Look at ME!!

My mom made me model this outfit. It was my Daddy's first Easter outfit so she thought I should try it on.

As you can see, it is a little small on me.

Daddy was SO happy that it didn't fit. For the record, he thought I looked like a girl. He knew that if it fit me my mom would have probably made me wear it for my first Easter. She is sentimental like that...

I didn't mind it all that much. I'm pretty laid back :)

The Flu STINKS!

Yep, the flu has struck my home....and it's HORRIBLE. It started with William last Wednesday. He started running a fever and not sleeping at all! At first, I thought it was just a fever virus and was treating it with Tylenol, but he continued to run a fever and developed a runny nose and cough, so on Friday I decided it was best to take him to the doctor. FLU TEST WAS POSITIVE. Of course, I felt horrible for not taking him in sooner but he really didn't display the usual symptoms of the flu. The doctor put him in some Tamiflu and by Sunday afternoon I could tell he was feeling a little better. Enter Ellison....she begins running a fever early Sunday afternoon. I called the doctor and they called her in some tamiflu, also. She starts it that afternoon and by Tuesday night she is fever free and I think we are finally over it. Jokes on me! Friday morning Ellison wakes up with 101.1 fever. Back to the doctor we go. FLU TEST WAS POSITIVE! Are you kidding me? Was she not just on tamiflu? Isn't that supposed to take care of it? So, we are now back on tamiflu and she is pitiful. She is definitely acting like she has the flu, unlike William did. She basically wants to lay on me or on the couch. Anyone who knows Ellison knows this is not the norm for her. I am hoping that William doesn't catch it again. That would be horrible. I am thankful that haven't gotten it. Only by the grace of God have I stayed healthy. Two babies with the flu breathing and laying all over me and I have felt fine. I guess God knows that sick babies need a healthy Mommy! Hopefully, this flu will be gone in a few days and I can disinfect my house....I am sure the germs are lurking everywhere!

On a side note, I am posting a couple of pics of William. I just thought they were cute and shows what he likes to do now....
He loves to play in his room while looking out of the window. He was so amazed watching this cement truck the other day. He is ALL boy! Any type of truck or car makes him very excited!

This picture makes me laugh. This is the fridge farm. You are supposed to match the animals (ex. horse head to the horse body) and then it plays a cute little song. It also plays Farmer in the Dell. It is a somewhat educational toy which is why I like it so much. William doesn't play with it to learn. He thinks the only reason it is on the fridge is so that he can take it off and throw it so that it makes a loud crashing sound and the song starts skipping. Then he laughs hysterically. Like I said, ALL BOY!

Same thing with the letter magnets. :)

The Birthday Girl is 3!

On February 11, Ellison turned 3 years old! Seriously, did I not JUST have her? Will and I spent the day with her doing all the things she wanted to do. She decided that she wanted to go to Imagine That ( a bounce house in Southside) and then go eat lunch at her favorite restaurant, Pruett's. It was so much fun spending the day with her and devoting all of our time and attention just on her. William stayed with his Gigi. He'll get his turn in April.


The next day was her birthday party. We decided to have a kindermusik birthday party this year. It was so much fun. We hired Kelly Carr (she was fabulous) to come and sing songs and play music with all of Ellison's friends. It was so cute and they all seemed to have a lot of fun! After the music, the kids ate chick-fil-a nuggets, chips and dip, and some fruit. I had to at least have something somewhat healthy. We then sang happy birthday to the birthday girl, watched her blow out her candles and ate some really good cake! The cake was shaped like a guitar and was frosted in pink. Ellison chose the colors and the flavor of the cake (CHOCOLATE)! It was really cute...

Annie, Ellison and Cate

Singing songs with Annie, Cooper and Avery

Dancing! Her favorite thing to do!

We decided to open her gifts at home since little ones tend to have the attention span of a fly. I like that we did that this year because it allowed all of her friends to just have fun and not have to sit while she opened her gifts. Plus, she was able to really see what everyone got her and not be distracted with craziness of the party. She got A LOT of princess stuff. She is all about being a princess and was very excited! She got some books, clothes, and barbies too. Her favorite gift was the disney princess trunk that Will and I got for her. It is full of disney dress up clothes. We also bought her a crown, because every princess needs a crown, and some shoes because we all know an outfit isn't complete without some cute heels!

