What a crazy weekend! We had Ellery's birthday party on Saturday at my parent's house. It was so much fun! Ellery had a great time seeing family and friends, opening gifts, swimming in the pool for about 10 minutes until the thunder and lightening began, and eating her own miniature birthday cake. We have about 85 pictures from the party so I will post a few once I sort through them.
Saturday was also the night of my ten-year highschool reunion. Unfortunately, I only got to stay for a whole 10 minutes. Seems I came down with the horrible stomach virus that has been being passed around Houston. Ugh...it was awful. I literally have not felt that bad in probably 10 years. At about 4am, Nathan decided it was time to make an ER visit because things were not slowing down (I am trying to go into as little detail as possible). So, instead of having fun at my reunion and catching up with old friends, I found myself at the ER with an IV of morphine and something else that seemed to do the trick.
I am feeling much better today after being in a morphine coma all day yesterday. Sorry for anyone I may have phoned or emailed...I have very little recollection of anything that went on.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Friday, June 15, 2007
Round 2
Today we went to the Picture People for round 2 of birthday pictures. A friend of ours had their little girl's picture taken in the #1 box and Nathan couldn't stop talking about it. She smiled the entire time of course - the place with no sitting fees, only semi-professionals, and white backgrounds. Oh well, I do love that you walk out with your pictures in hand, and I must say our photographer did a pretty good job.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Happy Birthday Little Girl!
Today is our little girl's 1st birthday! I can't believe it. A year ago today I was at the hospital, filled with so much excitement and anticipation (and VERY eager to not be pregnant a minute longer)! This really has been the best year of my life thus far, and I truly treasure the family that the Lord has blessed us with. In honor of Ellery's birthday I made a list of the top 10 things I adore about her:
1. Your big brown eyes that are so expressive and those long, beautiful lashes that anyone would kill for!
2. The way you "dance" (really you rock) to any music that comes on. Your favorite song right now is "Buzz,Buzz".
3. When you lay your head on my shoulder after a long day, after dozing off in the car, or when you are acting shy around a stranger. You are not a cuddler, so I treasure these moments.
4. The way you LOVE animals, especially your dog Colby. We love him too.
5. When I am singing in the car and I glance back at you smiling or laughing. Thanks for loving my songs, especially all of the random made-up ones I love to sing to you.
6. Your soft skin and dimpled bottom. I love my chunky monkey!
7. When only mom will do. I know it will not always be this way so I am soaking it up. Thanks for loving me.
8. The way you are little miss independent. I can appreciate this although sometimes it makes for some tough days.
9. Afternoon naps...thank you Lord!
10. You are my social butterfly. You love new people and places. You love to give open-mouth kisses and you have so much LIFE in you. I pray this never changes.
I could go on and on, but these are the ones off the top of my head.
Today for Ellery's birthday we went and had our pictures made. Needless to say, it was not the best experience. We decided to do some family ones outside and it was HOT! Ellery got bit by mosquitoes even though I sprayed her down with bug repellent, and she was not happy with us for our wardrobe choices - a tutu, party hat, bows, etc. etc. I am just hoping for one good shot.
Hopefully the rest of the day will be more pleasant! And we are looking forward to the big celebration on Saturday.
1. Your big brown eyes that are so expressive and those long, beautiful lashes that anyone would kill for!
2. The way you "dance" (really you rock) to any music that comes on. Your favorite song right now is "Buzz,Buzz".
3. When you lay your head on my shoulder after a long day, after dozing off in the car, or when you are acting shy around a stranger. You are not a cuddler, so I treasure these moments.
4. The way you LOVE animals, especially your dog Colby. We love him too.
5. When I am singing in the car and I glance back at you smiling or laughing. Thanks for loving my songs, especially all of the random made-up ones I love to sing to you.
