1 year pictures

My friend Holly did a wonderful job with Ellie's 1 yr pictures. I really wanted to do the balloon thing and try as we did it didn't go over so well with Ellie. She kept pushing them away because she didn't like them. oh well. It was fun trying though! And Ellie LOVES her bears. She hugs them and kisses them more than she will us. I love her chunks!

I love this kid, but she's driving me NUTS!

I hope that it's the current cold she has Or maybe it's that she's obviously DONE with 2 good naps a day but Ellie has been a BRAT! It's been one fit and tantrum after the next. This has been going on for about a week, though yesterday she seemed to be getting less moody. The other thing is her clinging. Holy cow. I took her to the park twice this week and the only thing she wanted to do was hug my leg. She cried when I tried to make her play at the park! Man I'm so mean. I sure hope she continues to have an attitude adjustment, since we will be spending way too much time in the van driving to Oregon in a couple weeks. Memories.

Oh Poop!

All of a sudden Ellie seems to be waiting to empty her bowels until she's in the bathtub. She's done this probably 5 times in the past 10 days. Fortunately, I've noticed "that look" and have been able to catch it (washcloth in hand mind you. I am a nurse, but I'm not about to touch even my own kids' poop if I don't have to) before it gets all over. Except a couple days ago. She even almost grabbed it. I know you all thank me for not posting pictures on this one!

Party Time

Ellie looking up at her hanging butterflies


She really liked her banana cake. She ate a lot of that huge piece.


Some of my family, Debbie with her 2 girls, and Nate's parents (via Skype) came to her party. Thanks for celebrating with us!

Birthday Girl

The Beatles said it oh so well:

You say it's your birthday
It's my birthday too--yeah
They say it's your birthday
We're gonna have a good time
I'm glad it's your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

We decided to take Ellie to the zoo for her first time on her first birthday. It was fun, probably more so for us watching her watching animals than actually for her. We ended up buying a membership so now we have a years worth of zoo trips ahead!







This is Ellie telling us she was DONE!

A Year.

I went from this body to this one



To this beautiful miracle



February 25, 2010. 8 pounds, 19 inches



One month



Two months



Three months



Four months



Five months



Six months



Seven months



Eight months



Nine months



Ten months



Eleven months



Twelve months

What a change in her hair! That's one of the first things that comes to my mind when I see these pictures. She is definitely not lacking hair. It's so crazy to think that about 2 years ago we were getting ready to start the in vitro process. I don't think I truely believed it would work, not the first time at least. The Lord sure proved me wrong. I'm so grateful He did. Ellie fits in to our family perfectly. She has quite the personality. She loves when her daddy comes home from work in the morning and can hardly wait for him to shower/change out of his work clothes before attacking him. She chases him around most mornings. She has her little 1 year old temper that is very evident already, especially when she doesn't get what she wants (ie the cell phone, computer, camera, etc). She loves mimicking us when we make noises, she loves giving hugs to her stuffed animals and our legs (while we're standing up), and kisses to everything, books, bears, dolls, except her parents! She will give us kisses at night when she's really tired and forgets I think! She is getting her 4th tooth on bottom and has 2 on top. She weighed 22.6 pounds and was 29 inches while we wrestled her to lay still tonight. She started walking almost 2 weeks ago and LOVES it. She still usually takes 2 naps a day, though I see that may not last too much longer (boo hoo). She loves eating the paint off her crib. I finally taped the guards to it tonight so she can't pull them off anymore, hopefully. At least the paint doesn't have lead in it! I'm really thankful that Ellie is a happy girl. She usually has a smile on her face and loves to laugh. We love chasing her around the house and eating her up. I can't say enough about the joy she has brought to our life. We LOVE LOVE LOVE Ellie.

happy valentine's day

tried to have ellie hold this heart so i could take a picture and send a text to her grandparents. not so easy to get a 1 year old to hold the paper still, not eat it, and keep herself still!



Nothing like a valentine's day pickle!





Our valentine's tulips. oh i miss the northwest!

ellie's nana and papa sent her a valentine card with an oragami dollar bill