Christmas 2010

We have had a very happy and busy Christmas. We started lots of family traditions this year and are excited to have started them and can't wait to do them year after year as a family. We started our traditions by decorating Christmas cookies on the 23rd. Our church had 8 Christmas Eve services, so Ben was very busy, but we joined him for the last one on Christmas Eve and Ellie got to go in the big service with us and loved it. We came home and Ben read the Christmas story to Ellie and I. Then Ellie and I left out milk and cookies for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. We started a new tradition of having take out Chinese and had a relaxing evening. Christmas Day Ellie had a great time. We first checked to see if Santa and the reindeer enjoyed their treats and then we started with stockings, had Monkey Bread and opened presents. Ellie loves to take off the bows and loved to rip the paper. She got lots of new toys and clothes from all her family. She is very independent, so opening presents was fun, but ended up being a mommy and daddy job towards the end since she wanted to play on her own with her toys. Then we had a big Christmas meal and had a birthday cupcake for Jesus' birthday after dinner. (I kind of think she thought the cupcake was for her, since her birthday was about a month ago, but we want her to know why we really celebrate Christmas and this is a great way for her to understand it is for Jesus' birthday as she grows.) We had a great day! It was very nice to wake up in our own bed and wear our pajamas to open presents. Ellie was even in her jammies all day! That night it also started snowing and we woke up to a Winter Wonderland. We took Ellie out in the snow and she wasn't too sure about it this year, but we know next year there will be no stopping her :) Ben's parents then came for a couple days on the 27th to have Christmas with them and Ellie had a good time playing and opening her gifts from them. Overall, we had a wonderful Christmas and feel extremely blessed to have had this time together and to have started traditions with Ellie to remind her why we really celebrate Christmas.

Christmas Parade

We took Ellie to the Davidson Christmas Parade. They have a cute little downtown that the parade goes down and it was fun. It started snowing and sleeting right when the parade started and we stayed as long as we could, but we did not dress for snow, so an hour is as long as we could make it. We are excited to make this a family tradition and hope to be able to stay long enough to see Santa next year :)

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

The Sunday after Thanksgiving we went on our traditional Christmas tree hunt with our good friends Andy and Katie, or as Ellie calls them Uncle Andy and Aunt Katie. This was our 3rd year going to the mountains to cut down our tree and we loved it. We got our 9 foot tree for only $25 and have found a great tree farm to go to every year. We found our tree pretty fast for the Holden house as they had a great selection. Ellie came just in time last year for us to go, but this year she was able to enjoy it a little more. It was very cold, but still nice. After loading up our trees, we finished the night with dinner at the Daniel Boone Inn (yummy!).

Thanksgiving 2010

I have been a little behind in my blogging updates, but we had a great Thanksgiving. Ellie is much older this year and was able to enjoy all the visitors. We had a full house with both sets of parents here. We had a busy time as we also had a little birthday party for Ellie with all the grandparents, ate lots of good food and even did some shopping on the morning of Black Friday (Ellie's second time, but last time she was too young to fully experience the early morning shopping).

Watch Out World, Here Comes Ellie!!!

Ellie has been doing this for at least a week, but gets a little more daring and confident each day!

Happy 1st Birthday Ellie!!!

We celebrated Ellie's first birthday and we can hardly believe it has been a year. She has accomplished so much in a year and grown so much. I made a special banner for her to have for her birthday each year as she grows. I don't have a sewing machine, so I found a great no sew one and it turned out great. It has inspired me to do a little more crafting. I also made some huge tissue paper flowers to hang as well. We had a family party on her birthday and will save our decorations for our extended family birthday in a week and a half. Ellie was mesmerized when she saw her decorations for the first time and just stared and stared.

Ellie started her day with Grandma's waffles. My mom makes great waffles, so that was what I made Ellie for her birthday breakfast that she enjoyed on her birthday plate. She gobbled them up. We then took her to the park for swinging time (her favorite) and a walk. She had peanut butter and jelly for lunch, which she is still unsure about and then took a great nap. For dinner, I made cheesy chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese from scratch with a great recipe from Allrecipes. Ellie got to open her presents from us and her Great GrannyFranny. She quickly learned to take the bows off first. After presents, she then got to dive into her cupcake. She was not shy at all. She dove right in and once she tasted that frosting there was no stopping her! She is definitely a dessert eater like her mom and dad. Ben then read her a bedtime story, "Happy Birthday to you!", which his dad read to him as a child.

