Walking and more!

It's crazy how fast little ones change...the day after my last post Ellison started REALLY walking! She had been taking steps here and there for over a month, but in the past week she has really gotten good on her feet. She will cross whole rooms and even bend down to pick things up. She also stops sometimes to dance or bend down and do her little head stand. She still falls down a lot, but the change in just over a week is unbelievable. She is so awesome!!!

Ellison's other new thing is trying to say her name. She will repeat it a few times in kind of a sing-song pattern. It sounds more like, "Ahhh-da, ahhh-da" but we are pretty her name is what she's going for because my mom says "Elli-son, Elli-son" to her in the same kind of sing-song. She moves her head back and forth when she's saying it too, it's really cute! She chatters constantly and there are a lot of times I will think she says words, but there's nothing else new that she is saying frequently. She does seem to understand a lot of what we are saying though!

Ellison was asked by my cousin Kara and her fiance Kyle to be a flower girl in their wedding! It is next year, right around the time E turns 2. They sent her a cute dress with a sweet little note on it. She said yes, of course!

Still working on getting rid of the bottle completely. We have only been giving her a bottle first thing in the morning and at bedtime. Otherwise she gets milk in a cup (she's gotten a lot better with drinking out of all the various cups we have). She still refuses a cup in the morning and will only take the bottle, but at least she doesn't refuse cups of milk all the time anymore!

Not much else new, other than a little strike against her afternoon nap the last few days! She goes down great for the morning one but will just play in her crib during the afternoon (throws out her blankie and animals, takes her socks off and plays with them, talks to herself, walks around...). A lot of people have told me their kids went to one nap when they turned one, but our pediatrician told us to hold on to two naps as long as we can, and I feel like she still needs two, so I am hoping it's just these couple days!!! (she's actually napping for the second time today as I type this, yay)

Cheering for Mommy and Daddy's alma mater!!! Go MARQUETTE!

*Ellison's Favorites Right Now*

Foods: peas, any kind of berries, mandarin oranges, toast with peanut butter, grilled cheese

Toys: singing mailbox, her barn and zoo, blocks, Elefun ball popper, her Elmos (Lol and Let's Rock), Baby Belle doll, Stride to Ride Puppy ("Kevin")

Other things she loves: Barney, Sesame Street, dogs, climbing the stairs, bath time, music, playing with books and keys, sitting in her pink chairs, making giant messes and then trying to walk through/over them, climbing inside her toy bins, bending herself in half while we try to change her diaper

Should have the CD soon for Ellison's 1 year pics so I will be able to post more of those, and hopefully there will be some good pictures from Easter (although not of me, since I have to work all weeked...bummer) coming soon too! Happy Easter everyone!!!

Winter 2012-13

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly baby photo books are the perfect way to preserve your baby's precious moments.

Fall Photo Book

Click here to view this photo book larger

Shutterfly allows you to customize your photo book just the way you want.

13 Months Old!!!

Somehow, another month has gone by. It definitely doesn't feel like Ellison has been 1 for a whole month, but I guess she has! My little toddler continues to amaze me with all the things she can do!!!

13 Months Old on St. Patty's Day!

Miss E still is not fully walking, but she will take a couple of steps to go between two objects (like a table and the couch, or Mommy and Daddy). She will stand on her own for periods of time, but usually ends up dropping down to crawl before she really starts to move.

She's a chatterbox and is constantly talking, but we still don't understand most of it. I'll swear I hear her say a word, but then she won't say the same thing again if we try to prompt her to. I am starting to wonder if I'm crazy when I think she says things! One thing is for sure...once she starts really talking, she isn't going to stop, because her little lips are constantly moving! The newest word we are pretty sure of is "nana" for banana.

Ellison continues to be very demanding at times. She definitely knows what she wants. She will frantically point and get frustrated if we can't figure out exactly what she is trying to get. I think she needs to figure out some more words, that would definitely make life easier for all of us!

Loves to sit in her little chair to eat snacks, drink, and read!

She likes to put our things in interesting places. She thinks everything is a toy! This week I have found my phone in the silo of her Little People farm, the remote in the base of one of her ride-on toys, and a small frog jammed into the ball chute of an octopus toy. So far it just makes me laugh, at least until the day I am desperately searching for my phone or keys and find them in some bizarre place!

Watching Barney at Gramma's

Please let me out?!

