Ellie's first birthday party

^^cake made by our friend Danika! I was absolutely in LOVE with it!

^^parents opening the presents, typical ; )

^^waiting patiently for her cake...

^^she was such a ham once she got some of that yummy frosting in

^^grammy spent the weekend with us loving on the birthday girl

Four days ago our girl turned ONE! On Friday the 5th we had several friends over and my mom join in on the celebrating! Ellie didn't know what was going on and she won't remember, but she will have pictures and know we loved spoiling her on her special day. Opening presents went fast, because really how long can a one year old sit and hold still! But she has enjoyed each and every present since that day. And as you can tell by the pictures above, she didn't mind her cake ; ). At first she was a little skeptical (it was her first real experience with artificial sugar), but after a few moments she was definitely into the frosting. 

There was a lot of hype and excitement leading up to that day (for me at least) and when the day was over, I was a little sad. Our girl was... is ONE! She means the world to us and every moment we've had with her, has been special. All the highs and all the lows Steven and I have felt and lived this past year are memories we'll look back on, and cherish. All the hard moments have taught us how to be better, and all the good moments swell our hearts with pride. As Ellie is learning, we're learning. She's learning us and the world around her. We're learning her and how to teach her the world around us. All the happy and hard tears I've shed this past year are good. Our family of three is good. 

The shirt Ellie wore on her birthday (one of her Aunts got it for her for Christmas and this was a perfect day to wear it!) said 'TODAY IS MAGICAL'. It is true. The day she came into the world was magical, she is magical. I know I'm sugar coating a little and made that sound all happy and sugar plums and dancing, etc. But really if you think about it, life is amazing and mind blowing. Looking at Ellie makes me say, 'Steven, me and God made her'. Wow. She is going to continue to grow, learn and amaze us. We love her so much.

12 months

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY ELLIE!!!!

And here is her last monthly update. I will however post one every 4-6 months, and in a different format and way as well, because several of these will probably continue to be the same and I don't want to bore you with repetition, if I haven't already!

Size: Size 4 diapers. Has grown out of a ton of her 6 months clothes. She's wearing mostly clothes ranging in size from 9-12 month, with the addition of several 12-18 month pieces. Ellie has her well check appointment on the 10th, so check back after that for the update on her weight and height; which I have been so anxious to know!
UPDATE: Ellie's appointment has been changed to the 17th due to an office scheduling mistake unfortunately.
*FINAL UPDATE: we finally have some stats people! She is 19.78 pounds and 28.7 inches!

Eyes: I'll call them a slate blue and I will say they are here to stay. So pretty in my book (of course)!

Hair: Auburn brown. I have yet to say that her eyebrows have stayed a really light brown, more on the strawberry blonde side of things...as you can probably tell in some of her pictures. So, it does make me wonder if the rest of her hair will lighten over time, or if her eyebrows are just behind on changing to the color on her head? Time will tell. A couple weeks ago I was able to put her hair in pig tails and girl were they ca-ute!

Sleeping: Her schedule is still the same thankfully. Waking between around 7:30am, going down for nap between 9:30/10am (waking around 11:30am), second nap between 2/2:30pm (waking around 4:30pm) and bedtime between 7:30/8pm. Sometimes it can take her a little bit to fall asleep...standing, talking, and rolling around is too much fun in her crib, ha. But there's never tears and she will settle down within close proximity of those times every day. I love how predictable she is and I know things could/will change. Her first nap has changed a little bit already by getting a little shorter, but we're glad she has a good routine.

Eating: This girl has such a big appetite; it impresses us all the time. Eating solids 4 times a day and lots of it. New foods we have introduced are: beef, broccoli, Cheerios, eggs, bread and kale (probably missing some). We are giving her more of the food off of our plates as well; finally working away from mainly pureed food. And I have made our own "stage 3" foods since she does not like the store bought dinner type ones and I have time to make more food for her now. We've been experimenting with a lot of the foods she's had in puree form and trying to give them to her just cut up or mashed up. Going good through trial and error, and meeting her where she's at and not forcing things on her.  I have also given her formula when we've been in a bind and after I had some oral surgery/sedation done, despite my desire to avoid it. She never refused it however, which was nice. Still nursing 5 times a day, but during this week I will drop another nursing session (she's starting to ween herself from one of them already, but I'll continue to drop one every week hereafter) and introduce/supplement with whole milk into her diet.

