One Love

What Noel has been up to:

2011-12-11T20:54:00.003-06:00

Noel wanted to have a party to celebrate her coming to Ellie's house.

Noel wanted to take a ride to school with us.

We found Noel watching a movie one morning.

Noel just wanted to help Ellie get ready for school.

Noel hid way up in the top part of the tree.

Instead of poker night, it was "Go Fish" night.

Noel decided to take a nap in Ellie's bed while we were gone one day.

Noel wanted to go on a horse ride, but no horses were available. So Scar had to do.

Noel the Elf from the North Pole- day 2 and 3

2011-12-05T18:38:00.004-06:00

Today Noel reminded us that she is from the North Pole (specifically) Santa's Workshop.

Noel wanted to practice writing her letters! She found Ellie's note pad and I think she did a great job!

Noel the Elf from the North Pole

2011-12-03T15:52:00.004-06:00

We got quite a surprise last night!!! Santa came early to visit us!!

He told us a story of how Ellie and Grandby went to see all the lights in Cullman and had lots of fun. But at the end of the drive, Santa was waiting for her, but she wouldn't go see him. He said he was so sad! He doesn't want any kid to be scared of him. He just wanted to know what she wanted for Christmas. So he decided that since she (Ellie) might be a little scared of him, and he really needed to know what she wanted for Christmas, that he would just send an Elf to stay with us until Christmas morning. This is when he decide to give us Noel. Noel is a beautiful little girl Elf that Santa thought would fit perfect in our family since she is a little bit like Ellie (precious yet sneaky). He also wrote Ellie a little note letting her know that Noel was there to watch her. But before he left our house, he told us to be careful in the mornings. Noel was known to do some silly things over night.

Here is our little surprise:

Elf

2011-11-06T19:43:00.002-06:00

Santa's little helper... Elf on the Shelf... has arrived at our house! I can't wait for Thanksgiving to be over with so that we can start Christmas! I think I'm more excited this year than ever. Actually it's cause of this Elf on the Shelf. I'm so excited to create something new every night. Ellie is getting into Christmas too so she will love it!!

You will all have to stay tune for daily (hopefully) Elf on the Shelf updates.

Oh what do to...

2011-10-02T21:33:00.002-05:00

So I have been stressing myself out over where Ellie needs to go to school! I thought when I got the job at New Hope that it was set and was perfect. Ellie would go to school with me and be in the same building as me. Great! Wonderful!

But now I am at Scottsboro High school. If I take Ellie with me, she will have to wait one more year because SCS doesn't have pre-k. She would also be in a different school from me and would get out of school about 30 minutes before me too. Soooo....

I don't know what I want/ need to do!! I don't want to drop Ellie off at NHES everyday and then have to put her extended daycare until someone can get her. If she was with me, I could get her but then she would have to stay with me throughout practice because who is going to come all the way out there to pick Ellie up? I could try to quit coaching but then I probably wouldn't have 4th block planning and then I couldn't get Ellie picked up on time. I don't know if she could ride the bus over to the HS and get off there or not. I guess it might be an option. But again. I am so torn over this! I really don't know what to do!!

Any suggestions!?!?

Terrible Three's

2011-08-15T20:53:00.002-05:00

I go to pick Ellie up today and Mrs. Debbie (the daycare director) opens the door for me and says "Hey, I've been meaning to talk to you." I instantly thought she was going to ask me about my new teaching job, etc... but no. She proceeded to tell me that Ellie was not behaving the way she needed to be. She would make faces at Ms. Amanda (her teacher) when Amanda would tell her to do something. She wouldn't stay in her seat and do her work. She won't go to sleep at nap time without one of the teachers sitting with her to get her to calm down and stay still. She has been in time out a lot lately because of all of this.

I was in tears from embarrassment when she was telling me this!!! I wanted to jerk Ellie up and spank her!

I walked outside to get Ellie and Amanda walked passed me. I apologized over and over again! She assured me that Ellie was great today and must have just been testing her last week (it was Ellie's first week of "school"). I apologized again and told her to please let me know if she acts up again.

So... I get Ellie to the car and the whole way home we talked about all the bad things that she has been doing and how those bad things cause her to lose privileges. I told her that if she acted like that for Ms. Abby (her dance teacher) then she would not ever go to dance again. Ellie did not like that comment. She told me, "Mommy, I won't do bad things again. I'll be nice."

It really does break my heart that she will not listen and do what she is suppose to do! I'm a teacher so you would think that she would be the best student ever!! I know I want her to be that way. Josh and I are doing everything we can think of to make her behave. We spank, we put her in time out, we take things away, we won't let her do things, we reward good behavior... nothing is working. I am having a really hard time with all of this tonight. It's just really upsetting.

I have to keep reminding myself that she is just 3. Three year olds have a hard time sitting still and listening. But I also have to tell myself that she will be in school in a few years and she has to be able to do all that. Not sure what to do, but I am open for suggestions.

School Again?

2011-08-07T21:55:00.002-05:00

Well it is that time of year. School is back in session. This year I will be starting in a new school. I will be teaching at Scottsboro High School teaching Physical Science. I am a little scared about it because it is such a big school!! But hopefully everyone will be very nice and accepting. My friends from NHS will be greatly missed! I loved each one of them and they understood my humor. LOL. We got along great, so I hope that these new teachers will be the same way. At least I am back with an old friend, Cindy. We coached together at WHS and probably will be doing the same thing here. I guess I always have her to hang out with. If only she was at the same school...

Here is my new blog

2011-07-11T22:33:00.001-05:00

www.kellyetheredgephotography.blogspot.com

If interested please let me know! Also spread the word!

A New Adventure

2011-06-29T22:37:00.005-05:00

So I know I haven't been blogging lately, but I haven't really had anything to blog about. Losing a job and being depressed all the time isn't really what you want to hear. So, I've just kept to myself and have been trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. I think I may have found something that might make me a little money.

I want to be a photographer.

I wish that I could be as good as others like Heather Bookout of Huntsville, but hopefully over time I will get there. I may be biased, but I think I have been taking some good pictures here lately. I have been reading the manual that came with my camera (who cares that it was purchased three years ago and I am just now learning about it) and I have figured out some things. I also have been playing around with my iphotos and recently purchased an upgrade (ilife) for my macbook. So I can do a little bit with these photos. I really really want to purchase photoshop cs5 so I can do so many amazing things with them, but because it is so expensive, I think I will have to get a few jobs under my belt first. Or maybe I can talk my wonderful husband into buying it for me. ;)

If you or a friend needs some photos taken, I will be glad to do them. I am still figuring out prices (I am trying to see what the competition has). I want to be reasonable but still be able to make a profit.

I am going to leave you with a few of my recent pictures that are my favorite. Maybe someone will see these and say "hey these are great! I want her to do some pictures for me!" And thus my business gets started! I apologize that they are all of my daughter Ellie, but she's all I have to practice on. Oh, I am putting in one of my nephew Colt cause its cute and my sister won't care.

Goodbyes

2011-05-26T16:45:00.002-05:00

Two years ago I packed up my classroom at Woodville High school to move to New Hope Elementary school to "Better" myself. It was the best thing to do at the time. I was now going to get paid more, be closer to home, and be at the school that Ellie will attend. I really struggled with wether I should leave or not. I had tenure in Jackson County and would lose it moving, but again I felt it was the best decision.

Guess I was wrong.

Now two years later, I'm packing up my classroom at New Hope Elementary to move it into storage. No other classroom to move it into. Are you shocked?

I was, when I got my letter Tuesday afternoon. I had made it through two rounds of cuts and transfers, and even signed my coaching contract for next year!!! I thought I was good! Then out of no where I get hit with this. I felt like I had been hit by a truck. It came out of nowhere.

For two years, I taught 7th grade life science. I used lots of my high school lessons and labs to help "enhance" the students learning. Test scores proved what I was doing worked. Kids liked my class. I also coached basketball and softball. I felt like I was doing the best I could with those too. I enjoyed it. I was part of the LTF training (getting kids ready for AP classes in high school), took over the 21st century classroom (lots of technology and tech requirements), headed up the athletic banquet this year, got along very well with co-workers, and seemed like the "tech" person for 7th grade teachers. I thought I finally found the perfect job for me. Where I wanted to be till I retired.

I felt like I was a failure as a teacher. I thought I had done everything I was suppose to, played it by the book. I don't remember the last time I was this upset. Why? was the only thing I kept saying. That "Why?" still hasn't been answered.

Guess someone else has something better planned for me. I can't believe that this happened. All I can do now is pray and hope for the best. It's scary not knowing if you will be able to find a job or not. I am so scared that I won't find one. This economy and new laws may not allow it. I feel like I am valuable as a teacher. I hope that someone sees that and gives me a chance.

As for now, I will say my goodbyes to my New Hope friends. I hope that you will stay in touch (and I secretly hope you will miss me more when school starts). So Goodbye Friends! I'll see you around.

Life with my three year old

2011-05-19T13:25:00.004-05:00

Well, Ellie got her cast off!! She is back to normal. Although I still see her from time to time using only her left hand, but I guess she just got so use to it. She is back to running and playing like normal. In fact, the night we got her cast off, we couldn't keep her from jumping on the bed!!!

I think that Ellie is starting to go through a phase of some sort. I have other friends that have kids the same age as Ellie and they are going through it too. I really don't want to think that she hates daycare. I know those ladies take extremely good care of her. Here lately she has been extremely clingy to me. She doesn't want to go to school because she "doesn't have any friends" or because the teachers "put me in timeout". She gets really upset when I leave her there. In fact, there have been numerous times that the teacher has had to pull her off of me!!! She wants mommy to do everything!! Of course she loves her daddy too. She will run to him and squeeze him so tight when she seems him. She always says, "Thank you so much for picking me up today", every time that we get her!! It's like she thinks we are going to forget her. I have never forgotten her! Well, maybe forgot to buckle her in her car seat once and went all the way to Walmart, but never just left her!! I hope that it is just a phase that she is going through. Summer starts for us in a week and she will be at home with me more. I don't want her to get use to that and make it even harder for me to leave her next school year.

On the lighter side, we have been getting more and more personality from her. Wow she is so funny! And sweet! Here are just a few sayings that I hear on a daily basis:

"I love you the mostest"

"It will make my dreams come true"

"Your so crazy"

"Come mere my kitty kat" (talking to me)

"Heyyy what are you doing?"

"Are you my friend?"

"Mom, mom, mom, mommy, mommy, Kelly"

"My name is Ellie Grace Etheredge" (produced by her f-fridge)

What else will happen this year?

2011-04-24T22:04:00.002-05:00

Well since the break-in, not too much has happened... thankfully!!

This past week, we had our first trip for x-rays. I have been waiting for this day, seeing as how our daughter is not a girl at all. She is a little tomboy like I was. Always running, jumping, spinning, and playing. Well, last Friday Ellie and I were playing (running actually) throughout the house. She went running into her room and looked back at me and ran into the door frame. She hit it so hard that it spun her around and she landed on her back. She immediately started screaming and would not move her arm. I grabbed her up, sat on the couch and tried to get her to show me were it hurt. She pointed to her wrist and I grabbed our ice pack and put it on there and tried to get her to calm down. Daddy came home soon after and I told him I think she really hurt it. So we got to moving it around and she stopped crying. So we thought she was fine. Saturday, she only complained maybe two or three times. Sunday, she said nothing about it. So Monday comes around and I send her on to school. I did however make sure to tell her teachers what had happened so that if she complains they know what it was from. About 10:30 I get a call from school. Sure enough, she had fallen off the merry-go-round at school and hurt her arm again. The teachers said they would watch her until I got there. Well, this time of year you can't get a sub at all. So poor Ellie had to wait it out until the end of the day. She was fine when I picked her up. Even using her hand!! But I went ahead and took her to the doctor.

I was really afraid that she would not let them take x rays of her arm. She is not one for sitting still. But Ellie was excellent! She sat perfectly still the entire time the lady took x rays!! We only had to wait about 5 minutes for the doctor to see them and send us on our way to the orthopedic doctor. We then went down the road to the TOC and got a cast put on. Again, Ellie was great. She sat still and let the nurse put on her cast. She even picked out the color... purple.

