Cell Phone Pics

I finally downloaded all of my cell phone pics from the last couple of years.  We about died when we saw how much Ellison has changed.  You know they are changing, and you see it sometimes, but it really takes your breath away as a parent when you look back.  There were so many little memories packed into my little hand-held accessory...

Ellison trying on a cowgirl hat at a Gymboree store

[Jun 24, 2007]

In our High Point corporate housing apt - our first NC home

[Jul 25, 2007]

Practicing some steps in the front yard

[Sep 16, 2007]

[Oct 13, 2007]

At the Perez's - we were cracking up because Caroline plopped onto the car, and Ellison started to push her

[Oct 14, 2007]

Love that wittle face - this was one year from my original due date

[Nov 22, 2007]

This girl has always had a thing for cell phones and gadgets - just like her Daddy

[Nov 25, 2007]

For many months, Ellison and I spent our Tuesday mornings at the Benjamin Branch library for story time and songs.  We really got to know the other little regulars, and they were always sharing Cheerios amongst each other.

[Nov 28, 2007]

[Dec 4, 2007]

After story time at the library, Ellison loved tooling around the tiny kid section while I picked out books for us.

[Dec 5, 2007]

[Dec 16, 2007]

Brushing her teeth

[Dec 30, 2007]

Just a few days after learning to walk all over the place.

[Jan 1, 2008]

And, ah, one of the mistakes I've made as a parent - this was the first time I let her loose from the shopping cart in Target.  She had SO much fun, and I had so much fun watching her explore.  It was great for several months, but now I see the harm - now that she's 2 1/2 and I can't seem to manage with her in a store since she doesn't want to stay in the cart!

[Jan 9, 2008]

Spending her gift certificate from her birthday at the Build-A-Bear Workshop.  She wanted to haul around the big shopping basket even though it was bigger than her.

[Jan 20, 2008]

Playing with the train table at Barnes & Noble

[Jan 24, 2008]

[Feb 4, 2008]

Exploring the backyard

[Feb 18, 2008]

[Feb 14, 2008]

Trying on Mama's big shoes

[Feb 15, 2008]

Ellison's first time perusing Home Depot's aisles.

She played with the caulk for a good 20 minutes (when we had to pull her away), taking them in & out of the box.

[Feb 16, 2008]

She wanted up on the tractor, and still does to this day every time we're there.

Checking out the first spring flower in our yard.

[Mar 3, 2008]

She loved/loves trying on accessories by herself - she got into her hats.

[Mar 3, 2008]

Playing in the van - another fave.

[Jun 1, 2008]

Oh, her beloved green sunglasses that have since gotten lost one day on a walk at Battleground Military Park.  She was upset and talking about it all day long.

[Jun 8, 2008]

Hats and high heels

[Jul 5, 2008]

Daddy let Ellison get her own little shopping cart for the first time at Harris Teeter.  That girl was throwin' stuff in her cart faster than we could put it back.  She's only allowed to do this when she grocery shops with 2 parents, which is pretty much never.

[Jul 26, 2008]

Talking on the phone - probably to Grandma.  As of late, she refuses to talk on the phone, and hides on me so I can't chase her with it.

[Aug 30, 2008]

Love her

[Sep 23, 2008]

Sweet baby girl at the hospital to have her renal ultrasound and VCUG scan.  She was SUCH a trooper!!!  They (and we) were very impressed with how great she was through it all.

[Oct 16, 2008]

Laying amongst all the giant stuffed animals at Costco in Buffalo.  Titi Ana ended up buying one for her for Christmas

[Nov 2008]

Wrestling on our bed - a daily pasttime.

[Feb 27, 2009]

I had to run into the grocery store for a quick item, and Mookie wanted to walk "all by myself"; she also insisted on having her little purse on her arm just like Mama.  She walked around like she owned the place!

[Mar 11, 2009]

We had no idea she was playing in the sour cream when we turned our backs.

[Mar 13, 2009]

Daddy was out of town on business, and Elli and I had such a great evening one of the, um, evenings.  After playing at the park, we went for ice cream at Baskin Robbins and watched the sunset.

[Mar 7, 2009]

And ending with a "smile". :-)

A Big Fun Day

Can ya tell?!  Such a big, fun day that little Mookster was WIPED out!  I'll explain the day in a moment, but these first couple pics are what we found when we turned around in our front seats of the mini-van at 7pm on the drive home.  One moment, she was watching a DVD and playing with her stickers.  The next minute I turned around and found all the stickers covering her little body and she was zonked out.  Hilarious!

My heart still smiles when I see these.  So funny.