Ellie had a wonderful birthday and because it is Veteran's day as well, Ben was off. She was a little sick, but it did not affect her mood on her special day. It was a great family day filled with many memories and we can't wait for what her next year has in store.



Birthday Waffles:


Walking:


Happy Birthday:


Cupcake Time:

Our Little Artist

Ellie and I ventured to story hour this week. This is our 2nd week meeting up with our friends Caroline and Ethan to enjoy story time, songs and dancing at the local library in Harrisburg. Ellie does a good job listening and loves to watch the other kids dance around. This week she got to color her first picture. I showed her how to do it and she went right to work. It was short lived before she was off to explore something else, but here is her masterpiece:



Can you see her light colors of red and purple? :)

While Mommy Cooks...

Ellie plays! This is what happens while Mommy cooks. Ellie has her own cabinet that she can do as she pleases with and she loves to play in there!

Happy Halloween!!!

We had lots of fun for Ellie's first Halloween. We started the weekend carving pumpkins with our friends, Andy and Katie. This is the 4th year we have carved pumpkins together and boy have our lives changed over the years, who knows how they will change by next year. Our Saturday Ellie enjoyed a pumpkin cookie, which we also made this weekend. Then on Sunday we had a costume party at MAXlife. Ben was youtube, I was a ladybug and the best of all, Ellie was a butterfly. She was so cute and is at the age that she does not get scared of any of the things she sees. We then raced out of MAXlife to go trick or treating. We went to Andy and Katie's and our friends, Chad and Meredith's. I got a photo of Ellie at her first stop (Andy and Katie's) with the dog Bella as a bee. Then Ben got home and we went trick or treating around the neighborhood. Ellie got to also help hand out candy to a few friends. We had a great time and Ben and Ellie got to experience their first time trick or treating together. They both had a great time. We are very happy Ellie will be able to walk next year when we go :)

Beginning of a New Adventure

We have been practicing with Ellie on her walking. She is pulling herself up more and more and today used the table to take a few steps. I got what I could on video, sorry it is sideways, I can't figure out how to flip it.

Hip Hip Hooray...

Ben is 30 today!!! Ben turned 30 today and we are so excited to celebrate him. He is off leading the middle school fall retreat this weekend, so celebrating will be delayed until tomorrow (with some secret surprises from Ellie and I). Ben is not a big celebration guy so since it is his day we will have just a family celebration, just how he likes and he has requested a chocolate cake with chocolate icing, which I am how to oblige him with. Ellie and I are extremely blessed to have such a great husband and father in our lives and are happy to celebrate him!!! We love you!!!!

Noodle Head

Ellie had her first experience with big girl spaghetti. Now that she is getting teeth we are giving her more of our food. The other night was spaghetti night. Anyone who knows me knows I love noodles and I think our little Ellie is going to be a noodle lover too! She loved squishing the noodles and even putting them on her head. Ben and I couldn't stop laughing and of course that made her laugh and play more.

Pumpkin Shopping

This morning we went pumpkin hunting at the pumpkin patch. We were excited to take Ellie to the pumpkin patch for her to pick out her first pumpkin that was just her size. That had cute little red wagons to put your pumpkins in and a very big patch to search in. We all had a great time and are excited to go back next year!

The Park with Friends

Last week we went to the park with our friends Ethan and his mom Caroline. I loaded up Mayli and Ellie and we hit the road. It is getting much easier to get around with 2 so I am trying to do things now before it gets cold. Ellie had a great time and loved the mulch.

