The Holden Family

Nana Love

2012-02-10T18:02:00.004-05:00

We wanted Nana (my mom) to know how much we love her! This is an old picture (from July 2010) but one that Ellie and her look so cute together in. Nana takes such great care of us and everyone in our family and we are truly blessed to have her in our lives! The relationship I have with my mom is one that I pray Ellie and her sister and I have when they are adults. I know I put her through the ringer growing up and I am truly blessed to have such an amazing relationship with her now in my life. We know Nana needs lots of our love as she faces new challenges and we are so honored to have the joy of loving on her!

WE LOVE YOU NANA!!!!!

Homemade Playdough

2012-02-10T17:46:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Ellie and I made homemade playdough. It was very easy and is the best playdough I have ever used. It is much better than the store bought kind and it will be the way we use playdough from now on.

Our finished pink, purple and yellow playdough!

Playdough fun!

Ellie helping make the playdough! Ellie helps me cook most nights at some point and always likes to sit on the counter. I let her mix items with me and hand me items. She is an excellent assistant and she is always asking to help more and I look forward to her helping me every night. I hope her love of cooking is much like mine and I pray her and I have many more memories in the kitchen of cooking fun as she grows just like I have with my own mom!

Lots of Projects

2012-02-10T17:34:00.004-05:00

I have lots of projects on my list before the baby comes and I am so excited about making them. So far I have made bows for Ellie and the new baby girl and wipe clutches for Ellie, Baby Girl and both of them to share. This weekend I am making paci clips for the baby and looking forward to a few more projects before the baby comes. These projects also make great gifts and since I have many friends having babies in the next 3 months or have had babies in past couple months I am so excited to give some of these things to them for their new little ones. A big thank you to Nana and PopPop (my parents) for giving me a sewing machine last year for Christmas as it has sparked a whole new hobby for me in the past year that I am loving and I enjoy making so many projects for our home and my little inspirations Ellie and her baby sister!

The paisley one is for sweet Ellie, the one with pink flowers is for our new little girl and the multi-colored flower one is for both girls for our bag that goes into restaurants. These wipe clutches turned out so cute and are so easy to make!

These bows are so easy and inexpensive to make. I can't wait to make many more for the girls!

Ponytails and the Park

2012-02-10T17:17:00.005-05:00

Ellie wanted a ponytail the other day like Mommy and then wanted to pose for her picture. Her hair is getting longer by the day and it fit great in a ponytail. After her nap, we then took advantage of the great weather we had last week and went to the park. Ellie was so excited to go to the park and since the fall she is able to freely go on anything as she is much more coordinated, but the swings are still the favorite. The weather was beautiful at 70 degrees in January. I know many people in North Carolina are loving this weather in January, but I have to confess I am missing the winter and where is the snow? I have lived here since 2003 and this could be the first year since I have lived here with no snow or ice :( Having grown up in South Florida most of my life I am familiar with this kind of winter and have to say it is a reason I moved from there so that I could enjoy the seasons. So in our house we are wishing and hoping that winter will show up before the spring arrives, if not summer could be here a lot earlier than we all want :)

We love this smiley girl!!! I mean really how can you not love this face :)

This is what she calls smiling :)

27 Weeks

2012-02-01T19:36:00.005-05:00

We have hit 27 weeks today! This pregnancy in some ways is flying by and some ways is creeping by. Before I know it a week has gone by and we are closer to meeting our little girl. We have been busy around here preparing. I pretty much have everything ready other than washing the bedding and clothes which I will do when we move Ellie to her big girl room. Ellie has started putting her hand on my belly each night while we read and then telling the baby night night. Little girl is kicking around in there and seems to enjoy the sounds she hears out here. I have been healthy so far. I am exercising daily and eating raw fruits and veggies as snacks. I have my glucose test on Friday and a check up and then I will be going every other week as I will enter my third trimester and my doctor also wants to keep an eye on my blood pressure. My goal is to get to 37 weeks with no blood pressure issues and with prayer and trust in God it will happen. I made it to 33 1/2 weeks with Ellie before bedrest hit, so this time I am better shape and eating better and praying we have a pregnancy that is bedrest free. Thanks for your continued prayers for this pregnancy and our family as we get ready to be a family of four within the next 3 months!

Sorry it is a little blurry, but you can see the baby bump best in this one. Ben says I always pick night to take my picture and it is not the best time of day. Next time I will try for a day photo :)

Big Girl Bed

2012-01-27T07:22:00.005-05:00

We will be moving Ellie to a big girl bed in the near future so we can get her used to her new room since the baby will be moving into the nursery. Ben is making all her bedroom furniture! He is doing a great job and loves doing it! He wanted Ellie to have something that he made for her that she will always have just from him. We have eliminated our guest room and made it a playroom/Mommy's office and Ben has painted his former man room yellow instead of blue and we have put Ellie's bed in the new big girl room. She has not seen it and we are keeping her out until Ben builds her dresser and we get a few things to decorate the room. We are then going to let her pick out a fish for her new room since I have an old small tank from the teaching years and then we will start her transition. We are looking forward to it, but I also can't believe my baby is a big girl! Here are a few pictures of her bed and when her room is all done we will be sure to update the blog!

Cookie Palooza

2011-12-24T14:02:00.005-05:00

Our Christmas cookies are finished and oh so delicious! Ben and I made them yesterday while Ellie napped and this morning as a family we decorated them (well Ellie ate 2, but Ben and I decorated them). Ben did it growing up so we started doing it last year and it has become a family tradition for us. Ben is looking very forward to when the girls and I do all the work and he enjoys the eating, there are many benefits for a man living in a house with girls :)

McAdenville and a Christmas Treat

2011-12-22T10:28:00.002-05:00

This year we went to see the lights in the town of McAdenville (another tradition with Andy and Katie we have been doing about 5 years, pre kids). We had a great time and it was especially fun with Ellie this year as she is obsessed with pointing out all the lights, especially the ones that are red. Unfortunately, there are no pictures of our fun evening, but I will remember to take some next year.

Also, I have been making treats. I love making treats in general, but I especially love making them during the holidays and giving them away to good friends. Here is one of my treats that I made and found on pinterest.

Billy Graham Library

2011-12-22T10:23:00.010-05:00

We love this little girl more than words can say and watching her sit during story time was so cute!

