Party Girl

Some more pictures from the party--I bought this little romper at a consignment sale and I just loved it on her, but the stride was a bit short as it kept snapping open when she would sit down.  I think this is the first time something has been snug on her--but I still hope to at least get one more wear in!

 she kept whispering "tiger" and pointing to him throughout the party

 the party was at Runway Cafe--which is a little restaurant connected to the downtown Greenville airport--she loved having free reign and walking all over the runway.  

 My absolute favorite moment of the party was when she discovered the bounce house--I talked to her and told her that she just couldn't go in there with all the rough 4 and 5 year olds but she just stood at the bottom little ramp, pointed and then shrugged her shoulders with her hands flipped up like "why not?"  Pitiful and precious all in one

it was a successful party for sure!

Weekly Instagram

This week's pictures turned out backwards...so starting from yesterday going back to last Sunday and then the last picture takes us back to yesterday.  You following me? 

 We had a birthday party yesterday where the birthday day girl was turning 4--Ellie was definitely one of the youngest ones there but she had a great time watching the big kids play.

 Her hair is growing rapidly with a little bit of curl/wave to it and I love it.  She was bald for so long and now I'm starting to panic on what I'm going to do with it when its actually long enough to do something with--hair is not my speciality.

 She had just gotten up from a nap and had the crazy bed head with the tired eyes.

 We were in Lexington for a couple of days last week and the little monkey woke up in a surprisingly good mood.  So giggly and so funny.

 We went to Boo at the Zoo where she made her debut as a lamb.  She is off and on having a mild obsession with her tongue and sticking it out--some days it's all day, other days she doesn't do it at all.

 Clapping for the magician

 one of Ellie's favorite things to do at Grammys is get her candy bowl, dump it out, then put it all back in--and do it over and over again.

 "little pumpkin"

 I was looking through a typical 12-18 month developmental milestone checklist (I know, neurotic) and one of the bullets was that she is supposed to be able to make a scribble on a piece of paper with a crayon.  Who in the world gives a 17 month old a crayon??  (maybe non-neurotic parents?) I did give her a crayon and a piece of paper, watched her scribble on it and promptly took it away.  Milestone completed.

 Grammy bought her this popper and she is still trying to get the hang of it.  She was carrying it around the playroom like this and looking at me like why the heck isn't it doing anything?  I showed her how to do it and she just giggled and giggled--she still has a difficult time getting the popper into position before walking.

 a daily pastime for ol ellie--and a daily clean up for ol mom

A picture from our drive to Hendersonville--beautiful mountains.

reverse order, remember?  this is from emily's birthday party and the tiger's appearance. Ellie wanted nowhere near him, but was yet still fascinated.  We gotta work on this!

Boo at the (Riverbanks) Zoo!

Mom and I took Ellie to Boo at the Zoo on Tuesday night--this was Ellie's first time donning her costume and luckily she didn't mind it one bit.

 We did have to take the little hooves off as the straps underneath her shoes were tripping her up.  Doesn't take much for our cautious little walker.

 First stop was bubbles.  

 By the time we were half way through the zoo she had the trick or treat thing down pat.  She walked up to the booths with her little pumpkin bag and held it up for a treat to be slipped inside.

 Sweet face watching the magician from the comfort of her coupe

 and clapping for him too

 I thought we were going to make it out of there without a spin on the carousel but she saw it and there was no bypassing it at that point.

 and to end the night she's dancing with some other little girls to "thriller"

Ellie is at the most fun stage yet!  This fall has been slammed with exposing her to so much--but she has loved every little adventure we've taken her on so far and has really been a trooper, even if she's missing a nap or late for bed.  I love her soaking it all up and experiencing it all with her!

Fall picture favorites

I had so many favorites from our session with Brantley.  Brantley just knows how to capture our family's personality in a picture so well--we are so thankful that we have these images to capture this place in our life.

 the picture above is from the morning session that was a complete bust--you can see her little face, she was not giving a smile for anything in the world.

 but the afternoon session--she decided to be a complete ham.  this is the little personality we know and love!

 and our family in a nutshell?  the picture below.

Pumpkin Patch

We headed to Hendersonville this morning to visit the pumpkin patch with some friends from Gymboree!  It was a perfect fall morning--we started out at Cracker Barrel where Ellie was so wild--and we ended up at a pumpkin patch up the road.  

 Luckily she was able to run off some of that wild energy at the patch--we arrived before it became too packed and it really was perfect for a 16 month old.

 Can you see Ivey and Ellie's heads in the pumpkin and sunflower?

Fall, do you ever have to go away?

Weekly Instagram

Here's our weekly Instagram recap...

one of The State's photographers asked to take our picture at the fair and Josh found it on their website

We had church nursery duty in the 2 year room so we brought Ellie with us and she had fun playing in the kitchen and admiring the big girls

I have an addiction to clothes with pumpkins on them, it appears.

Josh went out of town from Monday to Wednesday and we were definitely missing him

Grandma and Grandpa gave Ellie bitty baby for Christmas last year and I have had it stored away for a while.  She has definitely shown an interest in babies lately so I gave it to her last week and she has loved feeding bitty a bottle, rocking her, and burping her. (and here, giving her kisses)

I took Ellie on another trip to Barnes and Noble...free entertainment!

Afterwards we hit up McAlisters for free kid's night

We went to the pumpkin patch on Wednesday--she hated the prickly straw, but loved the scarecrows and pumpkins

They gave her stickers at the patch to decorate her pumpkins with and she carried them all over the house in adoration.  

 After having the best day on Wednesday--she was a complete grump on Thursday--suffering from the teething blues.

She learned how to open and close the DVD player and she thought it was absolutely hilarious and did it over and over again

 Just hanging out on the couch with her little teapot

and Josh taught her how to torture Gracie by chasing her and putting blocks on her back

today was  a perfect fall day in Clemson...the trees are just starting to turn colors and the weather was beautiful 

today was military appreciation day and Clemson did it up right.  Daniel Rodriguez (google his story) ran the American flag down the hill.  One of my favorite moments in Death Valley ever.

orange, red, white and blue balloons