SUPERSTAR!

Elli had her 18 month appointment on Friday. We got an excellent report. The pediatrician said she was a SUPERSTAR, which made me feel great. Elli weighs 22 lbs (20th percentile...YAY!). She is 75th percentile in head and height. She is hitting her milestones and some of the things I was worried about (i.e. not many words right now), the doctor told me that Elli is where she should be. Other things that are not so superstar right now (i.e. the occassional biting), the pediatrician told me that it's common so it made me feel a little better that it's not just my child suffering from a touch of naughtiness these days.















Posted are some pictures of the last month. The first pictures are our Thanksgiving day pictures. Mamaw gave Elli some ice cream with M&M's and she LOVED it! We also celebrated with our first annual Second Six (Nicholson / Ponsler / Nicholson) Thanksmas. We love hanging out with the Ponslers and Syd and Katie, so that was a very special treat. Tegegn has all sorts of cool tools for Elli to play with and he did a great job of sharing. We are so blessed that Elli has some great cousins to play with. Over the last couple of weeks I've noticed Elli's fondness of my nephew, Owen, in particular. We went over to my sister's to babysit a few weekends ago and when Elli spotted Owen she perked right up and started talking to him as we were climbing the stairs to greet him. Once on the ground, Elli put her hand on Owen's cheek and continued talking to him in jibberish. Owen seemed to understand everything Elli was saying just fine. They are hilarious together - following one another from room to room, playing hide and seek, and talking in their own language. We took Elli to Disney on Ice last weekend and my neice and Greg's sister and brother-in-law, were able to join us. The girls were so sweet to watch. Elli was in awe of the characters at the beginning...she would clap along with the music and not take her eyes of the ice. When they were done with one song Elli started clapping with all her might above her head - she was pumped! Greg's parents bought the girls some Mickey and Minnie dolls they found from the Disney Store. Elli was so excited about them and just keep smiling and saying "Minnie" on our way to the show. Thanks Mamaw and Papaw - what a special treat!

Elli has started a soccer class on Friday mornings. She's currently the only one in her class, so she is a little shy at first but once she warms up she has a ton of fun. The 'coaches' do a great job with the class (lots of listening to directions, different learning activities and some fun games all rolled in one) and Elli seems to enjoy it. Her favorite is when the coaches get out the big multi-colored parachute. Every activity we do with the parachute makes Elli laugh (which makes me so happy!!). It's a great outlet right now since the weather is too cold to go out and play.

Elli-Phant!

Seriously, every day is more awesome than the last with a growing toddler. Elli makes Greg and I laugh all the time. She's such a sponge and I often underestimate how much she understands. Below is a picture post of what we've been doing the last month. More than anything I am reminded of God's grace and perfect plan...by putting Elli in our lives when he did and the miracle of seeing a child grow...and also of his provision and healing...I am so grateful that Elli has grandparents that are a Christian example and who have taught Greg and I so much growing up. I hope and pray that we share God's love to Elli in a very intentional way as she grows.



Halloween was a fun time. Elli's outgrew her costume in the weeks between when I bought and October 31, but she was still a pretty stinking cute Elli-phant (I know I am biased)! Our pictures are most recent to oldest (for the most part), so below is our Halloween adventures at my cousin Kelly's house. Elli loved the food and I loved the leaf pile. We lost one of Elli's shoes three separate time in the leaf pile (twice of which was my fault), which was particularly nerve racking since we completely forgot to bring Elli's bag of clothes for the weekend. It's tricky when you pack for a weekend away with two dogs, and a family a three. We always forget something and this time it was Elli's clothes for Sunday and her diapers, etc. Thankfully my sister-in-law and niece came to our rescue and let us borrow some great things...and my mother-in-law keeps a stash of diapers at her house. Thank goodness for them!!

Before Halloween we went to ZooBoo with the Nicholson's. It was cold, but fun. Bias aside, I do believe that we had the sweetest little ladybug and elephant at the zoo! :) Elli and Addie are hilarious together. They are great friends already and enjoy getting into/doing whatever the other one is participating in at the moment. They are both coloring in the picture below.

Elli's a phone talker...all the time. Below is right before her bedtime. I caught myself saying, "Elli, five more minutes on the phone and then we need to get ready for bed." How many more times will I be saying that in this lifetime!?! :)

Matching...and ornery...cousins. Grace is definitely the most influential person in Elli's life. Elli watches Grace like a hawk and whatever she sees her do, she imitates a second later. We are lucky Grace is a good girl!

