PLAY TIME

We love playing with friends & here are a few shots~

Maddie & Ellie

 RUN!!!

 Lunch time with Zach & Maddie

 Helping me make dirt cake for our visit from cousins Abby & Ashlyn

(I guess I know why this Polo dress was on sale... she can unbutton it too easy!)

 Enjoying the Cool Whip top

 (excuse the beer bottle in the back ground... I was not drinking during the day, promise it was empty from the night before!)

 At Hadley Gray's 1st Birthday Party~ Ellie's owl shirt was perfect for the little hoot theme!! She was checking all the kids out!

 Multi tasking... lunch & blackberry! She loves talking on the phone now. She brings me the phone & says "Yaya" so of course we call my mom & she LOVES it!!! It is so funny, everyitme the phone rings she thinks it is Yaya (do we talk that much?!) & everytime I say bye she says 'byebye Yaya'!! SO CUTE! 

Ellie wants to know where everybody is now. She goes through all the names she knows & says 'where daddy' or 'where Pa'? I tell her what everybody is doing at that particular time! & she likes to tell you whose item it is... mommy's & points to the bed), daddy's &points to his car. She is a mess & when I call her a mess, she says 'mess' :) love her~

BIG girl bed

So, the last couple weeks Miss Ellie hasn't been wanting to sleep in her crib. She is only 19 months old & I thought surely, she was not ready to move into a toddler bed. But night after night of fighting with her about getting in the crib, we tried putting her on the futon in her room. She wanted me to lay with her,  but she napped & slept pretty good. So, we figured it was worth a shot. Chad converted her bed to a toddler bed & she is doing pretty good. She likes me to rub her back~so sweet!! But after just a few nights she is still having some trouble falling & staying asleep. We go in & out calming her down, playing her Violet, patting & all. She will doze off but sometimes if she hears me leave, we have to start all over again. For the most part, she does ok falling asleep & napping. But, ugh, last night we were up from 3:15 - 5:15am ... back & forth. Finally, when Chad was leaving for work I had him go check on her ( I was so tired!) she did end up falling back to sleep!! But this morning, when I got up she wasn't in the bed (we are borrowing a video monitor)...  I found her sleeping on the floor by the door :(
WHEW... needing a picture break~

 Here are Ellie & Chad reading a book before she went to sleep in her big girl bed for the first night... she looks excited, huh?!?

 We made a visit to Salon Couture for hair cuts the next day... aren't we beautiful?! Thanks to Carrie~
& I just love her little outfit from Aunt Courtney!

I wonder if it is a  problem with the bed? do we convert the bed back? I just don't know & it makes me so sad that my good little sleeper is having such a hard time. Looking back it has been about a month we have been having sleep issues... granted this girl was falling asleep on her own & sleeping 12 hours with NO trouble & a nap for a while now! Sometimes being a mommy can be rough. I hate hearing her cry & being so upset, but I know she needs to fall asleep on her own. I guess we will give it a little more time. & guess where she is napping right now?! With her blankets, on the floor, right by the door. I think she was looking under :( poor baby!

Fender's Farm

It is fall ALREADY!

We had a great day with friends at Fender's Farm!! It is a nice little day full of activities... pumpkin patch, playground, hay ride, petting zoo, etc. My friend, Allyson, made the kids matching shirts. I even had her do Ryan one ... sad he wasnt there with us.

Chad & Ellie walking at the Farm

 Checking out the BIG pumpkins

 & one just her size

 Family shot by the "How Tall This Fall' sign

 Here is the whole gang: Jon Michael, Barrett, Maddie, Zach, Caitlyn, Ellie & Maddie

 Our family off 3~

Ellie had such a fun time with her friends! She was exhausted & fell asleep on the way home. We really do have some wonderful friends here, all 3 of us do!!

A sweet text from a special girl: "Your pictures are so cute! Your bond with all the other moms is so special. So glad you have them & Ellie has so many sweet friends. Makes my heart feel good about you being there!! Love you so much."

18 month photo session

Lauren Clark took these pictures for us! She is a new friend & a wonderful photographer. Check her out on facebook or her website 'CAPTUREDBYCLARKPHOTOGRAPHY.COM'

We enjoyed our session with Lauren! She was very patient & we walked all around the VA here in Johnson City.  We plan on her shooting our Christmas Card Photo before Thanksgiving!!

Zachary's 1st birthday

Our friend Zach turned 1!

On his birthday, some of us celebrated with him!! His mommy, Allyson went all out! She was a kindergarten teacher & is SO creative! It was a baby einstein theme~

She made all the decor & it was precious!

 Ellie enjoying a party sucker

 Homemade cupcakes to match the decor!

