Christmas 2009

Christmas 09 all started out with Ellie getting to spend good quality time with both of her Nanas and Papas while Mommy and Daddy were in India! Boy did she get spoiled ...or should I say loved on? :)

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Here's the start of our Christmas 2009 photos! I am realizing that a lot of the pics we took in Iowa are on my parent's camera, so more of Iowa to come soon! We had a great time - though way too brief - visiting both of our families!

The above three pictures are from the McCulley family Christmas Eve! It's always a highlight and this year Ellie got to meet her 2nd cousin Bryce (top pic). They are just a few days apart...Ellie is actually older, but Bryce towers over her! She has some catching up to do! We also got to see 2nd cousin Akeelah and lots of other fun family, too! The third picture is actually a 4 generation shot with my Grandma Barb, Dad, Ellie and I! We also got to spend some fun time with Great Grandma Surber! We LOVE it at her house!!! We didn't get any pictures of Fluffy the cat this year. Probably because Fluffy kept running to hide from Ellie who wanted to give her a few more hugs than the cat wanted! ha!

Then there was time in Kentucky with Uncle Josh and Aunt Kristin! Let's just say that Ellie wasn't wanting for any attention! She got to have lots of fun playing with Turbo, Uncle Andrew and Aunt Kristin's dog whom she chased around the house yelling "aaaarrrffff" at! It was quite hilarious! And nothing was more fun than being toted around by Uncle Josh! :) And below is a cute shot of Aunt K-Lo and Ellie decorating Christmas cookies!

We also got a fun family shot by Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's beautiful Christmas tree!

Ellie loving on one of her new dollies from Nana and Papa Johnson

And finally, we actually got the baby AND the dog to somewhat cooperate for our annual family Christmas picture! Success!

It was a memorable and fun Christmas... Can't wait until next year when we will add another little GIRL to the family pic! More on that to come!!! :)

Snow Day!

As many of you know, Joel and I just returned from a whirlwind of travel! Since December 9th, we've been to Kansas City, overseas to India, then to Iowa and Kentucky to visit our families for Christmas! I have lots of Christmas photos to upload and post, but for now here are a few of our first Kansas snow day... These pics were taken the day before we left to begin all of our travels! Both sets of our parents graciously came to care for Ellie while we were away for 12 days! Joel's parents kicked off the time and the timing of their arrival couldn't have been more perfect! Just minutes after they arrived, the snow started and didn't stop for the next 24 hours! So they made it in the knick of time... Ellie had a great time with both of her "Nanas" and "Papas"... so far NaNa is what she's calling both Grandmas... We'll see if that changes over time, but for now it's seriously her new favorite word and it's so cute!

This is a very classic Ellie face!
Could she be any cuter? :)

Fun with Dad in the snow...

Daddy and Nana Johnson

Papa and Nana Johnson

A few more fun pics...

a beautiful Sunday afternoon playing at the park!
If I were just a LITTLE bit taller!

I love to read...or at least turn the pages of my book!

my favorite pasttime - getting into things! Here I have just gotten into a bunch of Mommy's gum from her purse.

Our friend Heath was over and I decided to try his shoes on... :)

Enjoying some Sonic Happy Hour at the park with Dad and Mom!

"Helping" Daddy

I LOVE lights and especially when it's the buttons on an elevator! Mommy says to disregard how gross this wall looks. :)

As you can see...I am keeping very busy these days having so much fun!

15 months!

Where are the days going? Our baby girl is quickly growing into an independent toddler! No more baby here!!! Ellie is at SUCH a FUN stage right now - but I'm not gonna lie - it's a high maintenance stage as well and this Momma falls asleep at night the second her head hits the pillow! If I even make it that long! :) I'm starting to think that Ellie's nap times should be Mommy's nap times, too. Ha! :) But look at that face and it makes it all so worth it.

Our 15-month-old is quite the little lady. She loves to get dressed up and it's fun to see her look at herself in the mirror and you can tell she loves to be all dolled up! Especially when she is wearing her pink shoes!!! She LOVES them and would wear them everyday. If only they matched every outfit. Let's just say she is ALL girl!The picture above is one of Ellie as she sadly followed Daddy to the car as he left for an appointment with a student after church! Ellie is always sad when Daddy leaves, but we go out on the deck and wave goodbye to him and he always honks three times back at us to say "I Love You!"... And our little tyke's eyes light up when she hears Daddy jiggling the door when he comes home and wherever she is, she drops what she is doing and runs to greet Daddy!