Elli's first haircut happened last weekend. Her hair was getting in her eyes occasionally so Grandma Lee Ann took care of that problem! It's tradition for Grandma Lee Ann to conduct the first haircut (all my cousins). Elli was great about it. She loved the spray bottle...and really enjoyed when I sprayed water in her mouth from it. Good times.

More cousin pictures...

Elli really loves to clean. She loves taking wet wash clothes and cleaning off the floor or furniture. Typically, she'll want to wipe her face off with the same cloth that she wiped the floor with...not crazy about that. Anyway, I needed to vacuum the floor quickly a couple of Saturdays ago and Elli was really interested so I showed her how to do it and she finished the job for me. You'll notice she's missing something in the picture (just her pants...no big deal)...her pajama pants are tight and I didn't want to fight to take off her shoes (which is still an obsession) after changing her diaper that morning. Hey, I choose my battles!

Our annual trip to our favorite pumpkin patch! Elli loved pretty much everything about it...the hay ride especially...the farm animals, picking up her pumpkin, the huge hay mountain, etc! We had a great time this year and Elli picked out a cute little pumpkin! :)

Elli's Current Loves

Here is a list of Elli's current loves:

• As of today, the Children's Museum Carousel ride - we rode it THREE times because she would sign 'more' after each ride was over. She would perform her upper body provocative dance (you have to see it to believe it...it's a bit of a shimmy and shake) when she was on the ride and then clap her hands along with the music. I saw people laughing as they saw her go past them. I am so proud! :)
• Praise Baby DVDs - God bless my sister in law for introducing these to us! I bought the set of 4 and boy am I glad. Every morning Elli watches the videos on the way to Ehrin's. It used to be a fussy 15 minute trip but now she is enamored by them completely. They have also been great for other longer car rides.
• Fruit Smoothies - because our mornings are typically hectic (and I like for Elli to sleep as long as she possibly can) I make her a fruit smoothie every morning and she sucks it down in no time on the way to Ehrin's. It's super healthy too which is a big bonus.
• Pot Roast - she's still a fantastic eater (PTL!) but she seems to particular pot roast and any vegetable done in the crock pot. I made it Tuesday and she said "mmmm" through the whole dinner. I figures that was a good sign.
• Coke/Diet Coke/Root Beer/any beverage in a cup with a straw that you are drinking - I will go ahead and blame my amazing and wonderful parents for this one. We try to limit as much as possible, but sometimes you just have to choose your battles!
• Her cousins - it seems as times that it's a love/hate relationship but overall Elli loves playing with her cousins and seems to get a huge kick out of them.
• Pretend play - typically with babies and/or fake food/kitchen toys.
• Coloring - she loves to color anything and everything. She seems to be very serious about it when she is coloring. Maybe she'll be an artist like her Mamaw!!!
• Talking - I guess it should be termed 'gibbering', but boy does she like to tell you all about it. I wish I knew what she was thinking as she talked.
• Talking on the phone - she will take pretend phones or our phones and talk and talk and talk on them typically as she is walking around the house. She talks really loud when she is on the phone so I always get a kick out of it. I wonder where she got the loud talking from. Greg, probably! :)
• Carrying her purse - she loves carrying around a little purse and goes to great lengths to keep it on her elbow or shoulder. I know I am severely biased, but it's adorable.
• Her mommy - bias aside, Elli is definitely a mommy's girl, but she has a serious crush on her daddy!! :)
• Uncle Syd - speaking of crushes, Elli L-O-V-E-S Syd.
• Grandpa Kevin - I don't know how this man does it, but kids love him. Elli is definitely no exception and I would say even more than being a mommy's girl, Elli continues to be a Grandpa's girl.
• Taking things apart and putting them back together - lids are a good example, but basically anything that you can take apart Elli is really into trying to put back together.
• Repeating everything you do - and when I say everything I mean it! She's such a little monkey!

Elli is in such an amazing stage right now. She's learning new things all the time and I'm amazed almost every day at the new things she is learning. I often underestimate how much she understands. I am so blessed by her. Greg and I can't get enough of her and have so much fun having dance parties to the opening song of the Winnie the Pooh cartoon. We also just love loving on her. She rocks.

The pictures below are taken in our backyard earlier this week on an awesome fall evening. I love playing with our camera settings.

