Ellie's First Birthday Party!

Today we celebrated Ellie's first birthday. It's hard to believe that it's been a year since we welcomed Ellison Rachel into the world...she has grown so much and gone from a grumpy baby to a happy, loving almost toddler! She has changed our lives, for the good, in so many ways and I just love watching her learn new things...she gets so excited when she figures something new out! It was so nice to have our family and friends with us to celebrate Ellie's birth and we're very thankful for the part they have played in helping us raise our sweet Ellie Belly!
I was so glad that both girls were patched up and feeling much better so they could enjoy the party. They both finished their nebulizer treatments this morning and the steroids are working their way out of Emmie's system and it's so nice to have her almost back to normal!
We had her party at our house and we set up the kiddie pool outside so that the kids could play. It rained earlier in the day but was nice and sunny by the time the party rolled around. We put two tents up in the yard which provided great shade for the pool and the adults supervising the kiddos!

Ellie-phant cupcakes! It's a lemon cupcake with a blackberry icing that I found on Pinterest. The elephants are made of marshmallow fondant, also from pinterest. They were super easy to make and they tasted delicious!

Paul's mom did the flowers and they were so pretty...she always does such a great job!

This picture didnt' come out well but it's Ellie's birthday sign.

The table. This was only some of the food...we had tons!

Ellie's birthday hat. Laura made it out of leftover material from Ellie's shirt and I grabbed some poms at Michael's and decorated it.

I saw this on another blog and fell in love with the idea. Every year you get everyone at the party to sign a book for the birthday girl (or boy). I think it's an amazing keepsake!

Now the big birthday outfit reveal. about a two weeks ago I realized I didn't have a birthday outfit for Ellie...I'd been tossing around a few ideas so I had to commit to one and go with it...I'm so, so thrilled with how this turned out...better than I could have imagined it!

 I picked up this bow at Hobby Lobby. Did you know they sell bows...and really adorable ones at that...I had no idea but I do love Hobby Lobby and I wish that we had one closer to our house.

Ta-Da! how cute is this! One of my coworkers, Laura, appliqued this onesie for Ellie and put her name on it. It turned out better than I could have imagined...thanks Laura! I made her tutu thanks to a quick tutu making lesson from my friend Sally. It was so easy and I love how fluffy it turned out. I was worried it would get in her way when she was crawling but she didn't seem to have any problems!

I heard there were cupcakes...girl on a mission!

I just love the tutu from behind!

A girl and her puppy.

3 generations.

Our family...we might not all be looking the same way but nobody's screaming so I count this as a success!

4 generations.

Ellie, Mommy, and her grandmothers.

(By the way, when we were posing for all these pictures all the male relatives were upstairs watching Elmo's Potty Time with Emmie - note that she was downstairs some of the time getting her picture taken yet the guys were still watching Elmo...we're glad that this party was not only fun but educational!)

My mom, Emily, Paul's Aunt Shirley, and Chesnee (and as Emmie would quickly remind you Baby Olivia is in Chesnee's tummy...Emmie's a little obsessed).

Will cut our grass and then vaccumed...you'd better believe we'll be inviting him back soon!

How many adults does it take to change a swing? haha!

My dad...the life of the party.

And if you fall asleep at the party it's possible a small child will dump a bucket of water on you...hahahaha!

Mikey

Mason

Lucy was so sweet pushing Emmie on the swing.

Lucy and Emmie eating...they had the best seats in the house!

Emmie and Ellie had so much fun playing with their friends and I somehow managed to miss Evelyn and Libby with my camera...it's hard to keep up with all the kiddos!

Also, after everyone left my Aunt Donna and Uncle Stewart stopped by. They'd been in Charleston visiting my cousin so they didn't make it to the party but we were very happy to see them!

Ellie with her hat on getting ready to eat her cupcake!

Happy Birthday Ellie!

Giving Ellie a sample bite of cupcake.

Yumm...she ate all of her cupcake but so neatly. It is funny that she and Emmie eat their cupcakes the same way...icing first and then the cake.

Another family pic.

"I showed that cupcake who's boss."

