Happy Valentine's Day!

 Brent picked Elli up at school holding these three roses.  She was ecstatic:)  I came home to these roses and two boxes of Esther Price candy!  Awesome!

 Elli woke up to this valentine surprise.  The movie Annie and a Pinkalicious book.  She was so happy:)

And finally a picture of pregnant me.  I am 20 weeks 5 days.  Happy Valentine's Day to this little baby boy too!

Happy Birthday Paula

We surprised Paula with brunch at Blueberry Cafe.  Fun group of ladies.

Packed weekend

 Brent's parents came in for the weekend.  We started with dinner at Carrabbas, hanging out Sat, Cedarville basketball game, dinner at Chuck's, dessert at Jenna's, then church and lunch at our house.  Like I said, Packed!  But fun too:)  Aria was blowing bubbles for me.

Elli and Seth were enjoying the game.

Happy 1st Birthday Cody

 Happy Elli.

Happy Cody!

Valentine Party

 Elli and I made a valentine box that looked like a robot girl.  She was quite proud.

They handed out valentines, ate yummy food, and made a craft.  So glad I am able to be at Elli's parties to have fun with her.

Fun with family, Feb 7

 Heather to Gary, "Is she poopy?"  hehehe

 Gloria seems to really like Elli.  Elli seems to really like Gloria:)

 Elli took pictures at Heather's house.  Happy boy!

 Crazy Leah.

 She wanted someone to get her picture too:)

 Cannot get over these chubby happy boys!

 Heather and Leah made a delicious dinner for us.  Thank you for a fun night.

Elli entertaining her cousin at the Super Bowl party.  He was cracking up!

Car washing in Feb

 The weather this week has been incredible. It has been 45+ every day, which means lots of playing outside.  Elli couldn't wait to get in on the fun of washing the car today.

It really has been wonderful to see the sun everyday for a whole week.  That doesn't always happen in Ohio during the last week of Jan and first week of Feb, so we have taken FULL advantage!

Elli's 100th day of School, Feb 3

She had glasses, a silver bun, cardigan, a walking stick, and slippers.  She walked bent over when she walked into class.  Fun times!

Feb 1, 2012 65 Degrees!

 Elli and Emilee were putting on a show of flips and spins in the backyard.

 Posing for me with her bare feet!  She couldn't wait to take her shoes off and play in the grass. I enjoyed lying on a blanket in the sun and watching.  What a great day.

After a couple hours of running and playing outside, the girls came in to work on Elli's 100 items for her 100th day of school.  Conversation hearts!

Family Bowling Night, Jan 28

 Caleb, Madilynn, and Elli at the bowling alley.

 Two handed bowling...

one handed bowling.  She was quite proud that she learned to roll the ball correctly down the lane.  She did pretty well.  She really does enjoy bowling and asks to go often.

Just a regular night

 I made brussel sprouts for the firs time in my married life.  Elli begged me for them in the store and cried when she thought I wasn't going to buy them.  Crazy!  Anyway, I bought them, looked up a recipe online, and created these absolutely delicious sprouts.  Mom and dad came over that night for dinner and witnessed Elli eating her first and second helping:)

After dinner, Dad showed off his helicopter.  Fun times for an ordinary night!

Boon Shoft Museum

 Elli had the best time playing in the pizza restaurant.  Brent and I were laughing at her serious attitude about getting food on the table and cleaning it all up.  She was so cute in her diligence.  She even enlisted the help of the other kids to get our orders done.  We enjoyed pizza, chocolate pepperoni, and lots of pop!

 Brent and Elli were very serious about getting the car made.

 Cracks me up!!!

 Elli and Brent's car raced other cars to to finish line and crossed, which was the only requirement to receive a prize.  They each got a long balloon that when filled with air and released squeals and flies everywhere.  Such fun:)

Roller Skating With Devin

 Devin wanted to surprise Elli and take her roller skating with some friends.  They got her one of these new walkers on wheels and she took off.  She thought it was pretty cool to hang out with the college kids.

She told me Devin was a master skater:)  Love that they can have this time together and make memories.  Devin also picks her up every Thursday from school and takes her to lunch with him.  She really does think it is pretty special.

Some Elli Stories

I just love my girl.

Elli wanted to know how big the baby was so I showed her with my hands, about 6 inches.  She said, "Oh, that must be painful to be that small and have all your parts."

Elli asked me to tell her how much I loved her.  I usually say things like twenty million times around the moon and back or something along those lines.  Since we were in the car, I said, "If we drove in this car for the rest of our lives as far as we could go, over and over, it would still not be enough."  She replied, "That was weird mom, or odd, but could you just tell me in the usual way?"

Elli learned to tie her shoes today.  She is so very proud!

A couple weeks ago while watching birds in our backyard, we began a conversation about how God made males more colorful and why. That lead into many different species of animals, and how the males compete for females. It ended with a description of how female humans are actually more beautiful than the male humans, the male humans spy a female they want, then act crazy to get her to be his. You get the picture? Elli looked at daddy and said, "You are pretty sneaky, huh?"

Elli is gaining confidence in reading and doing more of it.  We are also enjoying reading The Magician's Nephew.

At dinner, Elli asked if we were going to the lake this year. Since we usually go Memorial Day weekend, I said, "Mommy will be very pregnant at that time." Elli said, "Awww, we will miss you."
Elli went to a class at church called Kids 101 tonight to talk about what it means to be a Christian.  Our children's pastor told me that Elli was very mature for her age and said she was able to articulate her love for Jesus and His love for her.  Thankful mommy moment.

There are countless stories from my sweet, funny little girl, but I cannot possibly even begin to write them all down.  She is witty and such a blessing.  Cannot wait to see what an awesome big sister she is going to be.