Princess Ellison

I still can't believe my baby girl is 3 years old. I have heard that 3's are harder than 2's....I am sure I will find out soon! :)

Ellison's 3 year and William's 9 month check-up

William had his 9 month check up last week. He is actually closer to 10 months, but I kept forgetting about his well baby check up. I tend not to think about it when they aren't sick. Everything looks great. He did have an ear infection in his right ear, but I wasn't surprised because he had a cold and he usually develops one if he gets snotty. Anyway, he is weighing in at a whopping 20 lbs 5 oz. He is 49 1/2 in long. He is no longer rolling everywhere. He actually decided that crawling is the best way. He is pretty good at staying where I put him, but he definitely likes to get into things. His new thing is taking all that he can get off of our entertainment center. He is definitely all boy! The more noise he can make the better!

Ellison had her 3 year check up a few days later. She was such a big girl. She did everything that Dr. Snell asked her to do. She was completely healthy! She weighs 30 lbs 2 oz. I didn't catch her height but I do know she is in the 80th percentile. She is a tall girl. She is taller then some of her 4 year old friends! Will had an uncle who was 6'8, so it is in her genes. Hopefully, she will be tall and lean, but not freakishly tall ;) She is getting smarter by the day. Will and I are convinced she has a photographic memory (her grandfather does). We can read a book to her and she can almost immediately "read" it back to us. She knows all of her ABC's and all of the letter sounds. She can count to 20, sometimes higher depending on her mood. She LOVES school. She goes 2 days a week and will continue to go 2 days next year as well. I have a love/hate relationship with how independent she is becoming. She is so sassy! She keeps us laughing and on our toes at all times.

We are very thankful that both of our children are healthy and happy!

9 months old. Am I happy or sad???

William turned 9 months old on January 22. I cannot believe that it has been nine months since I gave birth to him. It literally seems like I was just pregnant with him. Will thinks I am crazy because I get sad the older he gets. It is the same way with Ellison. I just want my babies to stay babies and it amazes me how fast the time flies.

William is the best baby. I am not just saying this. He really is. He is very laid back and good natured. He's not fussy or demanding. He is most happy in his walker following his sister around or in his room playing in the floor with his cars and his basketball goal. He loves to be outside and when it is too cold to go out, he loves to sit in front of the window and watch the cars go by. He is definitely ALL boy! He is not crawling and instead prefers to "roll" everywhere. He does get up on his hands and knees and rocks back and forth, but will always decide to lay on his belly and roll to wherever he wants to go. He weighs around 19 lbs. I have been bad and not taken him to his 9 month well baby visit. I forgot the day we had an appointment. I really should get on that! Anyway, he now has 2 teeth. He got them both within a week of each other. He wasn't too fussy but we had a couple of sleepless nights. He says "mama" and "dada". He has started to wave bye-bye but will do it at random times. He loves to play peek-a-boo and will laugh hysterically if his sister plays it with him. He also likes to throw all the ABC magnets on the floor from the fridge. He LOVES food! He is still on baby food and takes 2 8oz bottles a day. He has had some table food, but not a lot. He loves to eat sweet potatoes from our plate. He thinks they're yummy! He puts himself to sleep at nap times and at night, which is really nice. He still takes a morning nap and an afternoon nap. His morning nap is getting shorter so I am thinking he will cut those out before too much longer. He loves to hug and kiss on me and Will. He gives me more kisses! I think his Daddy's beard tickles him :). He is the sweetest little boy and I am so blessed that God gave him to me. I can't wait to see the new things he will be doing by the end of this month.

Here are a few 9 month pics that my sister took of him...

A Spring Day in January...

Saturday was an absolute BEAUTIFUL day! It was sunny and 73 degrees! The kids and I decided to spend the day at my parents house with my sister and her 3 kids and Luke, my brother's baby boy. It was Eric and Adrienne's anniversary so Mom and Dad were on babysitting duty. It was so pretty that we spent the majority of the day outside. Ellison and Jacob had a blast running around playing and I think William and Luke enjoyed just watching them in the sunshine. My nieces were a huge help, too. They ran after the kids a lot and played with them so that Laurie and I could visit with Mom and Dad. It was a GREAT day! The weather has now turned cold and dreary again, so we are stuck inside most days. We are really looking forward to springtime!