We opened presents after everyone left and Ellie got so many wonderful things. Some adorable outfits, cute toys and  lots of books (and amazingly we didn't have ANY of them already...pretty impressive feat if you've seen our book collection...I can't wait to read all the new books!). She also go the WORST. PRESENT.EVER. If you'll remember from Emmie's party, she also go the WPE. Both girls LOVE the one that Emmie got when she turned one so in order to be "fair" (or that's their story) Ben and Abby (and Elizabeth but I'm pretty sure my sweet Goddaughter is the innocent party in  got this obnoxious little ride on toy for Ellie. Let me explain...NO volume control, NO off switch, and VERY loud. We definitely called and harrased them a lot. Elizabeth turns one in February and Paul and I can't wait to go to Toys 'r Us and find a present even more obnoxious than this one!

Happy Birthday Ellie Belly! We love you so much!

Love,

Daddy, Mommy, Emmie and Franklin

Round Two...and hoping there's not a round 3!

Yesterday afternoon Emmie woke up from her nap with a really tight cough and this morning she woke up with puffy, weeping eyes and the same cough. She also has only had a few bites of food today (and if you've seen Emmie you know she loves to eat!) and only a cup or two of water (she generally loves her water!). It was really quite pitiful so I took her to the doctor this afternoon (mind you I was just there with Ellie yesterday morning...the receptionist greeted me like we were old friends when I walked in). Her throat was really red with some white spots but her strep was negative. While we were waiting on the strep test results they gave her a breathing treatment. As soon as they turned on the machine Emmie was out...you can tell she's used to sleeping with a white noise machine! The poor baby slept through us taking the mask off and the doctor coming back in and listening to her lungs and then talking to me. At that point we were just going to do breathing treatments at home but then when we went to leave and she woke up she coughed and when the doctor heard her cough (because of course she didn't cough at all when he was in the room) he put her on steroids too. So we left with the diagnoses of bronchitis/croup from a viral illness (because she hadn't run any fevers). I pulled her out of the car at 5:30 (the doctor's office closes at 5) and she was burning up...her tempature was 101.2 :( So I guess we'll see what her temperature does overnight and tomorrow morning. I'm hoping if she keeps running the fevers that we can get antibiotics called in and not have to go back to the doctor but we'll see. Even better would be if she was just so rundown after not having a good nap and all the events of the afternoon that it was just a little viral fever and this was the only one. I did manage to get 2 all fruit popsicles into her this evening...I had bought them when Ellie was sick and then promptly forgot that I had them. I love them because they are fruit, water, and a little juice so they don't have any of the added sugar that most popsicles have.
I must say that I was soooo thankful that Clara was able to keep Ellie while I took Emmie to the doctor. Emmie was so pitiful she just wanted to be held and I just think it would have been next to impossible to keep Ellie happy while soothing Emmie. I am also very thankful that Ellie is feeling much better today so she's been pretty content to play by herself while I snuggle with Emmie.
We did have a shining moment today...Ellie started cruising (for you non-moms cruising is when they hold on to an object such as a table or the couch and walk). Emmie was laying on the couch and I had moved the coffee table closer so that Emmie could reach her water and Ellie pulled up with one hand on the coffee table and one hand on the couch and walked the length of the coffee table...yay!!!
Bedtime took a little longer than normal today with two children needing breathing treatments and having to get everyone their appropriate medicine and I was very glad that Paul was home to help! Tomorrow the only thing on our schedule is a haircut for Franklin so this crew will be hanging out at home trying to recover!

