April Showers bring... LOTS OF FUN!

Spring is here and our family is staying busy, enjoying every minute! It is hard to believe next week Ella Ruth will be 17 months old! Time flies when you are having fun! This spring our family has had some very exciting adventures. The first was putting our home on the market. We have always had faith in God's timing but were thrilled when we went under contract in just seven days! We plan to close on our home June 7th! Our dream of moving closer to home while living the "country life" is coming true! Aside from the house excitement we have also been having lots of fun as a family. A few weeks ago we traveled to Asheville to celebrate a special little girl's second birthday. While were were there I also got to visit my college friend Chelsea. We even got to meet her precious new twin girls which was so much fun! I am so blessed to have such sweet girlfriends in my life! It was a funs spending time with my mom as well! For Easter we went to the beach. ER loved the beach but was not so thrilled about the indoor pool. We were lucky to have gorgeous weather so we were able to hang on the beach every day! She liked digging, stepping in puddles, running form the waves, chasing dogs, dancing to music, and making friends. She had a great time and so did we! She even experienced her first Easter egg hunt right on the beach! During spring break we also visited the zoo for the first time. Ella Ruth enjoyed watching the animals. She enjoyed Africa but fell asleep after lunch before we made it to North America. She is going to stay with her Nana and "Pa" in a couple weeks while we go to a wedding adn they are planning to go back. Maybe this time she won't miss all the North American fun! It is hard to believe summer is right around the corner. I feel like every time I post on here I am saying that. I guess it is a good reminder that time passes quickly and that we sure truly enjoy every moment.

Holiday Wrap Up

It is hard to believe another holiday season has come and gone. Last year during Christmas we were still getting adjusted to life with a one month old baby. I felt as if I spent the majority of our time with family in a room nursing or pumping! Much has changed since last year! Instead of holding a sleeping baby most of the time we spent our days chasing (yes chasing) a one year old who was into everything! She loved "entertaining" our family by showing off her newest tricks. She mostly loved each of the new trees she got to "looook" at. She is a mess (in a sweet way of course) and becoming more of a real toddler each and every day. We have decided that parenting is starting for us. Let's just say we are using the word NO a lot more often these days!

Here is are some pictures from our celebrations. We enjoyed every minute. I go back to work tomorrow! I am sad to see this time come to an end but I know ER is ready to see her friend and favorite dog tomorrow at Mrs. Megan's house.

Our Baby is One!

It is hard to believe that a year ago we were celebrating Thanksgiving from a hospital room. I can still remember the day like it was yesterday although Preston says I have a skewed view of how long everything took (we were there all day but in mind mind it seems like a few hours). What I remember most from that day were the overwhelming emotions we experienced. In one single moment my life was forever changed. I felt a sense of love, pride, and joy that I had never felt before. It was a truly amazing day and weekend.

This weekend while celebrating I have experienced many more emotions. I find myself tearing up just thinking about how fast these past twelve months have gone. I wish I could snap my fingers and start back over again. I swear you never believe anyone when they say "it goes fast" but it does... a little too fast.

Tomorrow we will celebrate with our closest family and friends with a "back yard carnival." We are really excited about it. My mom and I joke that this is practice for her wedding because it has gotten a bit out of hand. Our philosophy is that you are only one once so we are going all out! Even though ER won't remember, I hope she will be able to look back on the memories we made and appreciate the effort we made!

Friday we celebrated her birthday all day! After her favorite breakfast and long morning nap we ventured out to a newly renovated park downtown. Needless to say with the holiday it was a bit hectic and crowded but we still had a great time. She loved walking around (yes - we have walker now!) and meeting new friends. She really enjoyed watching the train and boats too. After we got home and her afternoon nap was over we gave her her birthday present from us. We gave her a Smart Trike and she loves it! She keeps opening the blinds to look outside at it. She also points at it too. That is our hint that she is ready to go for a ride! To celebrate we invited the grandparents over for dinner and cupcakes. We had a yummy steak dinner with pumpkin cupcakes. ER loved her cupcake! She picked it right up and tried to put the whole thing in her mouth. I hope she will do the same with her cake at her big party! Everyone had a great time and enjoyed reminiscing about the past year. We are really lucky to have such supportive parents in our lives. I don't know what we would do without them! Ella Ruth sure does love them!

Here are some pictures from the big day!

Future Meredith Girl?

This afternoon ER and I visited Meredith College, my alama mater. We originally went to participate in a young aluma pumpkin painting event, but quickly realized that wasn't really for us yet. Since we were already on campus I grabbed my camera and took ER to the quad area to take a few pictures. I am really excited about how they turned out. I have to say... strolling my baby girl around Meredith's campus was a surreal moment for me. I cannot wait to make visiting Meredith an annual tradition for our family. Hopefully as ER goes up she will begin to see herself going there. If she doesn't that is okay too. Either way I just hope our daughter will have an amazing time in college, making lots of lasting friendships. Just like her mommy did.

Love a Fair...

Is it really already October? October means three things in our home... football, pumpkins, and the FAIR. I cannot begin to tell you how obsessed I am with all things fair. Second to Christmas the fair was my favorite "holiday" growing up. I absolutly love everything about it. The rides, the food, the exhibits, the people watching. Most of all I enjoy spending time with my parents and grandmother (it is a family tradition of ours). This year I was especially excited because it would be ER's first trip! On Saturday we ventured our early to try to beat the first weekend crowd. We had a great time. The weather was perfect and the crowd really didn't show up until we were on our way out! Our only regret was missing the pig races! :) Overall ER's first trip to the fair was a huge success!

The Past Six Months

It is hard to believe ER will be one in a month and a half! Where has the time gone? She is truly a blessing and we are enjoying the little changes that are happening each day. She is becoming more idependent and mobile each day. Currently she is working hard to stand on her own. She cruises from place to place around the room and she is now walking behind her walker. I don't think it will be much longer before we have a walker on our hands.

This summer we had many fun family adventures. Between beach trip ER learned many new tricks. Her biggest trick was learning to crawl (July 4th week)! She also got two teeth that week too! It was fun being with family while sharing these big milestones. At her six month appointment ER weighed 15 pounds 6 ounces. She was also 26 inches long. She was still in the 30% for her weight but 50% for height. Everyone things she is younger for her age. At her nine month appointment in August she weighed 19 pounds and was 28.5 inches long. She finally made it into the 50% for weight and is in the 75% for height. She is growing perfectly and we are so proud of her!

This fall she has enjoyed visiting a pumpkin farm, fun play-dates with her new friends, many trips to the park swings, a trip to the mountains, and her first train ride. She is having a blast and so are we! At this time ER is enjoying learning how to feed herself! She is a great eater! Her favorite foods include pasta, peas, mac and cheese, cheese, apple sauce, carrots, and yogurt. She is also a new fan of baby oatmeal. She is obsessed! She really enjoyed black beans the other day but boy did we have our hands full with gas the next day!

Here are some pictures to catch you up on the last few months! I am going to try to work harder to do monthly updates! Here's to trying! Enjoy!

Happy Halloween from our Family to Yours!

Treat N Greet Halloween

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