Go Noles!

I think the Seminoles just needed Ellie behind them. Here she is watching the FSU vs. NC State game and we WON...first time in weeks!

 

Day with Daddy

Dad had a great day spending the WHOLE day with Ellie. Mom was out working and Dad got baby all to himself. Here are few highlights...

Exercise Time!

Here's a video of Ellie on the diaper-changing table. She's looking up at her little pink friend who plays music and has lights. She is going to town with her leg exercises. She had just woken up from a nap and is ultra happy to be up and moving...as you can see!!! Moose had to check out all the action for himself.

The debut of the bow!

Ellie's hair is now long enough for a little clip-in bow! We got these cute bows from a Modern Salon & Spa friend (of course!) and they look fabulous on little Ellie. So far, she has debuted the white bow and the pink bow. Now no one will ever think "she" is a little boy! :)

Cousins!

Cousins Isabella & Emma came over last week. I watched the girls and as you can see, they watched Ellie. It was a great trade-off. :)

Can't wait to see these three grow up together! They love her to pieces.

Gloworm + Halloween Socks = Cute

Before we get to the Halloween + Gloworm = Cute portion of this blog, here are a few close-ups. Here are a few glimpses of our famous diaper-changing fun. She's changed so much, right!?

Spikey hair lady!

She's starting to look at the camera! She makes eye contact now and will definitely smile at you when you do make eye contact. Now if I could just get better about quickly snapping the pic when she is smiling...

And here is a preview of Halloween '09....

Ellie and her Gloworm pal. She loves to stare at it when it "glows" and the music is entertaining, too. Did the old Gloworm (the one I had as a kid) have music? I don't recall!?! Don't you love the Jack-o-Lantern making his way into the picture? :)

Bundled Up!

Charlotte is just starting to have some chilly days. We took a walk on this evening and wanted to make sure Ellie was nice and bundled! We got this adorable and warm snuggly-thing from Amy & Carlo Martini. Thanks guys! It's half blanket/half onesie and Ellie sure was bundled. This little contraption kept her warm and is almost a sure-fire way to make any baby sleepy.

Sarah's 28th Birthday!

I had a great 28th birthday! Ellie and I spent the morning together and she was a gem. She knew it was my birthday so there was lots of smiling and cuddling. Then, Thomas came home early from work and brought me a cupcake! Later that night, we went to dinner at Fig Tree. Great day! A few days later my FSU gals and Brian took me to dinner at a new restaurant called Good Food. We had a great time catching up, had delicious wine, and even better food & desserts. They got me a fabulous birthday gift-a gift certificate for a day at the spa at the brand new Ritz-Carlton in Charlotte! I'm so excited to check out the new Ritz and to have a relaxing massage or facial. Perfect new mom gift!

Emily stayed home with Ellie so I could have a grown up night out. Thanks everyone!

Courtney was in charge of dessert and picked up this yummy raspberry cheesecake from Dean & Deluca. We had a great dessert display as you'll see...

Courtney and her mom (Linda, who was in town for the week) went dessert crazy and also got some cute tarts from Amelies French Bakery. We all enjoyed immensely!!! This is BEFORE

And AFTER. I promise I didn't do the damage all alone!

Here are the girls! Courtney, Linda, Chelsea, Me, and Laura. Five years in Charlotte together...Nine years celebrating bdays together!

The girls and Brian :)

A few More Mtn Pics...

Ellie is staring right at Grammy. Thank goodness Ellie likes having her diaper changed! What I sometimes think will be a quick trip to the diaper-changing table turns into a 10-minute play time because she just loves to lie there and smile, coo, look around. She only cries when she is starving and I am forced to change her ASAP in order to avoid a serious mess. I won't go in to details...but in case you were wondering, poopy stains don't come out!!!

Her little lips are to-die-for!

Hiking! Ellie had a great view of the nature trail, don't ya think? Just kidding. Her view was pretty limited but she was napping anyhow. Fun times in NC!

Laundry Time

I bet Thomas thought Mommy was the only person in the world who likes housework...until he saw these pictures of Ellie. Turns out she loves doing laundry!!!

I have on funny socks that are too big. Mommy thinks I'm cute laying in a basket.

La la la la la.
I laugh and I smile, I coo and I wiggle. La la la la la la la.

I have Cookie Monster on my diaper. I am laying on my shirt and my onesies. La la la la la. Almost time for bed, can't wait to have sweet dreams.

Goooooood niiiiighhht!!!! La. la. la.

Mountain Trip!

Thomas, Ellie, and I went with Grammy & Grandpa to the NC mountains (close to Asheville) over the weekend. We celebrated my bday, Thomas' upcoming bday, and the leaves changing! The house was lovely and cozy and the weather was perfect: rainy, chilly, then clear, and still chilly! Check out our Wolf Laurel adventure...

Before we got to the house we stopped in Weaverville for lunch. It was raining lightly so Ellie was snuggling up to Mom and wearing her blankie for cover. Ellie experienced her first Gallery here. Weaverville (like Asheville) had lots of cute little shops and many arts/crafts galleries. The gallery we went to had a lot of woods pieces, glass art, and jewelry. Grammy was excited Ellie was already exposed to great art! :)

Lunch time! This cute shot was taken at the Sunnyville Cafe.


We made it! And after all that cold rain, we were ready for a great fire. First of the season!

Ellie & Mom just chillin. :) She is such a big girl. She wanted her own cushion.


View from the porch


Thomas & I played Scrabble Sunday morning while Grammy & Grandpa took a hike. Before Thomas drew new letters after his turn, these were his letters. Promise! He had them all mixed up and then reazlied what they could spell. How special.

Here's Little Miss with her hat on...still chilly!
We were on our way to the top of the mountain to go hiking.

Ellie on her first hike.

Grammy!

Ah...Good Morning!

This was "late" Sunday night and Ellie just did not want to sleep upstairs. Guess she knew all the fun we were having downstairs. Snuggly, swaddled baby.

This is just before the ping-pong match started downstairs! Dad beat Thomas. Dad beat Sarah. Mom & Dad beat Thomas & Sarah. We were pretending to be Florida State and Mom & Dad were Georgia Tech. It was fun, just not successful.

Snuggly, swaddled baby on Monday morning with Dad. It was sooo foggy.

Close up.

On our way back to Charlotte we stopped in Asheville for a little shopping and a beer at the Bier Garden. We bought fudge and a stuffed owl for Emily. Good times.

Thanks Grammy & Grampa for coming all the way from FL to spend a

mountain weekend with us!

Love, Ellie

Just Another Day...

Hanging out again on Mommy's bed. She loves the fan! :) She smiles a lot when she's playing here...just couldn't quite snap a picture of it.

Here is Ellie in her bouncy chair. It has fish, water, bubbles, etc sitting in front of her, but she always prefers to look to the side. Go figure! And there's her favorite rattle. I actually don't think she's ever noticed the rattle, but I figure one day she'll notice that when she moves her arm it rattles. It's cute until then.

Aerial shot. (See all the fun things one would think would catch her attention?!)

I. AM. ZONED. OUT.