This year we wanted to go to Billy Graham Library. It is another free event here in Charlotte. We met up with Ben's sister and her family and though it was more adult friendly with the space they had they did a good job of setting up the area. There was a live nativity and performers singing and playing Christmas songs and there was a little story time for the kids, which Ellie loves a good story and enjoyed her sticker she got afterwards. It was a short event, but we got to see Rachel's family and Ellie enjoyed the time with her cousins, who she also got to play all morning with :)

Village Park

2011-12-22T10:05:00.009-05:00

Ellie and I enjoy going to Village Park in the summer and playing on the Splash pad, riding the train and playing on the playground. This summer one of our visits the train conductor told us about the Christmas lights they put up and we decided to check it out. So Ben, Ellie and I headed there one night and it was a great family event in the community. It was free except the train ride, but the train ride was minimally priced. We started at the model train set up, which was one of Ben's favorites. He has his own model train that he would love to set up and this one was large and interactive. We then saw the singing bears, which are puppets, and Ellie loved them. Santa was there and you could take your own pictures for free with him, but Ellie is not into that this year, we will try next year, but I will say I am a stickler with Santa and look to make sure he looks like the real thing and must have a real beard and this Santa did :) We then rode the train through the over 100,000 lights that were set up and Ellie loved it and so did Ben and I. We ride the train in the summer and never have to wait in line, but that was not the case here. The line was not at all horrible, but Ellie did not understand why she had to wait and after everyone got on and we watched the train pull away while we waited our turn, she turned to Ben and started screaming and crying and saying "Choo-Choo". Her little heart just didn't understand why it left her, but Ben consoled her and we told her it was coming back for us and she looked diligently for it to return. We felt bad her little heart didn't understand, but I also told Ben that we were definitely not ready for Disney World :) Ellie then had a great time dancing and running around while we watched the light show. She kept us laughing. We have fun pretty much anywhere we go together so this was just another adventure that we are looking forward to going to year after year.

I have included many pictures of the model train mainly for my dad, my grandpa and Ben's grandpa as they love model trains and we thought of how much all 3 of them would have loved this model train set up.

Not feeling the picture, just wanted to enjoy that train!

Halfway There!!

2011-12-22T09:51:00.008-05:00

This post is a little overdue, but we are halfway there to meeting our precious little girl. As Ben would say I am now on the down slope. I have been able to feel this little one kick in the past 2 weeks and Ellie loves to say hi to my belly and even kisses the baby now. So far things have been going well. I have gained little weight and have been trying to snack healthy, which at this time of year is very hard, and I have been trying to walk 5-6 days a week. Our prayer is that I would have a healthy blood pressure for the rest of my pregnancy and would avoid bedrest for many reasons. I would also ask that you would pray for me to continually trust that God will provide me with the health I need for me, this baby and our family and that we will make it to 37 weeks with no spike in blood pressure. My doctor seems very confident that I will be fine and I need to trust in the Lord and have the same confidence.

Not the best picture of me but had to include it due to the monkey in the corner :)

Baby Kisses

Merry Christmas from The Holdens!!

2011-12-22T09:25:00.006-05:00

We have had a wonderful year! It has been full of many busy times and many blessings.

Ben is loving pouring into the middle school students and it is a true joy as his wife to volunteer in the ministry that he leads and walk along side him in the passion that God has given him and watch him pour his life into what God has called him to do. He is also going to seminary part time and has stayed focused in the past year to achieve his goal of graduating in another 3 years.

I have been blessed to be able to stay at home with our sweet Ellie and it has been through God's constant provision, even when it didn't seem possible from my limited perspective, that I have been able to do that. My sister-in-law found a great part time opportunity online that I have been doing since September that has provided exactly what we need and that is all that I have asked of God and he has always shown up in this year. Ellie and I have enjoyed lots of fun adventures and did a ton of playing this year. I have also enjoyed a new love for sewing and have made many fun items and of course Ellie is the prime recipient of this items.

Ellie has grown immeasurably this year. She has begun walking and talking and has developed the sweetest and funniest personality in this last year. She keeps Ben and I laughing all the time and she is so sweet to others. I know when her little sister comes in the spring she is going to be an amazing big sister. She is like a little mommy Ben says. She has spent the year taking care of her baby doll and learning to do so many chores. She loves to do whatever I do and has become quite independent. She brings so much joy into our home. We can't even remember life without her.

As a family we have had many fun experiences throughout the year and made many exciting memories and are excited to have many more in the coming year, our biggest being adding another sweet little baby girl into our family. Ben will be in a house full of girls (even our kitty is a girl) but he couldn't be happier and we are so excited to meet our newest addition. The Lord has given us many blessings this past year and many challenges and He has shown up in all of our moments and as we look back on our year we can see it very clearly that He is always there.

We pray you all have a very Merry Christmas and stop to remember why we truly celebrate this very special season!

Love,
Ben, Emily, Ellie and Baby Girl

Daddy's Little Helper

2011-12-22T09:19:00.007-05:00

Ben is our light expert around here and I must say he does the best job I have ever seen at putting on our Christmas tree lights. He does the lights and I do the ornaments. This year he had a little helper. We let Ellie stay up a little later to help her Daddy put the lights on the tree and I think Ben enjoyed the time just as much if not more than Ellie. They both did an excellent job!

Tree Hunting

2011-12-22T09:11:00.003-05:00

We ventured out on our annual Christmas tree hunting fun with our great friends Andy and Katie. We had a great time picking out our tree and was actually the fastest either of the families have done it so fast. It is a great tradition for us and we love the time we have with our friends. It has been a blessing in our lives to have such great friends to walk with and to watch as our families grow. We have been going since it was just the two couples and have since grown to include Ellie for the third year (this year being a year she could walk all around the tree farm) and next year we are super excited to have a new little one in our family and a new little one will be in Andy and Katie's family to join in our tradition. Each year simply gets better and better.

Business Woman

2011-12-21T16:23:00.003-05:00

Ellie watches Mommy and Daddy do computer work so with the help of a laptop from Nana and PopPop Ellie did her very own work as well.

Another Precious Little Girl

2011-12-03T16:40:00.003-05:00

We found out on Friday that we have another precious little girl on the way. She looked wonderful on the ultrasound and everything looked healthy. Ellie was there too and she would see the baby on the screen and say "baby". We are very excited to bring another little girl into our home and I am super excited Ellie will have a little sister. Ben is a wonderful father to our little girl now and can't wait to see him with our new little one. He has quickly become outnumbered (even our kitty is a girl) but he enjoys every minute of it :) I will be sure to post a picture of the growing baby belly very soon, but so far things are going great and we are healthy and this week Ellie has started kissing the baby in my belly and it is so sweet to see her developing love for her little sister. I can't wait to see them together!

