Ellie turned 1!

She had a really great first birthday!

We filled her room with balloons while she was sleeping.

Biscuits and gravy for breakfast!

Opening her presents from Momma and Daddy.

She figured out the paper made a fun sound when it  tore.

"I've got this Daddy"

So fun!

She carried this baby around for quite some time, so sweet.

Baby needs her soothie.

Having some food at her party.

She didn't eat a bite of her cake, she just played in it.

There were lots of presents to open.

By the end of the party she was ready for her nap.

Fall Fun

Here are the promised pictures from the pumpkin patch with Ellie. She had so much fun running around and playing with everyone. It was a great day!

And here is the pumpkin decorating:) This was so cute!

We also celebrated Brent's birthday with family. We went out to eat at Champs then came home for some dessert and football. Poor Ellie was so tired from a long day but she loved spending time with all of the family.

She's almost one!

Wow, I am such a slacker! I just realized it has been over a month since I have posted anything about our sweet baby girl. We have been so busy enjoying life with a young toddler that I have not even thought to get on and update, my apologies!

This last month has been full of exciting adventures, many tumbles and some new communication. We were so excited to go to the zoo, thanks to Uncle Erich for giving us some tickets, and Ellie loved it! There was a little petting zoo, which was her favorite part, along with lots and lots of people and animals to wave to and stare at. It was so cute watching her little expressions as she looked at the strange animals.

This was the first animal she saw, her eyes were huge:)

In the petting zoo, she looked so tiny.

She had a hard time petting them, they kept running away.

Feeding the goat.

Her first Merry-go-round ride

She couldn't figure out why she couldn't touch some of the animals

Ellie made a little friend at the tiger exhibit.

  

These little penguins were so cute.

Again, she really wanted to touch them all.

She had to much fun!

 Ellie is also learning to communicate a little bit. We have been trying to teach her some baby sign for a long time but it has taken her a little while to pick it up. However, she now signs "eat" "more" and "all done!" It's so cute and so convenient. She is also starting to mimic what we are saying. We think she says "doggy" and she barks like a dog too! It is so funny to watch her chase Chloe around the house barking at her:)

We have also created a little eating monster! She loves to eat, anything and everything. Her newest favorite food, popcorn! As soon as we get out the popcorn maker(we make ours on the stove) she goes crazy. She grabs our legs and yells and makes as much noise as she can to try to entice us to give her some, now!

A lazy Sunday afternoon eating an apple.

She can actually bite it with her one little tooth.

Our favorite bed time snack, popcorn.

"And when mine runs out, I just eat daddy's"

She also knows where Daddy's Reese stash is and how to get them out:) 

I hope you enjoyed our little update. We are going to pick Ellie's first pumpkin this weekend! I will post pictures from the farm next week hopefully.

Videos

Ellie playing with Chloe...so cute!

Ellie going after the vacuum cleaner, and walking around the living room

Fun

Wow, things have been crazy around here, crazy in a good way. Ellie is all over the place, she is officially a walker, though she still falls a lot. It is so fun watching her get all over the place and discover new things. She is getting into a lot of things she shouldn't but she is finding a lot of fun things too. She keeps me on my toes but I love it, we have so much fun all day. She is playing will Chloe a lot now and learning how to be more gentle with little Michael. We have also discovered this summer that Ellie LOVES water. Any kind of water, the bath, the hose, the squirt bottle and the spray ground at the Greene, she couldn't care less if she gets sprayed in the face. Here are some updated pictures.

Just crawling around

Ellie and Daddy watching a band at the Greene, our outdoor mall.

"Hmm, they are pretty good I guess."

She danced herself right off of the edge.

She found the sprinklers and loved them!

She had so much fun splashing around and watching the other kids.

"Yay"

We also got a new car! We were out growing our Fit so we up graded to a Mazda 5. I was a little hesitant to get a "minivan" but this car really is fun to drive and the perfect size for us. Ellie loves climbing around in it, when it's not moving of course, and playing with all the toys that we have stashed for her. 

We have so much more room! 

Our house finally got the updates that took almost a year to do. We had a storm about 11 months ago that damaged our awning, gutters and roof a little bit so our insurance paid to have them all replaced. We were so excited to get rid of the old, ugly awning! It looks so nice now.

Our house when we bought it in 2009

Awning gone!

The new one in progress.

The finished product, we love it!