When we finally made it home, Josh was already there. As soon as Ellie saw him, she said "Hey daddy look at what I got." (held up her hand). Josh felt so bad for her that he went to Walmart and bought her some popsicles and a movie. It only took her about six hours to realize that cast are not very fun. At about 12:30 that night, she woke me up crying wanting me to take it off. She has had it a week now, and seems to be doing much better with it. I haven't heard her complaining about it. The biggest thing she probably hates about it is that she can't go on the playground at school anymore (at least until she gets it off). So, its finally become second nature to her now. She is becoming a left handed person. I have noticed in the last two days that she does everything left handed now. But, when you look at it from a softball coach point of view, I like it. Left handed batters are great! LOL!

Well we only have two more full weeks with it on. Hopefully we can all make it!

The worse year to date!!

2011-02-25T13:19:00.004-06:00

At 4:45 Thursday afternoon, my world was literally turned upside down. I had left the softball field all excited to get to see the Varsity team play that night. I decided to run home and get Ellie some milk and then go pick her up. I pull into my driveway, open the garage door, and I walk inside.

I drop my things in the floor by the kitchen table and realize that the back door was wide open. My first initial thought was the wind got so rough that it opened the door, but then I saw that the tv was gone and all the lights were on. Panic! My heart was racing. I ran out the door, called Josh (who couldn't really understand me) and I slowly walked back in. It was like I was not looking at my house. I just couldn't believe it. I looked out the back door to make sure that no one was in the house and I walked through, surveying the mess. I walked back out and called 911. I stayed outside until he came. We walked through the house together trying to find what all they had taken. Three tv's, playstation 3, Xbox 360, all the games to both, my mac book, ipod, ipad, and another laptop, and a duffel bag. Everything gone within seconds!

After the police office walked around the house and outside, it was determined that the robbers must have went to the house next to us first (b/c it's for sale), looked in the back window and noticed nothing was there. Then they proceeded to just back straight into our backyard and up to our door. They first tried to get in through the windows because the screen on our bedroom window was torn off and so was the kitchen. Then they kicked down the back door.

The crime scene investigator was wonderful and was able to get several prints from around the house. The robbers left a hand print on the window outside, one on the window of the door and all over the places where these items were at. After he left, we boarded up the back door, and started cleaning. I changed the bed since they had moved the bed, washed our clothes they touched and wiped down the light switches. I couldn't stand the thought of someone touching all my stuff.

Josh and I were able to stay and sleep in the house last night. Mom and dad went and got Ellie from school and kept her overnight. It was a very scary situation. I am thankful that I didn't have her with me, and that we were not at home at the time. Like I said, earlier all our things can be replaced.

Ellie's 3rd Birthday

2011-02-05T22:34:00.002-06:00

I can't believe that it has been three years!! WOW! Time flies. Since her birthday is always during the "cold" season, we can't have her party anywhere but inside. We can't have it at our house because we have such a huge family not everyone can fit at one time. So I did a little research and found this cool place. The Little Gym. They said they would do everything for us (set up, clean up etc...). I just brought the food and cake. It was wonderful!!!! I really enjoyed myself because I didn't have to do anything! The girl came out and helped brought everything in, set up everything, fixed the plates, cleaned up, and took everything to my car!! How wonderful is that! But the big kicker.... the kids had a blast!!! I mean a blast!!!!!! They didn't want to stop for a few minutes to go eat and get a drink. As soon as they were all done, they went right back in there. We decided that they were having so much fun that we would just wait to do gifts back home. Glad we made that decision. They just had sooo much fun. We are definitely doing this again!!! Here are just a few pictures of the day.

First Snow of 2011

2011-01-11T21:52:00.005-06:00

After having snow for Christmas, I was surprised that we had it again a few weeks later!! I love the snow!! Seems like we never got it as a kid, so I am loving it now. I'm trying to get Ellie interested in it, but all she seems to want to do is eat it! At Christmas she would go outside and grab a handful of snow and just stuff her face!! So this time, I was smart. I sat a bowl outside and caught more than the bowl full of snow!! It was overflowing because we had so much snow!! I couldn't believe it. Josh and I looked outside about the time it started and thirty minutes later everything was covered!!! I loved it!!

I have also loved the time off!! We had only a week and a half off for Christmas so this extra time off is pretty sweet. Josh went to work today because he was getting a little stir crazy, but I'm not yet. I am loving this time with Ellie. We are still potty training and it is really getting to me that she will not get it on a consistent basis, but we are trying. Being at home like this is helping. She is finally knowing that she has to go (and may go just a little in her pants) but realizes it and goes potty. Hopefully in a few more days she will get it completely. It has also been helpful that we have been off because she developed pinkeye!! We haven't been able to get out to the doctor, but thankfully the nurse called in some eye drops and Josh was able to stop at Walmart and get them for us. Her poor eye is so red and irritated, but I pray this eye drops help and clear it up before we have to go back to school.

Well, here are a few pictures of our days in the snow!! Enjoy!

Josh creating a snow angel

Knee deep in snow!

Driveway, layer of ice, layer of snow, small layer of ice on top

My favorite picture of them ever!

WOW lots of snow!!!

Don't drive on the roads!!!

Christmas 2010

2010-12-26T19:08:00.004-06:00

Well, it's about time for me to update my blog. So far, it looks like I'm on a month to month update. Hehe!

We had an interesting Christmas this year. Ellie is starting to understand Christmas and what Santa is all about. I never got the chance to take her to see Santa or get her picture made, but I haven't done that in the last three years so why start now?... We had a great time at all our Christmas gatherings. We missed Christmas at PePaw's (Josh granddad) because of the snow and ice that were on the roads. He decided that it was too dangerous for all of us to come out, so we spent Christmas morning at home. Ellie got up and found all her toys!! Santa had left Ellie a Barbie Jeep power wheel, all the princess barbies, lots of movies and games, Mr. Potato Head, and lots of other things. Ellie really enjoyed the Jeep because she wouldn't open any of the other gifts!! After we played for a while, we headed outside to play in the snow. Ellie was reluctant at first but when she got out there she loved it. I put her in her new boots our cousin got her and her new jacket. She was toasty!! She made snowballs and had a snow ball fight with me and Josh. For some reason, she decided to try to eat the snow!!! So before we went in for the day, I had to get her a small bowl of snow for her to eat. She kept saying, "It's water." I still don't think she understands.

Here are a few pictures of our wonderful Christmas gatherings. By the way, did I mention that we had our first White Christmas!!!??!! It was beautiful!!

My Life with Ellie

2010-11-22T21:17:00.001-06:00

While playing in the living room:
Me:"Ellie I love you so much!"
Ellie: "I love you more!"

After getting on to her for walking away from me in Walmart and not listening when I told her to come back:
Ellie: "You being mean to me mommy. You stop it. (spanks my bottom) You be nice."
Me: After trying not to laugh... "Ellie I didn't want you to get taken from mommy. You don't spank me either."
Ellie: "I love you mommy!" (Hugs me)

After asking Ellie if she was ready to go to the beach:
Ellie: "I go put my shoes on." and she walks to her room and gets her shoes on.

Opening up the video cabinet:
Ellie: "What you wanna watch mommy? You want to watch this one. Right. You watch this one."
Me: "Are you sure I want to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks?"
Ellie: "Yeah, I'm sure."

Playing soccer in the living room:
Ellie: "Mommy do it like this. (bounces the ball then kicks it to me)
Me: "Okay" (I copy)
Ellie: "Good job mommy. Okay daddy it's your turn. You go over there behind mommy's tummy.
Daddy moves beside mommy.
Ellie: "No daddy. Let me show you how to do it." She then comes over and puts daddy in FRONT of mommy and shows him how to kick it.

While taking a bath:
Ellie: "Okay Brobee, it's time for your bath. Gus Gus, where are you? It's bath time. Oh, come here Gus Gus. It won't hurt, it's just a bath."

While wiping Ellie's nose I told her "Ellie your nose is running away. Oh no, we have to go get it. Where is it running to?"
Ellie: "It's running to Granby's. Let's go get it."
We run thru the house and I luckily catch it before it goes out the back door.
Ellie: "Thank you mommy."
By the way, it's surprising easy to put a nose back on. LOL.

Cancun, Mexico

2010-10-13T18:55:00.003-05:00

Hola! Como Esta? (did I spell all that right?)

During fall break this year, we had the amazing opportunity to travel to Cancun, Mexico!! I have never been out of the states so this trip was really exciting for me. Josh, Ellie and I traveled with the Anders' clan. After a rocky start, the week ended up great.

We woke up at 3am (yes 3am!) Got ready and finished packing. We waited until we had the car packed to wake Ellie up. Well, she of course fought us. We whined and cried until we got into Huntsville. Then she said "we go ride on the big plane?" She was pretty excited about this trip too (daycare said she couldn't quite talking about it). Well, we get to the airport and unload our luggage. Josh calls Tony to see where they are at, and they had to turn around to go back for their passports! Definitely can't forget the passports on this trip! So, Josh helped me get the luggage inside and Ellie and I waited in the chairs for everyone else. When they arrived, Tony followed Josh to his work to drop off his truck. The rest of us got in line to check in. I think just about everyone was flying out that day because it was busy! As we were standing in the security line, we noticed we only had 45 minutes until our plan was scheduled to take off. This frustrated me and Josh because there was a pretty long line to get thru. But we made it and got on the plane. Well, Ellie had to have a seat since she was a paying customer. So the flight attendant moved some people around to let us all seat together (because we were spread out). Once we moved just about everybody, we then were told we were on a delay. Our 6am flight didn't leave until 6:40! I was hoping that we could make our next flight.

We made it to Charlotte, NC and was able to cross almost half the airport and make it to our next flight. They were already in line so we didn't get much rest. This was the biggest plane I had yet to get on, so it was exciting. We all sat together again. This plane ride was much longer flight and I was praying Ellie would take a nap. She finally fell asleep about an 1 or so before we landing. While on the plane we had to fill out customs papers. We were in the back of the plane and all they had left was Spanish reading cards!! But with the help of a friendly neighbor that had an English version, we were able to get it done. It took us a while to get thru customs, but we didn't get checked!!

If you have never been to Cancun airport... WOW! There are so many people hounding you for travel things, car rides, and everything else you can think of. It was a little scary walking out of the airport! I had Ellie in my arms and was holding her for dear life!! We made it to our van and the driver was excellent in packing it with all our luggage! This van fit 10 people (we had 9) and he still was able to put in about 14 pieces of luggage!! We made it our resort and they had us on the wrong side, so we all sat outside and waited while Tony went to fix it. He came back about 30 minutes later and said we all had to go over to get our bracelets and keys. So we waited on the bus for lobby to lobby and went to check in. After another 30 minutes, we finally got in!! But, instead of going to our room... we went to eat! It was 3 pm and we hadn't had anything all day but the little bit of snacks they feed you on a plane. Needless to say, we were all hungry!!

Other than our long first day, the week went by really fast!! We stayed at the pool alot since that was Ellie's favorite thing. We ate, and ate, and ate some more. We went to town twice which was nice but a little scary at times. No lines on the road and no clear path to drive thru was scary!! We saw a few shows throughout the week like the Michael Jackson impersonator, Salsa dancing, and fire dancing. Those were all really nice.

I hope that someday we can make that trip again. There was so much to do and we didn't get a chance to do a lot that we wanted. I highly suggest that if you can ever go, please go! It was so worth the trip!!

Update

2010-09-27T18:48:00.003-05:00

Well, I have been eating right and working out since first of August and I have only lost 5 pounds! It is so frustrating! I also have been very tired and weak, so I decided that I should find a family doctor to start going to on a regular basis (I mean I'm getting old! I'm almost 30!). I found a female doctor that I really like and she went ahead on our first visit and did some blood work. So I am anxious to get the results. I really think I may be anemic.

