Big girl bed!

Jon & I have been very lucky parents when it comes to the sleeping department. When we brought Ellie home from the hospital, she & I spent about a month & a half on the couch. Yes, the couch. Gasp! Isnt that not recommended by the AAP?!?!?! You're right but oh well! It was important to me that Jon got his rest since he was still having to get up & go to work. Ellie made an easy transition into her bed upstairs & we only did CIO (cry it out) for a few nights. She has been such a great sleeper from the beginning. Then one day...wow! She started saying "cant go night night." That lasted for about a week but then she would still go to sleep fine. Guess she was serious about this cant go night night business because after a week of saying that, she made it come true. For two nights she screamed in her crib for 3+ hours. I am not joking! 3+ hours. Who knows how long it really lasted, because after trying EVERYTHING we know, we shut off the monitor & went to bed. Cruel but wow, she was crazy! We then went to Houston for a weekend & for 3 nights she slept in the bed with us. Gasp again! But there was no way I was going to listen to all of that screaming when we were all 3 sharing a room!

My mom talked to me a lot about this and she mentioned that when David & I were little she would stay on the floor by our beds until we could calm down. Genius! I had been praying and asking for prayer that I would know what to do about this whole "cant go night night" business. Does Ellie need me or is she just being 2 & she needs to work it all out?!?!?!?!? The decision was made - take this opportunity to move her to a big girl bed since she was already having issues. Two birds, one stone. I had been dreading the transition to toddler bed, so why not knock it all out? Thus....

We got back into town and I took Ellie to Target. We went up & down the bedding isle and she decided on Cinderella. :) This is something I swore I'd never do -- no character room. You can tell how desperate I was to play up the idea of sleeping in her toddler bed with no tears/screaming. It worked! She watched her daddy take it all apart & make a big girl bed, she loved sitting on her Cinderella sheets, and that night she fussed for 7 minutes. Yes, 7 minutes!! Thats amazing compared to where we were a few days before! Oh, I forgot to mention that I bought everything Cinderella in Target -- sheets, bedspread, stuffed animal, night light, pj's, sippy cup, play phone! I stopped short at Cinderella wall decals. That was going a little overboard for me ;) Here is Ellie her after her first night in the big girl bed!

Since she's been in her big girl bed, she still will complain about going to bed, but goes without a fight and without crazy screaming. She doesnt try to get out of bed or her room. Today for her nap, she climbed the stairs with me, without complaint! Thank you Lord for your favor & direction! Ah! We've made it past another milestone. TODDLER BED!

26 months old!!!!

Oh my sweet Ellie belly! You are 26 months old! WOW! Where did time go to?!?!?!? Let me just take a moment to tell you what I love about you the most these days....

• You now love ketchup (you used to despise it)..but now ketchup makes it all better!
• Same goes for ranch dressing. YUM. I knew you were a Texan!
• You love going to church and learning about Jesus. Every time you go, you come home with a new story or saying. I love your innocent love for the Lord!
• You like to tell the story of Noah's Ark; complete with the details -- it rained for 40 days and 40 nights, Noah wasnt scared because God said it would be ok, a bird had leaves in her mouth and thats how Noah knew it was safe now......oh and a few other details you made up, like -- Noah had a big TV on the ark. Silly girl!
• You picked out Cinderella bedding for your new big girl bed. I love how you call her Cinderellie ;) (that story is for another post)
• You still love babies! You love to feed them, shoosh them, rock them, change them...you know, all those mommy things
• You call out in us, the things we call out in you! - dont show your food, no talking, be nice (just to name a few)
• You are doing so well with potty-training when you are with mommy. With other people....hm....
• You remember almost everything we say to you. We have to be careful!
• Your fave foods are -- pizza, pears, apples, strawberries, bars, fruit snacks, broccoli, corn

Well....I am sure there are so many more things I love about you....but you are calling me to play with you! I love you, my big 26 month old!!!

Happy Halloween 2011!!!

Trick or treating was FUN this year! Ellie really is beginning to enjoy these kinds of things and Jon & I are enjoying our sweet girl growing up (run on sentence, wowo). This Halloween Ellie was...............................................................................

