Happy Halloween!

Ellie is such a diva...changing costumes left and right.

Here is a super quick video clip of Ellie and Kolby in action. You can hear Sabrina telling them to go get candy and then they take off running to the house that just gave them candy.

One fine day

Tom and I both took today off from work so we could spend some quality time together. We have both been pretty stressed out lately and have been doing a lot of bickering back and forth so a day off was just what we needed.

The day started off perfectly, with Ellie letting us sleep in until 7. We dropped Ellie off at her school at 9 and headed to La Madeleine for a late breakfast. It was so nice to enjoy a meal alone together. Then we headed home for a nap before going to the afternoon matinee. Weird thing at the movies...the elderly ticket lady with layers upon layers of makeup asked us if we were 18. Yes, my bald husband and I were carded at the movie theatre. We walked into the theatre giggling like we were children. Then we looked around and realized that everyone else in the theatre was senior citizens. Apparently, 1:00 on a Monday afternoon is prime movie time for the over 60 set. Anyway, after the movie we picked up Ellie and took her to Cold Stone for some yummy ice cream.

I felt a little guilty dropping Ellie off at daycare when we were taking the day off, but Ellie loves her daycare and Tom and I really needed a day like today. I fully recommend playing hooky with your husband every so often.

Some potty talk

Um, hi! So, it's been awhile, right? Yeah, not much going on here at Casa de Ellie. We enjoyed spending some time with my parents the past couple of days. Ellie's attempts at signing grandma and grandpa were cute. They had to fly back to Aruba early this morning. I hate that they live so far away. Sure, Aruba is a cool place to visit, but much too far for grandparent-ing.

Ellie has been so obsessed with the potty lately. Anytime I am headed for the bathroom, she takes off after me saying "potty!" and doing the sign for it. And the past 2 weeks, she has insisted that I put her on the potty, too. She grunts and pretends to go, but never does. Really it is quite the hassle because I have to take off her pants and her diaper. Totally reinforces my resolve to delay potty training for as long as possible. Because I don't want to be in the middle of the grocery store and have to make the mad dash for the disgusting toilets. I am pretty sure I might be the laziest parent I know.

I am really excited for Halloween. I can't wait to dress Ellie up in her monkey suit again and parade her around the neighborhood so that I can get lots of candy. What a great holiday.

A day at the farm and a final birthday shout out

I meant to post yesterday to wish my older brother, Mark, a happy birthday, but yesterday was a very busy sort of day. So happy birthday, Mark!
You know how he spent his birthday? Riding 100 miles in the MS-150. The men in this family are insane.


Tom, Ellie & I, along with the Daniel/Sabrina fam, went to a fun little farm yesterday. The kids played happily in Little Farmersville...Petted the bravest goats in Texas...


Rode around on pedat-carts with their dads...



But their favorite part of the day was playing in the pumpkin patch...

It was a really fun day, but tiring and Ellie and I both got sunburned despite liberal applications of sunscreen. We topped off the day by babysitting Kolby and Olivia while Daniel and Sabrina went out to celebrate their birthdays (enough with the birthdays already!). Anyway, it was a fabulous weekend.

The party circuit

Last night I went over to my parents' house to celebrate Mark, Sabrina, and Daniel's birthdays. My mom and dad flew in from Aruba just for the occasion! Or at least that is what we told the birthday people. Really they flew in because my dad is doing the MS-150 this weekend. I left Ellie at home with Tom because she goes to bed so early. I must say, it was really nice being able to eat in peace and not have to worry about feeding/chasing Ellie!
Happy birthday to my super fab sister in law Sabrina!

Happy birthday, bro!

Today is my little brother's birthday! Happy birthday, Dan the Man! Check out this old picture of the two of us. Back when we were wild and free. What would we have said if someone had told us that in just a few short years we would be married, teaching high schoolers, and raising babies?

Go! Go! Go!

Tom, Ellie, and I were driving home from a little outing this weekend and every time we would stop at a light, Ellie would yell from the back seat "Go! Go! Go!" Tom and I looked at each other, laughing and shaking our heads, wondering where on earth she picks up these things.

This morning on my way to work, I was stuck behind a lady who was just not moving. I yelled, "Go! Go! Go!" and in the back seat I heard a little echo, "Go! Go! Go!" Yes, I wonder where she picks these things up...

18 months

Dear Ellie,

Yesterday you turned 18 months. Since 18 months is a big one, in my opinion, I decided to buy you a little kitchen. I thought you might be a little young for it, but you have spent countless hours playing with it. It came with a little phone that you like to talk on while doing the dishes. You just keep saying "hi" over and over into it.
You love saying "Hi!" and waving to people. Whenever Daddy or I walk into the room, you enthusiastically say "hi" and give a cute little wave. And you will repeat that "hi" over and over until we say it back. You also like to say "hi" to people in the store (when you are not throwing a tantrum about all the food in the cart you can't eat). It is so cute to watch you interact with others.Your "Uncle" Alex also gave you a present for your 18 month birthday. You were so excited to receive a puzzle that makes noises. The puzzle will occasionally make noises on its own when no one is around and I find that almost as creepy as your Sing and Snore Ernie that will say "I feel great!" in the middle of the night.
You have developed into such a fun, little girl. You have a great sense of humor and love to tease and be teased. Your giggle is so contagious as you chase me around the living room. You often laugh so hard that you fall to the ground and I will fall down right next to you, laughing so hard I can barely breathe. I have so much fun playing with you and sharing little conversations. You know so many words now and have started to string them together into 2 -3 word sentences, but the majority of your conversation is still one word demands like go, move, eat, mine, and water. Your favorite response to most things I say is "Yeah!"