11 Months Old

Our little Elliebeans is 11 months old today. She has grown and changed so much this month. She crawls everywhere and is getting very fast. We have started putting up gates to keep her away from certain places and she has not really noticed yet. She tries to pull up, but can only get to her knees in most situations. She likes to stand, but Ben or I have to put her in the standing position and she has to use furniture to hold on to. She loves to eat everything and will eat everything I serve her. She is working on her 3rd tooth and loves smiling. We have started brushing her teeth/gums and she loves it. She opens her mouth and loves to have brush her little mouth. She loves to explore and we let her. I have created a cabinet for her in the kitchen that she is free to explore and take things out of and when I cook many times that is where she is pulling everything out. We are working on sign language for more and all done. She has recently learned to clap and so when you say more she claps her hands, it is very cute :) She also has learned to wave bye-bye this month and will wave when people leave our house, sometimes she will wave after we have been talking to people a little while or after people have been at our house for a few minutes even though they are not leaving yet, I guess it is her way of saying see you later, time for you to leave please :) She is also great at imitating some of our sounds and loves to say "mmm" after every bite she eats.
We have also been trying to bulk her up. I went to the doctor for our 9 month appointment at the end of August and Ellie's weight was in the 5th percentile. She has always been tiny and taller, like her dad, and our doctor is so laid back and wonderful that he wasn't worried, just want us to see if in the next month we could bulk her up a little. So we have been working hard. A friend of mine could not believe how much we feed Ellie. She eats eggs, cheese, yogurt, and meat almost every day to get her a little chunkier. Well it all paid off. We had to go for a a weight check last week and her weight was: 17.35 pounds, which was the 10th percentile. She gained almost 3 pounds in 1 month. The nurse was pretty impressed especially since she just started crawling and that makes it hard for a baby to put on weight.
We are so excited for all Ellie is doing and can't wait to see what this next month brings, maybe walking is in our near future :)

A Trip to Savannah

At the end of September we took a trip to Savannah. We take a yearly trip with Ben's parents and this year Savannah was the city. We explored new places, tried lots of food, ate lots of gelato and had a great time. It was a place none of us had been so it was nice to discover a new place. It is also not very far, so a great place in the future for our little family to visit. This year was Ellie's first year on the yearly trip and she was a trooper. She did great with all we did and it was great having her because it made us rest every afternoon for naptime :) Ben's mom loves to take pictures when we are all together, so we let her do all the picture taking! Thanks Gran!

10 Months Old

Ellie is 10 months old today, or as Ben says she has hit the double digits. So much has happened in the last month. She is eating more and it seems growing more. She is crawling, attempting to wave bye-bye, talking more, loves playing peek-a-boo with anything she can find, smiling more, discovering Maggie more and her new thing blowing raspberries. With crawling comes more climbing. She has gotten 2 teeth this past month. She continues to be a little girl with a developing personality and a sweet spirit. She is more and more independent every day and loves to play on her own and can entertain herself for long periods of time. She is extra squirmy now that she has discovered the ability to move on her own, so being held is becoming a thing of the past as she is too busy to sit still and lets you know by squirming. We love to watch her explore more things every day as she crawls around and sees things from a new perspective. We love to observe her as she explores on her own what this world is all about. We can't wait to see what happens this next month!

Ellie Trying to Pull Up

Now that Ellie is crawling she is trying to pull up on everything!

Helping Grandpa

My parents came to visit last week just for a very short visit to see Ellie get dedicated. Of course while they were here they had to buy her a new toy! We think Grandpa might spoil Ellie more than anyone around :) Ellie decided to help Grandpa put her toy together. It was good thing she was there :)

Silly Girl

The other day Ellie emptied all the toys out of her toy box and decided inside the toy box was a great place to sit!

Look Who is a Big Girl

Ellie got her big girl car seat last week. We usually try to go neutral with most big purchases, but we found a great Labor Day deal and had to take the pattern they had. She loves her new car seat and the new perspective it gives her!

Swing Time

Ellie loves swinging. Last week I took her to the park one evening so she could enjoy the swing.

Wagon Date

Ellie had a little wagon date last week. (Shh, don't tell Daddy!) My neighbor and friend Caroline and her little boy Ethan love little Ellie. We have a great time hanging out and love that they live just across the street. Last week we went on a walk with them. Now Ellie gets to ride in the wagon with Ethan while Mayli rides in Ellie's stroller. It is so great of Caroline to help us out with our walks and the moms get some great time together too.

We have a little crawler!

Ellie has been getting around for a little while by rolling, scooting and lunging, but last weekend she started really crawling. I got it on video for all the family to see! She is so much faster in just a week and is already using things to pull up on. Watch out world!

