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.