Elli's Party

Elli's birthday was filled with so many loved ones and lots of cake and ice cream! Thanks to everyone who made the journey and also to those who helped us spoil Elli. We are grateful for your love and generosity. The day was beautiful and the party was fun (HUGE shout out to my mom for all her help in making the party hats, etc., etc., etc., etc.). Mickey Mouse Clubhouse was the theme and we probably had about 30 people at our tiny house. The cake was delicious and homemade ice cream is always a hit - thank you Grandpa and Dad!!!!!

I love the below picture...Elli is about ready to smack Greg's cheek with the elastic string. Ha ha!

Sally made the above Minnie poster and the kids played 'Pin the Bow' on Minnie! :) Sally has some serious skills...plus she makes some delicious ice tea!!

The best decision Greg and I made when planning the party is to ask our friends Jeremy and Valerie to take pictures for us. Jeremy took the above pictures and I can't thank him enough for ALL of the awesome pictures we got of the day!!

Elli is walking everywhere and doesn't slow down much. She's such a joy and makes me smile about every second I am with her. She has started a little of the throwing fits, but I'm hoping as she can start using more words that will be alleviated a bit. We'll see - it might be wishful thinking!

Elli's started to repeat a word or two here and there. Her favorite word is tickle...as in 'tickle tickle tickle' as she touches our bare skin. I love it. Daddy taught her that. She also repeated the word 'horse' when we were at our friends Justin and Audra. They live right next to a little farm and Elli was super excited about the animals she saw. We have got to get her to the zoo. We are hoping maybe this Friday will be the day.

Greg and I took a little lake trip last week which was our first time that both of us were not with Elli. She stayed at Mamaw and Papaw's and seemed to have a great time. It's fun to see her and her cousin Addie play together. I guess they got along really well - holding hands and gabbering to one other. So sweet! She enjoyed her grandparents pool last Saturday as well. We got to hang out at Ehrin and Chris's pool and baby pool in their housing division this week and she loved that as well. We got Elli a little pool for her birthday and need to start taking advantage of it. She definitely loves the water.

When she came home from mamaw and papaw's she knew more animal sounds and is really good at pointing to the right animal when we ask her, "Where's the 'fill in the blank'?" I think she's just so smart. :)

Elli is staying home with Greg this summer and though it's already been a super busy couple of weeks they both seem to be enjoying it. We are so lucky that Greg has this time with her.

We are looking forward to Syd and Katie's wedding this weekend. Elli will get to hang out with the Nicholsons which should be really fun. We are looking forward to seeing Greg's cousin Todd and his family this weekend. They have a little girl about a year older than Elli. It's fun that there are four girl cousins all within about two years of one another. I hope to take lots of pictures!