Well, basketball is about to start up after fall break and I am looking forward to it. I love working with the younger girls but I hope they know what they are in for. I tend to be a very loud coach. Most parents don't like that, but I guess if they want their daughter to play then they will get over it.

I'm so excited about fall break this year! We are going to Cancun Mexico!! I have never been out of the states so this will be fun and interesting. I have also never flown with Ellie! This makes me nervous. I just hope that she can behave for the three hour flight across the water to get there!! We are going with Josh's aunt and uncle and girls so I have plenty of baby sitters and help if needed. We also went ahead and bought Ellie an ipod so that she will have something to play with and watch videos on while on the plane. I can't wait for this week to be over with!! I'm so excited!!

I know all this is random, but I'm currently trying to get out of house work and just happen to think about a few things.

Happy Birthday Gage and Colt!

2010-09-27T18:37:00.003-05:00

Today my nephew turned 5!! Wow I can't believe he is already this old. We had a party for him this weekend and here are some of the pictures. We had tons of fun!

A few weeks ago, my other nephew Colt turned 1! That was a great party. Tons of family and friends were there. All the kids really enjoyed playing outside at Grandmother Foster's house. I think she really enjoyed all the company too.

And let the games begin...

2010-08-16T21:19:00.003-05:00

Well, school started back and I am busy again. It seems like I never have any time for myself. When I do watch T.V I get jealous at the moms and how they can go out with the girls, have time to work out, play with the kids, and go to work (a selective few). Must be nice to have a maid, assistant, and nanny. I can hardly find the time to breathe.

But I wouldn't change it for the world!! I love my life and my family and I try to do what ever I can to make them happy. I did decided this summer that in order for me to keep my family happy, I have to start taking care of myself better. Which means, finding time somewhere in my schedule to have some "me" time. Yeah, right. But I have managed to do it in the last two weeks. I have to get Ellie in the bed by 8 in order to get myself in bed at a decent time. Which for me is 9-10 on a school night. I put her in bed and head straight for the bedroom to work out. Afterwards, I give myself a little computer time, then I clean up and get ready for the next day. By then, I am ready for bed. I need my sleep!

So far this schedule is working. I am anxious to see if it will continue when basketball starts in Sept. I don't think it will, but it is all a mental thing. I have to be motivated and MAKE myself do it. And right now, this muffin top, spare tire thing I have going on it all the motivation I need. It is so gross when I put my pants on and it hangs over the top. GROSS!!! I have to get rid of it. I do not have a goal because I will give it up. So instead, I think I will just keep it going until I feel good about my looks and I have lost at least 20 pounds. I know that may sound like a lot, but I am very close to the overweight mark for my body size and height.

Anyways, like I said earlier, school has started back up and I already know several kids in this class. I thought it would be really hard for me to teach them (and it was for the first day or two), but it has gotten better. They just seem like every other kid to me. I have really large classes this year, which keeps me on my toes. It seems like I can't keep up with my school work. Today, for example, I had them doing a little busy work just so I can get some things done that I really need done! I'm ashamed to say that, but it was true!! I feel like I just can't keep up!!

Basketball starts in September and I'm not looking forward to it. I have a small team but we didn't have good practices this summer. I hope that volleyball keeps them conditioned! I won't have time to do it. We will have just enough time to start plays and making sure these girls know how to play. I know basketball and I want to make sure that these girls understand how to play. I don't want to look like an idiot.

Anyways, I'm rambling... so my point is that I'm dieting, working out, school has started and its been busy, and basketball will soon start. Where in there do you see time for me to do house work? Yeah, I don't see it either. Anyone need work? I need a good housekeeper!!

Last trip for the summer

2010-08-01T21:01:00.003-05:00

This weekend we enjoyed the Great Smokey Mountains. We have not be to PF/ G'burg in about 8-9 years, so we decided to go. Man has it changed! Tons to do!! We went with Adam, Ashley and Carter, which was our first family trip with the kids. Of course, they loved being together. We rented a cabin in Pigeon Forge which was really nice. The kids favorite part was the pool table. They would run up the stairs as soon as we got back from anywhere and started rolling the balls around on the table. We would just sit downstairs and listen to them laugh as their pool balls would hit each other.

We spent the entire day Friday in Gatlinburg. With having small children and it being hot out, we got kinda an early start. We left out about 8 and went to eat at this little pancake house that had the best pancakes! Yummy! And then we were off the G'burg. I was surprised that none of the shops were open at 9! It's tourist season!! As we were walking down the strip, we ran into the Morrison clan. Strange meeting neighbors/ friends while on vacation.

Our first stop was the Ripley's Aquarium. The kiddo's loved it!! They got to see so many fish! Ellie was a little scared when the sharks would swim over us as we went thru the tunnel, but finally she started calling them "Bruce." For those that don't know, Bruce is the shark from Finding Nemo. We couldn't get her to touch the rays or horseshoe crabs, but I think she had fun. She didn't like the penguins as much as I thought she would. Of course, I was expecting a lot more from the penguin exhibit. When we left there, the place was getting packed!! Tons of people every where!

We visit all the Ripley's attractions: World Records (which was NOT nice nor updated), Mirror maze (me, Ellie and Ashley found our way our before the guys did), Wax museum (some of the people looked really great), and Believe it or not (which was crowded).

I really wanted to go on the Sky lift but I was terrified of taking Ellie because she is so small. I thought she would be scared, fall out of the chair while we were crossing the street/ stream, or slip off while getting off the chair. But she really enjoyed it. Of course I made Josh hold on the her for dear life since I had the bags. But she was fine. I guess I'm a little over protective. We bought our pictures from there, but you can't see all of her face because of the bar. It is was a great souvenir.

After that, we went home for naps and to refuel for later. After everyone woke up from naps, we got dressed and went back to Gatlinburg to eat at the Peddler. It was great food and service. A little ridiculous to wait 30 min passed our reservation, but overall good. Ashley and I also got Carter and Ellie airbrushed tee shirts, so we had to pick them up as well. Ellie got a Dora and Boots shirt, while Carter got Thomas the train. They both turned out so cute!! After supper, Adam had been wanted to go to this haunted house. Josh and I stayed in the car with the kids (since I don't care for haunted houses and we knew the kids would be too) and let Ashley and Adam go. They said it was pretty scary. After this, we crashed back at the cabin and got ready for the next day.

Saturday. All I have to say about this day was I have never seen so many people and cars in my entire life!!!! We got a little later start than I think we wanted, but we ate at Apple Barn which was so good!! Us adults really wanted to go to the outlets, but it looked like rain, so we went to The Track instead to let the kids have a little fun. We felt bad because we dragged them everywhere Friday and they were pretty good about it. The kids loved the place!! We were afraid to let them ride some of the rides by themselves, but then we saw they were not scared at all and the workers took care of them, so they finished riding most of them by themselves. It started to look more like rain, so we grabbed the kids (which they surprisingly came without screaming) and we headed to the outlets. Here is where EVERY ONE was!! We could not go anywhere because of so many cars. In fact, by the time we left (which was only about 1 or so) people were parking in the grass!!! I was sooo amazed! We went home for naps again and went back to the outlets later. At that time, it was much quieter. We were able to park almost anywhere. Ashley and I split from the boys and took Ellie with us. It was really nice to have "girl time." Of course, we spent too much money. But retail therapy was just what we needed.

Sunday, we headed home. But after breakfast, we went back to the Track to finish spending the rest of our money on the kids. This time, they rode all the rides by themselves! They are such big kids. It was hard to watch them. It made me want to cry to see them being big kids and not needing mommy to ride with them.

Overall, the trip was great. Got stuck in traffic, but I guess everyone had the same idea that we did. Get in that last minute trip before school starts next week!! WHERE DID MY SUMMER GO???!!!!???

Daytona Beach 2010

2010-07-11T09:06:00.003-05:00

Here are a few pictures from our recent beach trip. Ellie absolutely loved the ocean!! She was waist deep in the water and didn't care that the waves were knocking her down. She loved the pool too. We went to SeaWorld while we were there. I hated to take her without Josh, but he insisted so I did. She loved it too. It was hot, but she had tons of fun. So enjoy a few of the pictures. The rest are on facebook.

Ellie and Anniversary

2010-06-20T19:02:00.002-05:00

Well, Ellie is still her very silly self. Today she was singing her "Yo gabba gabba" songs. This weekend she stayed with mom and dad so that me and Josh could get away for the weekend for our Anniversary. They said she talked nonstop all weekend! She also learned some new phrases. For example: Dad turned a curve a little too fast for her liking and said "Pawpaw be careful." She has also learned "Do you know the muffin man" and "Jesus loves me." It is absolutely precious to hear her sing!!

Josh and I got to get away just the two of us this weekend. We decided to go to Tunica MS since we haven't been in years. It was kinda like our honeymoon since we went to Las Vegas for it. We stayed at Harrah's and it was nice, but it wasn't connected to the casino and we thought that was a little different. Overall, we had a great time and didn't loose to much money! Oh yeah, we also got to go to Memphis on Saturday and walk around on Beale street and see all the blues cafe's and different places. It was really neat and beautiful compared to the rest of Memphis which was not!

Ellie and Dora

2010-06-13T17:46:00.002-05:00

Well, Ellie has discovered Dora the Explorer. Anyone that has been around her in the last week or so knows what I am talking about. The child is obsessed with her! She goes around begging me to let her watch it. In fact, when I really need to get something done, I know I can rely on Dora to babysit. I know... I'm a horrible mother for letting TV babysit my child.

Well, I have to admit that I really like the fact that Ellie is learning a little spanish. It's pretty funny to hear her talk. For example, last weekend we went to Grandbys and Papa's to spend the night. While at the breakfast table Sunday morning, Ellie breaks out into Dora dialog.

Ellie:"Lets stop and think..." (picture Ellie turning a little to the side and her hand on her chin like she is thinking) "What do we use when we don't know where to go?"

All of us: Breaks into laughter!

Well, Ellie thought that was funny too and continues to do it. When we were all finished, she told Uncle Tody (thats how she says his name) "Vamonos!"

We can not get into the car without her begging to watch Dora. I guess these new videos Josh bought for her today will be great for our 10hr trip to Daytona in July.

The New Snow White

2010-06-03T20:23:00.000-05:00

Isn't she just beautiful!! We decided to play dressup the other night so I pulled out a few outfits that my sister and Grandby had bought her. Of course, she picked out the Snow White outfit and wouldn't take it off!! In fact, she wore it most the day on Wednesday!! Crazy girl!

Life

2010-05-29T21:17:00.002-05:00

Well school is finally over with for the summer. Although my job still is on going. I decided to paint my classroom. It was three different colors and really needed it. So, I decided since I am a coach and complain all the time about kids not having school spirit, I did my room is school colors. White walls with blue trim, and a mural of NH Indians on the back wall. And my kids better like the mural because it took me 1 1/2 hrs to just do that. And I'm not done!!!

Well daycare is wanting me to pay the full amount even though Ellie will only be going to daycare twice a week this summer. So after getting into it on the phone, I just decided that I was threw with her and moved Ellie. Well, actually Ellie will be going to her full time through June and then starts Jumping Jacks in July twice a week. I really hate to move her because she likes Sarah and Jessie but I just can't deal with them anymore. Plus, moving her is better for me because now I can pick her up after practice and not have to rely on mom so much.

Here lately I just don't know what is wrong with me. I have everything yet I am still depressed. Nothing seems to make me happy these days and I don't know what will fix it. I just feel overwhelmed sometimes with all the house work, school work, and taking care of Ellie, but even when Josh helps, it still doesn't seem to make me happy. I just can't figure it out!! I'm hoping that once I get all this school stuff out of the way, and clean this house then I will rest and feel better. Life just never seems to slow down!!!

"There's Monsters in My Room"

2010-05-19T21:42:00.003-05:00

I get woke up by Ellie. This is nothing unusual. She still doesn't sleep through the night constantly. Oh, how I wish that day would come!! Anyways, here lately when I go in to check on her, she will put her face in her hands and lay on my shoulder. When I ask her what is wrong, her response has been "I'm scared."