Little Miss Independent

I stepped out of Ellie's room for a second to come back and find this. She was apparently showing Mayli how to get the toys out all by yourself. She doesn't need any one's help anymore to make a mess! Next step: teaching her how to clean it up by herself :)

Doing Some Thinking

The Beach

We recently took our first family vacation to the beach. We had a wonderful time and had much needed family time. We never take a vacation that is only us and it was nice to start this tradition with Ellie here now. We did lots of swimming, the pool in the morning and the beach in the afternoon. Ellie had a great time in the pool and loved being pulled around in her float. She also loved sitting like a big girl in her own lounge chair eating her snack. At the beach she loved sitting on my lap at the edge of the water and feeling the water and sand. She also loved the sand and especially loved eating it, but she didn't spend much time in it this time since her Daddy didn't like her getting it all over her and eating it. Next time we will spend some time playing in the sand a little more :) Ellie and I got colds while we were there, but nothing too bad and Ellie was a trooper and didn't let it bother her and luckily Ben didn't get it until on the way home. We are so thankful to our friends for letting us borrow their beach condo, it was a wonderful trip filled with many wonderful memories!!!

New Friends

Ellie is making a new friend. I started watching a friend's little girl a couple of weeks ago. I taught with her, so the hours are great. Mayli is 3 months old and is a great little girl. It has been a great experience for Ellie to learn she is not the only baby in the world too. :) I am excited to watch them grow physically and as friends over the next year!

9 Months Old

Ellie is 9 months old and I can not believe it. The time has flown by and Ben recently said, she has been out of belly longer than she was in now. I love every minute I spend with her. She is wonderful. She is laid back most days. She eats well, loves to smile, loves to laugh and play. She can roll, lunge and get wherever she wants to go. She loves to talk, even though it is a language we don't understand. Ben often says she is so cute he can't even stand it. She fits into our little family perfectly. She has recently also gotten her 1st tooth, so watch out food, the sky will be the limit soon! Her monthly pictures are also becoming an adventure as she likes to help in displaying her number :) We love our little Ellie more than words can say and are excited to see what adventures the next month brings in our family's life!

Her Stats:

Height: 27 3/4 inches (50%)
Weight: 14.6 lb. (5%) We are going to be adding more snacks this month :)

Summer Tennessee Visit

In the beginning of August we went to Tennessee to visit my family. We had a great time and did many things. We ate alot of food, Ellie had her first taste of Breece's green beans and macaroni and cheese, she also got a first tiny taste of Grandma's homemade chocolate icing. We played with bubbles, picked okra from the garden, played with Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle Andrew, Great PawPaw and Great Granmary. We also saw Ms. Linda again, who gave Ellie her own bowl of green beans at Breece's. We saw 2 of my cousins and had a great visit with them. We also got to visit and have lunch with our friends Dustin, Lisa and little Ila. It was great to see what the girls do the same and different since they are only 10 days apart. Ellie also took a bath in a big tub like a big girl for the first time and loved it by the 2nd night. But best of all, Ellie has her own swing at Grandpa and Grandma's that is special to only visiting there. My mom purchased a swing for her and my brother and dad hung it up for her and she loves swings. She could swing all day and Grandma is very happy Ellie has something that is special for her to do at their house. It makes going to Grandma and Grandpa's special in its own way. Ellie also met doggies just her size and she loved when they licked her, she would giggle and giggle. Ellie also got to sit in my childhood chair and I got to celebrate my birthday with Ellie for the first time. It was a busy visit, but we had fun doing so many things.

First of Many

Ellie and I had our first slumber party. I am sure there will be many more to come and will get sillier as she gets older. This is a special little treat (shh don't tell Daddy!) ;)

A Visit from Grandma

This week my mom came to visit. Ben was at camp with the middle school students, so we had some good girl time. Ellie has missed her Daddy very much, but has sent him pictures everyday. While my mom was here we did lots of shopping, lots of eating, went to the park for swinging and feeding the ducks, went to the bakery for sweets, saw old friends from Florida, and did lots of playing. You will see Ellie has moved to sitting in her stroller like a big girl and tried a highchair in a restaurant for the first time. We are still a little tiny, but at 8 1/2 months we are getting a little long to be in our carrier all the time. Again, my mom took a lot more pictures than I did, but here are a few that I got.