Tulip Festival

Every year Thanksgiving Point does a Tulip festival in there Gardens.  Each year, my mom and I say we should go.  We finally decided to make a day of it and head over on April 25, 2012.  I haven't been to Thanksgiving Point since high school....probably close to 12 years ago....and it has gotten so much bigger.  I couldn't believe it.  The gardens were beautiful and there were so many tulips and other flowers.  We had a really good time walking around.  I will say that it was huge...we walked a lot!!!  Here are a few pictures of the day.

Ellie and I by a waterfall at the very beginning.

She loved being able to push her stroller all over.

Here she is with Grandma Brown at a flower carousel.

After walking through this really cool vine tunnel,

We made it to the secret garden. 

With Grandpa Brown-I love this view with all the flowers going up the stairs.

Grandma had on her sunglasses, so Ellie needed to put hers on too.  

I love the cheesy grin here.

A very nice guy took our picture for us.  I thought it was hilarious because Ellie was so mad that he had our camera and just glared at him....no smiles.

Then we found the pond and got to see the ducks and fish.

Luckily Grandpa had a quarter and we were able to feed the fish.  I still can't believe how big they were.

 Ellie finally got tired of walking and rode the rest of the way.

We had a really good day at the gardens.  Glad my parents could meet us there!

It's a BOY!!!

We had our 20 week ultrasound on Friday, April 13, 2012. I was a little nervous because Ellie was extremely shy and I wanted to know what this little baby was going to be:) Our little guy was not shy at all...we knew within the first 5 minutes and she was trying to look at his heart:) The ultrasound tech said that he was moving around all over the place and had a hard time getting him to stay still enough to get a good look at his heart. But, all is well and things look great. A couple things I want to remember are that my placenta is anterior this time. I haven't felt a lot of movement, which always worries me, and that is the reason why. He attached on the side with my back, so your don't feel movement near as much early on. It made me feel a ton better especially since I couldn't figure out why because at each checkup he always seems to be moving all over the place-last month my Dr had a hard time getting a heartbeat because he wouldn't hold still. This also affected getting a really good look at his face. My placenta was showing too much to see through. But we still got a cute little picture of his face with a hand next to it. He also decided to urinate on camera(just like Ellie did) I still think it's funny that you can actually tell when that happens on an ultrasound. I know 3D ultrasound's don't really tell a ton of what your baby is going to look like, but I feel like this picture is nothing like what Ellie's picture was. I'm excited to see what he looks like and meet him. I'm so very glad that everything is great and we are over half way! We met both families in Layton to have dinner and tell everyone. This is how we did it! My mom and I actually made the cake balls and did half pink and half blue. Then I did the cookies the next day by myself. It was a fun way to reveal. I got the idea from SugarDerby. I even tried to make something for Patrick's dad to bite into...He can't have sugar, so I made a roll and put the center blue...but when it baked the blue showed through....oh well. It was a fun night and we are so excited to have this little guy join our family.

A Couple of Sick Weeks

With Patrick super busy at the end of school, Ellie and I decided to head down to my parents for a week to give him some time(without feeling guilty about not spending most of the night with us:)) to get all his work done for the end of the semester.  We left on Easter Sunday...night.  My sister, Krista, flew into town that night as well.  I was really excited to be able to spend time with my family and be able to go shopping, and get some crafts done....I hadn't been feeling great for a week and a half and figured it was just allergies-when I was pregnant with Ellie, I had allergies pretty bad and figured it would be the same with this one.  Ellie had also been a little grumpy and not eating so well the last couple of days.  I really just thought she was getting to the age of being grumpy and was a little worried that I wouldn't handle this stage real great.  Well, on Sunday night, she woke up and was really stuffy and had  a bad cough.  I don't ever let her sleep with me, but with Patrick gone, I brought her in bed with me to keep an eye(ear) on her.  It really had me worried a bit.  We didn't get a lot of sleep, but she was doing fine.  Her cough was still there in the morning and I debated all day about going to the Dr.  I hate going if there is nothing wrong, especially when we aren't going to her regular pediatrician.  I called her Dr and asked about it being croup and what to watch for.  Her cough had gotten a lot better by lunch so I didn't think much about it.  Then she woke up from her nap and it was terrible.  Really barky sounding and I decided to take her in right away.  The Dr got her right in and I was so glad I took her, because she had Croup.  It was so sad:(  They said her oxygen levels were only down a bit and were not too worried, but decided to give her a steroid shot and a breathing treatment.  Ellie did so good and let them do everything without even crying....until the shot.  But I have to say that the nurse came in and was really rough with the shot.  I probably would have cried too if she had stuck me with a needle that hard!  During the breathing treatment Ellie fell asleep.  She was exhausted.  Side note: I didn't really know what to expect with the breathing treatment, but we just had to hold it in front of her face.  I thought it would have to be strapped on her and didn't think she would like that at all. This was much easier.  They kept us there for over an hour to monitor her breathing and make sure everything was getting better.  She hasn't ever had croup before and I really didn't know what to expect.  We were supposed to go to the zoo the next day and I asked if she would be contagious...etc.  They made it sound like she would be almost back to normal, which I was extremely grateful for....well, that was not even close to how it was.  Ellie seemed really good all night, until bedtime.  Then, she screamed pretty much all night.  She has always been a really good sleeper, and really likes her crib.  She will even ask for it.  She hardly ever falls asleep anywhere else, even in bed with us, or with us holding her.  Tonight was not good at all.  We went from my bed, to my mom's lap, to the couch to a chair....then she just cried on the floor and didn't want anyone to touch her at all.  I felt so helpless and hated to see her hurting and not feeling good.  She did fall asleep on the floor(seriously never happens) for a couple of hours.

