will post some pictures when I get back home.

Papa

My dad, papa, is in the hospital. Last Friday at 3 am he got up and couldn't breathe. They called an ambulance and he was taken to the ER. Well, within a few hours he was in Critical Care. Stephen, Ellie, and I went to Nashville to see him Friday night and on Saturday the doctors said that he was improving so we went back to Birmingham. I was able to talk to him on Saturday and spent several hours in the room with him. Sunday night he had a bad night and by Monday morning he was on a ventilator. Ellie and I came back up on Tuesday morning and I have been here since. The doctors aren't really sure how he got this sick but they do believe that it is pneumonia. Papa has been on a ventilator all week and a couple of days ago they added a feeding tube. He has no idea that I am here or anyone else for that matter. The doctor said that when they take him off the vent he won't remember any of this. This has been a really hard week for all of us and I just pray that he gets well soon. Ellie and I are going to have to go back home tomorrow and I was hoping he would be awake by then but that doesn't seem to be the case.

I've been trying to help my step mom out with the house and errands. We go and sit in the waiting room with her when she's there. Papa is only allowed to have visitors at certain times and they are pretty strict about it. It's so hard knowing that he is up there by himself (even though he doesn't know it). Also, children under 10 are not allowed in the CCU so I've only been able to see him for a few minutes at a time, as Ellie cries every time I leave her.

Please pray for his recovery; We are all ready for him to come home. Ellie and I will come back up to take care of him when he gets out of the hospital. Rocio (step mom) works every day and I want to be sure he is o.k.