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! :)