Ellen is now ONE

My sweet baby girl turned one on December 8th. Where has the time gone? She has grown from that little infant that just went everywhere I went over the past year into this little girl who has fought to make her presence known! She really loves to be out and about. She will not nap unless she is convinced that she won't miss anything! She is not walking yet. She can "lightning" crawl because the second she hears me open the dishwasher, she is there in a heartbeat. She loves to see what awaits her in there! She stands alone and cruises. She waves and blows kisses, and can say several words, like Mama, bye-bye, night-night, Daddy, more, Elmo. Billy even got her to say "Roll Tide" tonight! :) Her favorite food is banana. She adores her brothers and sisters. She has eight teeth now and her hair is getting very curly in the back.
We celebrated her birthday at home with family. She had a great time at her party, eating two whole cupcakes and showing everyone her "tricks."

December snowfall

We woke up December 5th to a little surprise, about a half inch of snow! Well, that wasn't the first time we were awakened...William woke me around 4 am vomiting beside my bed. This was after Henry vomited while riding through the Galaxy of Lights at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens. (I was in the back seat of the van between Henry and William. Let's just say I am so glad there was a plastic bag in the car!) Ellen had been sick with a stomach virus earlier in the week, and was still having stomach "issues." I changed an icky diaper in a restaurant just before we headed to see the lights! Anyway, I digress... The snow was beautiful, although it didn't last very long. William was still under the weather and didn't feel like venturing out. Maybe January will bring more snow!

Fast forward

I have not abandoned the blog. One of my new year's resolutions is to keep it up! I think I had got so behind that it seemed like an impossible feat to catch up. And, since I have not been keeping up with photo albums, much less a scrapbook, for my kids, this just seemed like the easiest thing to get going again. Oh, to have everything organized would be such a great feeling, but that's never going to happen!
The fall has been especially busy, with lots of appointments, parties, and family fun. Everyone has been healthy except for a cold or a short-lived stomach virus here or there. :) That's something to be thankful for!

Visiting Grandma


Going to ballet class in our Halloween costume


Into everything!


Ready for my preschool Halloween party!


Trick or treat!


Henry's school party


William's school party


Rebecca's school party



Ready to trick-or-treat in the neighborhood


Finishing the soccer season


Enjoying the beauty of fall





The day Henry decided to put bubblegum in Ellen's hair, "just to see what would happen"


Dance class exhibitions





Daisy Scout Investiture


Making cookies


Preschool Thanksgiving program and lunch




Thanksgiving at Granddaddy's and MawMaw's

A few pictures

Crawling

A lazy, rainy Saturday

One down with swine flu

Feeding ducks at the park with friends

Enjoying a little sunshine





Bama homecoming

Soccer--the Sharks

These pictures were taken at the boys' first soccer game on Sept. 12th. We've had a crazy season as almost every game was rained out and had to be rescheduled. Their last game is tomorrow night. Henry's been counting them down; sports just isn't his thing right now, although he has played really well. William has really enjoyed it and he has scored several goals! He's looking forward to playing basketball now.

Ellen

These were taken almost 2 months ago when Ellen was 9 months old. Thought I'd better get them up before she turns one! She's wearing the same dress that Vivian wore in her 9-month portraits. The dress and bonnet were made and smocked by Nannie.
She started crawling at 9 months and pulling up at 10 months. She's cruising a little, but she still mostly crawls to get what she wants. And, she gets into everything! She laughs at the word "no." She says "Mama" and "Elmo" (which sounds a lot like "mama"). She loves any attention from her brothers and sisters. She's crazy over animals and loves being outdoors. She's shy but flirty; she's not a big fan of strangers holding her right now. She resists napping! She's good to go after a late morning nap until bedtime!