Little Miss 2 Year Old

2011-11-12T14:16:00.011-05:00

On 11-11-11 Ellie turned two years old. We did a family party as she is so young she has no idea what is happening :) Ben and I decorated the house when she went to bed with her birthday banner I made her and some streamers and balloons. I also made her cupcakes from my family's birthday cake recipe we had every year growing up and Ellie picked out the frosting she wanted earlier in the week, so that is what I put on them. My parents (Nana and PopPop) got her an easel for her birthday so Ben put it all together so she could see right when she came downstairs on her birthday. She LOVES her easel. She constantly wants to draw on it. I then made her french toast for breakfast on her birthday plate. For lunch we went on a family picnic and Ellie got to play on the playground for a long time, which is a favorite of hers. After naptime Ellie opened her few gifts from Nana and PopPop and her gift from us, which was a Little People's Bus. She loves buses. She loves to watch them out the window of our house and one has a stop right in front of our house for the elementary kids. We live right across from the school, so on our walks or drives around town she is always saying "bus". And she loves the bus we got her. She takes it around the house and up and down the stairs. Her gifts this year have definitely been a huge hit. After dinner Ellie got to have her cupcake. We lit her candle and sang to her, but as soon as the candle was lit, she screamed until we blew it out. Apparently, she does not like fire, which is a great thing :) She then ate some of her cupcake, but preferred to bend down to eat it so her hands would not get dirty :) After cupcake time, Ben read her the "Happy Birthday to You!" book by Dr. Seuss that his dad read to him every year growing up and Ben said she did much better than last year :) She had a wonderful birthday day and even gets to open a few more gifts when Geep and Gran come for Thanksgiving, so she has more to look forward to and doesn't even now it :)

We love our sweet Ellie or as we call her in our family, Elliebeans! We can't imagine a life without her and can not believe she is already 2! She is a joy to have in our home and brings us so many laughs and cuddles! She is so caring and is the smartest little girl! This year will be a big year for her as she learns to use many more words and becomes a big sister, we are excited to watch her grow and learn.

Sticker Fun

2011-11-12T13:55:00.004-05:00

Gran put some stickers in Ellie's birthday card and our rule is she can stick them on herself, Ben or me and this is what she chose.

Fun At Home

2011-11-12T13:53:00.004-05:00

Here are a few pictures form our fun around the house. Ellie loves wearing our shoes and she loves being a mommy. She takes great care of her baby even making sure to feed her. She also loves sharing her toys with Maggie, which Maggie is kind enough to tolerate.

Halloween and Pumpkin Carving 2011

2011-11-12T13:46:00.005-05:00

This year Ellie was our little giraffe and after not wanting to wear the costume at first she did great. We wore the costume around the house for the week before to get used to it, but the real incentive was that once she put it on we told her she got to go see baby Seth as we like to trick or treat at his house first each year. Once she was told about seeing Seth we were set and she jumped in that costume :) Ellie did great. We went to about 6 or 7 houses and she did all the walking :) A few days before we had our annual pumpkin carving with our friends Andy and Katie. We have been doing this since the year we got married. We have grown from 4 people to know 5 with Ellie and next year we will be at 7 people as we are expecting another little one and Andy and Katie are expecting their first little one. It has been fun to do every year and to experience as our families grow. This year we even let Ellie stay up for the carving fun and she loved it!

Daddy Turms 31

2011-11-12T13:26:00.004-05:00

Ben turned 31 on the 23rd of October. He had the middle school fall retreat that weekend, so Ellie and I made him a cheesecake and got him a couple gifts and took him out to dinner. His 30th year flew by but it was full of fun, lots of laughs and tons of love. He is an amazing husband and father and Ellie and I could not have asked for anything more in our lives. Ellie was not in to taking a picture with Daddy this year, so we got what we could :)

Pumpkin Patch

2011-11-12T13:15:00.006-05:00

This year we went to a pumpkin patch that was full of activities for kids. Ellie was still a little young for a lot of it, but we are excited to take her next year when she will be able to enjoy more of the fun. This year Ellie played in the corn pit, went through the corn maze, played on the tractor playground, attempted to feed the animals in the petting zoo (we are having a phobia of animals right now, so it wasn't the favorite activity) and rode a hayride out to the pumpkin patch to pick out our family pumpkin. There is a recurring person in the pictures, it is baby. Ellie takes baby everywhere and baby experiences lots of family fun with us. When we were in the pumpkin patch we asked Ellie to sit with the pumpkins for a pictures and instead she posed baby for a picture like a good little Mommy. She wants to be a mommy so bad, we hope she treats her new little brother or sister with the same love she treats baby with :)

Visiting Nana and PopPop

2011-11-12T12:34:00.007-05:00

In September we went to visit Nana and PopPop and much more family. We had a great time exploring the pumpkins at Nana and PopPop's garden center, visiting with PawPaw and Grandmary and going to play at Uncle Drew's and Ms. B's. We got to play in the creek (which we thought Ellie would not go in because it was so cold, but when it comes to water nothing deters her) and play with Xavier and Riley. We did lots of playing and visiting and eating. We also got a new 4th generation picture and got to tell Nana and PopPop that Ellie was going to be a big sister! Ellie had so much fun that she zonked out on the way home. We can't wait to go back!!

Discovery Place

2011-11-12T12:32:00.006-05:00

Back in July we went to Discovery Place Kids when my mom was visiting. We took Seth along with us so his mommy could go to the doctor and Ellie and Seth both had a great time. She had been to a similar place in Raleigh and moving from station to station was a challenge as she never wanted to leave a station, this time she did great moving from place to place and enjoyed all the stations.

Day with Geep and Gran

2011-09-23T12:03:00.003-04:00

A few weeks ago Ben gave a training for volunteers for MAXlife that was all day and as a volunteer I had to also attend. Being gone all day we had Ben's parents, Geep and Gran, watch Ellie. They had a great time and got a few pictures to document their time together.

Sous Chef

2011-09-23T12:00:00.004-04:00

When I have time I am loving sewing. I decided to make Ellie a little apron she could wear while we cooked. Ben's only request was that it be just like mine. I finished it a few weeks ago and I must say it is pretty cute!

Playdough Fun

2011-09-23T11:57:00.003-04:00

We had our first experience with play dough and it went pretty well. Ellie only tried to eat it a few times, but other than that she loved playing with it.

Camping Out

2011-09-23T11:55:00.005-04:00

Living Room Style Camping

Beach Trip 2011

2011-09-23T11:51:00.004-04:00

We were so excited to go on our yearly beach trip in August. It is a wonderful time for our family to get away, spend some much needed time together and relax. We always have a great time and this year Ellie was so much fun. Last year the pool was her best friend, this year it was the beach. She has no fear, so the waves did not scare her at all. She loved playing in the sand and walking around the beach and she was obsessed with the water. She would wake up after each nap and every morning saying "Wa" (which is water to her). She could not wait. We can not wait to go back next year! Of course we were having so much fun that pictures are few, but we did snap a few!

30 years

2011-09-23T11:47:00.005-04:00

In August I hit the big 3-0! I am looking forward to this next decade and all it will bring. As my grandmother told me, 30-35 are the best years of your life mentally and physically! I told her I was excited on one hand, but on the other, would about the rest of those years :) (Thanks for the wisdom Granmary!!) The first 30 years were more than I ever could have imagined. Ben gave me beautiful flowers and delicious dessert as well as an individual cup coffeemaker, which I am so excited about.

