Twin Falls trip

Last week we took a little road trip to a city nearby, Twin Falls. I've been itching to get out of town the last couple months. We've also wanted to explore more of our state. Finally we made it happen! It had been awhile since we'd done a road trip so we wanted to do a short one. Wanting to test drive Ellie's ability to entertain and deal with being in the car a lot. Since she is very chill and such a happy girl all the time, we weren't really worried...but wanted to be more safe than sorry. You know, because when the kid ain't happy, ain't nobody happy!

We decided to leave town around Ellie's nap time, hoping she would be passed out for the majority of the time. Twin Falls is only a couple hours away, so it wouldn't be that hard to entertain her if she didn't sleeping much. Ellie ended up napping for only 45 minutes (compared to her 2.5 hour on average nap), but she handled the rest of the day like it was no big deal. She never complained one second the WHOLE trip. And we took her in and out of her carseat a bazillion times. And on the way back home, she took a 1 hour 45 minute nap!

Twin Falls doesn't have a ton of things to see or do, so we just spent one night and basically just one whole day there. We saw the Perrine Bridge, spent some time at Centennial Waterfront Park, Shoshone Falls, hiked the Canyon Rim trail (and there, spotted from a distance, the place where Evel Kenevil attempted to leap the chasm of the Snake River Canyon), walked around Dierkes Lake and it's playground, and ate at a few yummy local restaurants. What little we did see and enjoy was beautiful. The weather was prefect, too. One thing we didn't like was the two decent seized snakes we saw within ten minutes or less of each other, on one of the trails we were on. (That marks 4 I've seen this year so far. I handled myself well, but, ugh, they gave/give me the hebby-jebbies.)

Anyways, we enjoyed our selves very much and loved the time we got to spend as a family! Now to plan our next family road trip...

^^our side views for most the trip. Dry and flat, but lovely skies to top it off

^^ Perrine Bridge

^^view of Snake River to left of bridge

^^Shoshone Falls...and this is at medium flow :-0

^^perfect little rainbow for us!

^^to the left of the falls (Snake River as well)

^^that mound in the distance is the large dirt ramp Evel Knievel used 

^^restaurant Slice...very tasty pizza!

^^same place...little motto on your way out ; )

^^Ellie did so great sleeping in her pack n' play (and she did sleep with pants!), 

but she loved playing on the bed in the morning, too!

And oh her bed head makes us smile every time! 

Plus, these cheese ball smiles she has are adorable!

^^Dierkes Lake 

^^I think she could go down slides all day long! 

^^there are little water falls like this all over the place 

15 months

Today was Ellie's 15 month wellness check and I wanted to make an update post about how our girl is doing. To say the least she is doing so good, and I have a lot to say, hence a long post (some pics at bottom!)! Her vocabulary has bumped up a ton and she's adding on the poundage/length wonderfully (the nurse and doctor were quite impressed) and has continued to get sweeter...even though she's starting to test some boundaries with listening (no surprise for this age though).

Today she weighed in at 23.5 pounds (77%) and height at 30.7" (51%). Her progress in both weight and height since she was 7 months has been ah-mazing! She had dropped down to the 3rd percentile at her 7 month well check for both of those measurements, mostly because she spit up so much. But when we increased her solids it helped keep milk/food down and her body of course showed the love. She's wearing size 5 diapers and clothes ranging in 12-24 month sizes. She loves playing with her/our clothes and accessories all. the. time. All throughout the day she is grabbing those items, trying to put them on herself, her babies/stuffed animals and us. Definitely a girly girl!

Whenever we get asked about Ellie's sleep schedule people say we are so lucky. The reason being is she has continued to sleep 11-12 hours straight every single night since she was 5 months (with the exception of some nights where she wakes and talks for a few moments, but she goes right back to sleep on own till her normal/average wake time-around 8am). We of course love her predictable sleep pattern and ability to be in crib, putting herself to sleep. And when she wakes she is very happy and talkative. Around 14 months we needed to cut her morning nap out completely; which made me a little sad and I had to therefore adjust how I did things in the morning...working out and showering before she wakes (that can be a little tough some mornings...hello cup(s) of coffee!). And her nap starts around 1pm and lasts till, on average, 4pm. 

