Wordless Wednesday

{Pictures taken 3.16.11}

Ellington's Antics

The blog has been a little quiet lately, so I thought I would share some recent pictures of things Ellington has been up to recently.  She's just growing like a weed and keeps us laughing. :)

Playing in a box!

Daddy made it WAY more fun by turning it into a ride!

The box also works well as a little chair for reading.

One afternoon recently Robert cleaned his grill.  Well, this Daddy's girl needed in on the action so while she was having her afternoon snack I just turned her chair around so she wouldn't miss a thing.

Lately Ellington has gotten very impatient with the cooking process.  The second she sees (or smells!) food in the kitchen she is READY TO EAT.  In the picture below she is peeking in at our supper.

Ellington loves the little rug in front of our kitchen sink.  She frequently walks right to it and has a seat!  It's an even better spot with a good book!

Books also make great hats!

We can't leave out Gus' antics too!  He surely knows where to be when Ellington is in her high chair. :)  

Smart dog!

Spring Breakin' It

Last week Ellington and I were out of "school" for Spring Break!  Woohoo!  The break was MUCH needed and appreciated!  On Sunday Ellington and I went to Philadelphia.  We spent Sunday night and hung out on Monday.  Ellington had a blast walking all over the house.  It was the first time she had been there since she's been walking all on her own. 

On Wednesday we had a playdate at the park with Ellington's friend Riley from school.  Trying to get a good picture of two 1 year olds is impossible!  This is the best picture out of the three that I took...

We also practiced using a spoon a lot last week!  Ellington has gotten pretty good at it!  She can feed herself yogurt and applesauce like a pro.  She is sooooo proud!

On Thursday we met our friends on campus for a playdate.  We swap houses for a playdate each week with Ellington's friends Reese and Kaitlyn, but this week we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather and empty campus!  Kaitlyn and Ellington were born in the same calendar year and Reese and Ellington were born in the same school year....so these sweet sisters are perfect friends for Ellington!  (This was also St. Patrick's Day)

Again, a terrible picture of Ellington but I wanted to include one with Reese!

We enjoyed playing outside during Spring Break!

But mostly we just took it easy and enjoyed our week.....

A Post to Share

We are soaking up the last day before returning to school after Spring Break.  We have had the best week and I'll be blogging about all of our goings on soon.  I just wanted to drop in and share a post I read today that I truly loved.  I hope you enjoy it too!  It's from a blog called Clover Lane (which I love!) and the post is, Questions to Ask Ourselves.  Enjoy and have a happy Sunday!

Evolution of Play {Caught on Camera}

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 {Is it just me or does Ellington look ridiculously old in this picture??!!  Like, not a baby anymore?}

Pound Cake {Attempt #1}

At the beginning of the year I decided I wanted to DRASTICALLY improve upon my domestic duties...cookin', cleanin', and child rearin'. While each area needed a lot of attention, I wanted to improve most on my attitude as related to these duties. I want to serve my family with a joyful spirit rather than a complaining spirit. I want to find joy in this area of my life! I want Ellington to see me serving our family with a joyful spirit. So rather than putting off all of the chores and duties of being a wife and mom, I have jumped right in....and guess what?! I have found JOY. God's plan truly is the best. It just is. I still have a long way to go, but I think it's gotten off to a pretty good start!

I decided that every southern lady should have a pound cake that she can just rock out. So, I decided to try my hand at it this week. I used a recipe out of a Southern Living cookbook that Brad & Julie gave to us on our first married Christmas.

I even used our stand mixer that we got when we first got married. I think I have maybe used this once. I am scared of it for some reason. I know, being scared of a small kitchen appliance is lame, but what can I say!

Here is the finished product!

Unfortunately, I didn't love it. It wasn't bad. It just wasn't good. I think pound cakes are tough because it's such a bland dessert. You don't have frosting or chocolate to hide behind. I am not giving up though! I will try a different recipe next time!