Me: "Ellie, what are you scared about baby?"
Ellie: "Monsters"
Me: "Oh Ellie there are no monsters in your room!! Mommy would never let that happen."

She then sits up and tells me that "Huxley took my blanket. Elmo go get his blanket."

I guess in order to understand what she just said, you have to have watched the movie "Elmo in Grouchland" In that movie, Huxley is the mean old man that takes Elmo's blanket down to Grouchland. Elmo has to go into Grouchland to get his blanket back. Well, I guess that we have let Ellie watch this movie one to many times. Because now she is waking up in the middle of the night saying things like that.

Well, I assured Ellie that there are no monsters in her room. I noticed that I had her water bottle on her dresser (I use it to wet her "bed head" in the morning), and thought of a plan. I remembered that Debbie made a similar bottle for Gabe when he thought monsters were in his room. So, I took the bottle and walked with Ellie around her room spraying the "NO MONSTERS" spray. I guess it worked because she went back to sleep shortly afterwards.

What an imagination our child already has!!!
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One day last week, Josh went to the Anders' house to play some games. It was already Ellie's bedtime, so I put her to bed and I went to bed shortly afterwards too. Well, not to long after I fell asleep, I got woke up to Ellie saying "Mommy." It is not unusual for her to do that then roll over and fall asleep, so I waited a second and she stopped. About 5 minutes later, she lets out the loudest, scariest scream you can imagine. I mean, it was one of those screams you never want to hear your child scream. It was like she was being ripped from my arms! Of course, I immediately ran to her room. In the time that it took me to run across the hallway, I had a million different scenarios going on in my head about why she was screaming like that.

From simple things like:
1. She had her foot/hand caught in the rails of her bed.
2. She threw something out of the bed like her favorite blanket.

To horrible things like:
3. Someone was in her room trying to take her.
4. The tree outside her room had fallen on the house and onto her.
5. She had managed to fall out of her bed.

I think you get the picture about how horrible the scream was...

Anyways, I get to her room and she is still laying down in bed. I run over to her and say "Ellie, Ellie what is wrong? Mommy's here." All she keeps doing is crying and looking up (kinda behind me). I get the distinct feeling that something, or someone was standing behind me. Creepy I know... So I turn around and...

of course didn't see anything. So I grabbed Ellie up and she just curled up on me and still was screaming!! I turned her lamp on to see if anything was wrong with her physically. Nothing. She is still screaming!! I hold her tight and rock her. Still screaming! So, I kinda get stern with her, and hold her away from me and say "Ellie, this is mommy!! Please stop screaming and tell me what is wrong!!"

Now, she stops screaming. She proceeds to put her face in her hands and fall into my shoulder. She is no longer screaming or crying. When I ask her what is wrong, she tells me nothing. It took about two minutes of rocking her and she was sound asleep again. I laid her back down and went back to bed myself. I felt helpless! I felt like if someone had really been in there, I wouldn't have been able to get to her quick enough. (It now makes me really rethink having her bedroom upstairs or across the house away from us!)

Of course, I couldn't go back to sleep then. I was scared to death! I just wanted to go back and get her and put her to bed with me. Instead, I called Josh to come home. When he came back home and I told him what happened, I couldn't hold back the tears. That scream just stuck with me. I was scared now! I was so upset to hear her scream like that. I never ever hope I hear her do that again!!!

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Tonight, I was trying to get Ellie dressed for bed when she informed me that monsters took her blanket. So, after we got dressed, I took her water bottle and we sprayed her room down with the "NO MONSTERS" spray. I even showed her how to do it and let her spray a few times.

While I was drying her hair, I let her know that those monsters that she sees in her room are more scared of mommy and daddy than she is of them. She says "Monsters are scared of mommy and daddy." I let her know that mommy and daddy will not let anything happen to her and that we have scared the mean old monsters away. She lets me know that "No monsters take Ellie's blanket."

No Ellie. No monsters will ever take your blanket! Mommy and daddy promises!

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Again, what an imagination Ellie has!!!! What am I to do?

Quotes from Ellie

2010-05-06T21:18:00.005-05:00

Here are a few quotes that I have been writing down as they happen. Enjoy!

While laying in bed awake at 2am: "Mommy? Mommmmyyyy. I want a pop tart. You understand? You hear me?"

While playing in the living room with me and Josh, Ellie picks up her (I don't know what you call it, you put in the round picture card and you click the side and if you look into it you will see the pictures) anyways, she picks it up and says "Cheese daddy, cheese mommy" then tosses it over her shoulder like it was nothing.

After already having time out for hitting mommy, Ellie tell me "You be quiet mommy" When asked if she wants time out again, she pauses then says "No I don't think so"

"You go hide" Which actually means, you count and come find me later.

Dances and sings on key, "Someday my prince will come" from Snow White.

"Happy Mother's Day mommy!" Awww, just broke my heart!

"Huxley, don't take my blanket, don't take elmo's blanket. I go get my blanket, Huxley took my blanket."

While in the car on our way to Walmart: Ellie: "Mommy where are we going?" Me:"We are going to Walmart to get some groceries." Ellie: "Nope, we go see Grandby and Uncle Cody." Me: "No, we are going shopping." Ellie: "Oh...okay mommy."

"Where is Cartman?" (which is what Josh calls Carter Kelly)

While the doctor was drawing blood from Ellie's toe, I told here "It will be okay. It will all be done in a minute." When he was finished, Ellie crawled back into my lap and said "It all done. We go to Ellie's house."

Easter 2010

2010-04-19T21:05:00.000-05:00

Make a photo slideshow

Easter 2010

2010-04-11T21:57:00.005-05:00

We had a wonderful Easter this year. Ellie was finally able to hunt Easter eggs and decorate them. She loved it! She had so much fun trying to find the eggs before Gage did. While at Grandmaw Foster's, Ellie and Gage played outside almost all day. They played with their new bats and balls, some frisbees and bubbles! It was a beautiful day! Maybe next year will be just a pretty and warm! Here are a few pictures from that day.

Seeing her trying to pop the bubble? Notice the tongue sticking out?

Here is who she gets it from!!

Baby Colt enjoying watching Gage and Ellie playing

Beautiful Grandmaw Foster

Hunting Eggs

Ellie decided to play before we got her dress off her. She is just like me!

Don't remember what she was crying about, but isn't that just the saddest face you ever saw?

Gage and Ellie finally took a good picture together

Before we left for church. This was the best picture she would let me have.

Random Craziness.

2010-04-11T21:48:00.003-05:00

I know that it's been a while since my last post, but it has been crazy! Softball has kept me very busy! But it's almost over with and Ellie gets me all afternoon. Here are just a few pictures that I have happened to capture in the last couple of weeks.

We decided to play around one night before we blow dried her hair.

This is now my favorite outfit! Doesn't she look so cute?

Gulf Shores 2010 Part 2

2010-03-22T19:15:00.007-05:00

We had a blast at Gulf Shores this year. Ellie absolutely loved the beach!! Last year we couldn't even get her to stick her hand in the sand. This year... we couldn't get her out of the sand!! In fact, we had to promise to buy her a sand box for the house just to get her in the car to leave and come home!! Wow. Is she spoiled or what?

Let me set these pictures up for you. On Tuesday, the girls didn't play until late that afternoon so we had all morning to play in the sand and in the water. Josh was feeling under the weather, so Ellie and I couldn't help but go outside on such a beautiful day. I hated leaving him behind, but it gave him much needed peace and quiet. Anyways, there wasn't hardly a cloud in the sky! It was probably 70 degrees or better and the wind was somewhat calm that day. In front of our condo, we had these tiny tide pools that built up when the tide came in over night. This was just perfect for Ellie to play in by herself. Most of it only came up to her knees, but some parts came up higher. The water was freezing to me, but Ellie never skipped a beat. She just walked through it like she was walking through air. She also made friends with some college girls that said in our condo building. Apparently we haven't stressed "stranger danger" to her yet. Anyways, she walked up to them and said "I'm Ellie. Ellie the princess." They laughed and she started to pick up sand with her shovel. Knowing what she just did to me (pour sand on me with her shovel) I quickly told her "NO NO". They talked to her for a few minutes and Ellie tried to talk back. She was so excited about playing in the sand, she could hardly talk straight. It was really cute. Well, let me just get to the pictures. That's what you really want to see anyways.

Daddy and Ellie on the balcony.

Ellie playing in the sand

Finally a picture of her face!!

Digging for something

Here is where she is pouring sand on me and the camera. I, of course, didn't realize that was what she was going to do until she already did it.

She finally discovered the water

I guess she was hot and needed to cool off

Just playing around

Just walking up and down the beach

Her favorite spot!

That night in the room watching her DVD

Well, the next day the girls lost out in the first game of the tournament. So we had most of the day to play in the sand. It was really cold because it had rained all night and morning. We really wanted to get her out again since that was our last full day there. We bundled her up in her sweats and us in ours and we ventured out. The wind was cold and so was the water. Again, that didn't stop Ellie. She acted like that water was bath temp. Josh and Ellie built a sand castle and had such a great time.

Daddy laughing at Ellie.

The castle!

Some random action shots...

See how wet she got? Remember its cold!!

Gulf Shores 2010

2010-03-15T22:04:00.000-05:00

Here are a few pictures from the beach. Just a little teaser!! HaHa! We will take plenty tomorrow.

Gulf Shores 2010

2010-03-15T22:03:00.001-05:00

Here is our condo at the beach. This is really our first family vacation since we are staying by ourselves. Its been great so far. We took Ellie down to the beach and we were really afraid that she would not like it or remember it from last year. But she loved it. It took her a few minutes to really get going with the water, but she loved walking in the sand and jumping the waves. I can't wait to get her down there tomorrow when we have all day to play in it. Here is a few pictures of our condo and our few. Sorry if you are reading this and it raining! Its been beautiful here all week so far. Just really windy. But I will take windy over rain anyday!!!

Ellie having fun in the bath

2010-03-15T21:58:00.000-05:00

Josh had the pleasure of giving Ellie a bath the other night because of my softball games making me late. Well, he decided that it was funny to splash water on his face. Ellie laughed about it and finally started doing it herself. Here are a few pictures he managed to get.

Splashing her face

Loving on her barbie

Giving her barbie a hug.

2010-03-07T22:35:00.000-06:00

2010-03-07T22:34:00.000-06:00

2010-03-07T22:33:00.000-06:00

Ellie's 2yr pictures

2010-03-07T22:32:00.000-06:00

Birthday present finally arrives!!

2010-02-15T21:00:00.002-06:00

So, Ellie's birthday present from us finally arrived this week. I guess we should actually call it Ellie's Valentines Day present since she got it this weekend. I think she liked it. By the end of the first night, she had already figured out how to flip it over and she placed her Gabba laptop on it and used it like a table. Crazy girl! Today she made me bring it in the living room so she could sit in it while we watched her movies. I think we made a great purchase.

Happy 2nd Birthday Ellie

2010-02-06T21:34:00.004-06:00

Baby Colt

Ellie, Gage and Gabe

My two year old!!

Singing Happy Birthday.

Mommy and Daddy had to help blow out the candles

Loving the icing off my cookie cake

The handsome Carter Kelly

Beautiful Maggie

Ellie playing with he barbie

Barbie tricycle

Ellie got a basketball goal!!

Ellie playing with her Snow White crown after we got home from the party!

Thank you all so much for being there and giving Ellie such wonderful gifts. I know that she had a blast. I asked her "Ellie did you have fun at your birthday party?" Ellie: "Yes!"

So Thanks to all!!

Ellie's Imagination

2010-01-27T21:54:00.002-06:00

This one is short but sweet.

During bath time tonight, Ellie picked up a cup of water and asked "You want some?"
Me: "No thank you. Bath water is not for drinking."
Ellie: "Ahhh" (you know the sound you make after drinking something that was really good)
*keeps making the sound and smiling at me*
Me: "See if Barbie wants any."
Ellie: "Okay, Hey you want some. Ok. (picks up Barbie and feeds her water ) That sure was good."