You are such a great little sleeper. I think back on those days when I used to dream about getting a good night's sleep and I despaired that I would never sleep again. But now you happily go to bed at 6:30 and wake up at 5:30. This is the perfect schedule for us during the week, but sometimes that 5:30 wake up call is a little rough on the weekends. I do love our nighttime routine. You walk around giving your daddy and I kisses and hugs and then I carry you off to bed, singing our nighttime song as you hum along. After you fall asleep, your daddy and I always sneak into your room to watch you sleep and congratulate ourselves on having such an amazing child. I feel so blessed that you are my little girl.

Happy 18 months, Ellie Belly.

Love you forever,
Mommy

Another Kroger incident

The craziest thing just happened to me. I stopped by Kroger on my way home from work to pick up a few items for dinner. I grabbed one of those carts with the little car in front for Ellie to ride in while I shopped. She lasted like 2 seconds before I had to throw her in the main part of the cart. Anyway, before long she was throwing a huge tantrum because she wanted to open everything in the cart. I hurried and paid and headed for the door. On my way out, I accidentally bumped into a lady in front of me. Immediately I apologized. She whirled around and said, "You should be. What are you? Stupid?" She had an accent, but was easy to understand. I apologized again and explained that I wasn't used to the car on front of the cart. She said again, "You stupid! What, you got no eyes? You stupid b*tch!" I am in a state of shock right now because I had barely bumped her, had apologized, and yet she was still screaming at me! I really wanted to lash out at her, but she was elderly (like 50s, so not that elderly) and I have always been taught to respect my elders. I simply apologized again and walked away with her yelling at my back. A lady who worked for Kroger called out to me that she would be my witness. I am not sure what kind of witness I needed, but I just told her "oh, that's okay" and kept on walking. The Kroger lady came running after me and started apologizing. She said that it was so uncalled for and mean that it made her want to cry. And then she started crying! I just wanted to get home, so I gave the Kroger lady a quick hug and thanked her for caring and went on my way.

So, yeah, I was attacked by a crazy old lady at Kroger. But at least their staff was sympathetic. I wonder if I should confess to stealing their milk?

My little monkey

Ok, so it is a litle dark and you have to tilt your head to the side, but still...totally adorable!

The new bike

Now if only she could ride it by herself...

Bicycles and bleach

I went out garage sale-ing thing morning. It was really quite thrilling. I have never been one to go to garage sales. Not because I think I am too good for them, but because I am too lazy. You have to be out there at like 7am. Craziness. Anyway, several neighborhoods nearby were having community garage sales so I went searching for a little kitchen set for Ellie or a plastic playground type thing. I didn't find either of those, but I did come back with this super cute mini Schwinn bicycle for Ellie. She can't maneuver the pedals, but she loves it. She keeps going to the garage door and trying to open it, saying "bike, bike" over and over again. Actually, part of me wishes I had never shown it to her because since she can't pedal it herself, she makes me push her on it. And I spent 20 minutes hunched over that dumb, little bike today out in the Texas heat.

I feel like I should have a picture or something to go with this post, but I can't get Ellie to hold still long enough to take one. She just says "cheese" and takes off running. So, I'll share a little story about one of my neighbors instead. Right down the street from me lives your stereotypical crazy, old cat-lady. Seriously, she has like a dozen cats running around her house. Anyway, her yard always looks terrible and I guess she got fed up with all the deed violation notices because she took a bottle of bleach and started pouring it over her lawn. I was out pushing Ellie around and watched her do it. So...if you are sick of dealing with your lawn week after week just take an economy size bottle of Clorox to it. Problem solved.

Continuing to embarrass myself on a daily basis

I moved to Texas the summer before my 8th grade year. Coming from a tiny, town in North Dakota, I was very nervous about starting at such a huge new school. Determined to make a good impression, I carefully selected what I was to wear the first day. I walked into school wearing my cool new black and white outfit, certain that I looked good. In my 5th period class, I kept hearing the two girls behind me whispering and giggling. Finally, one of them tapped me on the shoulder and said, "I think you have your shirt on backwards." Sure enough, the little front breast pocket was in the back. And so it continued. Over the years, I would constantly find myself in somewhat embarrassing clothes-related situations. The most recent one? Yesterday, I wore gray dress pants that had a split up the seam in the butt-area. All day long, I walked around flashing my pink panties with every step. You know, I thought my classes were unusually giggly yesterday...even for them.

Walkin' the walk

When I was picking Ellie up today, I arrived just as the toddlers were coming in from outside. They were all doing the M.ontessori walk, with their hands clasped behind their back. I have never seen Ellie walk like that before and it totally cracked me up. Just picture it, y'all, all these little toddlers walking in a line with their hands behind them. Some might call it creepy, but I call it adorable.

The new daycare rocks!

I am loving Ellie's new daycare. And better yet, so is she! Yesterday morning, I walked her in and sat down with her while she ate breakfast. She was a little nervous and kept reaching over to pat my thigh, like she was checking to make sure I hadn't abandoned her in this strange new place. But when I picked her up, she was happily playing. Today, she walked right on in and didn't even give me a backwards glance. And when I picked her up, I practically had to drag her out the door. I am so happy we made the change. The only thing is, well, she now wants me to change her diaper standing up. Yes, you read that right. At Mon.tessori, they change the kids' diapers standing up. And Ellie is insisting I do the same. Try it sometime...it's not that easy.