lady vols

My sister Ellen is on the volleyball team at The University of Tennessee! She is a freshman, defensive player & looks good in orange! :) They had a pre-season tournament last weekend, so it was Ellie's 1st game as well!!

wearing her UT ladyvol cheerleader skirt & volleyball onsie
Signing autographs after the match
Aunt Ellen, Ellie, & Yaya
with daddy on the court
waking up the next morning (we are only 1.5 hours away from Koxville)

We had a great night watching Ellen & being with mom. It is going to be a fun & busy fall! Hopefully, we make it to all of her home matches. Ellie did great in the car both ways & in the gym. They play in Thompson Bowling, which is the BIG arena the basketball team plays in, so when the music started over the loud speaker it scared her @ 1st, but she adjusted well & loved watching the girls! GO VOLS! I will have another volleyball post soon ... Marie & her Austin Peay volleyball team are coming to JC for a tournament in a couple weeks ~ of course Aunt Marie got Ellie a cute, pink AP dress with bloomers! LOVE IT & SO proud of my sisters!!

August Fun!

We have had such a fun, hot & eventful month! First, our trip to Nashville ... then visitors, doctors appts & daily plans! This week, the weather has finally started to cool off! It seems like all of our play dates have been inside or cut short. I really like having something to do, if not everyday, most days! So, we try to find something to get ourselves into when Chad is at work! We meet friends for lunch, we go to friends to play, or have friends over here! Last Thursday night, Ann came to visit! We had such a nice couple days with her! She is busy coaching Siegel High School Volleyball in Murfreesboro, TN but, she squeezed in time for us! Saturday, Ellie's friend Maddie (pictured below) had her 1st birthday party! It was monkey themed & very cute. Her mommy, Marianne is staying home this year as well, so we get together often!

This week is not as eventful ... but, tonight we are having a double baby 'sprinkle' shower for resident families here in JC. Both familes are having boys (Zachary & Bowen) & have 2-3 kiddos already. Friday & Saturday, Ellen has a pre-season tourney in Knoxville & Chad is off!! So, we are heading to k-town for some volleyball!! I am so excited to see her & let Ellie wear some orange~ :)

I am proud to say, Ellie is back to sleeping throught the night! YAYAYAY! I am so happy & well rested! She had been doing so well & then 2 weeks ago after a upset tummy day, she was back to waking up 1-3 times during the night. Sometimes she wanted to nurse, sometimes she wanted her paci & sometimes she was just fussy & wanted her mommy to hold her. But, all of the sudden, Friday night she slept all night 8pm-7am! I was beginning to think that this darn cereal was to blame! We have added veggies~loved the squash, spit out the sweet potatoes! We will keep trying :) She is so cute, I just love her SO much! Chad is pretty in love with her, too! She smiles & laughs @ him every evening when he gets home ~ it is so sweet! Sometimes I have to remind him for a kiss~hehe!
Here are some pics of our girl~

Helping me with laundry
Maddie reading to Ellie

Fast learner ...

Happy Girl~

She loves bath time & so wrap up in a arm towel after!!

5 months ALREADY!!

5 months old
such a cute little outfit~love Miss Emily

On her head, in her so cute onsie @ her 1st gymnastics open gym

eating oatmeal in her high chair for the very 1st time

Our sweet girl turned 5 months old! It is SO SO SO hard to believe~time is flying! I am so glad I am able to stay home with her right now. I am witnessing every little thing she does! She is rolling over both ways now, all the time. I have given her rice cereal & oatmeal so far. She is liking it more & more (one Tbsp with 2 Tbsp warm water). I think next week I will try a veggie! Hopefully that goes ok ...

Ann is coming to visit next weekend~YAY! If Chad's schedule stays the same, we might get to go home labor day weeekend, but if not that's ok because my family will be coming up a lot soon! Two of our friends are turning 1 year old in the next couple weeks~we have some partying to do, FUNFUN! I have all her little cupcake outfits washed & ready!!

And, I also have washed all her ORANGE for Ellen's matches! Good thing Elllie looks good in it! We are going to Knoxville the 27 & 28th to watch her play! Ellie also has the CUTEST Austin Peay dress for Marie's matches! APSU comes to ETSU in Septmeber & I am cooking for the team whoohoo!! So, I must mention Maggie now ~ she is cheering this fall for the first time. We all cheered 1 yr in the 8th grade ... mom said it is non stop cheering/dancing in the house ... 'hold the line Saints hold that line' ... HAHAHAHA!!! Oh, and Courtney, Chad's sister, is planning a beach wedding for May!

Lots of FUN stuff around here! Missing all my friends in Nashville & Memphis, hope to see you all soon!

Visitors & a Road Trip

Playing with the Dehham sisters ~ Caitlin & Maddie

They are expecting a little brother in September! Their daddy works with Chad.

Ellen came for a visit ~ We shopped, ate & went to FunFest to hear The ZacBrownBand play. It was such a nice visit, we will be seeing her ALOT this fall since she is in Knoxville now!!

Allie & Ellie

The Sutton's came up for a long weekend the end of July. Bubba & Chad have been best friends since little league. His wife, Brittney & I have been friends since Chad & I started dating 10 years ago! They got a head start on the children though ... we are 2 behind!! Brianna is 7, Allie is 4, & our Goddaughter, Chloe is 15 months.
We had such a great time with them!! There were a lot of girls under 1 roof, just like my childhood~FUN memories!! They brought the slip n slide - what a fun afternoon! We even ventured to Target & all out to dinner!


