Father's Day

This year, for Father's Day, we spent the weekend in Greensboro with Grandpa and Grammie and Uncle Marcus and Uncle Jake. We had a good time bowling and going to the water park. Ellie loved the water park! She had so much fun going down the little water slides and splashing around.

More pictures from the mountains

Dollywood

While we were in the mountains for the 4th of July we went to Dollywood. Although it was extremely hot, we still had a lot of fun. Ellie loved watching the rides in motion, especially the roller coaster. Everytime it went past us, she would raise her arms and yell "weeee". It was priceless!

Ellie also had a lot of fun playing games in the "kiddie park". She even one herself a little stuffed monkey.

But, by the end of the day, the poor kid was pooped! She barely had enough energy to eat her ice cream sundae!

Wearing Papa's hat

4th of July

We took a trip to the mountains this year to celebrate CJ's birthday and the 4th of July. We rented a beautiful cabin with CJ's parents and his brother and sister in law. We had an absolutely wonderful time. Ellie loved playing outside on the porch that overlooked the mountains. I thought she would be scared at the height, but she wasn't.

Ellie loved playing with her Grandparents and with her Aunt and Uncle, even though she teased them quite a bit. She loves from afar! However, on the way home and most days since we have been home, Ellie always asks about her Mammaw and Papa. We are so glad that we got to spend some quality, relaxed time with them.

CJ bought some real fireworks for his birthday and he and his brother had an absolute blast shooting them off. Ellie wasn't quite as much of a fan as they were. She liked watching the colors in the sky, but she could do without all the noise!

It's a BOY!!

It is official! Ellie is going to have a little brother. After several hours at the hospital on Friday afternoon, we met with the ultrasound technician and the dr. and we saw our little man. Although he tried to be stubborn and cross his legs, he is DEFINITELY a BOY! His name will be Maxwell Isaac. Max. We are very excited.

We took Ellie with us to the hospital--what a challenge that was! Although she was a handful, I was glad she was there. There were times when we had a good profile shot of Max and Ellie would point and gleefully exclaim, "baby!"

We switched Ellie to her toddler bed yesteday and for the first night I think she did ok. She spent most of the night in her bed and came to us early in the morning. I think she will be just fine in it.

I will try to put some pictures up of the sonogram soon!

22 Months

Wow! I can't believe that my little baby is almost 22 months. Next month, she will be 23 and then she will be 2!! It is amazing. Ellie is getting smarter and smarter everyday. She talks so well, knows her daily routines, eats well, and is working on moving into her "big girl" bed.

Every day, Ellie wakes up with a smile on her face. If I get her from her room, she smiles, hugs me, and then asks for "Daddy". If CJ goes to get her, she smiles, hugs him, and then asks for "Mommy". She knows to get her diaper changed and to get her clothes on. Some days she cooperates, other days is still a fight, but she knows. She brushes her teeth and lets me do her hair. Then, we go downstairs and fill up to cups to take to daycare (Ellie says she's going to "skoo".) She calls her cup a "ba". Thanks Daddy. But, if you tell her that it is a cup, not a ba, she will say "cuh". She's getting there. As we walk to the door to leave, she looks up stairs and calls for Daddy. She waves to him from the bottom of the stairs and blows kisses. Then she signs "I Love You." I ask her, "Are you ready?" and she smiles at me and replies, "wedy". I love it!!

We are trying to prepare her for the new baby, but she is still young and doesn't really get it. I show her my growing tummy and tell her there is a baby in there and she will kiss it and say, "babee". Sometimes, though, she will kiss CJ's tummy and say, "babee" too.