6. Your soft skin and dimpled bottom. I love my chunky monkey!
7. When only mom will do. I know it will not always be this way so I am soaking it up. Thanks for loving me.
8. The way you are little miss independent. I can appreciate this although sometimes it makes for some tough days.
9. Afternoon naps...thank you Lord!
10. You are my social butterfly. You love new people and places. You love to give open-mouth kisses and you have so much LIFE in you. I pray this never changes.
I could go on and on, but these are the ones off the top of my head.
Today for Ellery's birthday we went and had our pictures made. Needless to say, it was not the best experience. We decided to do some family ones outside and it was HOT! Ellery got bit by mosquitoes even though I sprayed her down with bug repellent, and she was not happy with us for our wardrobe choices - a tutu, party hat, bows, etc. etc. I am just hoping for one good shot.
Hopefully the rest of the day will be more pleasant! And we are looking forward to the big celebration on Saturday.
Here is a picture we took this morning after facing her carseat forward (as you can see her toy of choice these days is her mylicon bottle)...what a big girl!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Baseball and Birthdays
We had a busy weekend! Friday night we took Ellery to the A&M vs. Rice baseball game with our friends Craft and Joanna. We were a little hesitant to take her because she usually goes to bed around 7:30 and we knew we wouldn't be home until about 9:30 or 10. But, we decided to go for it! Plus, I figured this would be one of my only chances to put her in an A&M outfit. Only problem was that when I looked through her closet, it seemed she had out grown all of them. So sad!! There are still plenty of Longhorn dresses, but no Aggie duds. Turns out, Ellery had a great time at the game charming everyone sitting around us, making a mess of the snacks we brought, and clapping (her new favorite activity)! She even surprised us by sleeping until 8am on Saturday morning....yipee!
Saturday was Madikate's 1st birthday party. She is Ellery's other bff and we love her dearly. Ellery enjoyed swimming and of course, tearing into her piece of cake. Here is a picture of the birthday girl digging into her red velvet cake:
Ellery got REALLY excited watching MK eat. I guess she can spot cake now. Uh oh (as Ellery has been saying lately).
Saturday was Madikate's 1st birthday party. She is Ellery's other bff and we love her dearly. Ellery enjoyed swimming and of course, tearing into her piece of cake. Here is a picture of the birthday girl digging into her red velvet cake:
Ellery got REALLY excited watching MK eat. I guess she can spot cake now. Uh oh (as Ellery has been saying lately).
And last, but certainly not least, Sunday was Colby's 6th birthday. We love our Colby-man, even though today Nathan forgot to put him in his "house" before church, and he marked his spot throughout OUR house several times. Happy Birthday Fatty!
Thursday, June 7, 2007
A Random Thursday Post
Okay, so I might have been a little bored today. I took Ellery to my mom and dad's house so that we could go on an afternoon walk. I could get some exercise and Ellery could have fun pointing at all the trees, people, and dogs. There were plenty of trees to point out but not a single person or dog on this usually hoppin jogging trail. Why, you ask? Because it was 4pm in the afternoon and the temperature in my car said 100 degrees! And I am convinced the heat index was 120. Just go ahead and hand me the "Mother of the Year" award.
When I took Ellery out of her jogging stroller, her hair was so sweaty that it had curled up into adorable little ringlets. This got me wondering...was my hair curly like this at her age? I mean, I definitely did not get blessed with the board-straight hair genes, but I cannot remember a time when I sported ringlets. And I am pretty sure that Nathan had stick-straight blond hair when he was a toddler.
So....because we were at my parents' house I got out the picture albums. My mom just happens to be the most organized person you will ever meet and has all of our pictures in matching, labeled albums in a special picture room. I am surprised that they are not in a fire-proof vault because I specifically remember Paige and I running out of our "burning" house as teenagers with all the picture albums we could possibly carry. Turns out our house was not on fire....but IF it had been ...we would still have all of our treasured memories, thanks to my mom's organization. If my house today was to catch on fire, I would not make it out alive trying to gather all of our pictures from various rooms.