A Little Green Thumb After All

2011-09-23T11:44:00.004-04:00

I come from a long line of very talented gardeners and landscapers, but that gift has seemed to pass me by, or so I thought. On Mother's Day Ellie and I planted some sunflowers out back and this summer they bloomed. I felt very accomplished at finally achieving being able to grow something from a seed. Who knows maybe next year I will tackle growing a small garden.

Daddy at the Splashpark

2011-09-23T11:41:00.004-04:00

Ben wanted to experience the splashpark after hearing about all our adventures. Ellie enjoyed showing him all the fun you could have there and we all can't wait to go back next year!

Hanging at the House

2011-09-23T11:40:00.006-04:00

This summer we did a lot of playing around the house on those hot afternoons. Ellie enjoyed playing dress up and Seth enjoyed Ellie dressing him up.

Summer Pool Time

2011-09-23T11:36:00.003-04:00

We enjoyed some summer pool time in the backyard and Seth was a good sport about going with the flow.

A Visit From Nana

2011-09-20T12:25:00.004-04:00

Back at the end of July my mom came to visit while Ben was at summer camp with the middle school students. It is our usual girl time and we stay super busy. We shopped, went to the Splashpark, went to Discovery Place kids, went to some favorite restaraunts and made some favorite meals. We also did a little sewing and lots of playing. My mom took all the pictures, thank goodness, so we got some good ones. Seth also tagged along with us on our adventures. Here are a few pictures from our time together. The Discovery Place ones I will have to post at a later time.

A Girl After My Own Heart

2011-08-18T13:08:00.002-04:00

She loves her spaghetti anyway she can get it!

Astronaut Helmet

2011-08-18T13:03:00.005-04:00

I am sure we posted pictures of Ellie our astronaut before. She loves to put this Tupperware on her head and we call her our little astronaut. Well, she sat on it one day and it broke, so we had to purchase a new one. She held it all the way out of the store and wore it home! She constantly cracks us up!

Night At The Ballpark

2011-08-18T12:53:00.007-04:00

Ellie had her first night out at the ballpark last month. Ben organizes an event for middle school students and their families from our church as a fun summer outing. This year Ellie got to go and had so much fun playing and eating and maybe watching a little baseball. She had the most fun playing with Jace, who will be coming to middle school this year. Jace loves Ellie and Ellie loves playing with Jace. She has such a sweet heart and even bought Ellie a special little gift with her hard earned money.

Ben is looking forward to taking Ellie to more games as she grows and I am excited to go too!

Can't put our pretzel down even for a picture!

Always eating and there were many adults that were more than willing to share :)

Dress Up

2011-08-18T12:46:00.004-04:00

Ellie LOVES playing with Seth and Seth LOVES playing with Ellie. One day Ellie decided a little dress up was on the schedule during playtime.

He is such a great sport!

Going for a Run

2011-08-18T12:42:00.003-04:00

Ellie decided to throw on Mommy's shoes and go for a run.

Hide and Seek

2011-08-18T12:38:00.003-04:00

Ellie has discovered a new place to have some fun...

...the kitchen cabinet!

Picasso

2011-07-11T19:48:00.005-04:00

We have a little Picasso on our hands. I decided to venture into painting with Ellie. We started with pudding painting, fun and delicious. We started by mixing up the pudding together and then I set her all up. I showed her how to do it and she did great until she realized it tasted delicious. Once she tasted that pudding painting was over and eating had begun. I am sure Ellie is looking forward to another painting session in the near future :)

Fireworks

2011-07-11T19:44:00.008-04:00

This year we went to the Whitewater Center to see fireworks. Ben spoke at a camp that week and so Ellie and went with him to see him in action and then we all ventured out to see the fireworks. Ellie did awesome. She stayed up super late and was not fussy at all. She loved watching them and was not scared. We had a great and relaxing Fourth and can't wait for the fireworks next year!

Special Visitors

2011-07-11T19:27:00.013-04:00

Ben's sister and her family recently moved to Raleigh and we are so excited to have them closer. They cam down to visit us for a few days and we were so excited. We got to hang out a lot. I got to cook lots of meals and use the awesome recipes and training my mom has given to me and I have to say her recipes were a hit! We went to the park, a spray park (which was more crowded than I had ever seen, but Ellie had a great time!) and we went to the Raptor Center. The Raptor Center is a place that rescues and takes care of hurt birds. Ben had been there the week before with the middle school students to do a mission project and was excited to take us all there. We have an awesome friend that got all the adults in for free and the kids were all free anyways! It was great to see all these amazing birds up close and I love to see owls up close, so that was a special treat. Everyone had a great time there! We also went to church and the boys had a great time there! The twins and I had a great time learning our letters and spelling words, it brought me back to my teaching days. It was also fun to teach them all about the things I was cooking or doing. Ellie is interested but can't verbalize her interest like they can. Ellie had a great time playing with Jaden, Jackson and Kylie. Kylie and her are warming up to each other and Kylie will even give her a squeezie now, which Ellie loves to give out freely. We are so happy they came to visit and look forward to seeing them more now that they are so close. Unfortunately, I did not get many pictures, we were just having too much fun to stop for taking photos.

Summer Adventures

2011-07-11T19:11:00.008-04:00

Ellie and I have been exploring spray parks this year. Our first adventure was not receptive by Ellie. She was not having it. I knew she just needed to warm up to it since it was a new experience. I would not give up because we want her to enjoy and be exposed to as much as possible. So we ventured to another spray park that was bigger and I could run through with her. We have been twice and she loves it more each time we go. This last spray park was great with a lifeguard and a great playground (which Ellie is a girl with no fear when it comes to playgrounds and the heights they go, she will try any slide she sees!) and even a train to ride. We had a great time and always take Ethan and his mom along for our adventures as well as Seth! I think Caroline and I enjoy it just as much as they do :)

Seth

2011-07-10T14:39:00.008-04:00

We are so excited to be spending time this summer with our buddy Seth. Ben and I have known Seth's parents for a few years now and are happy to have him in our home 4 days a week. Ellie loves to help take care of him and loves taking him on all our adventures. He is an awesome little boy and is much like Ellie was when she was 6 months old. He is our Mr. Smiles and is a joy to have with us during the day.

Father's Day 2011

2011-07-10T14:02:00.007-04:00

We love to celebrate Ben whenever we can. He is an awesome father and an amazing husband and provider for our family. He is a man of simple wants. This year he told me all he wanted for Father's Day was a dozen donuts form Dunkin Donuts. (Ellie and I also got him a grilling cookbook and of course we took him out for steak.) I woke up at 6 on Father's Day to get Ben all the donuts he requested. He was able to enjoy them before heading to work. (Ellie and I also enjoyed a couple donuts I especially picked out for us. I think Ellie is going to be a donut fiend just like her Dad!) After work he had more donuts, a nice nap and a steak to end the day. Just his kind of day :) We love him very much and can not tell him enough how wonderful he is!

