Watch what you say...

I was going to put this in the Ellie says section, but it's too long and needs background....
Picture it, Walgreens about 11am- Ellie is riding in the buggy. We've been there about 10 minutes. She's asked for about 100 things and changed her mind a million times.....She's had juice, pretzels and a small hissy fit because I wouldn't let her hold the giant GLASS Disney snow globe.... We're on the detergent aisle and I'm trying to figure out if it's a good deal to buy Tide at 2 for $10 and Ellie is demanding the pacifier....I say "Just a minute, I'm trying to read this." She says......

"You're driving me NUTS!!!!"

my 2 year old baby, clear as a bell...real nice. Wonder where she heard that? I guess I need to be more careful. Could've been worse....

By the way, the stupid Tide was really 2 for $12. There was a $2 mail in rebate. Like I'm going to be able to find the receipt and remember to mail something in. Please!

Miss Spider's Destruction Party

This is what happens when you let a 2 year old play with yarn...

...it was like a human spider web. Around the coffee table, over the couch, even hooked on Lucy's tail.


Day 2 of the pigtail look. I think it is very cute. She seems older to me when she's wearing them.

Pigtails!!!!

Today I finally remembered to get some tiny rubber bands to try and force a girly hairdo on Ellie. It worked!
They are so lightweight that she doesn't even realize they are there.

She left them in all day through gymnastics and the trip to the Dr. (for me, not her).

They didn't make it through jumping around the house playing with a ball of yarn though.


Her hair is kind of permanently pig-tailed until we wash it tonight.

Our day was even busier than usual today. First, I got my hair trimmed- I think it was a bad one. My hair is so straight that you can see every mistake, but it's in a ponytail right now because I am choosing to ignore it and hope it goes away. Then we went to gymnastics. Lots of kids and Ellie LOVES it. See "Ellie Says" at the top. After gym we went on to Ft Rucker to sign in to TriCare and register at the hospital. I have been putting that off too because usually it's a pain. But the pain in my jaw was worse. For a couple of days now, my jaw has been sore on the right side when I bite down. Last night I hardly slept because I couldn't find a comfy way to sleep. Sounds dumb- but you try to sleep without closing your jaw. Can't be done. Especially when that's all you can think about. Anyway- the doc thinks it's something in the joint. DUH! I could've told him that. He gave me 800mg motrin and some other stong stuff for night time. WooHoo. and I had X-rays. That was wierd. I've never had an xray before besides at the dentist. I had to lay down to get pics of my jaw. You should've seen me. Luckily only the poor Xray tech had to witness it. I won't know anything until I go back in a week and then it will probably just get referred to an oral surgeon. We'll see. Fun!

Diva in the Making

Last night Ellie decided to get all dressed up. It was hilarious!


Back View- just like on the red carpet.



No patience for the papparazzi!

No pants sandbox

As usual, Ellie was running around without pants on. After an hour of her asking to go outside and me telling her she had to eat her supper first, she finally ate it and then more. So I had to go outside. (Yippee!) At least it was cooler than in the afternoon, but still warm. The pool was yucky because I left the cover off last night. So she just played in the sandbox. At first, I couldn't get her to look at me either. Shock!

But then finally she did and I got the cheesy grin.


Then she got sand in her eyes and it was all over but the crying. So we had to come in (Yippee!!!)

Lucy Brown

I haven't posted a pic of my first child yet so I thought some people (Ilene) might want to see how she's doing. She loves the big backyard and chasing squirrels. She has made friends with the dog that shares our fence. There is a spot where he sticks his head and front paws through to say hello. Here is a profile because she would not look at me- there was a squirrel on the fence (AL ones are not scared of anything).

Finally when the squirrel was gone, she looked when I called her.

Fueling up

A healthy snack of processed cheese spread and crackers (it's really all about the little plastic stick/spreader thingie) to get ready for gymnastics.

Quality Parenting

Here is another example of the engaging activities Ellie and I do during the day.