Milestones/Accomplishments:

• Walking, on own, A TON! Drunken toddler walk lots of the time, but she goes short and far distances all over the place!
• Standing up in the middle of the floor, and crib (ahhh!!), without the help of anything all the time
• Talking/communicating category...Pointed to a dog in a book and said 'woof'. Raised hands after eating and said 'duh' (to sign/say "all done"). Words added to "vocabulary": sock, duck, dance, block and stinky (you know those stinky diapers...)
• If you ask her where something is (book, music toy, baby/doll, etc.) she will look, point and/or go to that object. So she knows what a lot of things are called and where they are, but she doesn't really say the word. 

Likes:

• Dancing! It makes us smile and laugh all the time. She will dance on own, but also likes you holding her while you dance together; she'll raise her arms for you to pick her up. And if music is playing at a store she will start dancing to it.
• Pulling blankets, books, clothes out of drawers and off shelves. If anything is in it's place/organized, she'll take care of that ; )
• Being around people, playing with people. She does pretty well with independent play as well, but likes to be with you.
• Feed you her cheerios. Reaches out and really wants to share with you. 

Dislikes:

• Facetime. There are times we FaceTime with Steven when he's at work, but Ellie gets so serious, weirded out and freezes up in a way. She enjoys watching videos off of the phone, but I guess she doesn't like the interaction this way?? Not sure. 
• Being told no, only on some things though. She listens, and obeys, really well 98% of the time, however when she apparently really wants whatever it is in her hands and you tell her no or take it away (and gently for that matter) - she still has instant water works. 

Some things to remember...
The way she squats/pops her knees to dance and rocks her upper body to the music! How sometimes she stands with her back to the couch, leans back and sticks her belly out. Purses her lips and pushes them up to touch her nose. Makes fart noises with her mouth. Pats her babies and toys. How she talks to you when she gets up from nap.

This last whole last month I have been trying to compose myself by not tearing up...or bringing the full on water works, because I knew the countdown for having a one year old would go fast. Today I have totally shed a few tears...happy tears though! Reminiscing about the day she graced us with her presence swells my mama heart. And Every. Single. Day I look at her and thank God for her. There are plenty of times I fail miserably as a parent, but I pray constantly for the ability to parent Ellie the way God desires. We have the privilege of being her parents and I always want to do right by her.

There are so many things, moments and feelings I could write about because this past year has been full of many. Being a parent has filled my heart with more love and joy. My chest hurts sometimes because I feel more of this amazing love for Steven, who has been an amazing father and for Ellie, who lights up our life.
Here are some quotes I love and want to instill in Ellie...

"She knew that she was formed by God's hands, dreamed up in His heart and placed in this world for a purpose."

"I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb, before you were born, I set you apart." Jeremiah 1:5

"Life does not have to be perfect to be wonderful." -Annette Funicello

"You should clothe yourselves instead with the beauty that comes from within, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is so precious to God." 1 Peter 3:4

There are a bazillion more that touch me, but those are a few goodies : )

I'll be posting some photos from her party (we're having tonight) later this weekend! Quite excited to celebrate our sweet girls birthday! Saying we have a one year old blows my mind! (?!?!?!?!)

The start of something...

For several years I have wanted to screen print designs on shirts and more so on onesies (and now I have a little one to dress all cute!). Several years ago we did have access to a screen printing machine and played around a little, but didn't do too much. With working full time and other things, I didn't put forth time to really get serious about it. Then when I could get serious, having a machine of our own, we moved to a different state, had different projects to focus on and then we had Ellie, whom I definitely wanted to focus my time on. Now she's almost a year old (insert heart eyes, along with tears of sadness-she's growing, too fast) and do have more time on my hands, plus we finally got all restocked on what we needed to actually screen print with. I can do it! There have been sketches and drawings in my art book for quite awhile and I am so excited to finally get them on clothes. And thankfully I have had plenty of friends having babies, or close to having, to gift them onesies with my designs on them.