Brain Dump

• The other day I realized something about timing. Before I had kids I arrived everywhere about on time, maybe a few minutes early. Once I had Emmie I seemed to always be 10-15 minutes late but then I adjusted my timing and got to the point where I generally arrived on time again. When I had Ellie I ran on what my dad calls "airport time"...15 minutes either way is considered on time...I was usually on the 15 minute late side (my mother is probably having a stroke...she has always been 30minutes early to everything). Most of the time I still can't quite manage to get places right on time but I have found that on the rare occasions I go somewhere without children I find myself arriving horribly early...good thing I usually have my Kindle in my bag!
• I may have mentioned this before but awhile back I read a review that mentioned something about it being for "mommys" and in my head I imagined my mom. Later I realized that they were talking about ME and people my age...EEK...I'm a mom! Sometimes I'll go to kiss the girls goodnight and it feels a little surreal that I have TWO children.
• Right now I'm watching a Big Bang Theory rerun on TBS. I LOVE BBT...the characters (especially Sheldon) are perfectly cast.
• I called in sick to work today to take care of my sick kiddos and take Ellie to the doctor. I debated all day yesterday about whether or not I needed to take her today or wait and see how she was doing tomorrow when I'm off work. I'm REALLY glad I took her today...she has bronchitis again (which I figured she had) but it looks like this time we caught it earlier than last time so we're just doing nebulizer treatments a couple times a day to open her lungs up a bit but she also apparently has a pretty yucky ear infection in her left ear...no clue that was there...no fever and no ear pulling! So we're also on amoxicillin. I'm really hoping that she'll be feeling better by her birthday on Saturday!
• I'm also keeping my fingers crossed that we don't have to go back to the doctor this week...Emmie started with the cough and stuffy nose yesterday but she seemed a little better this morning so I didn't take her with us to the doctor...then she woke up from her nap sounding horrible and acting really puny...she perked up a little later and I'm just praying she can fight this off on her own!
• Everyday I feel like Emmie is becoming more and more independent. She can now mostly dress herself...she normally needs help with her shirt but other than that she does really well. She's getting better and better at fixing her PB&J sandwich. She does the whole potty thing by herself. She can climb up into her carseat by herself. Sometimes it's really nice especially since I still have to do everything for Ellie but it is bittersweet to see her growing up a little more everyday.
• Ellie was so sweet today. When Ellie got up from her nap Emmie was already up and being really puny and laying around and Ellie kept patting her and Emmie was laying down and Ellie leaned over and rested her head on Emmie and cuddled with her....it was super sweet that she just instinctively knew that Emmie needed some love. Tonight when I was putting them to bed I was singing and they were cuddled up beside me in the chair and I started playing with Emmie's hair and Ellie reached over and started playing with Emmie's hair too.
• I love that both my girls are so loving and nurturing. A few weeks ago Ellie picked up a baby doll and a doll bottle and pretended to feed the baby...she was holding her right and everything. Today Emmie set up camp with her bear. Emmie's always taking care of her stuffed animals. She'll often put her big stuffed bear in her bed, cover him up, turn on the white noise machine, and close the door to the room. If you go near her room she'll tell you "shhh, my bear is sleeping". Super cute. 
  
  
• For someone who started out as such a horrible, horrible sleeper Ellie has turned into a great sleeper. She's so easy to put to bed...read a book, sing a song, lay her down and we generally don't hear a peep after that until it's time to get up (she still doesn't wake up very happy but I can empathize with that!). My girls are classic examples of why you don't rock a baby to sleep but instead you lay them down awake. Emmie still has trouble getting herself to sleep (although once she's down you could drive a train through her room and she wouldn't wake up) and we do battle most nights getting her to stay in bed...I've learned she does better though if she has music on. Ellie has no problem getting herself to sleep. The other night I thought she was asleep and I busted up in her room to get something out and she was just laying there quietly with her eyes open kind of in the twighlight zone.
• Today I put Ellie down for her nap and then went and put Emmie to bed. After I put Emmie to bed I heard Ellie talking quitely in her room so I peeked in and she was sitting up in her crib reading Goodnight Moon and a few minutes later she leaned over and patted her brown bear and then I guess at some point she laid down and went to sleep!
• I've been trying to encourage Ellie to play with her books more. Until she discovered Brown Bear, Brown Bear she had NO interest in reading and then she would tolerate Brown Bear but that was the only book she would let you read to her. We're slowly adding more books to her repitoire. Now she likes Polar Bear, Polar Bear, Goodnight Moon, Wheels on the Bus and a few other books. I'm so glad she's getting interested in reading. My parents are giving her a bookshelf for her room for her birthday and I'm hoping that we can put a fair amount of books there and that will help her become more interested in books. Until recently all our books were in Ellie's room and now she has a little basket of books in her room and when we're sitting in her chair she'll lean over trying to get a book. I want my girls to love reading as much as I do!

