Ellie's big girl room

 We are almost completely done with Ellie's big girl room. Last year, early summer maybe, Stephen and I bought Ellie an old wooden bed for her new room. Well it sat in the basement for a good 6 months before we sanded it, primed it, and painted it a very light pink. It is so cute and I love it. It makes me happy to think that every time I look at it I will remember that it is something that Stephen and I did together and I didn't even have to nag him to help ;-). Anyways, before it got set up in her room mom and I had to do some major "renovations". First of all I had put almost all of Ellie's toys in her room along with all her furniture because I figured her room was big enough and it would be good for her to play in there. Wellll, I didn't like it. It always appeared to be a complete disaster and even when it wasn't a disaster it was just crowded. Not to mention, she did NOT like other kids playing with her toys because they were in HER room. So, mom and I took EVERYTHING out of her room, moved all the toys back upstairs and rearranged her furniture. I have never been to great at furniture arrangement so I needed moms help. It looks so nice in there now. Her crib is on one side of the room and her big girl bed on the other. The only "toys" are her baby dolls and her books; quiet toys.

before



after



Close up

Name on wall

Cork Board

About the decor, I painted her room a light/lime greenish color and the trim is chocolate brown. I had also bought all the fabric for her bedding and curtains last year and given the fabric to my step mom to make Ellie's duvet. She finished it for Christmas and it is so nice. It is reversible with two different patters and I love it. She will have it for a very long time. After the duvet was done, I immediately got to work on finishing the curtains. I had to make valance's and add fabric to the bottom of her already pink curtains. After that, I added a green ribbon to tie in the wall color. Next thing on the agenda was the cork board that hangs above her bed and the last thing I did was her name on the wall.

The only thing I have left that I can think of is the bed skirt, which I will get to work on as soon as I finish getting Ellie's old clothes ready for consignment. So, I would say by the end of Feb. her room will be COMPLETELY DONE!!

It's Pizza Time~

Stephen decided that he wanted to make pizza with Ellie because he said he always enjoyed it when he was smaller. So, he bought all the supplies and we made a pizza! Ellie was very into eating the pepperoni and cheese of course :-) I have to say the pizza wasn't awesome but it was a fun thing to do together.

Zoo Light Safari

 Yes, I am way late posting but we went to Zoo light Safari on the last night; Jan. 2nd. We hads lots of fun even though it was freezing cold outside. Ellie "met" Albie and she gave him a kiss and hug :-). This was our first time and we really enjoyed it.

Christmas 2010

I woke up early on Christmas morning so that I could be showered and ready when Ellie woke up. She woke up about 7:30, we woke Stephen up, got Ellie dressed while Stephen showered and then I ran upstairs to make sure the video camera was set up before she came up. Well, Ellie was just not impressed. She had WAY too many toys and was quite cranky the first half of the morning. She immediately saw her stroller and that was the end of the gifts. She played with it and when she finally made it to the kitchen she saw another big gift, A KITCHEN! She did like the kitchen and played with it for quite a while. Right before lunch we got her to open her baby doll and she was very excited. She LOVES babies and thinks this is just the best thing ever. The baby was from gmomma and gdaddy, the kitchen from grandpa and mima, and the stroller from us. We should have just stopped there. She wasn't too terribly interested in opening anything else so I took about ten gifts from under the tree, unwrapped them, and took them upstairs to the present closet to give to her for her birthday. I knew we went overboard but I just couldn't stop. Oh well, lesson learned. I think next year she really will just get a couple of things from us. Everyone else ends up getting her so much stuff anyways. OH, and as many of you know, it SNOWED. It was awesome. Ellie loved smacking her hand on the ground and seeing the snow stick to her mitten. She just thought it was the best thing ever. I told her not to take her gloves off because it was too cold and as she slipped one mitten off she squealed "I did it!". StInKeR.

The day before Christmas we celebrated with Stephens mom, grandmother, sister, and brother in law. Ellie got a tri cycyle, which she calls "lillys cycle", a Rudolph rocking horse, and some clothes. She calls the tri cycle "lilly's cycle" because there was another tri cycle at Nina's that was exactly like the one she got and we told her that it was "lilly's tri cycle" so now I guess she thinks that is what it's called :-) I think it's cute though.

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.