This was after we tried to play outside in the pool, but I left the water in overnight (it was covered) and it was hotter than her bath water ever is. Of course I didn't test it before helping her in so we are lucky her feet aren't burned. High quality parenting!

She's a genius!

Ok, so maybe I'm exaggerating, but Ellie read a word today. I'm sure it has nothing to do with advertising, the fact that there is a star in the middle of the word, or that we spend so much time there, but here is the word she read

We got an ad in the mail today and on a whim I asked her what it said and she didn't even hesitate a second.

oh yeah- I'm starting a "Featured Quote" section of the blog, but they will all be Ellie-isms. That way I won't forget all the hilarious things she says.

Busy Day

We've been busy girls today. First we went to Jazzercise and Ellie played with Ms. Erin and the kids while I sweated. Then we went to Wal-Mart to get a few groceries and a new pool. Ellie's old one got a crack in it on the move here. I also got a few hurricane supplies- just in case. In my experience, September is the worst month for hurricanes to chase me so I want to be prepared. Ellie fell asleep on the way home so I unloaded groceries and read a tabloid magazine....guilty pleasure- I have to keep up with Britney's stupidity and Nicole tipping the scales at 105 or so. When Ellie woke up, we blew up the pool and swam for about 4.5 (that's 4 and a half, not forty five) minutes until she was tired of it. The concrete is too hot and the breeze is too cold and her bikini bottoms won't stay up....etc.... Being subject to the whims of a 2 year old is exhausting. So the rest of the afternoon has been spent in Ellie's favorite way- watching TV, mostly Dora. If she doesn't CLEP out of all her Spanish in college I will be really ticked!

Out of the mouths (and noses) of babes

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Brandon's birthday and Ellie and I made him a Safari cake. She wanted to make him a hunting cake and the only animals we could find were "Animals of the World". So I told him it was the closest thing to an African Safari that I could afford. :) Maybe next year. (yeah right). We cut Ellie a piece and she used the decorations to redecorate her piece. As you can see she was in her 2nd leotard of the day. Sometimes she changes clothes 4 or 4 times. If she turns on the music to dance, she has to be wearing dancing clothes. One of Brandon's presents was a special cereal bowl that we painted at iCreate (a paint your own pottery studio here in town).Thought I'd show off my handiwork.

Little Gymnast

Today was Ellie's first "tenastics" (gymnastics) class. She loved it. It's a Mommy and Me type class and it's kind of like playtime. There's stretches at the beginning and then the teachers kind of walk around and do what they are interested in. I guess that's all you can hope for with 2 year olds.

Yesterday we had a really good time on the boat at a lake here on Ft. Rucker. However, Ellie is totally naked in all the pics from yesterday so I will not put them on the web. Today we went to Vortex Spring, FL where Brandon used to go as a kid. It was fun. It's a natural cold water spring and it was FREEZING. There were a lot of people there diving and also just swimming. There is a big swing that goes out over the water, several platforms to dive off of, a diving board and 2 slides. We finally got in up to our thighs after being there for several hours. Poor Ellie was frozen since she has no natural insulation. I got some pretty cute pictures of her though. She was most impressed with the orange bands that we had to wear. She called it her special bracelet. Only she pronounces it in 3 syllables "brace-a-let".

I captured 2 good pics of Ellie in new sheep pjs from MeeMaw. A silly smile

and a great action shot of dancing.

Here is a sample of Ellie's moves. She is really into dancing as you will see. It's a little dark, but you can still get the idea. Enjoy!

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show of Ellie in July

Sweet Home Alabama

Hi everyone. I am setting up this blog as an easier way to keep in touch with everyone. I will upload some pictures of the house soon and try to update the blog every day with some silly thing Ellie has said or done. There is always something. We are all settled here in Enterprise. Our house is great. We have lots more room and Ellie has run on every inch of it. She is really into dancing and running. The other day she was spinning in circles and then when she stopped, she said, "Mommy, help me. The floor is spinning." I thought I would crack up. Check back here as often as you can. If I add a particularly cute picture, I'll email everyone.