Halloween Weekend 2009!

We had an awesome Halloween weekend! We started off with celebrating Uncle Josh's 25th birthday on Friday night. He grew this great-looking mustache for the special ocassion...nice huh. She She was happy to see that he shaved it off first thing Saturday morning!

Ellie had fun celebrating with us!

We also had some more visitors...She She...Lollie...

and Poppy!!

The girls headed out to lunch on Saturday and browsed through a few shops, and I think Ellie may have found what she wants Santa Claus to bring her for Christmas this year! We couldn't get her off this horse! She had so much fun!

After eating lunch and shopping, Ellie got a good afternoon nap and woke up raring to go!

Hanging out with Josh before putting on her costume.

Ellie got all dressed, and we headed over to the Lawley's for a little pre-trick or treating party! She got to do some craft activities (which consisted mostly of eating the glue stick!)...

and got to see one of her most favorite people in the world...Anna Spencer or "Spencer" as E calls her!

Then we headed back home to meet the Moores to head out and go trick or treating!
Ellie as a duck and Mallory as a lamb...they were so cute.We also met up with Ellie's new buddy, Douglas, who was a NOLA Saints football player!
First house, Ellie digs in, gets several Rice Krispy treats and tears into them!

Ellie getting some candy...
After about 2 houses she really got the hang of it and started running up to every door! She loved it!
At one point her pumpkin got so heavy she had to throw it over her shouder!
Our trick or treat group...we had a great night and didn't want it to end!

The Moores, Prewetts, and Dellaccios

Boo at the Zoo

Our little duck...

Ellie got all dressed up Friday evening, and we headed to Boo at the Zoo!! After taking all of 2 pictures our camera started acting up, but luckily we ran into our friends Cameron, Beth, and Julia, and Beth was sweet enough to get some pics of our duck for us! This is about all we got...

Getting warmed up for trick or treating next weekend...getting some candy. We still have to work on actually saying "trick or treat!"

Ellie and Julia. Ellie is obsessed w/ babies. She hovered over Julia the entire time we were with them!

Mama and Ellie

E had a great time riding the carousel...well, we did have to rescue her off of the horse she was riding after about 2 minutes. She just wasn't so sure! Then we rode the train in the dark and saw all of the ghosts and goblins. Good thing she didn't actually know to be scared of them! After that we had some popcorn, a Laffy Taffy or two and headed home. The animals weren't out for us to see, but we did get to see a few peacocks which Ellie thought was really cool.

My Big 18-Month Old!

I forgot to mention that my baby turned 18 months old over the weekend!! On the 17th to be exact. Just a couple of accomplishments around here:

-Ellie, you are telling me now whenever you have a "Tee Tee" or a "Stinky" as we call it around here. I see potty-training in your near future!

-You started calling your paci your "sassy" a couple of weeks ago. It's the cutest thing we have ever heard!

-You have become very interested in books lately which makes us very happy. You will actually sit in our lap and let us read to you.

-You still eat just about anything we offer you.

-You add several new words to your vocabulary every day. The funniest is when the dogs are barking and you tell them to "hush." Wonder where you learned that???

-You have started calling everything you're holding "mine" and pointing to yourself. I guess you learned this at "cool."

-You can do your puzzles all by yourself.

-Your new "game" is running from me all of the time! When I'm trying to get you dressed, change your diaper, out in the driveway you head straight to the street and laugh the whole way, and the scariest is when we're trying to get into the car you always run straight for the parking lot!

-You still love playing outside. That's basically all you want to do!

I am sure there are many more that I'm not thinking of, but that's it for now! Happy 18 months sweet baby! It's been the best 18 months of our lives.

Fun Weekend at Lollie & Poppy's

Rusty headed to Chicago for an AllState conference from Weds-Sun of this past week so Ellie and I decided we would take a trip down south to see Lollie, Poppy, & Uncle "Ayee" as Ellie calls Thomas. We have NO idea why, but she for some reason cannot pronounce his name so he has officially become "Ayee!"

