Ellie Mae

Typical Ellie fashion if she doesn't get her way... Just like her Daddy :-)

Why am I blogging on one of the biggest, craziest, most stressful days of the year??? Because I have been up since 5 a.m. and everything I need to do will wake up the others in the house. Today is MOVING DAY!!! We closed yesterday and did some minor moving, but today is the big day! The last few weeks have been the most stressful weeks thus far. I will never, repeat - never, go through the buying a house process again. Dealing with our mortgage company was a nightmare. With Jay owning his own company now, there were lots of surprises for us everyday. Lots of prayers were sent up for us yesterday, and we now have the keys!

I wanted to get some stuff on here about Ellie Mae because I know the next several posts will be house related...

Ellie is 2 1/2 now, and sassy! She is strong-willed, and has a lot of Jay in her. She blows us away with how much information she retains, and cannot believe how smart they are at this age.

She can count to 40, knows all her colors, shapes, animals. Anytime we are stopped in the car, she'll look outside and spell whatever sign she sees. She also likes to memorize things - anyone see this in their child??? She knows everyone's mom and dad at school/church - and asks where their child is... Knows everyone's school bag/lunch bag in the hallway at school... Kind-of strange to me.

We are still a work in progress on potty training. She will go in the potty, but will also just as easily go in her pull-up! VERY independent. Her favorite phrase right now is "I do it Mommy" "I do it by myself" - like getting in the car, pottying, getting in the bath, putting on clothes, etc... She also wants to "help" me a lot these days - dishes, laundry, putting clothes away, picking up toys, etc... Another phrase we hear a lot is "I help Mommy".

She loves her fingernails and toenails painted and loves high heels, but also loves being in the dirt/sand outside, riding Jay's lawnmower, and playing with any ball in sight. We start Soccer Tots in a few weeks! Loves to draw, specifically airplanes at the moment which is really just a long oval looking object. Anytime she "draws" a picture for you, she says "Happy Valentines Mommy". Favorite shows right now are Clifford, Caillou, Mickey, Super Why, Elmo (he's back), and CareBears. She wants you to dance with her at the beginning and end of every Mickey Mouse episode.

She has done okay on the discipline piece for now... I know this will change again and again. I feel like our hardest months were 15 - 18 where we struggled with when and how to discipline. She HATES going to bed at night and will fight it with any excuse, but loves going down for naps at home. Sleeps great once she is asleep, but sometimes needs a little extra Mommy/Daddy time before she is out. She is very much into routine - like her Mommy. She now likes to read her own books, and sing 3-4 songs in the chair and then again in the bed. Bedtime routine takes MUCH longer these days... Favorite songs are Itsy Bitsy Spider (with motions), Head/Shoulder/Knees/Toes, Jesus Loves Me, and ABCs.

Hope to have pictures of the house up soon!