Elli's first Easter Egg Hunt

Our Care Group from church had an Easter Egg hunt for the kids. It was very cute watching Elli and the other young ones find their eggs. Elli caught on rather quickly developing a winning phrase, "Open. I want snack!"

Open and Close

Elli can now turn the handles on doors to both open and close them. This door got her though. Brent and I heard her saying, "Uh Oh. Uck" from the other room. This is what we found:)

Happy Birthday Gea

I let Elli pick out Leah's birthday paper and she took it seriously. She looked through lots of wrapping paper and decided on Sesame street paper. She helped wrap Leah's presents as well. When we got over to mom's to celebrate, Elli threw the presents at Leah!

Her shirt says "Happy Birthday Gea" since Elli calls her Gea. She had fun playing in the tent (blanket over her head) with Leah as well. Then, once she knew there was going to be cake for dessert, she kept saying "I want cake." She finally got some cake. Heather was scooping ice cream and when Elli realized she didn't have any, she loudly repeated "Hebo, Hebo (Heather)" until Heather gave her a scoop. I tell you, the bocat, (chocolate) monster has arrived! It was a very fun night.

Ta-Da!

Elli and I watched some cheerleading competitions on TV not too long ago and she has come to like to show off her moves. Here she is doing the "spits", splits, and saying "ta-da!" She will also hold my hand and put her leg in the air, also saying ta-da as loud as she can. What a funny little girl. I guess this is another thing she cannot help but do. It truly is in her blood.

Little Talker

The joke at our house is that Elli cannot help but to be a talker, she is with me most days! She enjoys talking on the phone too as you can see. She can have a whole conversation of "uh-huhs", "ess", "giggle", and "bye-bye." Here she is talking with her Aunt Gea and really relaxing. Look at how cute her little legs are:)

Butt Prints

In our last big snow, or blizzard-like conditions, the snow ended up being very deep. Elli really enjoyed playing in it. When the snow was shoveled, she could sit on it. Therefore, the butt prints pictures!

Email Cookies

Elli and I made "Email", oatmeal, cookies together for her Awana group at church. This was our first mother-daughter baking session where Elli really helped. She put the ingredients into the mixer, she helped stir, and even licked the spoon when we were done! She did a good job but her favorite part was stealing them from the other kids that night at church. You have to eat fast when Elli is around!

Eggs and Becatch

Elli really likes eggs now for breakfast. When we were in Indianapolis, she wanted eggs for breakfast. We were eating at the hotel restaraunt, so there were nice table linens as you can imagine. I ended up having to apologize for the amount of ketchup on Elli, the table cloth, the napkins, the floor, and all the dinner ware! They were all good sports about it and were laughing with Elli as she was turing on the charm. Later when I asked what she had for breakfast, she said "becatch" (ketchup).

Indianapolis

Brent had a conference in Indianapolis so Elli and I decided to go as well. Since Brent was gone during the days, Elli and I shopped, played in the hotel room, rode the escalator and went on walks around the lobby. Then, when daddy got home, we went swimming! Elli hasn't gone swimming since the fall but she squealed and laughed and wanted "mo, mo" swimming.

Goguk and Email

Elli told me she wanted to eat "goguk and email" for "bekpast". You can understand my confusion again. What she actually wanted after a few trials and errors, was yogurt and oatmeal for breakfast. What a cutie!

Finger Painting!

Okay, so those of you who know a little about me know I don't like messes. So, this was a big deal for me. I of course had a box of wipes nearby, a plastic full body bib, and lots of distance between me and the budding artist. Elli enjoyed her painting experience, but soon into the project held her hands out to me and said, "ucky. Wipe!" I am afraid I am raising a "mini me:)" But, as you can see, she has created her first finger painting masterpiece! This will be on the refrigerator for days so please stop by to see it.

E'Ee sit, "Uh-Oh", "Bunny Runnin"

When Elli sees these pictures, the title is her remarks about them. The first picture is Elli sitting on the deck stairs, which is about as close as she got to playing in the snow. The second is Elli falling off the slide and landing in the snow. The last is Elli looking at the place where we saw a bunny run from. She was sad and cried for the bunny. She would say, "Bunny runnin. Bunny hidin. Bunny! Bunny!" We searched the woods, but of course the bunny was indeed hiding from us! Fun day in the snow.

Lookout. Future Runway Star

She is pretty cool isn't she? Decked out in new swimsuit with matching shoes and of course, the "papis"!

Like mommy, like baby!

This is a picture of me at Elli's age right now. Any similarities?

Amazing Grace

I was singing Amazing Grace to Elli this evening to the best of my ability:) She laid her head on my chest and patted me while I sang. When I would get to the end of a verse she would whisper, "mo, mo." (more) About halfway through the last verse she said, "E'ee heart." Meaning, she could hear her heart. I asked if she heard her heart and she said , "uh huh." Then I asked if she heard my heart. She said, "mommy heart." Then she patted my back as I continued to sing. Moments like these bring tears to my eyes as I realize what a sweet blessing Elli is. Pray that God will draw E'ee's heart to himself as she grows. God can hear your heart, so what is it singing right now?

Ginky Gunk

As you can see, Elli helps herself these days to a "gunk" otherwise known as a snack. Well, in the car the other day, we passed through a stinky skunk. I said, "Oh Elli, that is a stinky skunk." She then plugged her nose and said, "ginky gunk." Do you now see my confusion? She could mean a skunk or my food, the "gunk!" If Brent starts saying, ginky gunk, we'll know it's the snacks!

Cute little me

This outfit from Aunt Gea is so adorable on Elli. She didn't really like the hat this day, but she made some fun faces. She looks funny when she says, "cheese!" Oh well. How can you resist that face?