This fun pic is of Ellie on her 15-month birthday holding a stuffed wombat from Uncle Andrew and Aunt Kristin! Funny story, but for some reason Joel just thought wombats were the cutest animal last Christmas, so his sister got him one! Now Ellie has taken it over and snuggles with it. She's becoming quite motherly and hugs and kisses her dollies and us all the time. It's great!
Our little princess saying "okay...enough pictures! Please HOLD ME!" :)
Yep, we're still sporting the "Pebbles" look many days. Her hair is at that stage where it looks messy if you leave it down and she is having NOTHING to do with a haircut! So we're trying this look out for a while. If she's feeling very patient, we try pigtails. :)

Here are a few other things that our little one is up to this month!

• She now has 8 teeth! Four on top and four on bottom. Her pediatrician said at her appt. last week that he thinks her molars are getting ready to come in!
• Ellie is absolutely smitten with "lights". It's the first word she says every morning when we go in to get her. We turn on the light, she points and says "light!". No matter where we go, she is always pointing out every light in the room. It's hilarious.
• Her words this month are still pretty limited, but she's got some important ones down: Da-Da, Ma-Ma, Light, Uh-Oh, Ba-Ba for bottle (which I know I need to wean her off of soon...it will be harder on me than her!) and a few random others!
• She has mastered taking CD's out of our CD player, opening drawers, zipping and unzipping anything with a zipper and then taking out all of the contents like Mommy's purse, make-up bag, backpack and her diaper bag, throwing everything in the trash, taking everything off of shelves that are in reach, you get the picture. :)
• Ellie continues to LOVE music and dances to every tune - whether on the radio, tv, someone singing or even in anticipation that there MIGHT be music. :)
• She's getting really good at giving kisses and hugs and I LOVE this!
• She had her very first Happy Meal at McDonalds this month - not sure if that is something I should brag about! Feeding my child unhealthy fast food! Ha! Like mother, like daughter I'm afraid. :)
• Ellie is loving story time at the library on Tuesday mornings and always entertains the other kids AND the teacher. Sitting still is not in her vocabulary. She is very busy and curious and doesn't like to be kept down.

It's been a fun month! I know I'll blink and another month will be gone... So here's to 15 months with our little sweetie. :)

The Beach!

We had such a great time over fall break at the beach in Destin with Joel's family! Lots of pictures from our time, but they are all on Joel's computer... so just our family pic for now. We had so much fun, though the time was entirely too short! Ellie LOVED her time in the water and with Grandpa and Grandma Johnson and Uncle Andrew and Aunt Kristin! Let's just say she was not lacking for love and attention!!!

14 months!

As you can see, Ellie's not a baby anymore!!! Our little princess is 14 months old and definitely on the GO. She absolutely loves life and adventure of all kinds. She loves to explore and is determined to the max. There is no obstacle that this little ball of fire cannot overcome. :) My friend Callie and I got to take Ellie to the park to play on her birthday. We have had some gorgeous days here in Manhattan, so we have to take advantage of our outside days before the cold hits and we are cooped up! As you can see, Ellie LOVES to swing!

Here's a pic of our little brave girl. She has no fear, even when she should. :) Here she is scooting off the play equipment. She is mastering the stairs as well. She is great at going UP the stairs, but if there is a rail, she can also go DOWN the stairs forward as well! ;)

Ellie looking "reflective"... I actually think she was just contemplating her next move. :)

This describes Ellie to a "T" these days... If the dishwasher is open, she is always trying to climb in it. Not sure why... but this is of huge interest to her these days.

She's feeling pretty proud of herself here. She successfully snagged a spoon out of the dishwasher before Mom could get it closed... It's funny, though I try not to laugh and continue to TRY to be consistent in discipline. But I can't help but grin on the inside when she snags a piece of silverware and then takes off in her baby sprint to try to get away with it!