June in Raleigh

2011-07-10T13:25:00.009-04:00

In the beginning of June we visited Raleigh. We were excited to spend time with Ben's parents for 4 days and see Ben's sister, Rachel, and her family. They have recently relocated to Raleigh from all the way out in Washington state and we are so excited to have them all living so much closer. Ellie is also excited to have her cousins and aunt and uncle closer. We have seen them a couple of times and all the kids are warming up to be around each other. While in Raleigh we had a great time playing outside in Geep and Gran's (Ben's parents) yard and enjoyed some wonderful meals prepared by Gran. I had also heard of a hands on children's museum in Raleigh and we all ventured there one day. The kids loved it and I have to say I think the adults enjoyed it as well. Ellie and I love to play together and have so much fun, Ben often says that he thinks I like to take her places so I can play too :) Ellie loved each section, especially the stethoscope and struggled to move on to a new section. We have a similar museum here in Charlotte and are planning on taking her there soon. The cousins did lots of playing and Gran also had a great little chair that she had as a child that Ellie loved sitting in. Ellie did some reading with Geep, exploring with Gran, ice cream eating at Goodberry's for the first time and a little firefly hunting. We had a great time in Raleigh!

Best Buds

2011-05-27T15:32:00.007-04:00

Ellie's friend Ethan went on vacation for a few days and they really missed each other. We see each other all the time since we are neighbors and Ethan and Ellie love to play together and give each other squeezies. We met up at the park when they got home. They were so excited to see each other. They gave each other squeezies and reached out to hold hands. When we got home and told Daddy he told Ellie she better slow it down, no holding hands so young :) I have to say it is so cute to see the two of them play together and love on each other, they are great friends.

Playground Fun

2011-05-27T15:30:00.006-04:00

This year the playground is a whole new experience. Ellie climbs on anything and loves to slide. She can slide all by herself now so our playground time is more about what Ellie can do instead of what Mommy takes Ellie on :) She is having a great time and is growing up fast!

Water Girl

2011-05-27T15:24:00.006-04:00

Summer is here (at least the heat makes it feel that way)!! It has been hot and we have been trying to stay cool in whatever water we can find. We went to the pool a few weeks ago at our friend Lindsay's house. We had a great time and Ellie warmed up to the water until she went under, but Mommy and Lindsay got great girl time too! We also got Ellie a little pool for the backyard. She loves playing in the hose and the little pool. I moved to Florida when I was 4 and grew up swimming and going to the beach all the time. I loved the water when I was little so I am hoping Ellie develops a love for it too!

Tennessee Adventures

2011-05-27T15:13:00.007-04:00

Back in March we went to visit my family in Tennessee. Ellie did a great travel job. She read lots of books and on the way home was so tired and did lots of sleeping. We had a great time visiting family, exploring, meeting new friends and seeing my grandparents great newly remodeled home. We even got to play Wii at my parent's house (Ellie did a little Just Dance 2 with me). It was a quick trip but relaxing as usual. Ellie was the star of the show as always and met some new friends, Riley and Xavier, and made a new special friend, Brittany, who she loved giving squeezies to. We did lots of playing with Nana and PopPop and got to go to The Spaghetti Factory. We can't wait to go back in August and get to see everyone again!

Family Photo Shoot

2011-05-11T22:22:00.000-04:00

We were blessed this past weekend to have our picture taken by our new friend, Chad, from church. He recently started a photography business that he pursues on the weekends. He is extremely talented and extremely reasonable. If you are looking for family photos and live in Charlotte he is the one to call! Here are a few of our pictures. Ellie screamed the whole time we took the beginning shots in the meadow and would not let go of her comb. Chad did an awesome job of getting amazing shots through all that! We are so pleased to have these amazing shots of our family at this stage of our lives and are so grateful for the amazing and healthy family God has given us! Out of over 125 photos I tried to limit myself to just a few on the blog :)

Ellie's First Piggy Tails

2011-05-11T22:15:00.000-04:00

We have entered the world of styling hair. Ellie has had a bow in her hair for a while and we have now started doing pig tails a little. Her hair is a challenge, but cute at the same time!

Mother's Day 2011

2011-05-11T22:06:00.000-04:00

I had another great Mother's Day. Ellie and I spent the morning together, since it falls on a Sunday Ben is hard at work, but is always home at lunch for us to spend the rest of the afternoon together as a family. Ellie and I went on our usual walk and then played outside and gardened. Ben then brought home some beautiful purple hanging plants for the front porch and wonderful strawberries. Ellie and Ben also gave me great cards and we finished the day with our annual Ellie and Mommy pictures and a great dinner downtown. It was a wonderful Mother's Day and I am so blessed to have a beautiful little girl and a loving husband to share it with!

Gardening

2011-05-11T21:54:00.000-04:00

Ellie got a shovel, rake and seeds to plant from Nana and PopPop (my parents) for Easter. So on Mother's Day we got to work planting them and can't wait to see them pop up!

Easter 2011

2011-05-11T21:43:00.003-04:00

We had a great Easter this year! We decorated eggs and made Easter cookies! Ben's parents also came down for the day and were able to enjoy Ellie hunting eggs for the first time and celebrating with us at our church's service at Verizon Ampitheater. I also sewed Ellie an Easter basket to use every year. Thanks to Ben's friend, Sarah, and her awesome Create website I was able to succeed at my hardest sewing project yet. I am new to the world of sewing, but am really enjoying it and can't wait to get started on my next project for Ellie! We had a great day and are looking forward to next year when we will be able to explain to Ellie what Easter is about and she will be able to understand why we celebrate it.

Enjoying the Outdoors

2011-05-11T21:37:00.000-04:00

Ellie loves being outside and Maggie is teaching her some new tricks, like how to hide in the bushes!!

A Day with the Tulips

2011-05-11T21:22:00.001-04:00

I love tulips! That is actually an understatement. I wanted to get married in March because it is prime tulip time and I wanted tulips at my wedding. Ben buys me tulips for every special occasion. When I was younger, about 3, my mom took my picture in a bed of tulips with me sitting in the middle of them and I think that began my love for them. Last spring Ben and I found a great garden that planted tons of tulips, unfortunately we got there when the season was over, so this year we made it a point to take Ellie there and get some great pictures. Ben was in charge of taking pictures and he went crazy, maybe he has developed a love for tulips as well. :) He took a total of 97 photos, so here is just a small sampling!

Craft Time

2011-05-11T21:09:00.000-04:00

Ellie loves to do projects. This day it was all about coloring. She loves to color, especially in the bathtub. Here are her artistic abilities at work!