OLIVIA

You know, the pig from Nick Jr. The show really is funny and probably my favorite Nick Jr show....even though Olivia is kinda a brat and calls her little brother, her little bother :/ Her favorite candy from the night was suckers! Yum! Ellie did really good out and about; we pushed her in a car so it would move along a little faster. When we got home, we had about $40 worth of candy to pass out ourselves. She was very generous to the kiddos, giving them all BIG handfuls! Thank you Jesus that she didnt freak out, like "thats myyyyy candy" blah blah! She really was a sweetheart about it all! At 8:30 it all ended and our little piggie went fast asleep!

Gateway's Fall "Festibal"

The "festibal" as Ellie calls it, was a hit again this year! I feel so blessed to be a part of a church that has such love for people! The fall festival was so much fun, for all of us!!! Ellie rode on a merry go round thingy, played lots of games, ate pizza and a some turkey leg, got lots of candy, and got to play in the special kiddie play area of church! We didnt really see too many friends, although I know they were there....it was just so crowded! She is still talking about going to the fesibal and thinks that we are going there every time we turn into the church parking lot. Silly girl. How am I going to get her to understand that it is only once a year?!?!?

Ellie's friend, baby Kaylin has arrived!!!!

On October 15, sweet 7 pound 9 ounce, Kaylin was born! Ellie has been talking a lot about this arrival and is enjoying her visits with a baby!
Her first visit to see Kaylin was precious to say the least! She kept saying "she come out" and wanted to inspect every inch of her! Her toes, her fingers, her outfit, her hair. It really was a sight to see! We're still working on making sure she touches her nicely and doesnt scare her...I think she'll catch on soon!


3 weeks later and Ellie is still talking about how baby Kaylin was in JJ's belly but now she came out. Boy, the thing she remembers! I was blessed to be there during the delivery and one day, will share that story with Ellie!

Trip to Wisconsin

Ellie's first airplane ride!!!!!! We ventured out to Wisconsin in October to visit Jon's parents. Yes, they live here too but they also have a house up north. Its nice to get out to different weather!!!! His grandmother lives up there too, so it was a nice family visit! Here is Ellie after take-off, watching Nemo! She did such a good job on the airplane, no tears! It was a little hard to keep a 2 year old still and keep her from pushing the "need flight attendant light" but all in all, it was good! She got a window seat and kept saying "the pilot talk to me" when the flight attendant or pilot would talk over the loud speaker. Her innocence was so cute!

In WI, we took a nature walk and got to see all the beautiful colors.

Pumpkin Patch!!! Every year we visit the Flower Mound PP, but this year we took advantage of a PP up north. Ellie picked out 3 little pumpkins! It took her a bit to warm up, but after a while she was running around to all the pumpkins. The weather was really nice that day; perfect PP weather!!!






Here is the 4 generation pic!

Here is Daddy and Ellie playing out back in the leaves!!!!

HONKERS!!!! Ellie was obsessed with these! We saw them frequently and she would yell out "honkers" He he!!! The last few pics are of her on the plane ride back. Again, she was a trooper! No tears, just wiggles. All in all, we enjoyed our fall trip to WI.

Ellie's 2 year pics!

Ellie had her 2 year pics taken at the Fort Worth Stockyards by our friend & neighbor, Caroline Carmack. They came out great! Here are a few of my faves!

Since Ellie has turned 2, she is so different! Her sentences, words, personality! All of it! Jon and I are enjoying this time of growth and learning ourselves, how to handle her changes! She sure has determination & will ;) Ellie is still concerned with other people and how they feel. She will ask how we are, if we like our food, ask to kiss boo-boos, and overall just make sure our worlds are ok. It is so sweet to see her spirit shine through!

Ellie's favorite toys now a days are little figurines from Nemo, Toy Story 3, & Olivia. She has also rediscovered Violet, the talking dog. She sings along with the songs and plays them over and over before bedtime. She loves to sing songs - Where is Jesus, No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed, Rock a By Baby!

Ok, well there's your Ellie update. :)

Ellie

Ellie's 2nd Birthday Party!!!!

Welcome to Ellie's Under the Sea Adventure!!! Complete with photo booth, miniature jello oceans, blue sea punch, Nemo playing in the background, & lots of kiddos & love! I spent a lot of time planning this party......I love idea stealing from other blogs & etsy ;) Hits this year were - clothes (lots of them!), OLIVIA toys, craft stuff, and dress up items! I intended on putting some of them away to pull out on a rainy day (ha! whats rain)...but I forgot & Ellie is enjoying all of her toys!