Halloween!

This is what happens during a lot of our pictures now. One child looks and the other doesn't. :)
Aidan as Mario. Elly as Princess Leia

The one with Elly looking.

Aidan playing "Pass the Pumpkin" at his class party.

Elly with her pumpkin

Elly and Aidan trick or treating at the mall.

Halloween has fallen upn us and we celebrated with lots of activities. The week before Halloween we headed to our local mall for trick or treating. Aidan was definitely the hit of the show! All you could hear was "Look! Mario!". He was even a celebrity when we stopped to pick up pizza on the way home and a couple local college guys came over and asked if they could take a picture with him! :)

Then the day before Halloween, Elly and I headed over to Aidan's school for his school parade and party. That night was trick or treating in our city. The whole family headed out despite the really strong winds and the cold.

Elly's costume was kind of a bust unfortunately. She was Princess Leia from Star Wars mostly because that was one of the few fleece costumes I could find, but the costume defect was that included a hair piece that she could wear but there was no strap on it, so she pulled it off all night long. It didn't really matter though. It was so cold and windy that she needed to wear her hat anyway.

More summer pictures

"Look Mom, a stick!"

Running to explore.

Channeling her Harry Potter with her stick.

First time in the sand. She didn't really seem to enjoy it.

Sliding down the slide.

Pool Party!

Daddy with kids in the pool

My future news reporter. She loves to talk to the camera. :)

This is what a lot of my pictures look like these days.

Strong daddy!

She is loving the pool!

Summer 2009 pictures Part 2

Inspecting the bushes

She loves to run up and down the little "ramp" to our building

Hmmmm, what's this?

Don't bug me Mom, I'm busy.

How I found Elly on this particular morning. She had Aidan's crayons EVERYWHERE.

Summer 2009 pictures

Elly's first donut!

She actually *did* really like it. She was just really tired. :)

Adventures in Macaroni and Cheese!

Yum. This stuff is good! So good, I think I should wear it.

Bubbles!

Elly's Big Girl Carseat

So this summer has kept us VERY busy and I'm way behind on posting this. I wanted to make sure I made record of this little story because it was so funny and I'm sure that as Elly gets older, I'll forget. Just like it seems I've forgotten so many stories of Aidan as he's grown up.

So, this picture was taken of Elly just after she turned one year old and we turned her carseat to forward-facing. We were so excited that she was finally a "big girl" and could actually look around and see things. We made a big deal of it as we got her in the seat and she looked around wide-eyed and excited.

Well, then the car moved.

We made the mistake of having the first trip in the carseat being a longer one that included going down the interstate. I think the combination of going a faster speed, being able to really *see* everything and then hitting the bumps in the road terrified the poor girl. She started screaming in terror like she was on a roller coaster that just wouldn't stop.

What would stop her from crying? Food. Yep, this girl loves her food. The instant I broke out the snacks she stopped crying and started looking around. Thankfully it was just that one instance and she absolutely loves riding in the car now, but we were a little worried for a minute.

Birthday photos part 2

Our family

Elly's first birthday cake.

"But I really just want this candle!"

"Yum! I love watermelon and cantalope."

"I don't wanna keep my hood up!"

Birthday post is below.

However, I also want to give a huge thank you to Patrick, my best friend, Michelle's husband. He is a fabulous photographer and he took all the pictures I am posting here. These are just 10 of my favorites of the many, many pictures he took.

It was awesome to have him there and to help us capture the memories, because I was so busy doing things for the party that I had very little time to take my own photos.

Thank you again, Pat.

Elly's birthday recap!

Elly and her Grandma Gwen

Elly, Momma, and Michelle enjoying the lunch

Aidan, the double-fisted drinker.

Aidan and our friends' son, Rylan. I think they like their hot dogs. :)

Aidan and Rylan having a blast

Oh, my goodness. My daughter is officially one year old. Where has the time gone?

Elly turned one on Wednesday, May 6th. The day was beautiful, unfortunately we didn't do much celebrating as I had to work all day. Her party was held on Saturday, May 9th. The weather leading up to the party was absolutely gorgeous. I watched the weather forecasts with bated breath because I just knew having planned to hold the party outside would probably cause chaos to strike.

I was right.

Saturday, the weather shifted. The winds picked up and the clouds rolled in. I woke up Friday night to the sound of lightning. Oh, dear. I held on the the weatherman's promise of "clearing skies by the afternoon".

The party was held at Palatine Hills Park and Golf Course. It is a beautiful park with a big shelter right by a nice pond and directly over a small hill is a nice playground for the kids to play, with basketball and tennis courts. We invited our immediate families and closest friends. We had a great turnout despite the weather. The day ended up to be only about 54 degrees outside and very breezy. Fortunately, there was no rain, but the wind was a force to be dealt with. We made the most of it though.

Elly must have known something was up though. She hardly took a morning nap and I braced myself for what that would mean. I left a very crabby baby in her aunt's care while Daddy and I headed to the park to decorate and set-up. Fortunately, by the time she arrived, she was in a semi-decent mood since she was in a new atmosphere. We had lots of food and when we did the cake, Elly was more interested in the candle than anything.

My only disappointment of the day was that Elly never had her first piece of cake. By the time that we got the cake cut and served, Elly was passed out in her grandma's arm. It was a welcome relief though because she was getting crabbier and crabbier by the second. Grandma held her fo her entire nap, so Mommy got a chance to catch up with friends, while Daddy headed to the basketball court to play with the guys. :)

After the party, we headed back home to open gifts and hang out. Overall, it was a perfect day. Despite the weather.

Elly had her 1 year check-up at the doctor this week. She is slowly slipping down the charts. Sometimes I honestly have to wonder if the doctor's scale is broken though. She sure seems heavy to me. :)

But at 21 pounds 2 ounces and 29 inches long, Elly is now considered "average" in height and weight. I can tell too. I really thought at this point she would be much like Aidan, whom I was buying 24 month clothes for at age 1. But Elly is just going into 18 month sizes, and they are still running big on her. I guess it's a good thing. I never have people question me about her age like they did with Aidan. :)

Elly's 10 (almost 11!) month pictures #4

Elly's 10 (almost 11!) month pictures #3

Elly's 10 (almost 11!) month pictures #2