Ellie loved playing in the sand in Lollie & Poppy's backyard! Dad poured some sand in order to try and get the grass to fill-in, but Ellie just used it for playing!

On Saturday, Lollie and I took Ellie to a local farm to see and pet some animals. My parents know the people who own this farm, and they raise "cage free, organic" animals which I think is very cool and rare for South Alabama! First, we got to pet the goats which were very sweet...

Just as I thought, Ellie wasn't in the least bit afraid or timid around them...

We also got to see a herd of sheep. They apparently aren't quite as "people-friendly" because this is about as close as we could get. Ellie is chasing them here!

"Cage free" turkeys...

Then we saw lots of chickens!

Ellie is "calling the chickens"

Cutest of all...baby chicks!!! They were adorable!

Lollie, Ellie, and I also made a quick trip over to Wal-Mart in Bay Minette (25 minutes away and the closest to Atmore) to buy Ellie some toys for when she is visiting. Lollie decided she needed some entertainment. We found this Wal-Mart grocery cart and thought it was so cute! She definitely thought so too and enjoyed "shopping" all weekend!

We're back in Bham safe and sound and glad Daddy is back from his trip!

Little Visitor

Ellie had a friend stay with her last Thursday night...Piper Kelton!! The Keltons were coming through Bham on their way to Florida and stayed the night with us. It had been waaaay too long since we had seen them so it was great to get the girls together. Ellie is 4 months older than Piper, but they are at the age now where they have so much in common and had a great time together!This is about the only picture we got of them somewhat posed and standing side by side!

Very typical...Ellie and Lilly harassing Piper for her "nana!"

Sweet.

"Come on Piper, please let me have a bite!"

Rebecca and I attempted to get some shots of them together. Ellie sits, somewhat cooperative, but Piper will have no part in sitting.

Now Piper sits, and Ellie is over the sitting!

Ellie goes in for a kiss!

Let's try the backyard...

Uh, no. Picures just weren't happening this day!

Ellie did find a really good stick though!

As a side note...happenings around our house...Ellie can pretty much reach anything that is on the edge of the kitchen counter I have recently found out! Example...this morning as I was wiping down her tray on her highchair, I hear a lound "splat!" I turned around to see about 8 eggs cracked and smashed all over the kitchen floor! Yep, she grabbed the egg carton that was apparently on the edge of the counter and pulled it right off. Meanwhile, Lilly runs up and proceeds to eat the raw eggs, and Ellie smears her hands all in the mess! All I could do was laugh, and the thought crossed my mind to go and get my camera, but after 15 minutes of clean up I was over the laughter!

Ellie is also still eating anything and everything we give her. After she ate her dinner at church tonight, she proceeded to steal collard greens, black eyed peas, squash casserole, and green beans off of my plate! I mean she literally climbed up onto the chair at the breakfast table and stole food right off of my plate! I thought for sure she'd spit the greens out, but she kept going back for more! She never ceases to amaze me!

Fall is here...

and we sure are enjoying it!

We got our pumpkins and mums yesterday! Ellie loves the pumpkins and doesn't remember them from last year so it was something new and fun for her!

Smelling the flowers...

She's lovin' the new grass! And we are too for that matter!

Daddy got her an orange push pop from the gas station, and she loved every bite of it!

She's also still into climbing! She discovered that I kept fruit in the bowl on the breakfast table and oh what a treat!

Just about every time I grab a banana, it has bite marks through it from you know who!!

"Oh, I love it when Mama just lets me have the bag of Chex Mix to myself!"

Mouth full...So happy!
Ellie is changing every day and saying so many new words. We are just amazed by what she understands and can say. I am quite certain her vocabulary is right on target with where she should be for her age, but her daddy and I are blown away with some of the things she can say! She is very much into her Daddy these days too which I love to watch! I love to see her face light up when he walks in the room...precious.