That was the first time I saw her and heard her really play and use her imagination! I love watching this child grow up!! Awesome.

Hide-and-go-seek

2010-01-10T21:56:00.002-06:00

Ellie has started to understand how to play hide-and-go-seek. And when I mean started to understand, I mean sorta gets the concept. Here are the examples from tonight:

Me and Ellie told daddy (aka Josh) to count to ten and we will go hide. I took Ellie to an easy spot first. We went and laid down beside our bed away from the door. When Josh got done counting he came to look for us.
Josh: "Ready or not here I come."
Me: "Shhhh.. you have to be very quiet!" (talking to Ellie as she proceeded to laugh!
Josh: "Where are you?"
Ellie: Stands up to try to see if daddy was coming... and giggles.
Josh: "I found you!"

Ellie takes off running and laughing into the living room, so daddy hides under the covers on the bed.

I go into the living room and tell Ellie that its our turn to look for daddy. We covered our eyes, counted to ten and then went to look for him. We searched everywhere. Finally she saw the lump on the bed and found him!!

Now it was Ellie's turn to hide again. I went back out and counted to ten, then went on my search:
Me:"Ready or not, here I come. Ummm, where could she be? Is she in the bathroom? Nope. Maybe in the closet? No, not there either. Is she under the bed? No. Well, where could she be?"
**This whole time she was as quiet as a mouse!! But I knew by the lumps under the covers that she was with daddy in the bed....

Still trying to find her:
Me:"Ellie?"
Ellie: "What?" (as she pulled back the covers to see what I wanted)

Me and Josh just busted out laughing!! It was so funny and cute! I guess if you ever play hide and go seek with Ellie all you have to do is call out her name and she will let you know where she is!! LOL!!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-29T17:10:00.006-06:00

I think we had the best Christmas so far as a family. Ellie got tons of stuff from Santa, and me and Josh were able to get things we really wanted too. I think the best part was the Ellie really enjoyed it this year. She loved to open the gifts. In fact, if you were not watching close enough, she would open the first gift she saw!! I can't wait until next year. The child will be really into then. We still didn't get her picture made with Santa, but she did see him at her daycare party. Mrs. Sarah said she loved him and didn't want down from his lap. I guess that's a good thing. Here are a few pictures of our long weekend of partying.

Ellie and I sporting some of our Christmas clothes

Ellie got a new hat from MawMaw and PawPaw Walls

So happy on Christmas morning to see all her gifts!!

Was so happy about her new kitchen she didn't want to open the rest of her gifts!

She loved her stocking stuffers the best!

Ellie and her new vacuum. It actually picks up!!

Ellie trying to get into the gifts at Grandmaw Fosters

Great Grandmaw Foster with Ellie and Colt

The three Etheredge Grandkids

Ellie loves her Princess Coupe! Thanks Grandby and Papa!

Ellie with Santa (I just wonder what she is thinking?)

Ellie getting ready to leave. She picked up her baby, put her in her carrier, got the diaper bag, and said "Bye bye mommy. Love you"

Happy Birthday Daddy and Me

2009-12-21T14:25:00.003-06:00

Last week was my 28th birthday and we celebrated by going out to eat. I chose Mikatos! I love that place!! It was wonderful. Ellie remembered the fire from last time, so we had to excuse ourselves from the table when he pulled up. It's amazing how she remembers things.

Tomorrow will be dad's 60th birthday!! WOW! We got him good this year because we let his 50th birthday pass without doing anything special. So we did a surprise party. I think we got him. We rented out a cabin over on Lake Guntersville and invited all our family and friends, his work buddies and golf buddies. We had a great turn out and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. My only job for the party was to get a cake. I went to Walmart and when I picked it up, it had a crack down the middle!! I told them to fix it and she tried but it rebroke. So she gave it to me for half price. I was happier with the price change because it wasn't as good as what I have seen them do. Well, here are a few pictures of the party.

Ellie caught playing!!

Christmas Party

2009-12-21T14:17:00.003-06:00

This past Friday was Ellie's daycare Christmas party. I left my camera with the girls to take some pictures and they did a good job. Ellie got to meet Santa for the first time. I hate it that I was not there, but you have to do what you have to do sometimes. They said she did good and didn't cry. Maybe it was because the other kids really enjoyed him too. Or maybe it was the fact that it was Sarah's dad dressed up and they all knew his voice. Anyways, I am happy that she liked him. Here are a few pictures for you. (More pictures to come soon with other Christmas parties. Our computer is not recognizing our camera but my school one is, so having to do everything there.)

Nite-nite mommy daddy

2009-12-17T20:45:00.002-06:00

Tonight Josh and I got tucked in bed by Ellie. She just decided that it was time for us to go to sleep. She took all her Brobee dolls to Josh and told him... no pushed his head down... and told him nite nite. Gave him a kiss and walked off. Then she came to me and did the same thing. I asked for a pillow (since I was in the floor) and she brought me one. She pushed my head up telling me "up mommy up." I got up, she put the pillow down, told me to lay down, then put her hands on my face and asked me if I wanted a blanket. I told her yes, and she brought me one. Then told me nite nite. She is so funny!

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Speaking of night time, Ellie has finally gotten out of me rocking her to sleep. I have been wanting this day to come. Usually when I get most of the stuff done around the house is after she goes to sleep. So, having her to just want to go straight to the bed is great!! It's great, but I already miss rocking her!! I didn't think I would feel that bad, but I do. At least she still likes to sit with me and watch cartoons. I guess I can handle that.

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Tomorrow is Ellie's Christmas party at daycare. I feel horrible that I didn't get the kids anything!! I just haven't had the time, and plus what do you get 2yrs old and under? Maybe I won't be the only one to have done that! I hope that Ellie likes Santa Claus. This will be the first time ever that she has seen him up close and personal! We didn't make it last year, and so far haven't this year (I know we are horrible parents)!! I am going to take my camera and leave it there for Sarah and Jessie to make some pictures. I hope they turn out good. I really would love to have some great pictures. Maybe she will have a great time. Wish I could be there too.

Ellie's First Snow!!

2009-12-05T21:31:00.003-06:00

Today was Ellie's first snow!! She absolutely loved it!! At first she didn't want to go outside, but after she played in it, I couldn't get her to go inside. The snow made perfect snowballs, so Josh showed Ellie how to do it. She loved throwing them. She thought it was the funniest thing! My pictures speak louder than words, so here are a few of the many pictures I took.

Testing the waters

I think she likes it!

Oh yeah she likes it!

Oh no, I got it on my gloves!

It's fun to chase daddy!

Watching daddy throw snowballs

Ellie throwing her first snowball!!

Conversations with Ellie

2009-11-10T21:27:00.002-06:00

Here is the conversation I had with my Elliegator this morning.

I go in to wake her up at 6:45am.

Me: "Ellie wake up baby girl. Time to go to school."

Ellie: "No no mommy... I want to sleep" (rolls away from me and pulls up the covers)

Me: "How about you wake up and get dressed then you can sleep in mommy's arms"

Ellie: "No"

I then pick her up whining, get her dress and go into the living room to rock. She is snuggled with me for a while, then leaned back and smiled and said "Hey mommy!"

Tonight at the basketball games, she pointed to the court and said "Mommy ball." I think that is funny because when she sees football that is "Daddy ball."

When we got home tonight from the games, she wanted her passy. I told her she had to take a bath and play in the bubbles first. I then asked her if she wanted to do that , and her response was "Yes." So I went and got her bath ready and when I was done, she decided she didn't want to take a bath. She started to call for "daddy" as we made our way to the bath tub. By the way, she did enjoy the bath and fell right to sleep.

Halloween 2009

2009-11-04T22:10:00.003-06:00

Before Ellie can pick out what to wear for Halloween, Josh and I wanted her to be a Gator Cheerleader. When we went to Gainesville back in September, I found this outfit and knew Ellie had to wear it! I was so excited. She loves to wear it too. She is not to fond of the pom pom, but I am sure that will change before to long. Here are a few pictures that we got before we left for trick or treating!

Yeah, I don't remember why she is mad at me here.

Ellie and her Vocabulary

2009-10-24T21:43:00.002-05:00

I my be biased but Ellie has a vocabulary of a three year old. She can say whatever she wants to say. However, she is only going to say it when she wants to. Just some examples:

This morning as me and Josh were getting ready to go out Ellie left our room and I couldn't find her. I looked in the living room and there she was playing with her blocks. Here is our conversation:
Me: Ellie where are you?
Ellie: Yes, mommy?
Me: What are you doing?
Ellie: Playing with blocks.
Me: Why don't you come back into our room and play with them. Mommy needs to keep an eye on you.
Ellie: Yes yes (and she gets up and runs to our room)

This afternoon, I had the hardest time trying to get her to take a nap. She was so sleepy but would not go to sleep. After laying down with her for about 45 minutes, I lost my nerve and put her in her room. She of course screamed and cried, but eventually I thought she had given it up. Then Ellie started to call for me and say "snack". Which it was lunch time, so now I felt bad, but she really needed a nap. She stop talking, but I could hear her moving around on her bed. Josh peeked in and she was playing peek a boo with her blanket. So, he went on in to get her and we ate lunch. After lunch, she wanted to watch "Donald Duck" on my phone. We watched it and then I told her she had to lay down for a nap. We went to my room and I told her that when she woke up from a nap she could watch Brobee (Yo Gabba Gabba). She cried because she wanted to watch it then, but I kept telling her she had to sleep first. Then she snuggled up to me (still crying) and within a minute, she fell asleep. The funny part is when she woke up and we went into the living room she started saying Brobee. I said, " Yes Ellie. Mommy did promise you Brobee when you woke up." She said "YES!" So she had to watch Brobee.

Last night in the bath, I was getting Ellie to say all her families' names. She was doing a great job!! This morning, Josh got her to say it again and got it on his phone. So we have evidence that she can say them!!! All of them!!

Everyday I am just impressed at how much she can talk. She will copy everything we say now. I told her "I promise" (about what I don't remember), and the rest of the day she was saying "promise". She just amazes me at how much she knows. It is great to get to play with her. I love her more and more every day! Oh how wonderful it is to be a mom!! Sometimes I have to remind myself of these precious moments (especially on days like today when she wouldn't take a nap.)

Elliegator and Outdoor fun

2009-10-03T20:58:00.003-05:00

I know that it has been a while since my last post, but I have been pretty busy. And I am about to be even more busy with basketball starting up! I have got to give myself a break.

Anyways, Josh, me and Adam and Ashley went to Gainesville for the Tennessee/ Florida game. We had a blast!! We got to stay in Gainesville which was so much better! I can't believe we use to stay in Lake City. So, we did alot of shopping...I mean ALOT of shopping!!! I found Ellie the perfect outfit!! A UF Cheerleading outfit. I mean it feels and looks like the real thing! I was so happy that I didn't really pay attention to the price tag and just bought it. So, Ellie is going to be a UF cheerleader for Halloween. I even found her a pair of white Reebok shoes! She is going to look so cute. I am really hoping that Ashley will buy Carter a jersey and let him be a football player for Halloween. They would be so cute together!!!

Well, here are a few pictures of Ellie in her outfit. I think that she likes it. She wouldn't let me take it off of her!!

She was yelling "GOOOOOO"

Do you like her choice of accessories?

This past week has been the best weather!! I love it when it is in the 70's and you can wear jeans and a shirt and be just fine. I wish we had this weather all year long! Well me and Ellie decided to make the most of it one day after school. I grabbed a few of her toys (mainly because we are horrible and haven't bought her anything that goes outside!) and we took off. She loved playing with her golf set. Although the wind was blowing her ball around and leaves were blowing around. Every time a leaf would blow across the driveway, she would ask "Whats that?" I would have to reassure her every time that it was a leaf and she was fine. I think the noise of it must have scared her a little bit. I also took her four wheeler out and she is still trying to ride it, but she is a little too big. It was really cute though. Of course, when it was time to go inside, she would just start crying and telling me "NO, NO Mommy!" I couldn't resist. We had to stay a few more minutes. Here are some pictures of one of our days outside.

