Four Generations

On August 1st, we were in Cleveland, GA for a family gathering with the Gurley side of the family (my maternal grandfather's). Since we were all there and looking decent, we decided to take a four generations photo with my Granny, my Mom, Ellie, and myself. We had taken some of these right after Ellie was born, but I'm so glad we took another!

July 2010

July was another jam-packed month, but the main focus of our whole month was our trip to the beach. We were so excited to receive an invitation to my cousin Kelli's wedding at the beach and since we'd never taken the kids to the beach before, they were doubly excited. All three of the kids loved it! Sam tested our limits a bit by venturing our farther and farther into the ocean, but at least his swimming skills improved! Jack stayed a little closer to the beach and really enjoyed building castles with his Uncle Mike. We took a little pool for Ellie and she played in it for HOURS without complaint. The beach was beautiful, the wedding was beautiful - all in all, the best trip we've had in a long time.

June 2010

June had us moving and shaking all over the place! We went on a great trip with one of Aaron's brothers and his family to Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg and had a fantastic time at Dollywood. Sam was finally old enough to have his first solo go-cart ride. Our month was filled with a few other firsts too - Ellie's first lollipop, and yes, even her first pigtails. Thankfully, her hair is much longer now and mommy can put it up much faster. Our life is now filled with hair bows galore and I love every minute of it! I also got to see a DOUBLE RAINBOW! It wasn't my first, and I hope it won't be my last, but still, it was amazing!

In Memory

As a separate post, I wanted to pay tribute to the family of Shane Malone and the entire Storm team. Sam was privileged to be on the same baseball team with Shane and was honored to call him friend. Shane was died tragically in an accident in April 2010 and while it was a very difficult time for the entire team, it truly made us a family. This picture was taken with the banner that will reside at the Shane Aaron Malone field at Central School and with the EMCRA. Shane and his family will forever be in our memories and prayers.

May 2010

May was a very busy month in our house. The boys both had wonderful seasons of baseball come to a close - Sam in coach/kid pitch and Jack in instructional t-ball. The end of school came way to fast and both our boys made us so proud on awards day. Sam finished first grade on the A/B honor roll and Jack completed Pre-K with flying colors. Once again we were blessed with the most wonderful teachers and we're forever grateful for their time and patience with our boys. Ellie started off the month with chicken pox, but ended it completely healthy and discovered the joy of swinging for the first time. Sam played in his first piano recital (and my first spring recital as a teacher, too!) and did exceptionally well. Finally, we ended the month at the Cotton Row Run where I completed my first 10K and the boys did the 1 mile fun run. Whew!

Ellie's 1st birthday party

We had a grand time at Ellie's first birthday party. She got way too many presents and had way too much fun with her birthday cupcake, but it was fantastic to share such a special occasion with so many of our friends and family. I had my first foray in fondant usage and I think I was pretty smart to pick a nice, simple polka dot theme. Not too bad if I do say so myself! Ellie got what continue to be some of her favorite toys, and some of my favorite clothes for her - including the cutest pair of kicks you've ever seen! She devoured her cupcake so well that she ended up in the bathtub before we could even go home. All in all, a wonderful way to celebrate a wonderful first year of life for my little ladybug!

No More Worries!

So, in an effort to ease my conscience about just exactly how behind I am with my blog, I've decided to make some big collages and group as much together as possible. I'm new with collages, so bear with me if these first few are pretty basic and boring. I'll work on it! So, I'm starting with last Easter (yes, I am that far behind). We had a lovely Sunday and enjoyed a yummy dinner at my Mom's house. We usually get a family picture, but for some reason I can't find any right away. So, here's some of at least the kids - they looked marvelous! That's lovely Aunt Karrie with Ellie on the bottom right. We had a great time doing an Easter Egg Hunt at New Market Baptist to spend some extra time with the family too.

Love

I love the craziness that is my life right now. I love that from 6am until 11pm I'm running around with hardly any time to eat or sleep or do anything except wipe runny noses or change dirty diapers. I love watching my boys play soccer and football and losing my voice cheering for them. I love being responsible for teaching each of my children almost everything they will learn about how to be good, ethical, hard-working people. I love walking by my refrigerator and seeing the chore charts covered up with stickers. I love that my house is always cluttered with toys and cleats, backpacks and baseball hats, baby dolls and dirty laundry. I love watching my little girl finally start really walking and then laugh at herself because she's having so much fun in something so simple. I love the way our house doesn't really feel like home until Aaron walks in at the end of the day. I love that I have so many pictures from the last few months that I never have time to download them and update this blog! I love that Heavenly Father has given me this amazing family and the energy to keep up with them. Love, love, love.

I want one!

This looks absolutely FABULOUS! I definitely want one ASAP!

http://www.sugardoodle.net/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6344

A Rough Start...