Ellington was happily occupying her time while I was cooking. When I went to see what she was up to I found this:

Ha! She found some Kleenex! And you can see in the background that she also pulled out some laundry that was waiting for the washing machine!

If you have a great pound cake recipe (or any tips), please share! I'll keep you posted on my road to a perfect pound cake.

Friday Afternoon

On Friday afternoon we went to campus to hang out and let Ellington walk around. We also went so that Robert could get a coffee from Starbucks, but they closed early since it's the start of Spring Break. We had a great time just hanging out and Ellington had a FANTASTIC time walking around!!!

Ellington enjoyed looking out the big windows and spotting all sorts of things....trees, bikers, dogs...so much fun stuff to look at!

Ellington's first steps on the Drill Field.  This is going to be a precious picture if she decides to go to MSU one day.  I told Robert that I would come with her to class her first day so we could recreate it.  I'm sure she'd love that. :)

What a fun afternoon together!  We are all LOVING this weather and Ellington's new walking skills!!!

Bound to Happen

When you do a lot of this...

Something like this...

is bound to happen!

Ellington had her first serious fall on Monday while we were at physical therapy.  Her therapist wanted to take her outside so she could practice transitioning from the sidewalk, gravel, grass, etc.  She was having a BLAST walking outside!!!  She was walking in the grass and I guess lost her footing and fell right on her face.  The funny part about it was that she didn't cry AT ALL.  She was having so much fun she just wanted to get up and keep going!  The therapist and I were really surprised because generally Ellington is very sensitive and the smallest fall or bump into something sends her into tears.

Monday was our last physical therapy appointment.  It was bittersweet!!!  We have had a blast going every Monday afternoon and love our physical therapist, Karen, dearly.  Ellington and I will both miss going!  I am sooo proud of how far she came.  Karen said she had never had anyone come so far so fast.  When we started near the end of October Ellington didn't roll, sit up if she was on her back, crawl, pull up, etc. Now she can do just about anything she sets her mind to!  What a blessing!  While waiting on our apptointments and leaving in the afternoon we would see so many little ones who had such serious difficulties and challenges.  I feel so blessed an thankful that we only had to deal with this little delay and it's not really a big deal at all!

17 Months

Ellington, you are now 17 months old!  You are almost officially one and a half!  What are you up to at 17 months old?

• You are wearing size 18 month clothes and size 4 diaper
• You just got two new pair of shoes and they are both size 5, but we have noticed that size vary GREATLY brand to brand for baby shoes
• You take one afternoon nap, but it has recently started getting shorter. You usually sleep for about an hour and a half (sometimes even less)
• You sleep 11-12 hours a night and go to bed without so much as a whimper since getting tubes
• You are walking EVERYWHERE and you are so proud about it!  You actually rarely play with your toys now because you are too busy just walking around the house.
• You say "righ ba" when you leave the room.  You are trying to say "right back" which you hear Mama and Daddy say when they leave the room.  (You don't really miss a thing we say!)
• You follow simple commands like, "Go to your highchair"
• You love playing babies and you love to put them "night night".
• You say "lap" when you want to be picked up.  I guess I must say, "Do you want to sit in my lap?" a lot.  You say it even if I'm standing up.  It's really sweet.
• You say about a bazillion words.  I don't think there's anything you can't say, or at least don't make a really great attempt at saying.
• You no longer cry when we take you to the nursery at church!!!  Hooray!  You really love our new church and you have the best time playing.
• You have started refusing ice cream (???!!!)
• You were recently re-evaluated by your physical therapist and you are now scoring right where you should be!  She said she had never had a patient come so far so quickly!  That's our girl!!
• You have become a little afraid of our dog Gus

Ellington, you are such a joy and delight!  We love you to pieces and have SOOOO enjoyed your latest development....walking!!!

It was pretty tough taking a picture of you this month.  This is what you wanted to do the whole time:

Wordless Wednesday