I think she must have been singing!

Happy Birthday Colt!

2009-09-09T16:10:00.001-05:00

I have a new nephew today, Colton Foster. Born this morning at 8:45am weighing in at 8lbs 4 oz and 20.5 in long. Wow! Big boy! Everyone is doing good and I can't wait to see him. I didn't get to go today because I just don't have the days to take off, but I will be spending the weekend with them! I can't wait! Pictures to follow!

Florida Football and Playtime

2009-09-06T18:20:00.003-05:00

Well here is our family picture in our UF jerseys. Soon Ellie will have a cheerleader outfit to sport, but unfortunately she didn't have it in time for the first football game!! Saturday was the day Josh couldn't wait for and it was the day I usually dread. I am now officially a football widow. Oh well, I love football too so it really isn't that bad. We decided that since we all have jerseys with #1 on it, we thought we would take a family picture. I thought it turned out great!! Ellie actually smiled!!

We went to the Kelly's house and watched football and let the kids play together. They had so much fun and was the best!! They played better this weekend then they have so far. They are getting older and loving the company. This morning Ashley and I took the kids outside to play on the swing set. Of course they loved it. Ellie loves to swing. We let them go down on the slide by themselves and they loved it. Ellie was all about it at first, but when she went down it too fast the first time, it scared her and mommy had to hold her the rest of the time. I was taking pictures and me nor Ashley thought she would go that fast since Carter didn't. But Ellie just took off and fell all the way off the slide. She never cried though. Tough Girl! Here are a few pictures to enjoy.

Pee Wee Football

2009-08-29T21:45:00.003-05:00

Josh is coaching again!! He is helping coach the 9-10 yr old pee wee football team with some of his buddies. He is having a blast! I think it shows him how much he really enjoys doing it. So far they are doing great!! 2-0 is their record. This Saturday was a close game, but they pulled it off. It was a great game!! Here are some pictures to show you! Oh yeah, he hasn't thrown his hat down!!! (remember when he coached high school... that was all he did when he got mad!!)

Chad Bolton, Josh Wilbourn, Josh Etheredge, and Keith Jarrell

One of the boys making a great play!

Doing what he does best!!

Touchdown Indians!!!

Update

2009-08-26T21:10:00.002-05:00

Since it has been a while since I wrote a blog, I thought I would update you now (seeing as how I have a second finally). But I am tired so if I ramble that is why.

School started off great. I think I will really like 7th grade. They seem to respect me more. I guess because I don't quite look like a 7th grader. That was my problem with high school. I looked like one of them and they didn't respect me. So, school is going really good now. I am having to start from scratch with the class, so that is keeping me tied down. Since we have no teacher money this year, I am trying to find ways to keep the students engaged without having to make copies. That is actually really hard!!! I have a smartboard in my room, so I have been making powerpoints of my notes and making the students copy them. It's been working out fine. I find games online and let them come up to the board and play them. They love playing with the board.

Other than the classroom, I have a grant to fix up the greenhouse outside my room. I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I AM DOING!!! NO idea where to begin!! I know what things probably need to be fix, but I am afraid that I will miss something. With it being a grant too, I have to keep up with everything. So that means lots and lots of paperwork and pictures to prove it. Crazy! I think my head is going to spin off!!! Too much stuff!!

On a different note (basically I have to stop talking about school before my BP rises to a deathly level), Ellison is talking so much now. I mean actually talking. She is picking up on everything and saying everything. She surprised me Saturday morning. I turned the TV on for her to watch cartoons and she said "Mommy, Manny." And yes, Handy Manny was on TV. I have never heard her say it before.
Here are some more conversations:

Josh: Love you Ellie, be back in a minute.
Ellie: ove you in minute bye bye daddy

Me: Lets go play with Mrs. Sarah and Jessie (as we get out of the car at daycare)
Ellie: no no mommy, no no
Me: yes I will be back this afternoon
Ellie: no no mommy...(and a bunch of gibberish... probably cursing me for leaving her there)

Ellie: ELMOOOOO
Inez: yeah there is Elmo
Ellie: I get it I get Elmo
Inez: Okay you can get Elmo

Ellie: Mommy Elmo (whining and crying and crawling up in my lap while I am on the computer)
Me: not right now Ellie. Mommy is working on school stuff.
Ellie: No no, Elmo mommy (continues until I give in or she gives up)

As soon as we come in from school (or actually anytime we come home), Ellie will walk to the TV, turn it on, find the remote, give it to me and shake her head yes. Apparently I am suppose to know what she wants (obviously to watch cartoons). She then signs "more", which now means eat. So I fix her a snack and let her eat it in the living room while watching cartoons.

So as you can tell, our lives are interesting. Ellie says something new everyday, but of course I am so tired that I can't remember everything. I think I need to keep a book about it. She is so fun right now. I love coming home to her!! I still don't like our night time. She will fall asleep on her own now, but she will not do it when she wakes in the middle of the night. And this week she has decided that she wants mommy to rock her back to sleep. Mommy doesn't like this. She did so good for a week. She slept thru the night and all, but I don't know what happened now. Oh well. One day she will sleep.

Pictures are to come in the future. Stay tune!!

Overwhelmed

2009-08-04T22:14:00.002-05:00

Wow! I got an overload of information today! Today was our offical day back to school (for teachers anyways). We had inservice at the high school which was really neat. They did a "virtual" inservice, where they had 5 host sites and we didn't have to travel to far. It was good. I liked it. That only lasted about an hour and a half and then we had to go to our lunchroom and have a faculty meeting. Well, I got stopped about 100 times on my way to the meeting. I guess it was actually good, because it was people who didn't know me. Anyways, I was flooded with information at the meeting about all the stuff that I have to do. I never had to do most of this stuff before. I feel so lost!! I know that I can handle the classroom and the material. It is the same as my high school biology lessons. So I am not worried about that. I am worried about the lesson plans (how in depth, long etc...), and all the other little paper work that I have to do. I know that this is a bigger school and I should have been prepared a little better, but WOW...

{takes a deep breath...}

Anyways, I can do it and I am really excited about starting this school year. I have really high expectations for myself and my students. I can't wait to get to coaching!! I am excited about all that. Can't wait for softball especially!

Anyways, I got to get ready for the rest of the week. School starts Monday!! Hope everyone is ready!!

Update on Ellie's Hand

2009-07-08T19:57:00.003-05:00

Just thought I would show everyone Ellie's hand now. It was 3 wks this past Sunday that Ellie burnt her hand on a light bulb. She is a tough little girl. They were blistered for a week and then popped. She fought us for a while to put bandaids and her cream on it, but she finally figured out that we were not hurting her. We were actually helping. You can still see her holding her sippy cup without those two fingers, but she really acts like it never happend. Although, if you ask her to show you her hurt finger, she will show you the correct hand. Here are the before and after pictures for you to see.

Ellie's Swimming Pool

2009-07-08T19:41:00.003-05:00

Here is Ellie's Swimming Pool that we bought her. She had so much fun at my sister's house in Gage's swimming pool that we wanted her to have fun at home. So we went to Wal-mart and found this one on clearance. Best $20 I spent. She loves it!! She was shivering at one point but did not want to get out! Once I showed her how to use the slide, she was trying to do it herself. Of course, she wouldn't make it half way up before sliding back down. The dolphin shoots out water from the mouth, but she really didn't like that, so that stayed off. I got really scared about her jumping from the big pool side to the little pool side and visa versa. She fell in head first once and from then on she decided that she would go in feet first instead. I guess she doesn't like going under. She didn't cry though, she actually laughed. Anyways, I thought that I would show you the pictures of her new toy. Come and join us if you want!

Walls Family 4th of July

2009-07-05T23:02:00.004-05:00

We don't do a huge family 4th of July like most families do, but we did have lots of fun!! Josh, Ellie and I went to Birmingham to my sisters house. Mom was the only one not there because she went on a trip to San Diego. Wendy bought Gage a slip-n-slide which turned out to be tons of fun for him. I wish you could have seen him!! He never quite got the concept of running and slide as you run. Instead he would just run to the top, stop, jump on the float (came with it), and Bryan (his dad) would push him down the slip-n-slide. So funny to watch!! He had a blast and Ellie loved playing in the sprinklers that were spraying the slip-n-slide. Gage and Ellie both got into his baby pool. Ellie loved it so much!! She was able to move around and play with out mommy holding her. She loved it so much that we went out and bought her one tonight! Anyways, I hope the you enjoy the pictures.

Ready to go!I'm flying!

Playing in the pool!

Playing in the sprinklers

My Elliegator!

Etheredge/ Shubert Family 4th of July

2009-07-05T22:49:00.002-05:00

This year we did something different for 4th of July. We usually have a big party at Inez's house, but since she is "out of commission" we went to Grandby's house and swam. Greg and Jimmy did their usually BBQ chicken and ribs which was delicious!! It was tons of fun to have the whole family their swimming. Ellie had a blast swimming. In fact she was asking to go in and was not wanting out even though her lips were turning blue and she was shivering!! Ellie didn't get to see fireworks this year though. We were always on the road going home when it was time to shoot them. I think she probably would have been scared of them anyways, so maybe next year when we get to go back to Inez's house she will love fireworks.

She is her mother's child. She is licking SALSA off chips.
Sarah sporting a new look!

My little swimmer!!

Ellie loves her Audrey

Happy 4th of July!!!

My Amazing Ellie

2009-07-01T08:48:00.003-05:00

Ellie never stops surprising me at the stuff she can do. She is only 17 mths (or will be Sat.) and she can say almost anything she wants. Of course she will only say stuff when she wants to. She already has a little personality. She has the Walls' family temper. She will get mad pretty quickly. It's actually quite funny. She has also learned to give you this "I'm sorry/ I'm so sweet" smile when you get on to her. It takes just about everything you have to keep from laughing at her when she does it.

Well, yesterday morning I was in the kitchen doing the dishes and Ellie was watching cartoons. She was walking around playing with her toys and talking to the T.V so I knew she was okay. All of a sudden she got quite. That's when I knew she was into something or doing something she shouldn't. Guess what I found as I looked into the living room? My daughter with her clothes almost off!! I took pictures to prove it!! She just could not figure out how to get her feet out of her pj's (they have a little elastic at the foot that helps keep then on, and she couldn't figure out how to get out of it).

Later that day, we decided to get a ice cream sandwich. I bought the little mini ones thinking it would be easier to eat for Ellie. Well, I got brave yesterday and decided to let her hold it and feed herself. I usually don't because we have sorta white couches and who wants chocolate on their couch?! So, like I said, I got brave. Ellie had the best time feeding herself the ice cream sandwich. She was even trying to feed me like I used to her. Anyways, I have some pictures of that experience too. Enjoy the rest of the summer!!!

YUMMMY!!!

Happy Fathers Day

2009-06-22T18:32:00.002-05:00

I hope that everyone had a wonderful fathers day! I know that we did. We went to the in laws (Josh's parents), and cookout and swam all day. Ellie actually loved the water. She wanted to go and in and stay in. I loved it!! I didn't think she was ever going to enjoy the water. Here are a few pictures I took. My wonderful husband of 4 years!! Happy Father's Day!

You would never know that Josh is not a teenager anymore.

This is my favorite!! Ellie just loves her daddy!

"What? You taking pictures of me?" -Ellie

Ellie's first real injury and Spaghetti night

2009-06-16T19:23:00.003-05:00

Sunday morning as I was getting Ellie ready for church and she got curious about her lamp. She discovered that it was a touch lamp and that she could touch it and turn it on and off. Well, as I was getting her some shoes, she discovered that her light bulb was extremely hot. Here is the evidence. I instantly ran her to the bathroom and ran her hand under cold water. She screamed for about an hour. We called the doctor and they called in some cream that they use in the hospital. After about 15 minutes of having the cream on, she finally calmed down and fell asleep. When she woke up from her nap, it was like nothing had ever happened. She played and had a great rest of the day. So far she is still the same way.