I don't know what this will be the start of...
Maybe just that, giving clothes to friends and family with littles ones...or maybe a small business from home...
Whatever it is, I am so excited to do this. And I'll be sharing final pieces soon!

11 months

Size: 3 diapers, but I think she'll be in size 4 soon. Wearing clothes ranging in sizes 6-12 month still. I'm constantly putting away clothes she doesn't fit into anymore though! Her next appointment where we'll get her updated weight and height is next month. 

Eyes: I think her eye color is here to stay...a dark blue/green/grey with some hints of brown. People comment on how uniquely pretty they are!

Hair: Her color seems to be lightning up a little bit. So it looks like a shade in between Steven and I's...medium/auburn brown?! It kind of looks like she has an A-line haircut, and it likes to stick out and/or curl out sometimes, especially if it gets a little wet. And boy does she have some awesome bed head when she wakes! Curls and craziness galore! Plus, her hair in front, bangs if you want to call them that, goes past her eyeballs, so she tries to rub/move them out of her face. It's like she's due for a hair cut already! (I'm not doing that yet though!)

Sleep: A couple weeks ago Ellie was taking longer to fall asleep for bedtime, so we decided to push it later by a half hour and therefore that had a ripple affect to her other wake/sleep times. We start her bedtime routine around 7pm now, and put her down between 7:30 and 8. She usually sleeps till 7:30am and we wake her if she's not awake already. We are so amazed she continues to sleep completely through the night, despite us traveling for the holidays and maybe teething? Morning nap target time is between 9:30/10am and we won't let her go past 11:30am. We have kept her afternoon nap the same (she needs it that way); putting her down between 2/2:30pm and waking her by 4:30pm if she's not awake already. So all in all we still have some control over her wake/sleep times, but it keeps things consistent and works best for her!

Eating: Ellie absolutely LOVES to eat solids and she lets everyone know it! She makes a yummm type sound pretty much with every bite of food. It certainly entertains anyone within hearing distance. She  also moves her hands and legs with excitement a lot of the time when you show her food and is first getting fed. I haven't introduced many new foods, except some that are mixed in to her puffs, which are broccoli and beets (not in the same kind of puff, that would be weird!) and salmon. She didn't like salmon the first time I gave it to her, but she took it the second time. I have given her more stage 3 foods (the lil' bits), fruit ones that is. She does not like the veggie or dinner type ones, I believe because of all the seasonings they put in them. So I'm trying other foods to give her, because she is definitely not satisfied with just a single stage 2 container! AND no teeth yet! I shouldn't complain because I'm still nursing her and I know that could be lame with teeth! Yesterday I started to wean her down one nursing session (she had still been nursing 6 times a day), and I will continue to drop one every week or two from here on out. I am so glad I've been able to nurse as long as I have, but I feel like it is time to work away from it.

Milestones/Accomplishments:

• Walks super great with holding just one of our hands. She has so much confidence when she's got that one hand grasped. But when you let go, she will only take one or two more steps on own, and then bends to floor to crawl. 
• Getting braver by bridging the gap between furniture with a step or two, without any hands
• Has taken up to 4 steps all on own
• Pushes/walks with her little toy stroller
• Puts her hands in the air when you say "yay!" and she'll kind of say it sometimes, too
• Claps when you ask her to, or will just clap after you start clapping
• Hugs her toys up by her head! It's so sweet! And the other morning she put a little blanket on top of the baby and rocked the baby, like I showed her!
• Will put a blanket over her face and then put it down, playing peek-a-boo
• Signs 'more' (looks like the sign for 'again' though), 'milk'-sometimes (does understand what it means when you sign it, without you saying it)
• Drinks out of her sippy cup on her own...but only one cup in particular

Likes:

• Making a type of roar sound when we are playing. Like instead of saying "boo" I would roar like a lion (oh the things you do to make your kid laugh!) and she started copying me
• BANANAS! She gets so excited when you get one for her and loves eating them
• When you stick your tongue out at her. She will want to try and grab it and sometimes she will copy you, by sticking hers out and plays with hers, like what is this thing?