I wish this picture wasn't blurry or it would have been perfect! :) Quite the mature little pose, don't you think?

Life just continues to get more fun and more interesting with our little bundle of joy!

Just when we think we couldn't possibly love her more... we do!

A Note from Ellie...

Hi Everyone! I thought that it had been a while, so I wanted to write on Mommy's blog just letting you know what I've been up to these days! I am getting into lots of mischief now that I am mobile and life is just full of adventure.

One of my most recent developments is now I can CLIMB! So, if there is ANYTHING around that looks like I could possibly climb on it, watch out. I climb on boxes, books, purses, everything! And much to Mommy's dismay, I can also do what I like to call the "Spiderman" up the back of chairs - AND up the rails of my crib. It won't be too much longer and I'll figure out how to get out of there!

As you know, school recently started so I have been spending LOTS of time with all of the college kids. Don't worry, I am never lonely. I have lots of big people friends who are all very nice to me. I love the college kids! They are so much fun!

We had a big BBQ for welcome back week and I had lots of fun eating hot dogs (sorry Uncle Joe!) and chips and other big people food. I'm eating a lot better these days and Mommy says that she thinks I will soon finally hit 20 lbs. :) Then I can get a front facing car seat!!!

As you can see, my hair is also getting LONG and sometimes looks kind of wild if Mommy hasn't fixed it yet for the day. I don't like to keep pretty bows in anymore, so I usually just have a little Pebbles ponytail on top of my head to keep the hair out of my eyes. And notice my new teeth! I now have 5 teeth - two on top and three on the bottom. I am getting ready to get several more soon! Here I am in my t-shirt from my Aunt K-Lo. I love it and can't wait to see her in person in a couple of weeks!

Often I play SO hard I crash hard at night! On this particular day, I just laid down mid-afternoon on the rug and fell asleep! It's hard work to run around like I do. I don't often stop, unless it's to play with Mommy or Daddy's cell phone or eat. So, when I sleep, I am a very good sleeper! :) I have a very FUN life and love to play, play, play! I'll write again soon and fill you in on some of my other new developments. Mommy doesn't yet have pictures or video of me sneaking into the bathroom and lifting up the toilet lid so I can play in the water or of the way I like to make baskets into the kitchen trash can with anything I can throw in there! Needless to say, Mommy has found lots of tupperware, a cell phone and many other things in the trash!

That's all for now! More soon...

groovin'

Ellie is a dancin' machine these days! She dances to any kind of music and if there is no music, she makes her own! :) It's a blast...

Can't get enough...

I can't believe how smitten I am with this little person in my world... I just can't seem to get enough of her! I tell you what, she is definitely the joy of our lives! She brings such new life to everything that we do and I feel incredibly privileged to get to be her Mom... I don't deserve it, but I sure am grateful!

Tonight as I was giving her her bath and getting her ready for bed, she happily played and chatted away, discovering all these new things in her world, I just thanked God for the gift of my little Ellie Hope... This is the baby we prayed so long for and sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe that she's really here and we really get to raise her. She couldn't be a more perfect addition to our family...

The only thing I wish is that time would slow down a little bit... That each stage would last a little longer cause they all seem to disappear so quickly. She's growing and changing every day. She's starting to use more big girl words, walk like a big girl, understand like a big girl.

So quickly she is becoming a toddler and our "baby" is no more...

I just want to hold on to these days...

So, we cherish every minute we get with her and try to soak it all up.

And I pray to God that He'll help me remember the special blessings of these days.

13 months old!!!

Happy 13 month birthday, Ellie!

Our little princess is growing up SO fast! She just turned 13 months old on Friday August 14th! I feel like I can't even blink or I'll miss something... We have been having so much fun together this summer and Ellie really is my little buddy... Right now, she is VERY into Mommy's cell phone. She puts it up to her ear and says "hi".

It's the cutest thing EVER.So if you ever get a call from me and there is no one on the other line, it probably means that Ellie called you. :)

Ellie also loves to try to bounce balls, can wave and say "hi", looks and points at a light and says "light", but her favorite word is still "Da Da"... No "Ma Ma" yet! But I'm so glad that Daddy and Ellie are such good buddies, for sure...