Tonight was spaghetti night. I have been trying to teach Ellie to use a fork and spoon to feed herself. She did an okay job once I showed her how to stab the noodles (I didn't fix normal spaghetti noodles, I fixed the spiral type). Here are a few pictures from her feeding frenzy.

Our day at the park

2009-06-12T22:09:00.002-05:00

Monday we had a play date with several of the members at church. I think that everyone had a great time! I hope to do it again. This is a picture video that I put togethere for your enjoyment. If you don't like the song, sorry. It's the best one I could find that was on our computer. I thought it was great. Enjoy!!

Ellie's First Haircut

2009-06-01T17:57:00.002-05:00

Today was Ellie's first haircut!! She did great!! It took her a few minutes at first (and a little candy from Brenda) but once I sat down beside her and let her play with my sleeve she was fine. Here are her before and after pictures.

Before the cut

The first Cut!

Brenda showing Ellie her brush

After the cut

Oh what a happy girl!! Mom was playing in the water fountain and Ellie thought it was so funny.

Our Wonderful World of Ellie

2009-05-30T13:34:00.002-05:00

Ellie loves her daddy's Iphone. It amazes me at how quick she can learn. She watched him a few times unlock his phone and now she can do it! You hand it to her locked and she will touch the button at the bottom and then slide the thing across at the bottom. She is so smart. By the way, she loves talking on the phone!! Oh no, we are in trouble now!

Ellie likes to walk around the house with her cloth diaper (aka snot rag) on the top of her head. Why and when she started doing this, I don't know. I do know that she likes playing peek-a-boo with it. She scares me sometimes because she will walk around with it completely covering her face looking like a mummy! Its funny but scary!

Peek-a-boo!

Our little golfer. I finally convenced Josh to buy Ellie the plastic golf clubs that I have been seeing at Wallyworld. She loves them of course! She hasn't quite figured out how to swing right, but at least she know she needs to hit the ball with it. She hits it pretty good too. Do I see the LPGA in her future? We can only hope...

Our Typical Saturday Morning

2009-05-30T13:20:00.004-05:00

Our Saturday morning now consist of Ellie waking me (not daddy) up at about 6:30 or 7 (if I am lucky), and watching cartoons. I have to admit that this is probably one of my favorite times of the day. Ellie is usually her sweetest at this time. She will curl up with me on the couch or the rocking chair and watch cartoons for about an hour before she decides to get up and play. We have to watch Handy Manny and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Those are her favorite cartoons. When I would have to get ready for school and she would wake up, I would turn on the t.v and usually Handy Manny was playing and she would plop down on the floor and stare at the t.v. (yes I use the t.v as a babysitter sometimes... so sue me).

The above picture was taken one Saturday morning while watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Ellie was playing and I turned it on and she sat in the floor and watched it then started to roll around until she ended up the way you see her in the picture. If memory serves me correctly, she sat like that until the show went off. So funny.

Ellie update

2009-05-09T21:58:00.004-05:00

Just thought I would give everyone an update on Ellie. She is now 15 months old, but already acting like a 2 year old. She still doesn't have much hair on top of her head, but it is slowly coming in. I am beginning to think that I need to cut the back of her hair. It looks like a mullet!! At least I can finally put some bows in her hair though.

I have always heard people say "they grow so fast," but you never really understand it until you are a parent. Its just like hearing "Kids will change your life forever." I knew that she would change my life, but it is crazy at just how MUCH she has changed my life. My entire thought process has changed. It is crazy!! Anyways, Ellie really has grown up so fast. I can't believe that she is 15 mths. She is doing things that I think are beyond her years. For example, she can say so much! I swear she carries on a true conversation with us (even thought we might not understand her, she understands us).

Here are just some of the things that Ellie can do. You might not ever see it, but I promise she really does do these things!!!

1. Can do the UF Gator Chomp when asked "What does a gator say?"

2. When asked what at dog, cat, or tiger says she will reply, "Roarrrrrr". (Yep they all sound alike)

3. Will point to something and ask "What's that?" or "Who's that?"

4. Will attempt to brush her own hair and teeth.

5. Likes to feed herself "big girl" food (aka goldfish, nilla wafers, cheese puffs, and anything mom and dad are eating)

6. She is finally cutting her molars.

7. Loves her daycare!

8. Loves to saying Bye and Hi and wave with them.

9. Love Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

10. Loves taking a bath.

11. Loves playing outside

12. Loves to try to have a conversation with you even if you can't completely understand her.

13. Words she can say: "Momma, daddy, hi, bye, papa, eat, yeah, ball, what's that, who's that, and what's up (or at least it sounds like it to me), and Audrey and Sarah.

14. Can sign: More (like more food), milk, and please

15. Can scream louder than anyone!! And she loves to do it when she is in the car about to fall asleep. Not scream as in crying screaming. Just screaming like just felt like making noise screaming.

Well I am sure that she can do alot more, but as it is getting about 2 hours past my bed time I can not think straight. Enjoy some of the pictures from the past couple of weeks!

Ellie and Daddy looking good in their matching outfits.

Ellie was apparently taking Gabe for a ride on his tractor.

Don't remember why she was crying, but she is still cute.

Springtime Fun

2009-04-26T21:05:00.003-05:00

Ellie taking Gabe for a ride on his tractor
Gabe was driving the "boat" that him and Ellie were in.

Daddy and Ellie. So cute!!

Daddy and Ellie in almost matching clothes. Guess mommy needs to go shopping.

Ellie in her cute outfit!!

Easter 2009

2009-04-12T18:46:00.003-05:00

Last year was Ellie's first Easter, but really this year seemed like it. She was only a little over a month old last year so all she did was lay around. This year we got to buy a beautiful dress, Easter basket and run around playing with everyone else. She had so much fun with Cousin Gabe and Gage.

The only bad thing that happened was while at Aunt Dorothy, I came outside to take some pictures of Ellie and her great great grandparents and fell down the steps!! Her steps are of smooth concrete and my shoes did not have any tread on them (they were super slick). I just stepped wrong and couldn't catch myself and fell down two to three steps. Yeah me!! I didn't think I was really hurt. I just scratched up my foot a little and my toe (the one beside the big toe) was hurting. Well, we went on about our day and all the while it (the toe) was hurting me to the point I started to limp. Well, here it is about 7pm and I look at my foot. I mean really look and inspect it. Guess what... It is black and blue on the bottom of my foot!!!! I really think I broke it!! It isn't swelled up much, just sore and black and blue. I think I am not going to the ER though. All they will tell me is to stay off it and that isn't happening (softball season remember?!?!).

Anyways, I hope that everyone had a wonderful Easter!!

Dedication

2009-04-11T19:36:00.000-05:00

Websters Dictionary defines dedication as self sacrificing devotion.

I want to know why this vocabulary word is not in kids minds today? I never had a problem with this. If I said I was going to do something, I did it. If I was part of a group or a team, I did everything I could to be the best at what I was doing. Especially when it came to sports. I was dedicated to my team. You would never hear me say, "Are we still playing (practicing) today?" Instead you would hear me say, "I hope this weather stays nice so we can play, do you think it will coach?" I always was at practice and at every game!!!!!! In fact I remember toward the end of basketball season, I would leave basketball practice and head straight for the softball field sothat I would not be behind in conditioning.

Never in the 4 years I have coach have I ever heard anything like that. It just seems like students today just don't care. I am so tired of having players that are not dedicated on my team. I have girls that don't want to be at practice, don't tell me they are not going to be there, leave practice early for stupid reasons (and usually doesn't tell me), won't show up for games, or leaves games early just because I didn't play them one game. That is NOT DEDICATION!!!! So what that I don't play you? If I don't play you then I have a good excuse. It is probably because you aren't doing something right!! Did you ever stop and think about that? It is not because I don't like you, it is usually because you don't try hard or care enough for me to trust you out on the field. I need 9 players that are going to give me everything they got for 7 innings and if that means playing a 7th or 8th grader over a 11th or 12th, I will!! I have to have somebody out there that is dedicated to this team and willing to practice hard and get better!!!!!!!!

I also can't stand it when I have people mad at me for yelling at there kid or the kid gets mad at me for yelling at them. I can forgive you once, maybe even twice, but when you do it over and over again don't expect me to baby you! I can not tell girls that they will get it next time or that it is okay!!! No one should do that. IT IS NOT OKAY!!! I can't stand it when parents think it is!!! It is not okay to lose time and time again, but apparently that is what I am suppose to tell these kids. That it is okay to lose! Some of these girls have the ability to be good, but it is all up to them. There's that DEDICATION again. Coming to practice everyday, working hard, and WANTING to get better. That is dedication!!!!!!!!!!! Don't expect me to play girls and tell girls that they are doing good when they don't try to get better. That is the way that I coach and if you have a problem with that then I don't need you on my team. I will not resort to babying anybody. No matter how bad you think I need you!

I am sorry that I had to write this, but I think it clears up alot of stuff that has been on my mind. I am doing all that I can to make this team better, but I can't do it with out the players wanting to get better and the parents helping me out with the kids attitudes. I want to keep these girls working out throughout the summer and fall, but I am sure that I won't be able to do it because no one will want to be there. There is that dedication thing again.... It's all up to you. I am dedicated to this team. Are you?

More beach pictures

2009-03-20T09:35:00.001-05:00

Gulf Shores 2009

2009-03-20T09:26:00.002-05:00

Well, this spring break we went to Gulf Shores with the Shubert family. We all had a blast!!! We went to watch the girls play in a softball tournament, which they did pretty good in. Ellie hated the beach. We would put her in the sand and she would just scream!! Look at the pictures, you will understand. She also hated the water. Of course it was freezing cold, but we never really got her feet in it. I think it just scared her. The one thing she did love was the balcony at our condo. She loved to walk outside on it and look at the beach. She would just talk and talk. We had so much fun that Ellie was so exhausted and would actually sleep through the night. It was great. We hope to go back next year and I hope that we can all put in to get a beach house together. Enjoy the pictures.

Getting "Shugah" Ellie style

2009-02-20T22:19:00.002-06:00

Here are some pictures to prove to all of you that Ellie can give kisses! Finally it was caught on camera!! Josh took these tonight after I got home from softball practice (so excuse the way I look). This is the first time that Ellie has kissed me on the cheek. I think that I tasted salty (from the sweat) and she must have liked it because she just kept kissing (or should I say licking) my face!! It was so funny and she thought so too. Enjoy!

Ellie's Birthday Party

2009-02-11T19:30:00.003-06:00

Ellie's first birthday party was a huge success. She got way too many presents and we had way to much food! We could hardly get her to play with her cupcake, but she did manage to get a little bit of icing on her face. Here are some pictures from that day.

Happy Birthday My Baby!

2009-02-04T20:59:00.003-06:00

Well Ellie is offically ONE today!! I can't believe that this time last year I became a mom. Time has just flown by!! It just amazes me to look at Ellie and see how far she has come. This time last year, she slept all the time and could not do anything but eat, sleep and poop. Today, she is walking (well really trying to run), talking, playing on her own, and starting to show her personality! Boy does she have a temper!!! Which, by the way, you really need to see. It is actually quite funny. But again, it just amazes me to think that she has learned to do all of that in just a year. WOW! I love it though. She gets more fun ever day. I love to try to teach her new things. Here is a run down of everything that Ellie can do now:

*Walk

* Eat some table food

* Can hold her own bottle (and uses a sippy cup more each day)

* Loves to feed herself her puffs

* Plays pretty good with others and great by herself.

* Can say, "Mama, dada, hey, hi, ump (jump), and what sounds like I did it"

* She will not sit down anymore, she always wants to walk.

* Has a temper!!! Will get mad at just about anything now.

* Loves for Josh to throw her on our bed and then he comes and jumps on it. She loves it!

* I can now leave her a daycare and she not cry!

Oh, I am sure that there is more that she can do but I am too tired to try to remember. Thanks to all who wished Ellie and happy birthday! I am sure that she had a great one!!!