Poppy with his 4 youngest grandchildren. As you can probably tell, William isn't very good at sharing his Poppy! ;)

Sweet Luke! He is such a good baby!

William at 9 months old! He looks like such a big boy!

One of my favorites! He makes this little face all the time!

Ellison being silly at the park. I can't believe she will be 3 in a couple of weeks!

Monkeys in a tree!

"I Got Tee Tee on my Foot"

Friday morning, as I lay in bed, Will had gotten up to eat breakfast with Ellison. While Ellison was sitting at her little table Will told her that he was going to take a shower and that she should finish her breakfast and watch her Backyardigans video. While Will was getting out of the shower, he heard the bathroom door creep open to find Ellison standing there in her undies and nothing else. Here is the following converstaion between my husband and our 2 year old.

Will: "Ellison, where are your PJ's?"
Ellison: "I need new PJ's."
Will: "Why do you need new PJ's?"
Ellison: "My foot got wet."
Will: "How did your foot get wet?"
Ellison: "From the toilet."
Will: "YOU STUCK YOUR FOOT IN THE TOILET?!"
Ellison: "No, from the tee tee. I got tee tee on my foot."
Will: "Could you not get your PJ's off?"
Ellison: Yes...but I took my little potty (SHE DOESN'T USE THE LITTLE POTTY) up to the living room so that I could watch the Backyardigans while I tee teed."
Will: "So you tee teed in your little potty?"
Ellison: "No, I tee teed on the floor and stepped in it.

*Sidenote: At this point William wakes up soaked in his own tee tee...

At this point, I roll over and bury head under the pillow. I mean, seriously, it's not even 7:30. So, Will walks to the living and discovers a pool of urine in our floor. We are still trying to decide why exactly she even went through the trouble bringing her little potty to the living because it was obvious she didn't plan to use it. Will is also wondering how that much urine came out of someone so little.

So, today we are thankful for hardwood floors.

I am way to southern for this stuff....

This past Sunday, January 9, the Gadsden area got some snow....no, let me rephrase...we got A LOT of snow! I am the biggest skeptic there is when it comes to snow in the south. They start talking about us getting snow and I usually just laugh. I feel like the meteorologists always over react and we never get what they "predict". It was no different this time. They were saying we would get 8-10 inches and I was laughing thinking we might get a dusting of snow. However, we were really out of milk, so I did go to the store to get a gallon....not because I thought we would be snowed in for a week, but because I have a 2 year old who drinks milk all the time and we were out of it. People were CRAZY! You would have thought a BLIZZARD was on its way. By the time I worked my way through the crazy people, there was barely any milk left....ridiculous! Well, I guess the joke was on me. When we woke up Monday morning, all you could see was a blanket of white. Ellison was very excited so we dressed warmly (Thanks to my in-laws I was rocking some very stylish early 90's ski clothes) and headed out to explore.


Now, it's not that I don't like snow...I actually do. But, after about 2 days, I am ready for things to be normal again. I like living in Alabama because we normally have very mild winters and I like the heat of the summer. Well, thanks to the snow and then the ICE we were stuck for an entire week. All of the schools were closed, the roads were closed, EVERYTHING was frozen. I may have liked it if I had gotten out of work, but as a stay-at-home mom, I don't get off days (not that I would trade it for anything). So, it was very challenging keeping Ellison and William entertained when we couldn't go anywhere. I really wish I had taken pictures of my house during the week. IT WAS A DISASTER! Every toy, every book, every crayon was scattered all throughout my house. I didn't even bother to clean it up at night because I knew it would look the same the next day. However, I think Ellison and William had a lot of fun being able to bring out all of their toys.


By Friday afternoon, most everything had finally melted off of the roads and we were finally able to get out and do some stuff! It was so refreshing to get out of the house and I think both of the kids agreed. So, where we all had fun in the snow, I hope we don't see anymore for a long time......

Happy Birthday, Jesus!!