Congrats!

So I realized the other day that I never shared our family's exciting news! While we were at the beach we got a call from Blake and Emily that they had just gotten engaged! I was waiting at first until they told everyone and then I forgot that I hadn't done one...so better late then never right?

Emily's gorgeous ring!

Our girls love their Uncle "Bake" and from the first time she met her Emmie has LOVED "Lemily"..and of course Ellie loves her as well! I'm so excited that we're adding another girl to the family and I couldn't have picked out a better sister-in-law! We're all so happy for Emily and Blake and we are looking forward to all the wedding fun next summer! (Emmie doesn't really get the whole marriage thing but she is super excited that Lemily gets to wear a princess dress!)

Sunday Style Section

No church picture from today. I went and took Emmie because I had nursery and Paul and Ellie stayed home because she is having a horrible time teething and has something that I believe started as teething and is hedging towards bronchitis...she's pretty pitiful. The child who has taken only one nap since she was about 8 or 9 months old slept till 8:30 and then took 2 good naps and almost took a third and was asleep within about 30 seconds of getting in her crib at bedtime. It's just pitiful.

Anyway, I did manage to get some good pictures of the girls this week. I'm just LOVING my new camera!

Lobster dresses from Smocked Auctions.

The classic jean dress.

A tutu makes everyone smile...even babies who don't usually smile for the camera! On a side rant...I feel like I can find lots of little sister shirts but I can't ever find big sister ones for Emmie...I wish I had ones they could wear at the same time.

Ellie rocking the sunglasses. Everytime we put them on her face she busts out in a big grin...and then pulls them off.

Emmie took a turn with the sunglasses...whenver she puts them on the says "look mom I'm Lucy!". (Lucy is her little friend who is always very well accessorized.)

We all know I love these outfits but I love them even more with the addition of a flower in Emmie's hair! I had to include lots of pictures of them in these outfits because they were hilarious sitting in the chair together!

For some reason I just love this picture...it's like they're comparing pedicures!

Sisterly love.

Happy 4th of July!

I had to work today so we celebrated 4th of July yesterday by going to a Columbia Blowfish game and then watching fireworks. The Blowfish team is made up of college kids and it's a great family friendly atmosphere. We went with Mason and his mom and dad and I think we all had lots of fun.  Mason and Ellie were pretty interested in the game at the beginning...Emmie was the kid drawing in the dirt in the outfield...haha...jk...but she wasn't really into the whole baseball game thing. She did like watching all the other kids and she got great at spotting the various mascots who were there. When we first pointed out the blowfish to her he was across the field and she said "Mommy, I want to go over there and hug the blowfish". Her love of the mascots makes me want to take her to Disney! They had a "mascot run" where the mascots line up and run across the field and the kids can chase them so I took Emmie down to do that and she had a BLAST...she had the biggest grin on her face the whole time. At the end of the run they could have their pictures taken with the mascots. When the fireworks started both girls got a little upset with the noise and Emmie kind of curled up on Paul's lap and within a few seconds she was fast asleep! Ellie cuddled up with me and watched and seemed to enjoy the fireworks as long as I was holding her close.

Emmie and Mason playing on the playground before the game.

Trying to get a picture of all the kiddos together.

I love these pictures of Mason and Ellie...I'm pretty sure they're flirting with each other.

Mason and Ellie taking in the game.

Mason's ready to catch a fly ball!

Playing peek-a-boo with the Village Idiot jester.

Getting warmed up to the blowfish.

She had the best time dancing to "Jump on it"!

She LOVED the kangaroo!

Sunday Style Section

This is the dress Ellie came home from the hospital in...it's definitely tight at the top now and getting a little short.

Emmie's little top from the new Strausburg (they got bought out and all the smocked clothes went away...tragic...a lot of the new clothes are wierd but this little flower top is super cute!)

Ellie's church dress today.

Emmie's Rosalina dress. This is one of those dresses that looked ok on the hanger but I just LOVE it on her.