Spring Fun

2011-03-13T11:45:00.007-04:00

We are enjoying the spring weather around here. Today Ellie even wore shorts and was loving them. Ellie and I have been going on walks and runs if the weather is nice everyday since mid-January. We love when we get to do our runs outside and Ellie especially loves the warm weather as she cruises along in her jogging stroller munching on her snack and sipping her water :) Today I got a picture of her in her spring duds! We are so happy to see this warm weather!

First Hair Trim

2011-03-11T20:55:00.005-05:00

Ellie had her first little hair trim. Her hair is crazy and she was developing a mullet kind of look. My hair stylist, Lindsay, gave her a little trim to even up the back and make it more bob-like. Lindsay is great and has done my hair since I moved to Charlotte almost 8 years ago. After Ellie's trim people actually noticed her little hair cut. Ellie did a great job and did not scream. Hopefully she grows to enjoy her hair trims as much as I enjoy mine :)

February Fun

2011-03-11T20:21:00.004-05:00

In February, we did lots of playing. The weather warmed up and we got to do lots of fun things outside. Geep and Gran(Ben's parents) came down for a visit one day and we got to go to the park and Ellie had a great time sliding with both of them. Ellie loves for Mayli to come every Thursday to play and go to Story hour, so they have had a great time especially since Mayli is crawling now! Ellie had her 15 month appointment this month and her stats are:

Weight: 22.5 lbs. (50th percentile)
Height: 32 inches (90th percentile)

She is growing great and the doctor thinks she just had a height growth spurt and will level off by her 18 month appointment, they also measured her with her shoes,so I am pretty sure she is a little shorter. Ellie is a talker. She loves to talk nonstop with her own language and friends tell me to watch out once she can say real words because she is never going to stop talking. She is very independent and determined. She is starting to discover that she wants things her way and wants to do things by herself and if that does not happen watch out. She loves to giggle and loves for Ben and I to chase her. She also loves exploring and loves to give squeezies(hugs) to everyone. We are looking forward to a busy March and are going to see Nana, PopPop, Uncle Andrew, Great Grandmary and Great PawPaw and meet some new friends in Tennessee that we are super excited to get to know. I have also ventured into new sewing projects and will post some pictures of my successes towards the end of the month. We will keep you posted as we continue on our adventures!

Little Diva

2011-03-11T20:10:00.004-05:00

Nana and PopPop(my parents) sent Ellie some shades for Valentine's Day and she could not stop wearing them. She loves them! She even wore them to eat her snack!

Park Fun

2011-03-11T19:58:00.004-05:00

When winter is nearing the end we get excited. With a little bit of warm weather Ellie and I hit the park running. With Ellie's new freedom to run where she wants she could not stop smiling!

Ellie's First Friend Birthday Party

2011-03-11T19:52:00.004-05:00

At the end of January Ellie got to go to her first friend birthday party. Her buddy that lives across the street, Ethan, turned 2 and she was so excited to go to his party. She was the youngest guest there, but she made sure to play with all the toys just like the other kids :) Ben and Ellie were happy to take Ethan a special Thomas gift and some fun cars, which she loves to play with when she visits :)

Promoting MAXlife

2011-03-11T19:44:00.006-05:00

Ben had shirts created for MAXlife for the students to use as a tool to reach out to other students and start conversations. He even got Ellie one in the smallest size he possibly could. She is still a few years from wearing it to reach out to her friends at the playground or story hour, but she has been practicing reaching out around the house :)

Always Learning

2011-03-11T19:31:00.005-05:00

My mom visited in January and got some great photos of Ellie. One photo that makes my heart happy as a mom and a teacher is a picture of Ellie with her letters. She loves playing with her letters on the refrigerator and it makes me smile to see her exploring something that will open her world and imagination to place that is endless.

A Girl and Her Daddy's Hat

2011-03-11T19:30:00.001-05:00

We have been very busy and have been neglecting our blog. Ellie is everywhere which keeps us busy and is so much fun. I am also back to Medical Editing and still watching Mayli once a week so the blog went way down on the priority list. I am going to try and update as much as I can and stay more on top of the blog.

Ellie loves to play with Ben's hat and last month I caught them in action.

Little Miss Busy Body

2011-01-24T12:03:00.004-05:00

Ellie is getting faster and faster with her walking. She loves it! She barely crawls now and has now stopped liking running as many errands since she can't roam freely. We love watching her walk everywhere and she does a great job listening when we ask her to come to us or tell her we are going to certain room. Maggie, however, is not enjoying this new phase and Ellie is still learning that chasing Maggie is not exactly like chasing her human friends. She is getting better at being gentle, but Maggie still knows to keep her distance. I have been trying to get a good video of her new skills and hopefully this is a good one.

A New Perspective

2011-01-23T14:15:00.003-05:00

About a month ago we turned Ellie's seat around and she loves her new perspective, she especially loves when I turn around and look at her when the car is stopped.

A Trip to the Library

2011-01-23T14:10:00.004-05:00

This year I made a commitment to read more. I set a small goal of reading one book a month(which I have realized is a small goal as I already read 3 books this month), so off to the library we went. We go to the library once a week with friends for story hour, but this trip was all about finding books. I even let Ellie get a couple books and an Elmo video. On the way home she was so excited to read one of her books.

Christmas 2010

2010-12-28T20:16:00.008-05:00

We have had a very happy and busy Christmas. We started lots of family traditions this year and are excited to have started them and can't wait to do them year after year as a family. We started our traditions by decorating Christmas cookies on the 23rd. Our church had 8 Christmas Eve services, so Ben was very busy, but we joined him for the last one on Christmas Eve and Ellie got to go in the big service with us and loved it. We came home and Ben read the Christmas story to Ellie and I. Then Ellie and I left out milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. We started a new tradition of having take out Chinese and had a relaxing evening. Christmas Day Ellie had a great time. We first checked to see if Santa and the reindeer enjoyed their treats and then we started with stockings, had Monkey Bread and opened presents. Ellie loves to take off the bows and loved to rip the paper. She got lots of new toys and clothes from all her family. She is very independent, so opening presents was fun, but ended up being a mommy and daddy job towards the end since she wanted to play on her own with her toys. Then we had a big Christmas meal and had a birthday cupcake for Jesus' birthday after dinner. (I kind of think she thought the cupcake was for her, since her birthday was about a month ago, but we want her to know why we really celebrate Christmas and this is a great way for her to understand it is for Jesus' birthday as she grows.) We had a great day! It was very nice to wake up in our own bed and wear our pajamas to open presents. Ellie was even in her jammies all day! That night it also started snowing and we woke up to a Winter Wonderland. We took Ellie out in the snow and she wasn't too sure about it this year, but we know next year there will be no stopping her :) Ben's parents then came for a couple days on the 27th to have Christmas with them and Ellie had a good time playing and opening her gifts from them. Overall, we had a wonderful Christmas and feel extremely blessed to have had this time together and to have started traditions with Ellie to remind her why we really celebrate Christmas.

