Yummy pancakes!

Ella's favorite breakfast is pancakes so we made some this morning. We made Mickey and Minnie pancakes and they turned out cute!

Sunny days...

We are loving this odd December weather we are having. It was so beautiful yesterday. It was the first time in awhile we have been able to really enjoy being outside in the sunshine. Ella wanted to check out her new tricycle so we went for a ride around the neighborhood. Her favorite thing to do though is just to run around in the grass. We are enjoying our time at home this week!

Christmas

We had such a Merry Christmas this year! Ella was so excited when she saw her gifts from Santa. Her favorites were the teaset, ballpit and Sesame Street number cards. She was so cute hopping from toy to toy. She didn't know what to play with first! We spent Christmas Eve with Scott's family and Christmas day with my family. We loved spending this special time of year with our families. We are so blessed to have such close families. Happy New Year to all of you!

Gingerbread Sleigh

We got up first thing this morning and decorated our gingerbread sleigh. We had gumdrops and peppermints and lots of icing! There was way more candy to decorate with than needed and I'm sure they did that for a reason! Ella was eating more than she was decorating with. We are staying in today because Ella has strep and double ear infections so we are trying to get better before the Christmas festivities. It's no fun being sick on Christmas! (Can you spot Rudolph?)

First Haircut

Ella had her 1st haircut on Saturday. We took her to visit Mrs. Marie and she was so excited. She said "haircut" all the way there. She did really well and did not cry at all. She typically doesn't like for me to mess with her hair but she didn't move one bit. We were very proud! You can hardly tell where it was cut but it was starting to get a little raggedy in the back so we had to get a little trim. Her curls are still there though. She is still talking about it!

We are having a cookie exchange at school tomorrow and I made the cutest little cookies. They are called Chocolate-Candy Cane Cookies and they are so yummy! Ella loved them and had 2 for her afternoon snack! I can't wait until tomorrow to get a bunch more cookie recipes!

Ella's Tree

We had fun decorating Ella's tree in her room yesterday. She liked helping put the ornaments on. We love making our house festive for the season!

Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving. We ate so much! Ella loved seeing all the extended family and served as the entertainment! We ended the day by coming home and watching our favorite Christmas movie, Home Alone, to get us in the holiday spirit. We are so thankful for all the wonderful blessings we have been given.

18 Months

Ella is officially 18 months old! We can't believe how the time has flown! It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating 12 months and six months have come and gone so quickly. Here are some things Ella has been up to lately. She absolutely loves staying with Mrs. Benita (aka Mrs. Be-ga) and she gets so excited to see her friends when we drop her off. She likes to draw and color in her coloring books (we're still working on not eating the crayons though). We don't watch a lot of TV but when we do her favorite show is Sesame Street and she puts her face right up to the TV and says all the character's names when they come on. Her favorite is of course Elmo with Cookie Monster running a close 2nd. She also likes Blues Clues and Dora. She is really getting into singing and dancing. Her favorite song is "Ring around the Rosie". Her favorite part is "Ashes, ashes, we all fall down". Her version is "ak-es, ak-es, DOWN!" We catch her singing this part all the time. It is the cutest! She is totally attached to her paci and blankie and is now asking for them at times other that bedtime or naptime. She would keep her paci all day if we let her. She calls it her "pa-ty". She is really enjoying reading books now and pointing to all the pictures. This is probably our favorite activity. There are too many things to list. Everyday she does something new and it is amazing to see the transformation everyday. We are so blessed to have such a precious little girl who fills our lives with so much love and joy. You make us smile everyday! We love you!

Carolina Girl

Go Gamecocks! Ella had fun cheering for the Gamecocks yesterday. Everytime we would score she and her daddy would yell "Touchdown" really loud and holler and scream. She thought that was the greatest. Later on that evening Mimi and Granddaddy came to have soup and bruschetta with us. We've had a wonderful, lazy weekend!

Jumping Fun

We went to Monkey Joe's this morning and had such a fun time! My friend Caroline from work and her little girl Hayden met us for some jumping fun. Ella loved it. Everytime she would fall she would die laughing. She especially loved the slides. Then we went to lunch at Zaxby's. Both of the girls fell asleep before we even got out of the parking lot! They were worn out!

Happy Halloween!

We had a great time last night on Halloween! First we took Ella to our playground where they had a cake walk, a parade and other activities. Our family came up to hang out while we took Ella trick-or-treating with cousin Aidan (Captain America). Ella wanted to walk by herself and carry her treat bag so it took us a while just to visit three houses! After that we headed back to our house for pizza and CANDY!!

Halloween Cuisine

I made Ella her festive Halloween meal on Tuesday night because we have so many festivities at the end of the week. They are called "Freaky Fingers" but I thought they looked a little more like mummies. They turned out really cute! They were quite tasty with a little "blood" on top! I thought she would love them but not so much. However, I did manage to get her to eat them when I separated the hotdog from the crescent. Oh well, so much for trying!

Sick day

Scott stayed at home with Ella today because she was sick and I came home to find that they were still in their pajamas and they had been making balloon animals. I thought they were so cute, especially the giraffe! I think he had more fun than she did!

Mums and pumpkins and cookies!

I love Fall! I love the chill in the air and mums and pumpkins and warm cookies! This is such a fun time of year and I am really enjoying it this year with Ella. Ella loves cookies too as you can tell above. Here are just a few pictures of us around the house enjoying Fall!

USC vs. LSU

Ella stayed up a little past her bedtime last night to help us cheer on the Gamecocks. She was so cute saying "Go, Gamecocks!"

Fall Fair

We took Ella to the fair for the first time twice this week! She had so much fun on the rides. Her favorite was the carousel.