Ells thinks she is very funny. She will do something and then look at us to make sure we are laughing. The funniest thing she does is dance whenever music is playing! We have gotten several videos of it over the past couple of weeks. She also will push up to balance on her head, and if we laugh she will do it again. She cracks me up constantly with all of her crazy antics!!! She is a very smiley, happy girl most of the time and is almost always willing to give out kisses :)

That's one way to play with all your toys at once...

Being a goofball

Ells' balancing act

Ellison loves to stack things, knock things over, and try to put shapes in shape sorters or pieces on puzzles. I was so proud of her the first time she got shapes in the right spots! She has started to roll balls and just loves to play, with pretty much anything. She is definitely a smart little lady, and a joy to be around!

Sorting...

Happy 13 Month Birthday to the sweetest, most beautiful little girl I have ever known!!! Can't believe how fast time is flying and how much she has grown!

What a little ham!

Loves her bath time (and insists on having EVERY toy in the tub with her!)

Wink!

Mommy's favorite jammies

Just the cutest!

Checking out the menu at Zaffiro's

Her favorite relaxation spot!

Ellison's 1st Birthday Bash! (Part 2 - Decor and More)

I was really proud of how Ellison's party turned out - from the food, to the decorations, to her adorable outfit! I wanted to share pictures of what it all looked like!

Bought this banner, made almost everything else!

The first thing people saw when they walked up to our front door was a big balloon wreath. I saw it on Pinterest months ago and I had to make one! I think it ending up taking over 250 balloons, for anyone wondering. I am hoping to use it for future birthdays too...the "E" could easily be changed out for another letter!

I went crazy with the Cricut I got for Christmas and made decorations for about a month straight. I kept thinking of more and more things I wanted to make. Eventually I just had to cut myself off! I actually been avoided Pinterest for months before the big day to keep from finding more things we "needed" for the party. Here's some of my creations...

Some of these characters took so long to make...Abby Cadabby especially!

Balloons were provided by Gramma Janis and Grampa Ron'a favorite balloon store. The giant Elmo was a big hit with everyone but the birthday girl, who was terrified of it!

Konneli and I created these tissue poms, inspired by some I found on Etsy. Before we put the faces on, we thought there was no way they were going to turn out, but I think they looked awesome once they were finished. And the faces were done freehand, without the Cricut - except for the cookie - so we were pretty proud of ourselves! (ok, they don't look professional...but we loved them anyway! Can't bring myself to throw them out!)

The tissue poms combined with a banner of Ellison's monthly onesie photos and an arrangement of pictures created my favorite part of the decor!

The blocks said ABC, ELLISON IS 1, 123

We bought the book "Happy Birthday to You!" by Dr. Seuss and had guests sign it with messages for Ellison to read someday.

We also bought fish to fit our Sesame Street theme (like Elmo's fish Dorothy, for anyone who hasn't been watching Sesame Street in recent years). Ellison didn't really care about them, which is probably good considering one died the next day. Dorothy 2 is still alive and well, though...even after we left her alone for the weekend to go to the Dells!

We decided to just do a bunch of snacks rather than a meal...which was probably good since there were 40+ people jammed into our place and we still had TONS of food leftover. There was another counter with food (all kinds of dips) but I guess I didn't get a picture of that...it was hard to take pictures, watch Ellison, and pay attention to guests!

My favorite food was Sesame Street character fruit and veggie trays, which I found before I banned myself from Pinterest! Jay was a huge help making them!

Blueberries, blackberries, fruit dip with blueberry eyes

Tomatoes, carrots, veggie dip with black olive eyes

Broccoli, red and yellow peppers, black olives, veggie dip with olive eyes

Pineapple, mango, strawberry, fruit dip with blueberry eyes

I made E and 1 sugar cookies, and also some "everything" cookies (I don't know really know what to call them, but they always turn out delicious - they have 2 kinds of chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, and mini M & M's). Grampa Ron provided some cookies as well!

Ellison's cakes were purchased by Grandpa Jeff and Grandma Nancy at Sam's Club

Ellison's smash cake had a really cute Elmo candle but I didn't get a good picture of it on the cake! Here's the candle and one with the cake from afar...

Ellison's tutu and onesie were made by my friend Meg. Her cute shoes were a birthday gift from her little buddy Ava. And I made the Elmo bow!

I'm so glad the party turned out well, because WOW, is planning a birthday party stressful! I spent so much time searching for ideas and finding parties I knew I could never duplicate (a lot of party bloggers are obviously either stay at home moms, have party planners, or both!) but it ended up exactly as I pictured it! Hopefully Ellison will like looking at pictures of it someday...I only wish I had gotten more! :)