Dislikes:

• Getting shampoo rinsed out of her hair. She does not like laying back in the water anymore, so trying to wash the soap out of her hair without it getting it into her eyes is quite the task. It's natural, tear free etc, but she does not like water going down her face, understandable. I try getting her to tip her head back, I tired the cup thing that molds to their foreheads, but those don't work well. If Steven is there to help it goes better, but I want/need to give her a bath without him sometimes!
• Refuses to give kisses any time other than when we are cuddling before sleep times. She will give lots of kisses then, but will ignore your request for them other times

Things to remember:

How she waves hi all the time! Will raise her eyebrows when she's talking all serious to you. How she snorts sometimes when she laughs super hard! The way she lights up when she sees her daddy. When I am putting her books back on the shelf, she'll stop what she's doing to come back over and "help" by putting them back on the floor.

Only one month left and then I will say we have a one year old!?!? Wow. It's shocking, but going to be good! 

Christmas celebrations

I'm back tracking a little bit due to traveling for Christmas, birthday and New Years celebrations! Busy, but wonderful last couple of weeks!

So, first about our little Christmas for three..

With us going to Alaska for Christmas I wanted to do our little family Christmas before we left. Lugging all our gifts and stockings, on top of all the other gifts we were taking for family, wasn't something I wanted to worry about. So we woke up early (as usual with Ellie) on the 17th and opened stockings and gifts! We Skyped with my mom and step dad while we opened their presents to us and it was nice being able to "be with" each other during that.

Ellie doesn't really understand opening presents just yet, but she was intrigued by bows, strings and wrapping paper trash. Then was interested in the presents once opened. I loved experiencing Christmas as a family of three. Last year I looked forward to what it would be like to have our girl with us and I couldn't have pictured a more fun morning with her. I think it will get better and better each year; experiencing this holiday season with a little one!

Then on the evening of Monday the 21st we headed out to Alaska! Basically all of Steven's side of the family live in Fairbanks and we were looking forward to spending the holiday with them! Ellie did so great with flying once again (wonder how long that will last for?!). There is a 2 hour time difference and I was wondering how she'd adjust, and right away she did fabulous. More and more she seems able to be flexible with her waking, nap and bed times and life in general. Makes these trips easier to do that's for sure!

All week we were spending time with family and met up with some friends we've really missed. Plus, it was the first time my brother-in-law Bryan, the newest little cousin Arya and my friend Ashley got to meet Ellie! It warmed our hearts seeing her interact with all of them (and the rest of the family)!!

We were there about 5 days and played in doors a lot...due to it being 2* (above) to -20* outside. But we did make it out several times still; eating at some very yummy restaurants we love, visiting people, some last minute Christmas shopping, Christmas Eve service, church again and then post Christmas sales. I also got to rummage through my nieces clothes they've grown out of; we've scored with hand me downs for Ellie (thanks girls!). Her cousins loved on her and gave her more attention then one could ask for. I'm so glad they love on her so much! And our nephew even said she was the cutest baby ever, and not to tell his sister! hahaha. There were many adorable moments shared during our time there. One in particular, because it happened several times, was when Steven and Jaxon (our nephew) were play wrestling, Ellie wanted to get in the action, crawling over to them and trying to maul them...or she was trying to rescue her dad! Either way, it was really cute! And then getting the kids pictures taken was eventful to say the least. Four kids ranging in ages 10 months-5 years old, yeah, you can imagine how easy those were to take...you'll see down below.

I could share more stories, but I'll just say celebrating the holiday with family was very special and memorable. Thanks to everyone for the love and generosity you've shown the three of us, not just on this trip, but all year round. We love you guys!

^^ passed out on the plane!

     

 

^^ all immediate family together!

^^ niece Ava wore herself out!

^^ the littlest cousins together...

both petite girls (Ellie almost 11 months and Arya almost 6 months) 

and they suck on the exact same fingers, on the exact same hand...

And Ellie was patting Arya's head in the pic on the right! haha

^^ grateful for these in-laws who are amazing grandparents to Ellie. 

And Ellie adores them.