Saturday in the Park

We had an impromptu trip downtown Saturday afternoon and it was perfect!  We had the best time.  We had purchased Groupons for Spill the Beans and they were about to expire so we used those first for yogurt...Ellie of course loved it!

 Then we strolled around in Falls Park...where I got three pictures in before my camera died.  BOO!  There was a photographer having a shoot in the park and she had a 4-day old lamb.  I wanted SO badly to steal it and take pictures with it for Ellie...and then bring it home...but none of the above happened, sadly.

 After we left the park I discovered several new shops that have appeared since the last time we've perused downtown and we ate lunch outside at Mellow Mushroom.  My most favorite pizza on the planet!

Ellie was in a great mood luckily--which is pretty rare these days, as we think she is cutting her upper teeth and she has been a mini monster!  (along with the world's pickiest eater on the planet...but I'll save that for another day!)

Ellie is 10 months tomorrow!!

An Evening Stroll

We have been putting our stroller to good use in the evenings and taking family walks around the neighborhood.  It's been great to get some fresh air, get out of the house and say "hi" to our neighbors after hibernating all winter long!

 Ellie is somewhat captivated by the great outdoors.  

 It puts her in the best mood so we're captivated with it as well!

 Because it's been so unseasonably warm we've already put away all our winter clothes and are in full fledge spring attire!  We're just ready for bathing suit weather :)

Phone Dump

Since I have joined the 20th century and traded the blackberry for the iPhone I have been taking lots of pictures and videos from it instead of my camera.  These are my favorites!

 our little leprechaun on St Patricks Day

 Sitting at the table in her attachable highchair.  best invention ever!

 Aunt Reenie bought Ellie this precious watermelon bubble last summer at market...obviously it didn't fit her then but it is perfect this year

 enjoying her delicious lunch at McHutchson House

and this is the picture that makes me cringe (because she looks so old).  I forwarded it to MAP and asked why she looked like a 3 year old?

videos up next :)

Spring!

We are loving the warm weather and spending lots of time outside...although I'm pretty sure we skipped spring and moved straight on into summer.

 Ellie very tentatively was feeling the grass...unsure of the new texture.

 and then proceeded to eat it!  pretty much what she does with everything these days

 here's to lots of sunshine, longer days, packing away the pants and long sleeves and pulling out the bubbles, and summer being right around the corner

 We're glad you've arrived, Spring!

Benton's Birthday Party

One of Josh's buddies from high school recently moved back to Greenville and his son Benton turned 3 on Saturday.  We were invited to the celebration and we happily accepted the invitation!  The party was at a new(ish) park off of Verdae and it was the perfect day for an outdoor party.

 Benton has a baby brother Grant and he let Ellie borrow his exercauser when she was tired of us holding her.  Perfect!

 It was on St Patrick's Day and I'm pretty sure everyone was wearing green but Ellie...I put her in a cupcake romper that I'm afraid is going to be too little by the time our next birthday party so no green it was.

 watching the birthday boy open his presents!

 sweet, sweet Benton.  He came up to Ellie and put both of his hands on Ellie's cheeks and gave her the sweetest kiss on her nose.  Benton has one of the sweetest demeaners in a 3 year old that I have ever come across.

 He was PUMPED about a new fishing rod that his grandparents gave him!

Prissy thoroughly enjoyed the party :)

Riverbanks Zoo

Imagine my complete and utter disappointment when I uploaded Ellie's first zoo trip pictures and I realize they are nearly ALL overexposed.  I seriously do this all the time--take pictures without looking to see the lighting before proceeding with more pictures...and then I get home and they all look like the ones below.  oh well...such is life.

 The zoo is probably one of my mom's most favorite places on the planet.  She loves animals--and is crazy smart about all different kinds of species and weird facts about them.  Banks and I always say she should have been a zoologist.  She has been seriously talking about taking Ellie to the zoo since the day she was born so last week the weather was beautiful and it was the perfect opportunity to go.

 She got to the feed the giraffes (overexposed pictures...) and ride the carousel.  Of course she chose an elephant to ride :)

 Pretty unsure about the whole thing but she ended up loving it.  The nice carousel attendant said since she was "so little" that she could ride for free!  and mom too!  How often does that happen?  What a treat!

 We completed our zoo trip with a stop by the monkeys who were howling like crazy!  Banks does the perfect imitation of the howler monkey so Ellie was already used to the sound.

We hope to make lots of trips to Riverbanks this summer!  

The Horseshoe

Josh was out of town this week for work so Ellie and I packed our bags and headed to "Camp Lexington" for a couple of days.

 We ate lunch (again) at the McHutchson House and the weather, along with the daffodils, were too beautiful to not take some pictures on the horseshoe.

 It was packed with students sun bathing, reading and playing games--so she was very interested in what the big kids were doing and not at all interested in looking at the camera for a quick pic.

 We put shoes on her on Monday--the first time she's worn them for the majority of the day.  She looked so much like a big girl that I just about cringed when I saw her in them for the first time.

 She also has just enough hair to slip a tiny bow in...adding to the "big girl" look.  

 I sure do wish we could make time at least slow down!

A Tea Party

Ellie got a new tea pot set...it sings to her and she loves it.

 She starts to wildly kick her legs and swing her arms whenever it is in her view.

 Lemon Chiffon cake is her favorite!

 and chocolate is a close second...

 We are looking forward to lots of tea parties with this sweet girl in the coming years!

Ellie's Lion Sound

sometimes will do it by herself...most of the time with a little cueing :)

9 Month Stats

We went to see Dr. Dobson today and got a great report!  Ellie is healthy and growing and hitting her milestones appropriately.

Her percentiles from today were:

Weight: 16.4 lbs (9%)

Height: 27" (29%)

Head Circumference: 17" (50%) 

to compare at her first appointment at 5 days...

Weight: 4.6 lbs (0.28%)

Height: 17" (0.05%)

Head Circumference: 13" (7.4%)

 Dr. Dobson commented that she is quite lean--I think she's just going to be a petite little girl.  She's a good eater and is certainly not malnourished!

 These are from Ellie's 9 month pictures.  She was a complete ham for the first time ever during a picture session.  We usually perform a dog and pony show to get her to try to smile but we didn't have to do anything for her to grin away at Mr. Rob!  

 Mom and I followed up her pictures with lunch at the McHutchon house on USC's campus and it was delicious!  I highly recommend it if you are downtown and in need of a lunch spot...just have a reservation!

 Back to her doctor's appointment this morning we tried giving her a Dum Dum to distract her for her shots...she was a huge fan of the sucker but still screamed bloody murder for the shots. She has handled them fine though since we left and hasn't even been extra fussy.