Thursday, June 21, 2012

2 Year Pictures-Ellie

We had Ellie's 2 year pictures taken on June 7, 2012.  I got a birthday coupon from JC Penney and it made it so cheap, I couldn't resist.  I have to say we have had most of Ellie's pictures done by JC Penney and I feel like they do a pretty good job.  Plus, if they don't turn out, I don't feel like I've just spent a ton of money.  It is perfect.  These pictures were great!  I have to say that they did a really good job and captured Ellie perfectly!  Here are the ones that I picked up.
Classic cheesy smile.  I had to think of other ways to make her smile besides just saying cheese.
She did the best most natural smile when she was laughing!  Love it!!
The one I picked for my wall
 I love this one, but wish they would have gotten a little more of the top of her head.  She looks so innocent!
 I like how this one shows her whole outfit and a perfect little smile!
 Another of the whole outfit.  Can you tell we were almost done by then?  She was very ready to go!

 Ellie did really good and much better than I was expecting at holding still and smiling for the camera.  It really helped that they have to be on the little red light to get a picture.  I thought this would make it worse, but it helped her stay focused long enough to get a picture.  I am very glad with how they turned out and would recommend JC Penney, especially for the price!

Saturday, June 16, 2012

Big Girl Bed!

We set up Ellie's toddler bed on the day of her birthday party.  I have been fretting for a while now about this.  First, I don't want her to keep growing up so fast!!! But second, because we have had a spare queen size bed in her room ever since she was born and although it is extremely old...I haven't wanted to get rid of it.  She LOVES the bed.  She plays on it every day and jumps on it every night.  I thought for sure she would have a hard time with it being gone and be really upset....once again, I was wrong about something...she didn't even say one word about the big bed being gone.  Patrick and his dad and brother moved the bed all out(it went to a good home, his sister and brother in law's).  Then they cleaned her room and set up her bed during her nap.  We showed Ellie her new bed and she didn't really get excited, but she wen over to it.  We got her to get on the bed and test it out at least, but I think she was a little apprehensive because there were so many people in her room.

That night she did great.  She had picked out her bedding, princesses, and she got some princess jammies that match perfect for her birthday.  We had our little routine and tucked her in and she went right to sleep.  
The next morning she even yelled for us when she woke up.  She didn't play or even get out of her bed all night!  Amazing.  I wondered how nap time would be and once again she did great.  Ellie has always been a really good sleeper, and changing to a big girl bed hasn't hindered that at all.  I wondered how often she would fall out because she is such a crazy sleeper.  

She has fallen out one night, June 18th, but we just heard her yell, "Daddy, help me!"  When Patrick went in, she was half on half off the bed and a little disoriented.  He tucked her back in and she went right back to sleep.  After a few mornings, she still yells to us when she's awake, but will slowly get out and come into our room:)  She is so funny and looks so grown up in her new little bed.  I'm glad she likes it.

Ellie's 2 Year Minnie Mouse Birthday Party

We had Ellie's 2 Year birthday party on June 16, 2012.  We have a great family that was willing to all come up and spend the day with us to make it even more special for Ellie!
Ellie has loved Minnie Mouse for a long time.  I found a lot of cute ideas for a little Minnie Mouse birthday party online and it turned out great.  We had it at Bridger Park, by our apt.  It was a really good day for it because there was a little breeze so it made it not too hot.
 I bought an iron on transfer to make Ellie's shirt.  It was really cheap and turned out super cute.

