word verification

pardon my ignorance, but what is this?  i get that it is supposed to be some kind of security, but how does typing in a word that looks crazy and does not spell anything keep things secure? 

happy birthday daddy

This has been a busy, but fun and exciting weekend.  We celebrated Sumter Elizabeth Folley (Todd and Lindsey's little girl)!  Friday night the family went to the new restaurant in town: 5'o clock bistro and it was delicious.  Saturday morning I helped a bunch of lovely ladies host a brunch to celebrate, then we went to a home show where we all got some really cute clothes, for a lot less!  That night we had another shower, this time a couples shower and it was such a good time.  Sunday it was church and then lunch with the twins, all in all it was a great weekend and we are so excited and anxiously awaiting the June/July arrival of this new little addition.  

On a different note, our little one is 9 months old, I've waited until today to post, simply because today is daddy's birthday and thought it might be nice to post Ella's 9 month pictures in honor of his birthday.  She is still just so much fun, she is definitely growing rapidly, I do not have stats yet (will post those when I get them), but she must be pushing 20lbs.  She is all over the place, she stands and then claps for herself...she is so proud, and she desperately wants to walk, but don't try to help her, she is a bit head strong, can't imagine where she gets that from.  I think I would describe her as spunky, maybe even a little feisty, but definitely all about a good time.  She loves to laugh and works hard to get you to join in, she loves to dance and sing, stick a mirror in front of the girl and she is happy to stand there ALL day grinning and singing and clapping. she is still lacking hair, but she does have two beautiful, slightly crooked, but beautiful teeth on the bottom. Next month we will be at the beach when Ella hits the double digits, so those pics should be really exciting, until then, these will have to do...at least it is a really cute subject!!

 

 

happy birthday daddy, we miss you loads!

Easter

HE IS RISEN! One of my favorite things this Easter was the text message I received from my mama; which simply stated: "He is risen". What an excellent reminder that our Lord and Savior has fought the fight and has accomplished what He set out to do. The battle is won! Our price has been paid, we are now able to abide in His holy presence. I look forward to the day we will celebrate Easter with our Savior, in our true home, abiding with Him in worshipful praise. HE IS RISEN INDEED. Thanks be to thee oh God!

We had a fun Easter Sunday, we went to First Presbyterian in the morning and had to sit in the spill over section in Saint Andrews...not a bad thing, I am glad there were that many people to hear Dr. Robertson's sermon, it was excellent. Then we headed back to our house where I hosted my very first Easter lunch. we did not have a huge crowd, but it was a great one! Mama brought a "pig lickin' cake" which was to die for and Corey and Elise came with a green bean casserole, which was also scrumptious! I provided the ham, deviled eggs, potato salad and resurrection rolls. After lunch we took Easter pictures, hence the new photo in place of our blog "title" because I can't seem to figure out how to have both a picture and a title -- oh well. Later that night, Tyson watched Ella so that mama and I could go to Christ Church for evening worship, where the choir sang from Handel's Messiah, and Dr. Oliver spoke. It was wonderful getting to hear him again. All in all it was a full and wonderful Easter Sunday. However, I am sure it was not nearly as good as the one my dad had!

a little technical glitch

it drives me a little bonkers that i can't seem to remember to put the pictures into the blog in the reverse order, so just scroll up the screen to get the idea rather than down the screen.

ella is 8 months!

...or she will be tomorrow, but really who's counting? i am going to be at work tomorrow, so i wasn't going to be around to take the 8month pictures, which means i decided do them a day early.

the baby girl is growing entirely too fast, i think she doesn't realize she is supposed to be a baby. she is no longer interested in napping she would rather stand and jump in her crib or chew on her side rails. she is pulling up on things and transferring from one object to another and she does not want any help doing so. she hates to be held, but she LOVES to play hide and go seek, i hide and ella finds me, it's a pretty fun game. i am also starting to wonder if she might grow up to be a lounge singer. i got her a piano from a church consignment sale and she thinks it is the greatest. she laughs and sings and dances while she plays all sorts of fun songs on the piano. she is also forming an opinion about what she likes to eat and makes it very clear when she does not like something, she scrunches up her nose, closes her eyes and sticks her tongue out all while shaking her head back and forth(i'll have to try and get a picture of it). Not only is this week, ella's 8month birthday week, it is also spring break and we spent the beginning of the week at the lake. Ella had a ball, she had more attention than she has ever had and she soaked up every minute of it. she is quite the entertainer! when we were driving back from the lake ella picked out a birthday present, so we sent the picture to her daddy :)

oh and her tooth (the one i've been waiting on for months) is here, it's on the bottom, you can see it if you squint really hard, and it's partner is coming in right next to it...HOORAY for teeth, maybe she won't take after her momer

7 months

ella turned seven months old on the 9th of this month, i took pictures on that very day, but of course i am late getting them out on the blog. anywho, she is such a fun baby, she grins her face off and then scrunches up her nose if she isn't making you smile with just her huge grin. she started to try and crawl at the end of 5months and started crawling like a champ at the end of 6months, now she wants to stand. so she pulls up on her crib, chews on the side rail and waits for me to get in there and get her out. she is still sleeping through the night which is AWESOME (definitely her coolest trick ever) and takes two naps a day. we are still trying to figure out the whole eating/bottle thing. she gets 4 bottles (7,11,3,7) and three meals (7,11,5) per day, but she doesn't take all of her bottles anymore, so i am thinking about dropping one. problem is i have NO idea which one to drop. any suggestions?

she is definitely cutting teeth now, i can see them, two of them on the bottom, the front ones. i have been waiting on these teeth for what seems like forever, not because i was worried, but because she has had all the signs for months and nothing...until now! hooray. she talks all the time and of course her first word is "dada" although i think it is more of a sound than an association; but, none the less, it is a word and we will take it...especially tyson :) okay so i think that is all the new stuff, it is now recorded and i am so grateful because ella does not have a baby book :) purchased one, still looks the very same as the day i bought it.

christmas...a little late

i realized that i never recorded anything about Christmas, so here we go. we enjoyed Christmas eve with tyson's family and then spent the night at my mama's. then after opening presents, eating breakfast and taking a morning nap we headed to reidsville for the annual family Christmas cookout, then we were off to our favorite place: the lake on the 26th. I think ella fully enjoyed her first christmas experience, here a few pictures to remember it by. (p.s. mama has not put up stockings since daddy died, so santa had to get a little creative)

getting geared up for christmas

she loves her daddy

ella was so helpful when we were putting up the lights

ella was getting ready for uncle eddie's good cookin'

she loved warming her feet by the fire

and cuddling with mimi

we always do a family pic in front of the tree in reidsville, normally we also get a group shot, but with so many people missing this year and having to head home early, we just did the individual family photos. tyson, unfortunately, was not able to make it to any of the out of town christmas festivities because he was studying for boards. booo! but not next year, because he passed and is a working man now :)

ella and her cousin emmy

ella and emmy, just chillin'

lilly's christmas present

haha, i just realized ella was still in her hugga bebe...oops! it was early

we had a great christmas 2010

ella's photo shoot

thank you katherine for taking such beautiful pictures of my precious baby girl, i love the simplicity. you did such a good job of capturing her sweet innocence.