Pee-Pee in the potty again!

Okay, so this picture has nothing to do with pee-pee, but Aunt Gea (Leah) got her a new outfit with this adorable hat and she had to put it on!

And, yes, Elli went pee-pee in the potty again tonight. She told us she had to go "po-ee" even though she was mid-poop! Oh well, we took up to the potty and ran her bath water while she let loose! She was very proud as were we. I think our plans of not teaching her until we return from vacation in May are out the window. Hey, the more stops while driving to Myrtle Beach the better, right?

If only I could...

... fall asleep when mommy is making dinner.

...fall asleep on my tummy with my butt in the air.

...fall asleep in the car and let mommy and daddy carry me into the house and chnage me!

It's all fun 'n' games until...

you run into the wall with a big box on your head!

Mommy Sanunch

Elli really likes to take a bite of my sandwich at lunch time. This day she decided she needed to hold my sandwich. Then she said"Mommy no, E-ee sanunch." As you can see, she got two, I got none!

Say Cheese

I asked Elli to look at the camera and say "cheese." This is the face I got as she was saying cheese. Her Aunt Leah got her this adorble dress to wear. She likes the tights too!

Laundry

Elli was being very helpful with the laundry as you can see. She asked to "sit" inside the basket and then she hadned the clothes to me. How fun to be this small and climb in small spaces.

Pee-Pee in the Potty

Today is a big day and quite a surprise. Elli asked today if she could go potty. I stripped her down and put her on the potty and she peed all by herself. She was very proud and I praised her over and over. We haven't even started working on potty training so once again I am blown away by our little girl. She is growing so quickly!

Just my size

I wanted to get Elli her own sized table and chairs, so we picked up this little table at Aldi. I set it up with a snack for her and then got her up from her nap. She was excited and went right over like she knew exactly what to do. She got up in a chair and dug right in with the cutest little shy smile you've ever seen. She even invited the "goggy" to "dit" with her to enjoy a "gunk." (doggy, sit, snack :)

I'm Awake!

These are pictures of Elli waking up from a nap. She is so sweet and ususally is ready to play and give me lots of hugs when she wakes up. This time she was playing all kinds of games in her crib. She was hiding in the corner, playing peek-a-boo through the slats, and saying cheese for me to take her picture. What a fun little girl she is.

Papa Dit

Elli received this chalk board easel and chair from her great aunt Cheryl for her 1st birthday. We have finally set up a play corner in our basement where she can sit at it and write her name. Granted it looks nothing like her name but she tells me she is making an e, l, l, i anyway! This belonged to my dad, Elli's papa. So, when she sits in the chair, she says, "papa dit." Meaning, "I am sitting in Papa's chair."

Bockat

Elli has the sweetest little words. She likes chocolate but pronounces it "bockat." So one day, Brent decided he was going to work with her on saying it correctly. Here is the conversation:
"Elli, can you say ch?"
"ch."
"Ch- chocolate."
"ch-bockat."
"Try to say ch."
"ch"
"Ch-chocolate."
"bockat-ch"
Isn't she so smart?!

Bath Time Hide Out

Elli plays a game now when it is time for her bath. She carrries her towel into the bathroom and lays it on the floor while we get the water ready. When we tell her to take her diaper off, she runs and hides in the closet behind the clothes. When you get close to her she giggles and then pushes the clothes aside to say, "boo!" How cute! The funny thing is that Fergi also hides in the closet when it is time for a bath. I too have hidden in the cloest when it is time for baths. Quite cozy though hard to get out:)

Stroller for all

"Mommy, canu push." Interpretation, "Mommy, I will push the candles."

Elli really likes to play with the stroller her aunt Leah got for Christmas. She pushes it around the house and around the house, and aro.... Okay, so she hangs baskets on it to get more things to push. She also now is really interested in smelling canus, candles, and found my stash one afternoon. She loaded up the stroller and took them for a ride. She could have passed out from bending over to sniff them!

Cookie Jesus!

Elli loves cookies and has for a while now. The story about cookie Jesus goes back to when Brent and I returned from Italy. We had just lost Michael so our wonderful Sunday School Class was bringing us meals. One family brought some chocolate chip cookies. We decided to let Elli have her first whole cookie all by herself. When we handed it to her I asked her to say thank you and she said, "Cookie, Jesus!" As you can see by this picture though, we have two cookie monsters in the house. Thank you Jesus for even the small things like cookies!

The B-I-B Elli

Elli and I like to sing songs often during the day. This past week we have been singing The B-I-B-L-E. The only thing is when I end the song by saying, "The B-I-B-L-E" she yells "Elli!" I think she does this because the last two letters sound like I am saying her name. So cute.

Cute things I do!

Elli likes for me to put her "kiki on." She will do this throughout the day. One her her first three word sentences was "kiki on baby." I was impressed! What a sweet little face.

That's right. Elli in style. She is wearing her "gasses", her purse, and pushing her stroller. She will go around and around our house, stopping every now and then to say, "Hep oo" which means, "help you" when she gets stuck or if her baby's blanket comes off! She is so cute and her vocabulary is growing still. She amazes us each day with new words!

On New's Year's eve, Elli was enjoying relaxing with daddy, waiting for the ball to drop, and eating some pop corn. What a snuggly little girl you are in those jammies!

Surprise it's 2008!

Surprise! It's 2008 already. It sort of snuck up on us like a game of "Pee-Bo" We enjoyed time with our care group last night as we rang in the new year with 6 children under the age of 5 all partying until the ball dropped! Elli hung in there showing only small signs of being tired. (hitting other children, being very possessive of toys, etc.!)
Happy New Year everyone.