At the Children's Museum today:

15 Month Appointment

I forgot to mention the stats from Elli's 15 Month Appointment:

20 lbs (20 percentile - yay Elli for being inside of the range!! - the doctor gave her an A+ on her print out)
33 inches (80th percentile)
80th percentile in her head circumference as well

In other developmental news Elli has started using some of the sign language I've been working with her on since she was a baby. In the middle of Kroger she pulled the eat sign out of no where and she usually uses the more sign after we are finishing a song (i.e. Jesus Loves Me). Fun!

Picture Post #2

For some reason the original post would't let me add any more pictures and there is no way I could miss out including the momentous occassions of Grace's FIFTH birthday party and a day at the zoo with Mamaw and Papaw.

Elli loves her Mamaw and Papaw!!

She absolutely loved the water zone. She cracked up at the water and had a fabulous time. I can't wait for next summer and some warm weather so we can go back!

Papaw and the polar bear became good friends.

At an Indians game with my family...we go almost every year to watch the Charlotte Knights (the White Sox AAA team).

Finally...a visit with Garrett Condon...so cute!! Congratulations Amanda!!! He is such a sweetie!

We enjoyed a quick trip to the State Fair. I love everything about the fair and I'm pretty sure Elli did too!

The baby calf was Elli's favorite part (well, tied with the elephant ear). She could have sat there and loved on them all night. She was so mad when we left. I'll admit, they were pretty adorable.

Elli's first camping trip of the summer with Grandpa and Grandma. We had fun even though it was cold that weekend. We took lots of walks with Potter and Weasley and enjoyed beating mom and dad in euchre! Since they camp in Peru we made a trip to the ever enjoyable East End at the end of the weekend for some yummy ice cream. :)

Happy 5th Birthday, Grace! Grace's party was a ton of fun filled with cupcakes, dancing to Miley Cyrus and lots of family and friends to celebrate with. I can't believe Grace is really five!!!

Aunt Jodi making Elli giggle.

All smiles with Grandpa and Grandma!

Picture Post

I have been so bad update updating, so I've included a picture post of the some of the things Elli has been up to.

I'm very proud of Elli's updated room. I put in the shelving unit myself (on sale at Target, which I am addicted to) and love how it looks and how much space it has saved us!!

Elli's church boyfriend, Steven. He's pretty much adorable!
Elli's very first picture that she took herself. Shoes...nice!

We enjoyed a Friday night at the Indians game a couple of weeks ago with our good friends Justin, Audra and Daniel. We get to see the three of them every week at church and Bible Study and Elli loves Daniel so much. She tries to pick him up whenever we are not looking.

Elli's pigtails.

Elli is an independent eater now for sure. She hasn't mastered the spoon (in my opinion) but I've learned just to be patient and let her try it. It's messy but I have realized that I don't want a seven year old who I am still trying to spoon feed applesauce to!

My parents church had a camping weekend at Mississinewa so we visited and had a fantastic time. It was so much fun being with family and God blessed us with an amazing weekend in terms of weather. Below are some of the pictures from our time there.

The Ponslers were at the campground which was fun for us. We just don't see them enough anymore! Tegegn is a huge hit with everyone in my family. He's such a sweetie!
Elli's first boat ride. At first she wasn't sure and then she started sticking her hands in the water spray off the side of the boat and tilting her head back in the wind. So fun!

Elli's first twinkie...Greg thought this was a big deal so we caught the leftovers on the side of her mouth.

Church service at the campground...very cool!

Elli and Grace at the beginning of the church service. Elli pretty much does everything Grace does. Hilarious!

Greg turned 30 on September 14. We have been celebrating his birthday for a couple of weeks now (that's the way I like to do it!!) and will do so until we cheer on the Bears at Soldier Field on October 4. Elli and I hope that Greg felt special on his birthday because we are so blessed by his love! He is such a great father and husband!

On Greg's birthday - Elli's shirt says "It's No Secret I'm Daddy's Girl". I thought it was so fun and appropriate for the day!

Enjoying cupcakes in Greg's classroom for his annual birthday celebration. Elli had a great time watching the kids (and vice versa). Happy Birthday Greg!!

We took Capri Suns for Greg's class during his birthday celebration. We had a couple of extras so I gave Elli one on Friday and she drank the entire thing in about 30 seconds. She doesn't get much juice so I guess she felt the need to enjoy it while she could.

She walked around the entire house with these shoes on. She's big into shoes (she gets that from me)!

In full Bear attire to cheer them on to their first victory tonight. Elli is coloring which is one of her favorite past times right now. She is saying 'cheese' in this picture. She's started cocking her head to one side with a smile and scrunched up eyes when the camera comes out.

Elli reading her book tonight. She likes to lay on her stomach and color or read books. I get a kick out of it!