Christmas morning was such a fun morning in our home! Ellison woke up at about 5:45 and came stumbling into our room. Thankfully, we were able to put her in bed with us and keep her there until William woke up at 6:30. After we had both kids up and I had at least brushed Ellison's hair, Will turned the Christmas tree on, got the video camera ready and told us we could come to the living room to see all that "Santa" had left! Ellison was so excited! She immediately ran to her doll house and started playing. William wasn't sure what was going on and was just happy hanging out in Mommy's arms. Once we showed him his new racetrack, he was a little more excited! It is LOUD and that makes William HAPPY! Plus, I think he was just excited to actually have some boy toys!!

Some of Ellison's presents (before we hid the scooter)

William's presents

Ellison and her dollhouse

Finally! Some boy toys!

We hid Ellison's DORA scooter until the very end. She surprised us by telling Santa that she wanted a Dora scooter the Friday before Christmas. This was the first that Will and I had heard about this. Needless to say, the next day we were on the hunt for one. Thankfully, Academy had one so Santa's reputation was saved. Anyway, back to Christmas morning...we saved the scooter for last. We asked Ellison if she got everything she wanted for Christmas. At first she said yes, then sadly said "Santa forgot my scooter". I then got up and went to get it while she went back to playing. As I rolled it in the living room she casually glances back then realizes that it's her scooter. She yells "MY DORA SCOOTER!"....cutest thing EVER! She immediately demands we put her helmet on so that she can ride it. I think she stayed on it the rest of the day.



The rest of the day was very relaxed. This was the first year that we stayed at home and it was really nice. Ellison and William got to play with all of their new toys and Will and I were able to enjoy our time together as a family. We played with the kids, I sipped on coffee (I'm addicted now), and we watch the snow fall...yes, we finally had a real white Christmas.

The view from our front door

I think Jesus had a pretty awesome birthday!

Christmas Eve at Mimi and Poppy's

Every year on Christmas Eve we head over to my parents house. My sister and her family are also there. We usually eat lunch, let the kids open presents, eat dinner and then try to get home before Santa Claus comes to our house. This year was no different. I love spending Christmas Eve with my family. I love to watch Ellison and William play with their cousins. I love to spend time with my Mom and Dad and sister. I do miss not having Eric, Adrienne and Luke there, though. Eric's work schedule is insane and he has to be at work both on Christmas Eve and the day after Christmas, so they stayed in Atlanta this year. Hopefully, they will be able to join us in the coming years.

My mom and I in the kitchen!

My niece, Abbie, and I being goofy.

Me, Ellison, Kailyn, Abbie and my Mom. Laurie is camera shy!

I was so excited that this was William's first Christmas. He did not dissappoint. He was excited about opening his presents though I thin kit was just because he liked the wrapping paper. He got some cool little cars from his cousins and he loves to play with them. They are just his size. I think his favorite thing about that day was all of the wrapping paper scattered everywhere. I had to keep getting it out his mouth. Ellison never put anything in her mouth when she was a baby, but I can tell that I will be digging things out of William's mouth all the time. I will definitely have to make sure my floors are clean at all times or he will become my human vacuum.





Ellison was also alot of fun this Christmas. She caught on very quickly to the idea of Santa Claus and came up with a long list of things she wanted from him. Mom got her a Mobigo. For those of you who may not know what that is, a Mobigo is like a hand held video game (this one is educational). As soon as she opened it, she was done. She didn't care about any of her other presents. She hit the motherload with this one. We actually have to set a timer for her so that she won't play it all day! She has actually impressed us with it. She can already do the "difficult" setting and she is only 3 (well, almost 3)!

Pictures are just more fun!

So, obviously I am going to try to catch up on the last few months. However, instead of boring myself and others with detailed descriptions, I decided it would be more fun to just look at some pictures with added captions. Of course, I uploaded them backwards so we will be starting at Thanksgiving and working our way back to Halloween!

Ellison making her ginger bread house. Most of the candy ended up in her tummy instead of the house!

Aunt Jennifer and her "mini-me". Ellison looks a lot like her Aunt Jennifer! :)

William and Uncle Scott

LOVE HIM!!

Me and William (6 months) at the pumpkin patch

Ellison showing us how strong she is!

Ellison letting us know she did not want her picture taken. This is one of my very favorite pictures of her. It is actually framed in her room!

Halloween 2010. William is my big eared mouse!

Ellison is my kitty cat! I think she wore this for weeks before Halloween. She loved to play kitty!

Will after his first half marathon! I am so proud of him!! Hoping to one day run one with him!