   We didn't go to the zoo....
 
   The rest of the week was better, but still not good.  She cried/whined a lot and didn't want anybody but me and a few times my mom.  I was so tired and it was hard to be away from Patrick because at least she probably would have gone to him and given me a little break.  I called the Dr office again on Wednesday when she was still stuffy and coughing.  They said not to worry unless her breathing was really bad.  I wish I had called her normal Dr, because I really think they would have made me feel better and helped me know what to expect.  I actually took her back in to her regular Dr on Thursday when we got home because I was so worried, since I thought she would be better in a couple of days.  They confirmed that she was getting better, but with Croup you can have cold symptoms for up to 2 weeks!!!  What!?!  I thought from what the other Dr office had said that she would be better really fast...It was a relief to know that she was fine and to know that it is expected to have some symptoms for awhile.  She started doing much better and was back to her normal happy good sleeping self by the next week!  I felt so bad, because when we got home from the Dr, Ellie didn't want to come inside.  It was pretty cold out and I told her we needed to come inside, so she ran the opposite direction.  She ended up falling, on the road, and as I reached to catch her I was a second too late.  She fell right on her face and head.  It sounded terrible and when I picked her up she was bleeding on her forehead and nose:(  I didn't take any pictures until a few days later and this is how it looked.  Rough week for Ellie!

   By Monday, I was feeling worse and worse and thought maybe my allergies were something more.  I figured a sinus infection since my eyes and ears were hurting.  I hadn't gone in to my Dr since I was so worried about Ellie.  I made an appt on Monday and went in to find that I did indeed have a sinus infection, but also had gotten bronchitis from waiting so long to get it taken care of:(  So not fun, but also kind of a relief to know that it was more that allergies and would go away!  After a couple day s of antibiotics, I felt so much better.  We don't get sick around our house often, and all being sick at the same time is just terrible!  Patrick got a little cold that week also:(  We are all doing much, much better!
   While at my parents house(April 11, 2012)  We decided to do something fun and help distract Ellie.  We made clean clouds!  It is just Ivory soap that you put in the microwave and it is awesome!  Then you add water and toilet paper.  Ellie really enjoyed squishing it all up.  We had a great time doing that!  

 

Happy Easter 2012

We had a lot of fun with Easter this year.  We started out with an Easter egg hunt at Grandma Judy and Grandpa Cassity's on March 31, 2012.  I am so glad they did this because Ellie didn't really understand what she was supposed to do and this was great to be able to show her what she was doing without a million kids swarming all around her.  She would start by opening each egg and getting so excited, which was actually really fun to watch, but then when she realized there were more, she started running to each one.  

Here she is relaxing with Grandpa afterwards.

Then on April 7, we went to the North Logan Easter egg hunt.  There were so many kids there, but it is nice because they separate age groups.  So Ellie was in the 1-2 year olds and didn't have so many older kids getting everything. We had heard they start promptly so made sure we were about 10 minutes early...that was the longest 10 minutes ever trying to keep a 1 year old away from picking up all the eggs.  

She decided to take a short nap on Patrick's foot.

She did really well and got a whopping 7 eggs:)

After this egg hunt we went to the mall.  I heard they were doing little Easter egg hunts and figured since it was on our way home we would stop.  They also had split into age groups.  It was crazy because they just through out a TON of candy and then let the kids race to get it.  Even with Ellie checking out each one and being a little choosy about which ones to pic up, she still got a TON of candy.  She was even very nice and shared some candy with a little boy who was scared of going out and getting the candy.  I think this picture is funny with all of the moms pointing where to go.:)

For dinner that night we had bunny pancakes:)  Okay, so I only made one that was a bunny and the rest were normal...but this one turned out cute.

We colored eggs after dinner and Ellie thought it was great.  We let her watch while we put a couple of those cover things on the eggs and she was mesmerized by it.  

Coloring on the eggs was fun, but she didn't like that she couldn't see the writing.  

She had all of them colored rather quickly but enjoyed showing each one to Patrick for a picture and then just being able to examine them herself. I had to put a few pictures of her showing them off because Patrick and I find my facial expression pretty funny.  I was trying to make her excited, without worrying about all the eggs cracking....We only had 2 cracked eggs out of 12, I think that is quite the accomplishment.

