To the Eastside

This past weekend, we visited my family in Spokane. It sure is a long drive from Buckley but well worth it! Ellie had a blast and I don't think she ever stopped smiling the entire four days! Not sure what the highlight was for her: probably a toss up between playing with her cousins non stop and Mema and Papa spoiling her with treats, big breakfasts, hugs, kisses, and silly play. We planned on visiting a pumpkin patch but decided not to since we have already been to so many and the kids were completely happy just running amok in my mom and dad's house. Anyway, here are some pictures. The last few are at our house the evening we returned home. Dan and Ellie carved pumpkins before bath/bedtime to make sure our house was ready for all the trick or treaters. Enjoy!

Thursday Ladies Night: popcorn and a movie Friday Halloween/Birthday party for friend Rylee (Tinkerbell of course)

The crew...our smiley little girl in the middle

Scavenger Hunt for mini pumpkins

Finally at Mema and Papa Lenny's house...Nick and Ellie like to wrestle, climb and tackle their grandparents at every opportunity!

Someday I hope they outgrow this!

Best of friends...Ellie and cousin Nicholas

Carving pumpkins for Mema and Papa

At home...Ellie's classic silly face

Finally Ellie squishes her hand inside a pumpkin! This took ALL weekend to accomplish!

This will look even better next year when we paint our front doors black!

Dan is cracking up here because Ellie wouldn't get off the phone (with imaginary friend Cinny) to take a picture. Do we have a teenager already? :)

Daddy and Ellie go "BOO"

Our neighborhood has been up to no good. Like crazy people, we are taking turns sneaking out in the dark and leaving goody buckets, a picture of a ghost, and a haunting poem on our neighbors' front steps. It's called "BOOing." Lisa and I did this when we were younger and I am SO glad this neighborhood does it too. I wish you could have seen how excited Ellie was to find the loot someone left for us on doorstep! Anyway, Dan and Ellie kept the chain going and here are pictures of them getting ready to go "BOO" a few of our neighbor friends.

Ellie and Dan saying "BOO!"

Zoo Boo

Dan and I took Ellie to Zoo Boo on Sunday. Zoo Boo is a Halloween event at Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma where all the little kids dress in costume and then participate in little crafts, scavenger hunts, and games. Anyway, we met our friends Bob and Rosanna (and kids) and Steve and Jodi (and kids) and had a great time. Ellie was dressed as an orange monster...she did a great job "grrrring" at people. :)

Our little monster ready to go!

Gabby, Ellie, Sawyer, Dante, and Joslyn

Thumbs up Guys! This looks awesome!

Ellie making everyone laugh

Riding a camel while mommy sang, "Alice the camel has 3 humps...so go Alice go, boom boom boom" like an idiot

Ellie and Mama

And a quick little Grrr! for you all!

Ellie's First Field Trip

Yesterday, Dan and I joined Ellie and her preschool class for their very first field trip (to a pumpkin patch of course!). The day was beautiful (NO RAIN!), the kids had a great time, and Ellie made some great memories. There were two highlights to the day for me: the first was that Dan was able to join us. He is so blessed to have the flexible schedule he has and a day does not go by when we don't at some point say, "We are so lucky you work for the State Patrol." He is such a great daddy and I always notice that Ellie is the only one with both parents at all her "events" (ballet lessons, field trips, etc). I know it means a lot to Ellie because Dan always adds that extra element of fun. You know how dads are...they jump right in to all the play and fun and Ellie just loves it. Anyway, the second highlight of the day for me was watching Ellie interact with her class and surroundings. Ellie has always been so full of personality...bright, articulate, and humorous. But she also has been shy and tended to sit back before jumping in to any new situation. Yesterday was different. Ellie is the youngest (and tiniest!) in her class but definitely a leader. She was so outgoing and tried everything with enthusiasm and confidence. I watched her classmates follow her lead much of the time and also watched how she really engaged with her teachers...asking questions, striking up conversation, seeking out their opinions, etc. I was just so proud to see her strong sense of self and fun nature. I was truly a happy mama. :) Just in case you were wondering, Ellie's highlight of the day was eating the apple she picked by herself. :) All in all, we had a wonderful time and took some great pictures and video to remember our day. I was so blessed to spend a beautiful, crisp fall morning with those I love the most. Simply wonderful!

At home, ready to go!

Class picture...look at my little petite lady!

Silly with Daddy

So full of personality

Technically not even 3 feet tall!

This picture reminds me of one of me at Kelsey creek when I was around her age

Ellie did the shopping all by herself!

And the paying too!

Very mad on the way home because she didn't get to talk to Papa on the phone

Just Being Me

Hi everyone! Mommy has been trying for two days to upload some really cute videos of me but they won't upload. She is getting very frustrated so I thought I would help her out. Daddy took these pictures of me last night and I wanted to share them with you so Mommy could relax and not feel bad that she is technologically challenged. :) Nothing major going on in the pictures, just me being me! Love you! -Ellie

12 weeks and Counting!

IT'S OFFICIAL! We are pregnant and have made it past the 12 week mark! Thank you thank you thank you to everyone who has been praying for us. I cannot tell you how ecstatic Dan and I are to know that we will be welcoming another little gift from God very soon! OK, maybe not until April but still...soon enough! Ellie does not know yet and we plan on not telling her until we find out the gender (sometime in November) or later if we can keep it a secret. This is proving to be very difficult since I am sick every single evening. Now Ellie says, "Mama, it's OK. I will get the bucket." She already knows when Mommy starts feeling icky and automatically brings me a bucket to puke in. Sort of twisted but endearing too. Anyway, baby is healthy and moving a lot. We have had three ultra sounds already and the last one (this past Friday) showed a very active little one. He/She was boxing, kicking, stretching, and crossing legs at the ankles. The best moment was when the ultrasound technician turned up the volume, and the little heartbeat filled the room. Dan and I smiled (and cried) and rejoiced at the reassurance that so far, all is well. Honestly, the three sweetest sounds in life so far have been heartbeat on ultrasound, cries at birth, and "Mama" spoken the first time. Anyway, I am rambling. Here are some pictures from the ultra sound and of my growing belly. It is VERY true that the second one pops out much sooner. I feel like I look 5 months pregnant, not 3! Nevertheless, no complaints here. I hope to be well enough soon that I can really start exercising and eating normal foods (my stomach is very picky these days and I don't eat anything of merit after 4pm). Enjoy and check back for more updates of our now growing (literally) family!

This was baby at 7 weeks.

For comparison...here is our baby at 12 weeks! What a miracle!

Notice how both belly AND butt are expanding outward! YIKES!

Hope you enjoyed the pictures! I hope to add some video of Ellie very soon. Love to all!

Tippy Toes

Ellie had another ballet lesson last night. OK, honestly, I have decided that watching her dance is perhaps one of the sweetest moments I have had with her since she was a tiny baby. She is totally backward in all her moves, cannot get first position to save her life, and her plies are about as graceful as a bird hitting a window! Nevertheless, it is so sweet to watch because you can see on her little face that she believes she is the sugar plum fairy herself. It's just too cute. Anyway, here are some photos I took for her daddy (he had to miss ballet lessons last night). Can't you just see how much she loves it? (Thanks for the new ballet bag Mema!)