We had a yummy lunch, sandwiches, fruit, vegi's and chips.
 Grandpa snuck Ellie a cupcake before we did anything, she were very excited about it and dug right in.
  Then it was time for presents!!!  We have been talking to Ellie about having her party and she would always get really excited and say we were going to eat cake and have presents.
 Ellie got some fun new books.  Mickey Mouse clubhouse set from Great grandma Miller.
A princess look and find from Patrick and I, and an Elmo potty book from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Cassity.
A fun cow bubble popper from Grandpa Cassity
Minnie Mouse dress up doll from Grandma Brown
Moon Dough from Grandma and Grandpa Brown-this is really cool dough that is pretty clean and says it never dries out!
Bubbles from Grandma and Grandpa Brown
An awesome bowling set from Uncle Eric
Really cute Minnie Mouse outfit from Grandma and Grandpa Brown.  She also got some fun new princess jammies from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Cassity.  They match her new sheets and blankie perfectly!
A little gold set from Grandpa Brown-Ellie loves hitting the balls all around our house
A huge playdoh set from Grandma Judy and Grandpa Cassity
Minnie and Daisy car set-This has gone everywhere with us!  She loves it!
A cute new swimsuit from Grandma and Grandpa Brown
A Mr Potato Head from Grandma and Grandpa Brown

Ellie also got a fun pool and glow wand from Aunt Kati and Uncle Mike, a swim life jacket from Grandma Judy and glow sticks from Uncle Derrick.  She made a hall, as usual! After opening a few, Ellie was getting tired and said she didn't want to open more:(  She did make it through though.  Patrick and I got her a new bike/trike.  I thought she may not get too excited because it was the last present.  I was wrong!!  She loved it and instantly took off riding.  She can't quite reach the peddles yet, but does great and actually goes pretty fast.
 Then it was time for cake and ice cream.  I saw these cute cupcakes and had to give it a try.  They turned out really cute!
  Ellie did awesome and blowing out the candles and even sang the birthday song after:)
 Of course she needed to play in the sand!  And she got a cool sand set from Uncle Derrick.
 The family playing a little soccer.
 We all had a great time and Ellie especially enjoyed herself.  Thanks for coming up and spending the day with us for Ellie's birthday!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Happy 2nd Birthday Ellie!

Can't believe my little Ellie turned 2!  Her birthday was on Thursday, June 7th and we had a great day!  Patrick took the day off of work to be able to spend the day together.  We started out with painting our toes(to-ees, as Ellie says it)  She loves her toes painted and will sit really still for it.  She even likes to help to blow on them when we are finished!

We then were off to get her 2 year pictures done at JC Penney.  They turned out so cute!  I will post more when I get them back.  We had to make sure to play at the mall play place and take a couple of rides.  

After that we were off to take a few pictures of our own for her birthday invitations.  They were much harder to get since she had already been sitting for a long time!  I will post the invite(which Patrick made) with her birthday party.  We got home just in time for a surprise visit from Aunt Krista.  I didn't take any pictures, but she brought her a present-paints, bubbles and stamps!  Ellie was very excited!  Then it was time for a nap.  

We planned on going swimming after her nap and of course, she decided to sleep for 3 hours!  I had to finally be a little more noisy in her room to make sure we got to the pool before it was too late:)  It was really funny because I went into her room and was just saying her name and she was so asleep.  She didn't even flinch.  I talked for about a minute and still nothing!  I then said, do you want to go swimming and without any hesitation she said yes!  Put on swimsuit.  And she was up like that!  We had so much fun swimming.  Ellie loves the water and is a brave little girl-scary for her mommy and daddy!  Luckily, grandma Judy got her a little life jacket swim thing and it worked great.  This way she could feel like she was on her own-even though we were always hanging on to her!  Uncle Derrick came with us and we had a fun time!

I really like the Logan Aquatic Center because it has the little kiddie area.  She can still touch and it's a great way for her to be a little more independent.  

She loved being in the deep part too-especially doing motor boat with daddy and uncle derrick.  She kept asked for the slide and finally convinced Patrick to take her down.(only after she started asking to go off the diving board when Uncle Derrick would dive)  Lets just say she would have spend the entire time on the slide if Patrick would have let her.  