I grabbed just a few pictures from my 1-year birthday party. As you can see, I did not have half the hair that Ellery has so it is hard to tell. But I did find myself doing a double take on a few of the pics, thinking they looked so much like Elle. Some people tell us that she is my "mini-me" while others see no resemblance and think she looks exactly like her handsome father.
To see the hair a little more, I had to venture on to my 14 1/2 month-old pics:
Looks like she has my hair! Thank goodness for her, naturally wavy hair is back in-style. And if it ever goes out again, there is always the chi!
When I took Ellery out of her jogging stroller, her hair was so sweaty that it had curled up into adorable little ringlets. This got me wondering...was my hair curly like this at her age? I mean, I definitely did not get blessed with the board-straight hair genes, but I cannot remember a time when I sported ringlets. And I am pretty sure that Nathan had stick-straight blond hair when he was a toddler.
So....because we were at my parents' house I got out the picture albums. My mom just happens to be the most organized person you will ever meet and has all of our pictures in matching, labeled albums in a special picture room. I am surprised that they are not in a fire-proof vault because I specifically remember Paige and I running out of our "burning" house as teenagers with all the picture albums we could possibly carry. Turns out our house was not on fire....but IF it had been ...we would still have all of our treasured memories, thanks to my mom's organization. If my house today was to catch on fire, I would not make it out alive trying to gather all of our pictures from various rooms.
I grabbed just a few pictures from my 1-year birthday party. As you can see, I did not have half the hair that Ellery has so it is hard to tell. But I did find myself doing a double take on a few of the pics, thinking they looked so much like Elle. Some people tell us that she is my "mini-me" while others see no resemblance and think she looks exactly like her handsome father.
To see the hair a little more, I had to venture on to my 14 1/2 month-old pics:
Looks like she has my hair! Thank goodness for her, naturally wavy hair is back in-style. And if it ever goes out again, there is always the chi!
Monday, June 4, 2007
Happy Birthday Ella Grace!
Saturday was Ella Grace's 1st birthday party and it was so much fun! Ella is one of Ellery's very best friends. In fact, they are more like sisters since rarely a day goes by that they don't spend time together. We have been incredibly blessed to have such wonderful friends with children the same age.
Ellery had a great time playing in the balls, eating cake, swinging in their new caterpillar swing, and watching Ella parade around like she knew that it was her special day. Ella even tried to feed Ellery some of her birthday cake....now that is a SWEET friend! Here are some pictures:
The birthday girl swipes a bow from Ellery.
"Aunt" Julie has so many cool toys!
Swinging with friend Carter (and pointing at her new word "tree")
Happy Birthday Ella! We love you!
Ellery had a great time playing in the balls, eating cake, swinging in their new caterpillar swing, and watching Ella parade around like she knew that it was her special day. Ella even tried to feed Ellery some of her birthday cake....now that is a SWEET friend! Here are some pictures:
The birthday girl swipes a bow from Ellery.
"Aunt" Julie has so many cool toys!
Swinging with friend Carter (and pointing at her new word "tree")
Happy Birthday Ella! We love you!
Saturday, June 2, 2007
Going on the party circuit...
Stay tuned for lots of great pictures. The next couple of weeks Ellery will be making the rounds of birthday parties and then finish strong with one for her on June 16th. Seriously, she has more of a social life as a soon-to-be one year old than I do.
On another note, I wanted to throw this out there: Our Pastor at Houston's First Baptist Church, Gregg Matte, will be doing a six-week series on "Why?". He will cover the tough questions of Christianity such as creation and suffering. I encourage anyone who wants to learn more or seek answers to attend or even listen to the sermons on the website...http://houstonsfirst.org.
Have a wonderful weekend.
On another note, I wanted to throw this out there: Our Pastor at Houston's First Baptist Church, Gregg Matte, will be doing a six-week series on "Why?". He will cover the tough questions of Christianity such as creation and suffering. I encourage anyone who wants to learn more or seek answers to attend or even listen to the sermons on the website...http://houstonsfirst.org.
Have a wonderful weekend.