The day started off with the 3 of us heading out in the morning to drive to Concord to meet up with Tato & Nilda (Jonathan's nephew and his wife).  We are SO excited they are moving from the Buffalo area to Concord next month!!!  Ellison will finally have some cousins she will get to see and play with.  Anyway, they were in Concord looking for a house while their girls were back in NY.  They were successful in finding a BEAUTIFUL home - we went to see them and their new purchase before they headed back up to NY to finish up everything.  Ellison thought it was so much fun to run around in an empty house, and wanted to keep playing hide-and-seek.  And she was so happy with her new baby doll and carrier that Tato & Nilda were kind enough to present to her.  After viewing their new home, we all headed to a nice lunch.  By the time we left Concord, it was past Ellison's naptime, but we thought for sure she'd fall asleep on the way up to High Point.  Despite the bedtime, relaxing, soothing DVD, that child never even shut an eye.  We were thinking "disaster" since we were headed to a birthday party.  We were driving to High Point for Ella James' 2nd birthday party.  But she did good - she played til her heart was content, loved having a cupcake and "chippies" for dinner, and enjoyed the great party (as did her parents).

Sweet Ella James blowing out her candles.

Ellison thought Ella James' sunglasses were the coolest.

Ella James discovering a pinwheel sticking out of one of the gifts.

Caroline, Mollie, and baby girl having some fun.

I tried and tried to get a pic of just Ella James, but only succeeded in getting this one. 

Ellison and Caroline sharing an umbrella in the sprinkling rain (note the backwards, upside down tiara hanging off the back of Ellison's noggin - this is how she insists on wearing them).

Lovin' swinging on the "big girl swing" now.  Totally content.  For as much as she wasn't into swinging when she was littler, this girl LOVES to swing now.

[April 19, 2009]

My New Fave Toy

My dad surprised me and my two siblings recently by giving us a very generous gift.  My particular gift?  A new stove!  Here's an ironic little story.  My dad told my mom how he wanted to give each of us kids a monetary gift, and they mentioned between the two of them that they'd like to buy me a new stove with that money.  Literally two days after they talked about it (which was unbeknownst to us at the time), I was on the phone with my mom while cooking when suddenly I stopped our conversation to complain out loud because my two back burners stopped working right in the middle of my meal preparation.  OK, so it's not an ironic story, it's a God story.  Isn't it amazing how He lets such little details fall into place, knowing exactly what we're going to need at the right time, and He gives us the means to do what we need when there doesn't seem any other way?  Thank you, God, and thank you, Dad!  We absolutely love our new appliance!  Now, we just need to accent it with something other than green countertops. :-)  A special shout out to Dave on getting us in touch with my new fave kitchen toy!

Funny thing was, Ellison was just as excited over the new stove.  It was like the circus came to town when the delivery truck arrived.  She was in awe of the whole process, and was totally flirting with the 3 delivery men, who were SO sweet to her!  (Go Ferguson!).  She lit up when she saw the final product in its new place, and we quickly figured out how to put the child lock on the buttons.  She was animatedly talking about the stove that whole day, announcing to people that "we got a new stove!".  Again, thanks Dad!!!

He Is Risen!

We had a beautiful Easter.  The weather was absolutely perfect throughout the day - so appropriate for the beauty of the day and the celebration of our Savior risen.  Ellison woke up and we immediately went downstairs so she could find the eggs the Easter bunny hid (about 5 minutes prior, during her potty time - hey, the eggs can't go bad, man!).  She had fun finding them, and we thought for sure she'd get sidetracked by the basket o' goodies sitting on the fireplace, but she didn't even notice.

With the hunt behind her, and with us pointing out her new treats, Ellison pulled out every item one by one.  I know, she looks less than thrilled, but she really was excited.  It may have been her pesky parents rushing her through so we could get ready for church.

Attempts at family photos never turn out in our household.  I know.  I've said it before.

I love Elli's face in this one.

Our little crack-up tearing into a Peep.  She is still asking for one every single morning for breakfast.  Marshmallow anything, and this girl is sold on it.

After a beautiful church service, we went to Lucky 32 for Easter brunch where the Sbihli clan joined us.  I imagine Lucky 32 will be a tradition in our house for Easter brunch - we went last year for the first time when my parents and aunt were in town visiting.

The rest of the day was very relaxing, and just family time.  Very peaceful.

[April 12, 2009]

Perez Visit

The Perez clan came over for a long-overdue evening, and of course I had to snap the two "big girls" playing around.  One of these days I need to post pics of the 2 of them when they were just infants together.  I hope they'll be life-long friends someday.  Our little Latinas need to stick together! :-)

Caroline & Ellison playing in the sleeping bag together.

Having a tea party complete with Cheerios.  Ellison shall never be called an improper hostess.

Sweet hugs.  This pic cracks me up - it looks like Caroline has Ellison in a headlock.  There was a photo of Ellison reciprocating, but it didn't quite turn out.

Easter Eggs

Our first family Easter egg coloring.  Gosh, it felt like it was over in like, 2 minutes.  We didn't bother to get crazy-creative with our eggs this year.  Ellison enjoyed it.

Yes, a God-awful photo of a make-up-less me, but I have to prove I was there.

Mommy & Me

We RARELY have a pic of the 2 of us both smiling and looking at the camera...