Miss Chloe

Brianna all about the slip 'n slide
as well as several neighborhood kids

@ Aunt Charlene's pool. Ellie loves the water!

Ellie & I headed to Nashville the 1st week of August. We had a great time, but missed Chad greatly! He was on call Tues & Thursday, so he didn't have much time to miss us! Tuesday was Marie's birthday! We had such a fun day with her & had GiGi's cupcakes for dessert~yummy!

Marie, the birthday girl, with the kiddos she babysits~Jack & Jake~ & Ellie
The week was BUSYBUSY! Lots of people to see! We had an agenda everyday!!

We went to visit @ my dad's office, Aunt Charlene, my old dentist office, Kate Rosenthal, Monica/grandma, Cara, The Pilote's, & the aunts: Colette, Jeannine & Shana. Whew~all in 3 days, then my mom's family Friday!

Meeting cousin Avery

The girls are only 1 month apart & Ellie is WAY bigger! Avery is my cousin Kevin's daughter. All the family was able to meet both the girls @ the get together Friday! It was nice to see everyone & the girls did great getting passed around all day!

Matching Aunt Maggie in pink&white striped POLO

Pops

We came home on Saturday. I still have a hard time leaving, 4 years later, but Chad was off the whole weekend & we were excited to see him!! It took us 5 hours to get back .... Ellie was not as happy in her carseat this time. But, we had 2 nice days as a family! Sunday, our girl turned 5 months old!!! WOW! She is still as sweet as ever~smiling & laughing! She is in size 3 diapers, 6 mos clothes, doing better with cereal, rolling over lots & loves her jumperoo! We have a busy week planned~ glad she is so good, I just take her with me everywhere! She is still sleeping about the same, 8 pm-5am in her crib, nursing, then sleeping til 8 in bed with me. She is putting everything in her mouth ... I guess teeth are on the way.

Cheers to 4 Wonderful Years!!

waking up in her crib for the 1st time
YAY for sleeping 6 hours!

me & ellie @ our anniversary dinner

Dinner @ Carrabba's

4 month check-up

16 pounds & 26 3/4 inches

Chad & I have been married four years!! On July 8, 2006 I married my best friend & have only grown more in love with him! We have done a lot together & made a lot of changes during our marriage! We moved from our little apartmant in Memphis to our first home in Johnson City, where we quickly became pregnant with our first child. Now, we are the parents to Miss Ellie Marie!! She is our sweet little girl, we both just love her so much & could not picture our lives without her! She has brought us much joy already in her short four months of being here! Ellie turned 4 months old on our 4 year anniversary!
We had a nice day. Chad was post call but was able to meet us at the Drs office. Ellie had to get two shots :( When we got home they both had lunch & took a nap!! The non-traditional gifts for the fourth year are fruit & flowers. So, guess what?! Chad brought me flowers & I made chocolate covered fruit (since JC doesn't have Edible Arrangements, I had to make it myself!!) We went out to dinner with Ellie & really had a nice night as a family!
Thank you all for the anniversary good wishes!~

3 month photo shoot

Here are a few pictures from Ellie's photo shoot with our friend Brandi Elam! She did such a great job, so if you need a photographer in the area I have her #!!! She came to our house one evening & we took pictures for almost 3 hours~it was so much fun!! She caught all of Ellie's cute facial expressions & even a few smiles!

Enjoy~

July 4th Weekend

Wetlands
daddies & daughters

babies first fourth

swimming on the 4th

Last week Maggie was here with us! We had such a great week together~Marie stopped in for the night on her way home from Charleston & was going to take Maggie on home, but since we were having so much fun she decided to stay the rest of the week. We had plans to go home for the weekend anyway to spend the holiday with family & friends! So, Friday night we drove in & Chad found out he was off Monday so we got to stay an extra day!

Saturday, our good friends Bubba & Brittney had a 4th of July cookout/house warming party! It was a FUN afternoon with them & other friends. We always have a good time catching up. Their little girl Chloe & our Ellie will be such good friends, too! Courtney & Derreck came in town as well. We had dinner together & spent some time with the Moss family.

Sunday, we had a full day as well! We went to church with Chad's mom. We took some cute pictures in the back yard in our red white & blue!! Happy Independence Day~ About lunch time we headed to my Aunt Charlene's house to swim & spend time with my family! We watched the fire works (from the car) at Richland - Ellie was worn out & slept through them!!

Ellie update; she is great, so strong & wants to sit up! We got out the bumbo & she sits in it everyday. She also likes her play mat & can make the toys play music! This week she will be 4 months old & we go back to the Dr. for her check up & shots. She is such a happy baby - smiles all the time & we have even gotten a few laughs from her!! She does great in the car & is sleeping 5-6 hours most nights~YAY!! Chad is back on days & will be home most nights again. We have lots of things going on this month but just have to decide what we can make it into Nashville for ... it is hard being 4 hours away! My little sisiter, Ellen is moving to Knoxville this week. We hope to see her some this month before volleyball pre-season starts!

Well,my little sweet girl is waking up! She slept in her crib last night for the first time & did great!!