Ellie's Backyard Birthday Bash

A little pre-party snack for the birthday girl

and some dirt.....

the "crowd"

in the pool

new wagon form Yaya

Chloe and friends enjoying dinner :)

mmmmm.....milk

Chloe hangin' our with her older cousins - she LOVES these girls!

family fun!

sweet aunt and uncle came in from Austin to celebrate!

Yaya and Ellie Bellie

Birthday at home

yay for cake!
mmmmmmmm

What is this?

Opening a birthday present from Uncle Dave

testing out a birthday balloon Daddy brought home

trying on her b-day hat from Erin in her new pool from Mommy and Daddy

Ellie is 1!

I think I have already said this a million times but seriously this has felt like the fastest year of my life. Our life has truly been a whirlwind since last year this time. We moved March 19 - also Chris's 35th birthday, had Ellie April 30 - which was the beginning of my stay-at-home mom phase (which I'm secretly hoping lasts a little longer than we planned) - changed churches in September and haven't looked back since! Ok, I digress - this is a post about Ellie.
1 yr appt stats:
wt 18.14 - 15 %
ht 29 1/8 - 50%
So, she is going to be long and lean like her sister apparently - which as Dr. Diaz said and I quote, "Let's be honest - it's better to be tall and skinny" - haha I LOVE it. Anyway, she really eats like a champ and is on target developmentally and in height and head circumference so Dr. isn't worried about her weight. Uuugh - of course I still am - I pray that if we have a third child - he or she is a chunky monkey so I don't go through this worry again.
Ellie is not walking independently yet but give her a toy to push and she's off! I predict by 13 months - she'll be off and running - which would still be a month ahead of her sister. She is still a super speed crawler and can make her way across the house in about 5 seconds.
She is talking a lot - which surprises me b/c I though Chloe talked so much E wouldn't have a chance but I guess she is trying to get her words in. Words I can understand: Dada, Mama, Yaya, ball, bow, Hi, bye - numerous others that I have NO clue! I forgot how fun this age is - she is constantly babbling to herself and others as if she is really having a conversation. I love when I awake in the morning to hear her "talking" - it really is like music to me :). She is also signing and can do: more, all done, night night and sometimes book.
Ellie is into everything! Despite the fact that she's not walking - she opens and empties any cabinet she can reach, clears off shelves, can climb on the fireplace and "walk" across, climb up a slide at the park, onto Chloe's bed and stand to touch her walls, will empty the toilet paper roll, play in the toilet, and if I'm not careful - can unplug things and attempt to plug them back in. I can only imagine when she's walking what life will be like. Freddie is about to crawl so I'm guessing with my luck - he'll crawl and she'll walk the same week!
Ellie sleeps 12 hours most nights and still takes 2 good naps - one about 1 1/2 hours and 1 about 2 - LOVE this - Chloe has never slept that much! Ellie loves her sister and lights up when she comes in the room. She is starting to hug us and give sweet open mouthed kisses! She is such a sweet disposition and I can't wait to see her personality emerging even more! Oh - almost forgot she now has 6 teeth - it's been a fun month - at 11 months she had 1. We are still nursing 3-4 times a day and honestly I'm not sure when we'll stop. It's so different this time around without having to pump all the time - I really don't feel as tied down as I did with Chloe - I actually enjoy it, but Chris and I do want a little weekend away this summer so we'll stop before then. I didn't even know if I'd make it 3 months the second time around so this is a huge blessing for me! She has started drinking whole milk and is developing a taste for it. Ok, birthday pictures coming next!

Best Friends

Ellie and Freddie are becoming fast friends! Ellie starts bouncing up and down when she sees him and races over to play with him when he's doing his tummy time. It is so cute to watch their friendship forming even at this wee age :).

More Pics

Chloe having fun with the hose and her first braid. It's the first time she has ever let me do anything more than a bow or ponytail to her hair. I was so excited to practice my mad french braiding skills :).
Our pea plants - these were seeds 10 days ago!

My little watering helper

"Where are we going Chloe? Mom - to DANCE! "

A Little Whining

I know this is going to sound so whiny but that's why it's my blog - right? Chris is out of town for the next 2 days and it is SO hard without him here. I honestly don't know how single moms and other moms whose husbands travel do it. Yes, I spend the majority of the day alone with the kids but there is just something about knowing he'll be home to help for those last 2 hours that gets me through the day. It definitely helps me appreciate how much he does at night - he is so great playing and entertaining the kids, a huge help in the kitchen, even cleans up after dinner and gives one of them their baths if not both. Then he always puts Chloe to sleep so I'm done after Ellie is down. Sigh.....nothing like absence to make the heart grow fonder. It amazes me to think that my mom did this alone for YEARS! I'm not sure I would last long as a single mom but I guess it's one of those things that you just do because you have to. She even came to help tonight and was great but I still miss my hubby :(.
And, I am so glad I am taking pictures of my garden b/c I was looking at the squash and zucchini tonight thinking that it hadn't grown much and it has grown a ton! Too late to take pics now but I'll snap some tomorrow. Our peas are doing fabulous too! We panted seeds about 10 days ago and we have TONS of little plants now! SO exciting!

Look at the difference 5 days makes!!

Sweet Ellie - her curls are coming in!
Her favorite thing to do right now - "draw" pictures"

Roses from our bushes! and they SMELL amazing!

funky roses - but pretty

peppers!

tomato flowers and buds!

Wow! Gardening is so fun! I went to check on our plants to day and yippee - I see some real vegetables growing! I am SO excited that we might actually be able to eat something out of our yard I can hardly stand it! and correcting - apparently I am not growing yellow bell peppers - they are banana peppers which I'm not even sure I like but they look fantastic and I'm sure we'll LOVE them :). I have SO much to learn about this. More random fun - I was out with the girls this afternoon delivering our new neighborhood directories and ice cream social flyers (SO 1950's - I LOVE this neighborhood) and ran into our neighbor Tom down the street. He was out planting his garden with his wife - so we got to go look at his plants and talk gardening with him - SO exciting! I think they are going to be my gardening mentors now - yay! He even offered to lend me a couple of tomato cages - yay again!

Side note - Chris started a diet Thursday - today is Saturday and he has lost 10 pounds!! Are you kidding me? I have been trying to lose my last 5 pound of Ellie weight for 6 months! SO much easier for guys!

Another side note - I can NOT believe my little Ellie Belly will be 1 in 2 weeks! I literally feel like it was last week that we were driving to the hospital at 4 :30 am (and can still remember that pain - sorry to first time preggos reading - Erin :). I feel that same mix of joy and sadness that I did when Chloe turned 1. I don't really know if we'll have another baby - Chris and I have mixed opinions but I'm hoping God will work on him :). Soooo, she could be my last little baby - almost makes me want to cry. Ahhhh, motherhood - hardest, most tiring job I've ever had but the most special, intense, best one too!