We stopped and picked up McDonalds for dinner.  Her request of chicken nuggets and french fries:)  Then we had Moose Bars for Dessert.  I couldn't resist and had to put some candles in since we weren't having cake until her actual party!  
She did great blowing out the candles!

We ended the day with a bath.  Her friend Ivy got her some really cool bath fizzy's that change the water color.  She thought it was really cool and wanted to put them all in....:)  And she was out!  We had a really great day!
The next day, June 8th, we had a little party with her friends.  We just met at the park and had cupcakes and played.  Nothing big, but it was fun to get together with all her little friends.  I completely forgot to take any pictures:(  But we had a good time.

We had Ellie's 2 year well check on June 4, 2012.  She is healthy and doing great!  We didn't have any shots this time which was wonderful.  She was very apprehensive when the dr first came in, but she was back to her usual talkative self in a couple min.  Dr Horkley even said that she seems very advanced with talking and the things she knows.  She weighed in at 25.2 lbs in the 31st percentile; height of 33.5 inches in the 43rd percentile.  She hasn't grown much in 6 months which is crazy because I feel like she has grown a ton!  But I guess it is the baby fat that is disappearing and turning into a little girl!  Glad she is a healthy happy girl!

Here are a few things Ellie is doing right now that I don't want to forget.

*She loves to put on her own shoes.  I think we got some good shoes for this, because she does really well and is so proud of herself when she does it.  Here is a picture from this morning of her after she put on her boots!  June 10, 2012.
*We have been doing time out, not very much, but she remembers it and knows she is in trouble.  The other day she started putting herself in time out....not sure if this is a good thing...but it was pretty cute.  She has even put daddy in time out when he dropped food on the floor...May 28, 2012.

*Ellie loves books.  She loves to have them read to her, but also really likes to just read them by herself.  This is how I found her after I finished getting ready one day.  I am glad she likes books so much!  June 5, 2012.

*She loves animals and will point them out everywhere.  She does a lot of animal noises and even does a peacock noise(thanks to the Logan zoo, which has peacocks)  We have been going to feed the ducks at first dam more and more with the nice weather and she has lots of fun doing that.  She will even point out the geese and make the noise they make.  May 2, 2012 with Dutton Booth and Hadlie Doolin
 She also likes that we have horses by our apt.  We will go on walks and always stop to see the horseys:)  May 6, 2012.
*She found her binky the other day and likes to play with it acting like she's a baby....Its cute only because she doesn't NEED it:)  June 3, 2012.

*Ellie is extremely scared of the vacuum...it's strange because she used to really like the vacuum.  Now when I even get it out, she will say that she is going to her room and hide from the vacuum until I am done!:(  June 2, 2012
We love having Ellie so much in our family and can't believe she is already 2.  It seems like just yesterday when she was just a little baby and we brought her home.  I have enjoyed so much being able to be her mom and see her learn and grow.  It will be interesting to see how she responds to having a new little baby in our house.  She does really good with babies right now and is a very good little mommy to her baby doll.  I hope it doesn't throw her too much when he comes.  Happy Birthday baby girl!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Happy 29th Patrick

Patrick turned the big 29 on Wednesday, June 6, 2012.  What an old man he is now;)  We had a great day, pretty uneventful, but still lots of fun!  Patrick had to work, but his mom and brother surprised him by coming up to have lunch with us.  We went to The Italian Place on federal avenue in Logan.  If you haven't been there, you should go because they seriously have the best sandwiches ever!!!  I asked what he wanted for dinner and what kind of cake....of all things, he wanted a Sam's Club pizza(This is also really yummy if you've never tried it) and fruit pizza.  I love it that it was an easy dinner for me:)  

After work, we had his brother over for dinner and fruit pizza.  Then just played games for the night.  He got a couple of movies from me, x-box games from his mom and Ellie gave him some cool airplanes that you shoot with a rubber band and made a picture frame-she picked out the frame and paper and even helped to modge podge it on:).  

We had a great day and hope Patrick did too.  Love you babe!