Here is what Patrick did while we colored eggs....

The next day, April 8, 2012, the Easter bunny came.  Ellie got the new Winnie the Pooh movie, shapes box, alphabet puzzle and lots of candy.

     

My parents came up after church and had dinner with us.  My mom brought Ellie an Easter basket as well and she was very excited for more presents and treats!  With each new thing she would say ooooaaahhh and get this awesome look on her face.  My mom found these cute little chocolate bugs.  Ellie didn't realize they were chocolate at first and played with them.  Then after dinner, she figured out what they really were and I think she ate 4 of them before we noticed she was opening and eating them:)  

We all had a great Easter this year and had lots of fun spending it with family!

22 Months

22 months and cute as every!  Here are some things that Ellie is doing/saying right now.

• Ellie loves to help cook.  She is a big helper with cooking as well.
• She is super social and says hi to everyone...everywhere we go.  I really love this about her.  I think it is much better to have her talking to everyone than crying or glaring at them all the time:)(I'm sure that's what I did when I was little)
• Ellie is very sympathetic when it comes to babies or other kids crying.  She will always ask me very concerned why they are crying or just tell me they are.  I hope this is a good thing when it comes to our baby and having her help out:)
• She loves to play hide and seek.  It is hilarious because she will hide and be completely still and make no noise at all.  She won't even giggle.  But, when you start to ask if she is in certain places that she isn't, she will laugh and say no!!!
• Still loves singing and is singing more words.  Her favorite right now is singing Rapunzel.  We can start the song and she will sing, "brush and brush and brush and brush hair."  Or when you go to brush her hair she sings this too.  The other day while walking home with Patrick, he started singing opera and putting his hand up when he would sing.  She copied him and now loves to sing opera.
• We finally changed her to a forward facing car seat.  I can't believe she made it so long, but she really didn't have issues riding rear facing so we waited.  It has just been the last couple of longer rides that she doesn't enjoy.  She loves being able to look out the window and being able to see us in the mirror!  March 22, 2012

We sure love having Ellie in our family and she brings so much joy to us.  She is starting to get a little more of an attitude and sassiness, but the things she says and done are just so cute and funny that we can't help but smile each day!

Baby Animal Days 2012

 We had such a great time at baby animal days this year.  Ellie was actually old enough to really enjoy it and it was really good weather on the day we went.  Patrick was able to take a couple of hours off of work to come with us.  It was sad because there were so many people there that we had to wait in line for a really long time and he didn't get to spend quite as much time as he would have liked to, but we still had a great time.  We got lucky to, because we had a friend coming in as we were leaving and so Ellie and I stayed longer with her.  She loved the cow and has talked about it ever since.  She calls it a silly cow because it licked her hand.

 I am really glad that she wasn't scared at all.  She is always really good with animals and sometimes scares me how she will go right up to anything and get in its face.  But at the petting zoo, this was perfect.  She thought it was so cool that she could go by each of the animals and get to see how they felt. 

 She was able to see horses a lot closer than what we normally see.  We have horses by our apartments, but they aren't usually right up by the fence.  The little baby was really cute too.  I love this picture because she wanted to be like the other kids that were on the fence and was so excited to be up in the action.  She is also saying cheese in this picture....Such a funny girl.

 This was my favorite.  I worried that she would be scared to ride the pony.... NOPE...not at all.  She was in heaven.  She even said YeeHaw as she rode.  She looks so tiny and yet like such a big girl here.  Patrick did walk with her the whole time:)

I think besides the pony ride, getting to hold the bunny and duck were a favorite.  She was so soft and gentle with them and I am pretty sure if there hadn't been a long line of people she would have stayed there the entire time.  

 

Ellie has always loved chickens and these were no different.  She kept putting her fingers in the cage though and I had to keep pulling them out.

We took a little break and Hadlie and Ellie found these fun toys.  They were really thick rubber and blown up and the kids could just bounce on them.  Pretty fun.

 After getting a little lunch, we got in line for the wagon ride.  By this time Ellie and Hadlie were pretty worn out and didn't want anything to do with lines!  However...we got lucky enough to have a huge mound of dirt/gravel that all the kids played on.  It's hard to see in this picture, but Ellie thought it was great to slide down on her tummy.  When we got home later that day and changed her clothes and diaper, there was sand everywhere!

 Here we are on the wagon ride.  They both thought it was great.  Ellie was extremely tired and decided it would be more comfy on the floor of the wagon...she even laid down.  She was getting laughs from everyone around us.

 We had so much fun.  It was a really long day our and Ellie crashed when we got home.  I had to wake her up around 5:30 because I didn't want her to be up all night.  We also both got a little sunburn on our faces.  Overcast days totally catch us off guard at the beginning of the season.  I am so glad the weather cooperated and we were able to see all the animals this year.