 Ellie thought it was YUMMMY!

 Mr. James getting a kiss :)

 Baby Z

 HAPPY birthday to you, ZACHARY!!!

He ate all his cupcake & ice cream! Z is such a good friend. His older 2 sister are sweet, too. We love the whole Denham family & feel blessed ETSU brought us together!!

Fall Vacation

I will go ahead & worn you that I was not good about taking pictures this week...

We went back to Knox for a volleyball match~ Ellen at the lady vols are undefeated!

 Quick recap of the week! Chad got home from work Friday & we took him to the airport. He flew to St. Louis to meet Ken & Chris (med school friends). Then Ellie & I drove to Nashville. Saturday we went shopping with my in-laws! We got Ellie some really cute fall stuff!! My sister in law, Courtney & her husband came to town. We went out to dinner for his birthday @ J Alexander's!  We went on to my parents house, & our good friends, The Ferguson's came by. Sunday, was a lazy day at the house. We hung out & visited! Ellen's game was on tv, so we cheered them on to a victory against Florida.
Monday, mom & I were home with the babies ... Ryan stays with my mom while Marie is at school ~ she finishes nursing school in May!! I fed him cereal & he was so happy!! The four of us went to lunch & shopping! Chad flew to Nashville Monday night & we went to his parents house. We had dinner & watched tv.
Tuesday, we had lunch with Brittney & Chloe (Chad's best friends wife & 2 year old). Then after nap, we had a play date with Olivia Kate (another friend in Nashville with a 2 y/o daughter!!) Maggie also had a high school volleyball match~ GO IRISH! Maggie is a starting freshman!!  I met some besties for dinner at this little trendy Mexican place~ Cara, Tisha & Gretchen~ We enjoyed catching up over maragritas!!
Here is my sweet little nephew Wednesday morning.

 I got a much needed pedicure while in Nashville!! Then we had lunch with my Aunt Kate (kaka), then on to another volleyball match to cheer on Maggie! My parents cooked some delicious meals while we were home!!

 Cutest little cousins... got some practice taking pictures of 2 babies... not that i need it, yet!

 Ryan is such a happy baby~ & Ellie loves him SO much!!

 Thursday, we met my mother in law for lunch. I was already so nervous about leaving Ellie, I could not even eat at Newk's :( 

 Here are the grandbabies with their Pops

(Ellie calls him Pa ... its so sweet, Yaya & Pa she says!)

 Dad & I flew to New Orleans Thursday afternoon. Ellen played at LSU & it was a great reason to go to NOLA! We had such a great time! We ate out with friends (The Jewels for din then Lisa & Marcus for lunch) & had a few drinks!! Our hotel room was right in the French Quarter & we walked around a lot! Ellen played Friday night & won, 6-0 baby!! We were able to see the "rockstar" after the match!! We flew home Saturday morning ~ Ellie & Ryan were in their Notre Dame outfits!!

 OH, haha! This is pic Chad took while I was gone, of Ellie napping in the chair! Sweet girl missed her mommy... but we both survived :) Chad had both grandma's helping hands while I was away.

They picked us up at the airport. She gave me the sweetest hug & kept touching me like 'is it really you mom?!' She didnt much leave my side the rest of the day/weekend!

All in all we had a great week! Chad & I were apart more than we were together, but still had a fun time! We sure do have some great friends & wonderful family. I hated not making it to Memphis... we wanted to come visit so bad :( hopefully next time! LOVE~

FUN FRIDAY

Friday, September 16th,  we had a very fun day!

Here is Ellie at her 18 month Dr checkup. She was happy after getting a sucker for being such a good girl (as a nurse myself, not so sure i would put her in the 'good' catagory during the 2 shots ... but nurse Julie thought she did good enough ;)) She is 25 pounds 12 ounces & 34 inches.

 After the appointment, we rode to Knoxville with the Denham's! The girls were out of school & we made a day of it. We went to the Zoo, out to dinner at Calhoun's & to the UT volleyball match!

Here are Caitlyn, Ellie & Maddie at the zoo.

 The Denham's are Georgia fans & wore their black & red to the game UT vs GA.

Ellie looking at the zebra's~ SHE loved every minute!

 Playing in the old range rover at the zoo~ Zach & Ellie driving!

After the match,

We won! My dad, aka Pops took Ellie to meet Smokie

 Giving the star libero some love~ being the scholar athlete that she is :)

way to go aunt Ellen!!

We had such a fun day together! All the kids were so good all day. All 4 slept all the way home! Allyson  & I picked up some caffiene & talked all the way home. Even came up with an idea for customized shirts for the kids... pictures to come of the finished fall product!!