Thursday, December 23, 2010

Christmas Time



One of the big perks of my job, GREAT vacation! I love that we are off for two full weeks during the Holidays. It gives us time to hang out as a family and spend time with both sides of our family! I have been looking forward to December since Ellie was born (probably before she was born) because I was looking forward to dressing her in Holiday attire! This child had a different outfit for almost every day in December... Sad thing is it will be over in a couple of days!

My favorite snack - Cheez its!


Under MiMi's tree


Playing at the mall


Look at this belly (and belly button)


Playing with the dogs


Waiting on Uncle Joel and Aunt Molly


My typical morning... Cartoons in my cozy coupe


This is the face you get if you tell her "NO"


Waiting to meet Santa


Not a fan of Santa...


I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The blogging blahs...



I was doing so good catching up on my blogging, but then I hit a rut again... A few friends have mentioned to me about not updating. I find myself reading your blogs everyday, but don't take the time to update my own! I want to look back on this as a scrapbook for Ellie one day, so I do need to start jotting things down that are funny, interesting, noteworthy, etc because I know I will forget.

I am in the midst of Christmas cards! I LOVE LOVE LOVE going to the mailbox each day in December and opening all the Christmas cards from friends and family. I blogged about Shutterfly's promotion and received 50 FREE cards! It worked! All I had to do was pay the S&H. Well, 50 wasn't enough as I found out tonight while addressing... so I went back online to order more. Only, I can't get the same one is time before Christmas. I am doing another site and picking them up in store. This means some people will get one, and some will get another - Uh Oh! I addressed the ones who have sent us one first, and then started at the front of my address book. I will know for next year that I need much more than 50!

What is Ellie up to these days... LOTS!

She eats EVERYTHING we give her. I love that she is off any and all types of baby food and eats leftovers at school the next day. This makes me plan our meals much better since she is consuming. She loves any type of fruit and all veggies (except for spinach). She is still sleeping great a night (7 p.m. - 7 a.m.) and takes 1 nap a day at school. She is babbling a lot more. I wish I knew what she was trying to say. She definitely has Da-Da and Da-Di down pat... She throws a Ma-Ma in every now and then. Jay swears she said Josie (our house cleaner) the other day. She tries to say "thank-you" and does say and waves "Bye". Everything she points to is "dis". She now likes to walk/run everywhere by herself, and can easily say "na" for no. She is also learning to feed herself with a spoon or fork which ends of quite messy!

She wasn't into our tree and ornaments until this week. Now, she takes all of them off the tree and brings them to me. She LOVES being outside, even in the FREEZING cold. She loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and the Hot Dog dance. She laughs and smiles all the time.

Jay has taught her to climb the stairs which is NOT a good thing. And last but not least, she tried Sophie's dog food tonight! Yummy!

She played in the ball pit for most of Turner's party


Borrowing Turner's Tricycle


Borrowing Turner's Cozy Coupe


Sweet Picture from AU/GA weekend of Ellie and Turner

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Christmas Cards!!!

I get so excited in December because that means it is time for Christmas cards! I LOVE receiving Christmas cards in the mail, especially ones with pictures. I have seen a couple of my blogger friends post about Shutterfly's Christmas Card Promotion, so I checked it out!

Last year we spent a pretty penny combining Ellie's announcement with our Christmas card. This year, I was hoping to save some money and can definitely do it now with this great promotion. They have so many great options for Christmas Photo Cards!

I can't decide on what type of card I want to do, but I know I want multiple pictures on the card. We recently had some professional pictures done of Ellie in her Christmas clothes, so I know we'll be using one of those! I would also like to include one with Ellie and Sophie if I can get both to cooperate for the camera at the same time!

I also like to do the Calendars for grandparents... this is a great gift that gives each month! I could spend hours on this site looking at all the fun things you can do for very cheap! I know next year I will check Shutterfly for Ellie's Birthday invitations.