Thanksgiving 2012

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with family and fun. We ate all our family favorites and enjoyed spending time with our families from both sides. Ellie especially loved playing football and riding her bike as well as PopPop started cultivating a love for gardening and she spent a lot of time gathering and planting seeds in her garden (which is apparently the long flower bed on the side of our house). It was made even more special as it was the first time my parents had been here since last Thanksgiving as my Mom has battled breast cancer in the last year. God gave us a huge blessing by providing her health and giving us many more opportunities to spend together as a family. We enjoy being able to spend the holidays with everyone and were especially happy all could be here for Quinny's first Thanksgiving.

 

PopPop Strolling Quinn Around in the Ellie's Doll Stroller (Yes, she is that tiny!)

 

Geep and Quinn

 

Gran and Quinn

 

PopPop and Ellie

 

Nana and Quinn

 

Typical Family Picture, Everyone Is Looking In A Different Direction

 

After a year off, back to the traditional after Thanksgiving meal walk!

 

Thanksgiving Craft

 

Gardening: Step One-Collecting Seeds

 

Quinny and Geep

 

A Girl and Her Cat

 

"Look at my seeds Quinny!"

 

 

Nana and Her Grandbabies

 

PopPop and His Grandbabies

Quinn at 7 Months

Quinny continues to be tiny. She loves puffs and most foods she is given but always scrunches up her face as she takes the first bite. She LOVES Ellie. Ellie can make her smile all the time and she loves to watch Ellie do everything. She is a great sleeper at night but is not a napper, much like her Mom. She takes one good afternoon nap but has never been one for a long morning nap too. I have to watch her because if she gets in anything longer than 15 minutes in the morning she thinks she has napped for the day and won't nap in the afternoon. Her eyes continue to stop people in their tracks when we are out. We are hoping they stay as they are very striking.

 

All pictures were from November when she turned 7 months.

Family Photos

In mid-November we got some wonderful family pictures. Our friend Chad has a photography business, Chad Macy Photography, and does a wonderful job. He took pictures of our family when we were a family of 3 and we knew we wanted to have him take pictures of us as a family of four. Our goal is to get new family photos each year to have photos of our family as we grow and change and to have them done professionally as they always turn out way better than if we try to do anything ourselves :) It was extremely cold this morning, but we braved the elements and the results were more than we could have asked for. I am always amazed at how many great shots he gets when we are feeling all crazy.

Ellie's Birthday Celebrations

We are back! It has been quite some time since we have posted. We are very busy and the blog usually is last on the list, but with Quinn fast approaching one my goal is to catch up the blog by then. Let's start many months ago with Ellie's birthday. We had a couple little family celebrations. Ellie's birthday fell on a Sunday this year, the busiest day of the week for our family, and Ben had class the Saturday before, so we had a family celebration on Friday. We took her to Monkey Joe's to let her bounce around on the blow ups. She had a great time, but pictures were hard to come by since she was constantly moving. We then took her for pizza, which is her favorite food, at our favorite family spot. Sunday we gave her a tricycle, her first bike, which she loves, and some Olivia things, one of her favorites right now, and at the end of the day we had cupcakes. I always decorate the night before her actual birthday and this year I went with an Olivia theme. We then left her birthday decorations up until the grandparents all came the Wednesday before Thanksgiving for a grandparent celebration with more cupcakes and some more presents. She got lots of great gifts from her grandparents, of course some more Olivia items, and one very special gift. PopPop, my dad, built her a table and two chairs for her and Quinny from Nana and PopPop. We use it everyday and she loves to sit at her table and talk about how one day Quinny will sit there with her.

 

Quinny Enjoying Ellie's Birthday Fun

 

Daddy Helping Make Cupcakes

 

One of Olivia's Rules of Life

 

The Birthday Girl

 

Her Bedroom Door

 

Seeing the Decorations

 

Reading the Birthday Book

 

PopPop and Ellie Having Cupcakes at Her New Table

Our Sweet Elliebeans!

We can not believe our sweet Ellie is three years old today. She forever changed our lives when she arrived three weeks earlier than expected at 2:50 pm on November 11th. She is a gift that I had dreamed about since I was young and is a gift every day of my life. Ellie is a child that is independent and strong, some days that makes for challenging moments, but as she grows is a trait that will allow her to achieve whatever she puts her mind to. She is a little girl filled with joy and laughter that brings immense joy to our family and keeps us laughing all the time. Her compassion and love for her little sister is unmeasured as she loves her little Quinny and is always wanting to take care of her or share with her. She challenges me daily to be a better Mommy and to enjoy all moments I have as her Mommy. She has a magical imagination that is unmatched and an unconditional love that is unmeasured. As I go to bed each night I check on our sweet girls and as I check on Ellie every night my heart is filled with immense love for this little girl that gives me a reason every day to act silly and enjoy all the moments I have with her.

Happy Birthday Sweet Ellie!