Ellie still eats 3 meals a day and snacks once a day (sometimes twice). Veggies can be a struggle to get down, but she eats pretty much everything else great. She is a milk-aholic and would probably drink a ton more than we give her. At 13.5 months I ended breastfeeding. Whenever I would want to cut a feeding, Ellie would nurse super short and then when I actually would skip that one the next time, she would never miss it. Plus she took to whole milk like it was no big deal. I'm glad her and I were on the same page the whole time, because it made for a very easy transition. There have been some moments where I've missed those moments, but it helps that she has a very loving personality and still cuddles before sleep times. She also has 5 teeth with one more trying to come in! There hasn't been any teething issues either, we never knew when one would pop through unless we checked!

I have tried keeping track of all the words Ellie has said, or has tried to say. There are so many that sound a like, but within the context or where she's pointing, we know what she's referring to. Here's a list of the words and if it's in parenthesis, that is how it kind of sounds:

mom

dad (dah)

dog (doh)

cat (cah)

woof

shoe/shoes

sock/socks

bow

box

book

bib

milk (mil)

strawberry (she has only said the whole word once and it blew our minds!)

banana (nana)

cheese

bean

zebra (ebra)

duck

bunny (bun)

bear

giraffe (aff)

mouse (mou)

monkey (mon)

bubbles (bub)

bar - this is for granola bar...not a real bar ; )

bath 

teeth (ceeth)

cheek/cheeks

block (bahk)

box

okay

hi
yes

uh-oh

car

truck (tuck)

cook

ball (bah)

diaper (per)

baby (bab/babe/ba-by)

dance (dan)
stuck

There are probably some more, but I'd say that's pretty good ; )

And she understands what way more things are than what she can say obviously. It's amazing the things she has picked up on already. She can also point to the correct body part when we ask her where her head, hair, eyes, nose, mouth, teeth, cheeks, ear, fingers, hand, arm, toes and feet. 

She has the sweetest personality; constantly giving out hugs, kisses (and blows kisses-with the lip smack sound-to those she won't actually kiss) and loves to her babies/stuffed animals. She waves to people everywhere we go, says hi a lot, and really zones in to other kids - going up to them and watching what their doing/playing with them. 

I could keep writing several paragraphs more, because there are so many things to brag about. We are two very proud parents and love this thing called parenthood...we would recommend it ; ). 

Mother's Day

This day has always been special, because I have a pretty great mom. But this year is my second as a mom myself. There are so many days I feel like I need to pinch myself because I feel so extremely blessed by my daughter. Every single day I look and her and my momma heart bursts with so much love, it hurts. I will forever be grateful for her wonderful spirit and how she has helped mold me into the person I am today. I'm no where near perfect and I'm learning...will forever be learning...how to be a better daughter, a wife, a mom, a friend, etc! Being a mom is not something to take lightly and I am striving to be one who exemplifies the fruits of the spirit; loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and have self control. And God has blessed me with a great husband who supports and helps me be the wife/mom I want to be.

God is so good and he has made my heart full of much...especially love.

^^ she is always on the move

this shirt is one of my Mother's day gifts. 

I definitely do have a full heart : )

April photo favorites

The month of April was full of blooming flowers and trees around here - so lovely! But the weather has also been back and forth, between sunshine and rain. However, it hasn't rained on our parade. We've been able to get out on walks and hikes a ton more off and on these last several weeks. Ellie absolutely enjoys spending time outside, which makes us all happy.

^^ she has been pretending to stir/mix and eat food with her play kitchen stuff

^^ first time coloring...not totally into it yet

^^ Ellie loves to wear my scarves/sweaters (next picture) and play with my purses!

^^ so technically this was May 1st..

but Sunday morning I hear this hot ballon right outside our backyard. 

It was sooo close!