Christmas Parade

2010-12-28T20:08:00.004-05:00

We took Ellie to the Davidson Christmas Parade. They have a cute little downtown that the parade goes down and it was fun. It started snowing and sleeting right when the parade started and we stayed as long as we could, but we did not dress for snow, so an hour is as long as we could make it. We are excited to make this a family tradition and hope to be able to stay long enough to see Santa next year :)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

2010-12-28T19:54:00.005-05:00

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we went on our traditional Christmas tree hunt with our good friends Andy and Katie, or as Ellie calls them Uncle Andy and Aunt Katie. This was our 3rd year going to the mountains to cut down our tree and we loved it. We got our 9 foot tree for only $25 and have found a great tree farm to go to every year. We found our tree pretty fast for the Holden house as they had a great selection. Ellie came just in time last year for us to go, but this year she was able to enjoy it a little more. It was very cold, but still nice. After loading up our trees, we finished the night with dinner at the Daniel Boone Inn (yummy!).

Thanksgiving 2010

2010-12-28T19:38:00.004-05:00

I have been a little behind in my blogging updates, but we had a great Thanksgiving. Ellie is much older this year and was able to enjoy all the visitors. We had a full house with both sets of parents here. We had a busy time as we also had a little birthday party for Ellie with all the grandparents, ate lots of good food and even did some shopping on the morning of Black Friday (Ellie's second time, but last time she was too young to fully experience the early morning shopping).

Watch Out World, Here Comes Ellie!!!

2010-12-20T10:37:00.004-05:00

Ellie has been doing this for at least a week, but gets a little more daring and confident each day!

Happy 1st Birthday Ellie!!!

2010-11-11T19:57:00.012-05:00

We celebrated Ellie's first birthday and we can hardly believe it has been a year. She has accomplished so much in a year and grown so much. I made a special banner for her to have for her birthday each year as she grows. I don't have a sewing machine, so I found a great no sew one and it turned out great. It has inspired me to do a little more crafting. I also made some huge tissue paper flowers to hang as well. We had a family party on her birthday and will save our decorations for our extended family birthday in a week and a half. Ellie was mesmerized when she saw her decorations for the first time and just stared and stared.

Ellie started her day with Grandma's waffles. My mom makes great waffles, so that was what I made Ellie for her birthday breakfast that she enjoyed on her birthday plate. She gobbled them up. We then took her to the park for swinging time (her favorite) and a walk. She had peanut butter and jelly for lunch, which she is still unsure about and then took a great nap. For dinner, I made cheesy chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese from scratch with a great recipe from Allrecipes. Ellie got to open her presents from us and her Great GrannyFranny. She quickly learned to take the bows off first. After presents, she then got to dive into her cupcake. She was not shy at all. She dove right in and once she tasted that frosting there was no stopping her! She is definitely a dessert eater like her mom and dad. Ben then read her a bedtime story, "Happy Birthday to you!", which his dad read to him as a child.

Ellie had a wonderful birthday and because it is Veteran's day as well, Ben was off. She was a little sick, but it did not affect her mood on her special day. It was a great family day filled with many memories and we can't wait for what her next year has in store.

Birthday Waffles:

Walking:

Happy Birthday:

Cupcake Time:

Our Little Artist

2010-11-04T13:51:00.005-04:00

Ellie and I ventured to story hour this week. This is our 2nd week meeting up with our friends Caroline and Ethan to enjoy story time, songs and dancing at the local library in Harrisburg. Ellie does a good job listening and loves to watch the other kids dance around. This week she got to color her first picture. I showed her how to do it and she went right to work. It was short lived before she was off to explore something else, but here is her masterpiece:

Can you see her light colors of red and purple? :)

While Mommy Cooks...

2010-10-31T20:12:00.002-04:00

Ellie plays! This is what happens while Mommy cooks. Ellie has her own cabinet that she can do as she pleases with and she loves to play in there!

Happy Halloween!!!

2010-10-31T20:01:00.008-04:00

We had lots of fun for Ellie's first Halloween. We started the weekend carving pumpkins with our friends, Andy and Katie. This is the 4th year we have carved pumpkins together and boy have our lives changed over the years, who knows how they will change by next year. Our Saturday Ellie enjoyed a pumpkin cookie, which we also made this weekend. Then on Sunday we had a costume party at MAXlife. Ben was youtube, I was a ladybug and the best of all, Ellie was a butterfly. She was so cute and is at the age that she does not get scared of any of the things she sees. We then raced out of MAXlife to go trick or treating. We went to Andy and Katie's and our friends, Chad and Meredith's. I got a photo of Ellie at her first stop (Andy and Katie's) with the dog Bella as a bee. Then Ben got home and we went trick or treating around the neighborhood. Ellie got to also help hand out candy to a few friends. We had a great time and Ben and Ellie got to experience their first time trick or treating together. They both had a great time. We are very happy Ellie will be able to walk next year when we go :)

Beginning of a New Adventure

2010-10-25T20:32:00.004-04:00

We have been practicing with Ellie on her walking. She is pulling herself up more and more and today used the table to take a few steps. I got what I could on video, sorry it is sideways, I can't figure out how to flip it.

Hip Hip Hooray...

2010-10-23T11:38:00.003-04:00

Ben is 30 today!!! Ben turned 30 today and we are so excited to celebrate him. He is off leading the middle school fall retreat this weekend, so celebrating will be delayed until tomorrow (with some secret surprises from Ellie and I). Ben is not a big celebration guy so since it is his day we will have just a family celebration, just how he likes and he has requested a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, which I am how to oblige him with. Ellie and I are extremely blessed to have such a great husband and father in our lives and are happy to celebrate him!!! We love you!!!!

Noodle Head

2010-10-22T07:16:00.005-04:00

Ellie had her first experience with big girl spaghetti. Now that she is getting teeth we are giving her more of our food. The other night was spaghetti night. Anyone who knows me knows I love noodles and I think our little Ellie is going to be a noodle lover too! She loved squishing the noodles and even putting them on her head. Ben and I couldn't stop laughing and of course that made her laugh and play more.

Pumpkin Shopping

2010-10-16T12:21:00.004-04:00

This morning we went pumpkin hunting at the pumpkin patch. We were excited to take Ellie to the pumpkin patch for her to pick out her first pumpkin that was just her size. That had cute little red wagons to put your pumpkins in and a very big patch to search in. We all had a great time and are excited to go back next year!

The Park with Friends

2010-10-11T09:37:00.003-04:00

Last week we went to the park with our friends Ethan and his mom Caroline. I loaded up Mayli and Ellie and we hit the road. It is getting much easier to get around with 2 so I am trying to do things now before it gets cold. Ellie had a great time and loved the mulch.