Taken 2.5.08

Taken 1.29.09

Ellie's First Birthday Pictures

2009-01-31T19:31:00.003-06:00

Here is a teaser of the many pictures we got of Ellie today for her FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!`

Big Night

2009-01-24T12:50:00.003-06:00

Well, I had a big night last night. Friday night was our annual Baseball/ Softball Chili Supper and Bingo night at school. I was totally stressed about it because I had to do most the work for it. I was really hoping that I didn't forget anything and that it was going to be great. Well, guess what? It went better than I could have expected. We had so many people there that we had to send our kids to the gym to pick up folding chairs for the overflow of people to have a seat!! It was wonderful!!! We had about 15 crock pots of chili and several desserts. We had plenty of food except for crackers (we ran out). Lots of people stayed and played bingo. We had about 16 gifts to give out and two money prizes. Overall, we made lots of money. Enough to cover my umpire fee and have plenty to spend on tournaments and other things. It was a huge success!! I am really anxious to see how big it will be next year.

Well, Monday starts our first official day of practice. We can finally hit and really get after it. I think we will be okay this year. My team is very very young and this (and probably next year) will be a rebuilding year. But so far it is going great. I'm ready to get the games underway!!

Random Pictures of You-know-who

2009-01-17T21:29:00.001-06:00

Playing with daddy

I love her smile! Can you see her teeth?

She loves daddy's hats!

Trying to get the camera

Walking to daddy

Peek-a-boo... I see you!

2009-01-17T21:24:00.001-06:00

Well, she sorta gets how to play it!

Playing with her laptop

2009-01-17T21:20:00.001-06:00

Here are a few pictures of Ellie playing with her laptop one night. I couldn't figure out if she was coping what Gabe does (he lays in the floor with his laptop), or if she was just tired. You decide.

The New Adventures of Ellie

2009-01-11T17:41:00.002-06:00

Ellie has decided to try a new thing. Walking. She has been able to walk holding on to tables and other various items, but she has not wanted to let go. Friday morning she decided to. I guess it was Carter being here Thursday night and watching him walk around like crazy that made her make up her mind. Ellie won't do it all the time though. She likes to make me a liar. But it is so cute when she does walk. She is still a little wobbly, but walks pretty good. My big fear is that she will be walking and fall into the table!!! I told Josh we might have to get rid of that for a while. I just wanted to update you guys on her! By the way, she has two new teeth now (that makes total of 4)!!

Daycare Day 2

2009-01-06T16:22:00.002-06:00

Much better day today!! The only bad thing about today is that she had a melt down when Mrs. Jenna left the room. No one could calm her down. They said that as soon as Mrs. Jenna walked back into the room she stopped. She didn't have to come and pick Ellie up either. I guess she is starting to get familiar with at least one teacher there.

I had a really good conversation with Jenna this morning about Ellie and she apologized for not giving her any bottles. She said that Ellie never cried or seemed hungry so she didn't give one to her. I told Jenna to please give her a bottle at morning break (around 9am), feed her a good lunch (usually 2 tubs of food), then give her a bottle as you are trying to get her to sleep, and then again about 4pm (thought I was going to have softball but rain flooded our roads). Jenna said she would and she did do it. I saw a paper that had Ellie's name on it (of course I looked) and it had down all of Ellie's diaper changes and what they were, all feeding and what she had. I told them that I would like to have something like this everyday. They said they didn't give that out, but again, that's stupid. What parent wouldn't like to have a paper telling everything that happened with the kid!!??? Anyways.... It was a much better day and I think it will keep getting better and soon as we straighten out all the kinks.

Daycare

2009-01-05T15:22:00.003-06:00

Well, today was Ellie's first day at daycare. To most people's surprise, I was really okay with the idea. I never cried (well I guess I did a little when I had to pay the man), but I never cried about leaving her with strangers. I knew she would be taking care of. When I got there, I met the teachers and saw that they had a huge room full of kids!!! I forgot that today the students didn't have to go to school and was all there. I guess that was actually good, because Ellie made an instant friend when I sat her on the mat. I gave her a book and a little boy (about 2-3 yrs old) sat down with her and was showing her the book. He pointed out the cow and said "the cow says moooooo". It was really cute. I think that probably helped Ellie stay there. She had tons to play with.

When I went to pick her up, she had just woke up from a nap. The director was holding her and Ellie saw me threw the window when she came to open the door. Ellie just started screaming and couldn't get out of her arms fast enough. When I got her in my arms, she just laid her head on my shoulder and would not get up. I talked to Mrs. Jenna (her teacher) and she told me that Ellie did great. She talked alot, played and crawled every where. She said that Ellie had a hard time sleeping (not a surprise to me). I told her that I give her a bottle, rocked her, and laid her on her side with her pillow in front of her. Hopefully she will do that tomorrow.

When I got Ellie into the car, I was going to give her a bottle because she usually takes one after she wakes up (she can hold her own bottle now which is wonderful for this situation). As I was getting the bottle out, I wanted to check at how much she ate so that I would know how many bottles to take for her. Guess what, she had ALL 5 BOTTLES FULL!!!!!!! That's the part that ticked me off. I fed Ellie at 7am (where she had oatmeal and a bottle) and I know that they had to feed her because she has a little food on her, but they never thought to give her a bottle!!!??!! I thought for sure that they would be smart enough to know that she is not like the 2-3 yrs olds and can't go all day without a bottle!!! When I gave her the bottle, she sucked it down! Now, I am really concerned about tomorrow. I am starting softball tomorrow so that means that Ellie will have to stay until 5 0r 5:30 before I could get her! Are they going to starve her all day? Will she not get a bottle again tomorrow? Well, actually I know that they will give her a bottle tomorrow because I am going to make sure that I say something to them in the morning.

Other than the bottle incident, I think I am pleased with the daycare. But it has only been one day, so we will come back to that in a few days or weeks and see if my opinion has changed.

All my friends has a low rider

2008-12-25T16:52:00.003-06:00

Gage got a huge gift from Santa this morning. He got a car! I know, he is only 3! I have to admit, I jealous. I wish I had something like that when I was a kid. He was a little scared of it at first, but when I let Ellie ride (I know... I'm brave) he liked it (at least for a few feet). Here are some pictures of that adventure.

Did you notice the license plate?

Ellie:"What does this button do"

Gage:"Hey, Pawpaw Ellie's riding with me"

Gage:"You ready Ellie. Here we go..."

WOW! FUN!

Just Chillin

The Best Christmas Ever- Part 2

2008-12-25T16:46:00.003-06:00

Mickey and Minnie dolls that Grandmaw and PawPaw Walls gave kids
"Dad, please no pictures!"

"Thanks Santa! I love it!!!"

Merry Christmas my baby girl!

The Best Christmas Ever Part 1

2008-12-25T16:34:00.003-06:00

Ellie opening up gifts at MawMaw Inez's house
Great Grandmaw Foster with Grandkids
Ellie with her 4-wheeler Jake, Andrea and Gabe got her
Ellie with her horse Grandby and Papa got her
"Look mom! I got an ornament!"

The night before Christmas

2008-12-24T22:56:00.001-06:00

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS
by Clement Clarke Moore
or Henry Livingston

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse;

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

And mamma in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long winter's nap,

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the window I flew like a flash,

Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow

Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

"Now, Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on, Donder and Blitzen!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now dash away! dash away! dash away all!"

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,

With the sleigh full of toys, and St. Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof

The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.

As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,

Down the chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes -- how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow;

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

He had a broad face and a little round belly,

That shook, when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight,

"Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good-night."

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and safe and Happy New Year!!!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-14T18:30:00.000-06:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Momma's little helper

2008-12-14T18:05:00.002-06:00

As I was doing the dishes the other night, I had an unexpected helper. She did try to help as much as she could, but she was better at taking things out instead of putting it in.

SEC CHAMPS

2008-12-06T18:57:00.002-06:00

Had to write about it! GO GATORS!! Florida Gators are this years SEC Champs! I sooooo can't wait to get to school on Monday and do the Gator chomp in all my kids faces! I bet some of them won't even come to school so that they don't have to deal with me. LOL! All week long, me and Josh both have been getting it from every Alabama fan that we know. It was always about how they were going to kill us and just dominate. Well, I think Alabama did a great job in the game, but Florida was the better team. I mean they even did it without two of their best running backs (Harvin and Ingram). Now on to the National Championship!

By the way, Josh was right. Every time that Adam and him goes to the SEC championship game together (without anyone else) Florida always wins! I guess that is a new tradition that won't soon be broken.

GO GATORS!!!

Picture is from CBSSports.com

Like Father, Like Daughter.

2008-12-05T21:51:00.005-06:00

Well, tomorrow is the big day. Florida vs Alabama for the SEC Championship. I can't wait for it to be over because I am so tired of listening to all the "talk" about it. I will be watching and cheering on Florida though. Won' t miss this game for the world.

Tonight we had Gabe's birthday party and we just can't wait for tomorrow. So, we decided to go ahead and dress for the occasion. Josh said that we should dress Ellie in something Florida. I told him that I didn't think she could wear anything she had, but I would try on her jersey. It's 12mths but she is starting to wear some of those clothes. So why not. I gave it a try and she could wear it. IT WAS SOOO CUTE!! I did have to put a bow in her hair because I was afraid that she looked to much like a boy. Well, Josh noticed that her jersey was #1 and he had one too. So, here are the pictures for you to see them in their matching outfits!

Ellie does love Carter!

2008-12-05T16:19:00.004-06:00

My friend Ashley now has a blog (http://www.keepingupwiththekellys-ak.blogspot.com/) and she has just put a post about Ellie and Carter riding the "Carter Express". I had Ellie in my lap as I was reading it and she recognized Carter and started reaching for the computer screen and talking her normal gibberish. It was so sweet!!! I called for Josh to come in a get a few pictures of her. I guess she really does love Carter!!

Our house at Christmas

2008-11-30T21:47:00.003-06:00

I wanted to show you pictures of our house at Christmas during my last blog when I went on and on about being in the Christmas spirit. I finally got a chance to put up my decorations this weekend and I had to take pictures to show you all.

The picture of our Christmas tree really doesn't do it justice. You need to come and see it all lit up in person. I did have to find a new place for our stockings this year. I have been putting it on the ends of the fireplace, but this year I had one extra stocking to hang up. I really didn't want to put it right in the middle of my Christmas Village, so I cleaned off a spot on our stand beside the t.v and put them there.

Isn't this picture just perfect... toys and all.

I know that my house is not as decorated as some family members' house, but I like it. We do have a few decorations outside, but still no house lights. I should have thought about Christmas lights when we bought a house with unbelievable high roofs!! Oh well. I can't wait for the actual Christmas day to hurry and arrive!!!

1st Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T21:37:00.002-06:00

This was Ellison's first Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful fun filled day. First we went to Grandmaw and PawPaw Walls' house for a HUGE meal. We got to play with my cousin Adam's boys; and I have to say, they had as much fun with Ellie and she did with them. Then we came home for a little relaxation (that means long nap!) before heading off the Grandby's, Papa's and Great MawMaw Inez's house. Again, we had a HUGE meal! The only bad part about that day was that Ellie couldn't enjoy the same food as me and her daddy. I did, however, find her some turkey baby food and she ate every bit of it. I guess I will need to watch out for her next year. She might be the one eating all the turkey!! Hope everyone had a Happy Turkey Day!

Sleeping Buddies

2008-11-30T21:32:00.002-06:00

All throughout chruch, Ellie fought sleep. She wasn't being bad though, just would not sit still!! Or quit talking. Well when we got home, Josh gave her a bottle and before she even got half way done, she had fallen to sleep. He went and laid her in bed and this is how she ended up. By the way, she loves sleeping with her gator. Aren't they cute?

Future plumber

2008-11-30T17:18:00.002-06:00

Ellie was playing up a storm the other day and never one time stopped when her pants were falling. We thought it was so funny and had to share it with the rest of you.

Don't mess with me

2008-11-19T18:31:00.004-06:00

I was just playing around looking at pictures on my computer when I came across a picture that made me laugh. I just had to share it with you guys. Its too cute. If I had it on a previous blog, forgive me. Just look at it again.

I think she is telling me, "I am done taking pictures!"