Ellie's first month as a one-year old has been a rough one to say the least. It got started with a bit of a tumble at Mom's house. She's pulling up on everything and one of her favorite places to do it is on the window ledges at Mom's. They're really low to the ground and allow her to see out the window, which she loves. So, Aaron and I were out for the night and all three kids were at Mom's and from what we can figure (Sam was the only one that actually saw her fall), she slipped, caught her cheek on the window ledge on the way down, and then smacked down on her hand, REALLY hard. She ended up with a lovely bruise on her cheek and by the next morning, a really swollen hand. We were so worried about her hand that I took her in for x-rays the next day. No breaks - just really bruised, but since her bones are completely formed yet and much of her hand is cartilage, the entire thing was bruised and looked terrible. We wrapped it up for a few days to help with the swelling and to keep her from hitting it again and while it looks much better now, more than two weeks later, you can still see the bruising across her knuckles and it's still a little sensitive to the touch.

Our next trip to the doctor was early Saturday morning when Ellie woke up covered in red welps - yep, it's chicken pox. She was scheduled to get her first dose of the vaccine in two months, but she was evidently exposed at some point in the last week. We're really not sure where she got them because she doesn't come in actual physical contact with many other kids, but nonetheless, she's covered. I think it's a pretty mild case, hardly any on her arms and legs, but it's still no fun. She had a few that looked infected, so the doctor put her on an antibiotic just in case, some eye drops for her left eye that also looked really red, and a prescription-strength antihistamine to help with the itching. Thankfully, the antihistamine seems to be working really well because she's not scratching at all. She's such a trooper, but it's so hard to see her pretty little face covered up with those nasty bumps. Poor little thing! Let's hope the other 11 months of her first year turn out a little better!

Let's Go Strawberry Pickin'!

At the end of April, Ellie and I got to go with Jack on his very first field trip. We went to Brown's Farm and picked strawberries. We had so much fun and the strawberries were delicious! Jack even managed to talk me into checking him out and bringing him home after the trip was over - the little rascal! I'm not sure if he had more fun picking the strawberries or one his very first bus ride, but nonetheless, it was a great day!

My Little Artist

In March, Sam was chosen as one of about 20 kids from New Market to display a piece of artwork in the Huntsville Museum of Art Children's Gallery. He completed this piece when they were studying Picasso. He's always loved to draw and paint and it's amazing to watch his talent grow as well as his excitement to show us his work at the museum. We are truly proud of our little man!

One!

My little angel is one! It is completely unbelievable how fast this past year flew by and while I can't help but be a little sad that my "baby" is quickly becoming anything but a baby, I'm so excited for all the days, weeks, and years ahead that she can grow into a beautiful young lady. Aside from the nasty little case of separation anxiety we've been going through, Ellie has a wonderful personality and is the light of our little home. She absolutely adores her brothers and can't stop grinning when they enter the room or even when she sees a picture of them. They always return the favor with a quick hug or tickle - makes a mommy smile! At one year, Ellie:

• weighs in at 18 lbs, 1 oz (5 - 10th%) and 28 3/4 inches long (40th%)
• is crawling all over the place and is pulling up, but doesn't really act that interested in walking - she doesn't really need to when she has two big brothers to get her anything she could possibly want!
• is quite a momma's girl - this is kinda new to me - I wasn't home the entire first year with either of the boys, so a longer-than-seems-normal separation anxiety phase is new, but we're working on it! If anyone wants to volunteer to keep a sweet, adorable little girl that might potentially fuss the entire time I'm gone, let me know! In all actuality, I think she's fine when I leave, she just fusses if I'm in the room and she's not with me - ugh!
• is still learning to love new foods, and while she digs crunchy stuff - cheerios, goldfish, any kind of cracker - she's a little more apprehensive about things like chunk meat and veggies. She doesn't seem to be very picky though - a plus!
• has an expanding vocabulary - she's started repeating things that we say and even said "my birthday?" on her birthday itself - so cute!
• loves, loves, loves chocolate - that's my girl!
• adores music of any kind - she dances when a good beat comes on, sings along with me when I sing to her, tries to play the piano ALL the time, and bops her head if she's in her car seat and can't shake her little hiney. I love this about her!
• squeals, smiles, and crawls as fast as she can to her daddy as soon as he walks in the door - I tear up every time.
• truly completes our family - you know that feeling where it's just right - yep, that's us.

I can never express how grateful I am for all of my children and for the most amazing husband that chose to create them with me. I am one proud mommy.

10 months!