11 Months Old

2010-10-11T07:31:00.010-04:00

Our little Elliebeans is 11 months old today. She has grown and changed so much this month. She crawls everywhere and is getting very fast. We have started putting up gates to keep her away from certain places and she has not really noticed yet. She tries to pull up, but can only get to her knees in most situations. She likes to stand, but Ben or I have to put her in the standing position and she has to use furniture to hold on to. She loves to eat everything and will eat everything I serve her. She is working on her 3rd tooth and loves smiling. We have started brushing her teeth/gums and she loves it. She opens her mouth and loves to have brush her little mouth. She loves to explore and we let her. I have created a cabinet for her in the kitchen that she is free to explore and take things out of and when I cook many times that is where she is pulling everything out. We are working on sign language for more and all done. She has recently learned to clap and so when you say more she claps her hands, it is very cute :) She also has learned to wave bye-bye this month and will wave when people leave our house, sometimes she will wave after we have been talking to people a little while or after people have been at our house for a few minutes even though they are not leaving yet, I guess it is her way of saying see you later, time for you to leave please :) She is also great at imitating some of our sounds and loves to say "mmm" after every bite she eats.
We have also been trying to bulk her up. I went to the doctor for our 9 month appointment at the end of August and Ellie's weight was in the 5th percentile. She has always been tiny and taller, like her dad, and our doctor is so laid back and wonderful that he wasn't worried, just want us to see if in the next month we could bulk her up a little. So we have been working hard. A friend of mine could not believe how much we feed Ellie. She eats eggs, cheese, yogurt, and meat almost every day to get her a little chunkier. Well it all paid off. We had to go for a a weight check last week and her weight was: 17.35 pounds, which was the 10th percentile. She gained almost 3 pounds in 1 month. The nurse was pretty impressed especially since she just started crawling and that makes it hard for a baby to put on weight.
We are so excited for all Ellie is doing and can't wait to see what this next month brings, maybe walking is in our near future :)

A Trip to Savannah

2010-10-11T07:19:00.003-04:00

At the end of September we took a trip to Savannah. We take a yearly trip with Ben's parents and this year Savannah was the city. We explored new places, tried lots of food, ate lots of gelato and had a great time. It was a place none of us had been so it was nice to discover a new place. It is also not very far, so a great place in the future for our little family to visit. This year was Ellie's first year on the yearly trip and she was a trooper. She did great with all we did and it was great having her because it made us rest every afternoon for naptime :) Ben's mom loves to take pictures when we are all together, so we let her do all the picture taking! Thanks Gran!

10 Months Old

2010-09-11T16:35:00.007-04:00

Ellie is 10 months old today, or as Ben says she has hit the double digits. So much has happened in the last month. She is eating more and it seems growing more. She is crawling, attempting to wave bye-bye, talking more, loves playing peek-a-boo with anything she can find, smiling more, discovering Maggie more and her new thing blowing raspberries. With crawling comes more climbing. She has gotten 2 teeth this past month. She continues to be a little girl with a developing personality and a sweet spirit. She is more and more independent every day and loves to play on her own and can entertain herself for long periods of time. She is extra squirmy now that she has discovered the ability to move on her own, so being held is becoming a thing of the past as she is too busy to sit still and lets you know by squirming. We love to watch her explore more things every day as she crawls around and sees things from a new perspective. We love to observe her as she explores on her own what this world is all about. We can't wait to see what happens this next month!

Ellie Trying to Pull Up

2010-09-11T15:34:00.003-04:00

Now that Ellie is crawling she is trying to pull up on everything!

Helping Grandpa

2010-09-11T15:07:00.008-04:00

My parents came to visit last week just for a very short visit to see Ellie get dedicated. Of course while they were here they had to buy her a new toy! We think Grandpa might spoil Ellie more than anyone around :) Ellie decided to help Grandpa put her toy together. It was good thing she was there :)

Silly Girl

2010-09-11T15:03:00.003-04:00

The other day Ellie emptied all the toys out of her toy box and decided inside the toy box was a great place to sit!

Look Who is a Big Girl

2010-09-11T14:58:00.006-04:00

Ellie got her big girl car seat last week. We usually try to go neutral with most big purchases, but we found a great Labor Day deal and had to take the pattern they had. She loves her new car seat and the new perspective it gives her!

Swing Time

2010-09-11T14:41:00.005-04:00

Ellie loves swinging. Last week I took her to the park one evening so she could enjoy the swing.

Wagon Date

2010-09-11T13:48:00.005-04:00

Ellie had a little wagon date last week. (Shh, don't tell Daddy!) My neighbor and friend Caroline and her little boy Ethan love little Ellie. We have a great time hanging out and love that they live just across the street. Last week we went on a walk with them. Now Ellie gets to ride in the wagon with Ethan while Mayli rides in Ellie's stroller. It is so great of Caroline to help us out with our walks and the moms get some great time together too.

We have a little crawler!

2010-09-11T07:35:00.006-04:00

Ellie has been getting around for a little while by rolling, scooting and lunging, but last weekend she started really crawling. I got it on video for all the family to see! She is so much faster in just a week and is already using things to pull up on. Watch out world!

Little Miss Independent

2010-09-09T21:57:00.004-04:00

I stepped out of Ellie's room for a second to come back and find this. She was apparently showing Mayli how to get the toys out all by yourself. She doesn't need any one's help anymore to make a mess! Next step: teaching her how to clean it up by herself :)

Doing Some Thinking

2010-09-09T21:54:00.003-04:00

The Beach

2010-09-09T21:29:00.005-04:00

We recently took our first family vacation to the beach. We had a wonderful time and had much needed family time. We never take a vacation that is only us and it was nice to start this tradition with Ellie here now. We did lots of swimming, the pool in the morning and the beach in the afternoon. Ellie had a great time in the pool and loved being pulled around in her float. She also loved sitting like a big girl in her own lounge chair eating her snack. At the beach she loved sitting on my lap at the edge of the water and feeling the water and sand. She also loved the sand and especially loved eating it, but she didn't spend much time in it this time since her Daddy didn't like her getting it all over her and eating it. Next time we will spend some time playing in the sand a little more :) Ellie and I got colds while we were there, but nothing too bad and Ellie was a trooper and didn't let it bother her and luckily Ben didn't get it until on the way home. We are so thankful to our friends for letting us borrow their beach condo, it was a wonderful trip filled with many wonderful memories!!!

New Friends

2010-08-31T07:23:00.003-04:00

Ellie is making a new friend. I started watching a friend's little girl a couple of weeks ago. I taught with her, so the hours are great. Mayli is 3 months old and is a great little girl. It has been a great experience for Ellie to learn she is not the only baby in the world too. :) I am excited to watch them grow physically and as friends over the next year!