Sunday, June 29, 2008

Happy 1st Birthday, Ellery! (Updated)

We celebrated Ellery's 1st birthday in Colorado! Here is our sweet girl on her special day!


Kiran picked Ellery's birthday party theme! He knows just how much his sister loves BANANAS, and he thought she should have a cake with bananas on it. Then, we thought about how our little girl is quite a little monkey, and the rest was history! :)

Rody!

Big Brother is great at helping open presents!
Opening a specially wrapped gift by Addie and Aunt Nat with Colorado wildflowers on top!
Birthday fun with cousins! (Poor Doak, we scared him trying to get the kids to smile! )
Yummy! Ellery loved the CAKE, but she ate the banana bites out of her bowl first!

Big Cousin Addie eating monkey cake!You can't celebrate a 1st birthday without boots and jeans, folks!

Cookie and Doak playing!
Mommy and Daddy help blow out the candle!

The Fam in front of our wonderful cabin!


Thanks so much, Cookie and Aunt Natalie, for all of these wonderful pictures!

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Steppin' Out with My Baby!!!










Ellery took 4 steps today! She was super excited and so were we! Kiran did a great job of cheering her on! She has been standing up from a squatting position then staying there for a few seconds for the past 3 days. And, she has tried to to take a couple of steps before, but crashed. Today, it all came together and off she went.

We can hardly believe that in one week Ellery will be 1 year old! I know this saying is overstated, but, " This year has flown by!" We will be in Colorado for her birthday, so I wanted to share some of Ellery's activities from the past couple of months, and we'll have a birthday blog after we get home.

Things Ellery has been up to:
1. Ellery is famous for her motor noises, now, just like her brother! It is hilarious to hear her "start" the riding toys!
2. Ellery loves climbing - since the last blog where she was walking up the slide, she can now reach the top, but hasn't quite figured out how to turn around when she gets there.
3. She has 4 teeth!
4. Ellery is saying several words! They are not always plain to everyone, but Mommy, Daddy and Kiran can understand most like, "Mom-ma" "Dad-da" "Bub-ba," "Book," "Ball," " Dink" for drink, "Eyes," "Duck," "Bath."
5. When I put lotion on, Ellery puts her hands together and rubs just like she is putting lotion on, too. It is too cute!
6. Ellery loves water! Playing in water is her favorite thing to do outside!
7. Ellery has been walking holding on to walls to go room to room for about a month.
8. Ellery loves putting things around her neck - a real no-no for this age, but definitely makes a statement. She gets purses, ribbons, play necklaces, and puts them around herself with no prompting from us.
9. I just can't say enough how much fun it is to see Ellery and Kiran playing together. They are true buddies, now! And, it is very evident now that they are brother and sister. For as much fun as they have together, they definitely find themselves wanting the toy the other one has. And, Ellery can hold her own vocally regarding these situations!
10. Ellery is so sweet. She loves hugging and giving pats around our necks! And, even though she usually wants to be on the go, she is a great cuddler!



Sunday, June 15, 2008

Happy Father's Day!

Today, I am especially thankful for 3 dads I know well: my dad, Phil (Jeff's dad), and Jeff! What a blessing to have the gift of incredible fathers!

To my wonderful husband, I say thank you for all that you do to love our children. It is so obvious that they have an amazing relationship with you. It is such a joy for me to see their excitement and anticipation just before you walk in the door each evening! Kiran and Ellery know they can count on Daddy to be ready to play, to teach, to get excited about bugs and sticks and blowers and weedeaters and silly
sounds even when (especially when) they happen over and over again. Thank you for being such a great dad!