It's hard to believe my little angel is so quickly approaching the one-year mark. She hit 10 months on Monday and is doing so well! At her nine-month check-up she weighed in at 17lbs, 13oz (30th%) and 27 1/2 inches long (50th%). Unfortunately, shortly after her check-up she had a nasty fight with RSV, but after lots of nebulizer treatments and a tremendous amount of prayer from all our family and friends, she is fully recovered and is once again this smiling little girl. Right now, Ellie:

• Is all about Daddy - she started saying Dada a few weeks ago and can't stop smiling whenever Daddy is near (I love this!)
• Loves play time and will sit in the floor for hours playing with whatever she can get her hands on
• Continues to adore her brothers - she especially loves pulling their hair
• She isn't quite "crawling" yet, but manages to scoot herself all around the floor - when she gets up on all fours, she tends to go backward and ends up stuck underneath the couch!
• Is still the easiest, best baby in the history of the world - everyday we say prayers of thanksgiving for this little angel that we have been entrusted with and that she is healthy and happy!

Time to start the party planning!!!

Yet Again...

So here I am playing catch-up again...I'm beginning to think one of life's tests of patience is understanding that I will NEVER really get caught up on everything! So this is a collage of all of our family Christmas gatherings. We started the festivities in Decatur with the Hammons clan, spent time on Christmas day with the King side of the family, took a big trek to Colorado to visit the Lyons, and then wrapped it up on the 4th of January with the Coons/Gurley side. Thankfully, our Papa Don was feeling better after being in the hospital on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day and we had a fantastic time. It was a wonderful first Christmas for Ellie and she had the most fun playing with the bows her brothers took off their presents. Overall, we are so extremely blessed and a good bit spoiled too!

Does it get any better than this?

Thanksgiving

We had a lovely Thanksgiving this year and it seems only appropriate that we're eternally grateful for the most amazing gifts we've ever been given. Who else, but your children, can make you want to laugh, cry, pull out your hair, and jump for joy all in the same moment. I can never express my gratitude for these three little spirits that have been entrusted to my and Aaron's care. They are truly my angels here upon the earth.

Unbelievable - right?

That's how I feel about my first foray into sewing - it's unbelievable that I actually finished it! I've been wanting to try a little something here or there for awhile, but since both of my boys are past the "wear cute homemade stuff" age in general (with a few exceptions), I figured I might as well just wait for my little girl to come. So, I made Ellie a quilt back in the spring (finished it about two hours before I went to the hospital in labor!), but hadn't tried to sew anything until this month. A friend of mine from church convinced me to go with her to Sirs and just bite the bullet. So, with A LOT of help from my highly educated Mom and a good bit of encouragement from my sew-all-the-time MIL and SIL's, I tackled a nice, easy dress for Ellie and I did it! It's even fully lined! I'm going to work on some more stuff soon - let's see if I can expand my horizons!

Chicago notes

So, in an effort to get the post in, I totally forgot to put anything about our trip to Chicago in my "October" post. Aaron had to go for a conference and since I have been itching to get out of town, Ellie and I decided to go with him. She was FANTASTIC on the plane both ways and was a doll the whole time. We had time to do a little site-seeing and got to check out the Museum of Science and Industry, Navy Pier, and the Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower). That was a ton of fun, although the glass "ledges" that you can stand in and be literally over Chicago were a little nerve-racking for me. We did, however, spend most of our time wishing that the boys were there with us - they would have had a blast! In short, we can't wait to get back on a real vacation!

Life...

...has been extremely busy - I just can't seem to keep up! So, to go back and play catch up, here's our month of October...We began the month with a trip to the doctor for check-ups all around.

Sam - 46" tall and 47.6 lbs; Jack - 40" tall and 36 lbs; Ellie - 25 1/4" long and 14 lbs, 9 oz. She's hit a pretty average size and seems to be staying there. After some traumatic shots and blood draws, everybody is healthy and now very happy (Jack's no longer anemic so no more yucky iron drops!).

The next day we left for my Dad's to visit over fall break. We had a fantastic time - most of these pics are from a great place Sandy found called "Monkey Joe's" that was full of big inflatables for the kids to jump on.

The whole gang with Papa

Coons

We also got to visit with Great Grandpa Dave - his first time meeting Ellie.

We went on to celebrate Sam's 7th birthday. Coincidentally, this is a picture of my second Wilton cake - Sam picked out all the colors and even helped me with the decorating.

He also lost one of his front teeth on his birthday - he wiggled and wiggled all the way home from church and then pulled it himself - a job that usually falls to Mommy! He then proceeded to lose the second one the very next day. He also had school pictures just a few days later, so we'll have Mr. No-Teeth pictures for the yearbook too! (Another side note - those were actually the make-up pictures at school - we had him skip the first ones because his face was covered with poison ivy...ugh...boys!)

Finally...Halloween! I had fun getting Ellie all dressed up in her orange and black and then again in her orange and blue - War Eagle!

We had two Skywalker's this year - Anakin and Luke - I have a feeling they'd be Star Wars characters every year if we let them! Aaron mentioned dressing Ellie as Princess Leia, but I refused to put her in a Star Wars costume her very first Halloween - maybe next year!