South Carolina 2009

We made our annual trip to South Carolina to visit with Matt's family this past weekend. This was a big trip for us, seeing as how it was Cale's first road trip and Ella's birthday. We thought it would be fun for her to get to celebrate her birthday with some of the extended members of Matt's family since they don't usually make it down for her party. It was a busy weekend and she had a blast. We went to the zoo Thursday, the pumpkin patch Friday and her MeMe threw her a party at Uncle Josh's new house on Saturday. I had my camera and took plenty of pictures, but neglected to take the proper pieces of equipment which resulted in a rather lame post on Ella's birthday BUT we're home now and I can properly document the occasion!


This is from the day we got there and officially the last picture of Ella as a two-year old!!

Birthday morning opening presents.

Loving on "big" Marie.
Modeling her new rain coat from Uncle Josh and light-up Cinderella slippers!
The Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia:
Watching birds bathe with Josh...I should mention that this was right before one of the birds landed on his back and left him a little present on his shirt!! NICE, thanks bird!
My three-year-old!!!!!
Don't fear. This was the "petting" part of the zoo and she was DETERMINED to touch the rabbits!
This child LOVES, LOOOVES animals. She wanted to touch, ride, kiss, feel or pet everything!

Riding the carousel. Josh rode with her, she wasn't alone. We all had our duties...Josh had Ella, Matt had Cale in the sling, I had the camera and MeMe had the diaper bag. It takes a village to go to the zoo:)Cale slept through the entire adventure, but he woke up for the exit!! "Hey, buddy!" And Happy Birthday Baby Girl!
My handsome man!!
We all got some good rest!!

Dinner at Big's and the pumpkin patch:

Ella, MeMe and PaPa








I will post pictures from the party at a later time. It is a post all its own and this one is clearly long enough for one day...my motherly duties are calling!!

Ella is 3!!!!!!

Happy Birthday my darling girl!! Our lives were so richly blessed 3 years ago today!!

We love you Ella bear!! You are a wonderful daughter and big sister!

Be still my heart...

He's trying to give her a kiss:)It's a shame we don't see much of this...ha ha!! I LOOOOVE this crooked grin...
She absolutely adores him.
Maybe he should've been a "junior"????

Excuse me...

...while I have a brief motherly bragging rant!



We took Cale for his three-week check-up (2 weeks ago). Everything was great. My "little" man is in the 50th percentile for weight and the 90th for height...yes, HEIGHT!! I couldn't help but laugh. Ella hung out in the 25-50 range for both, always. The doctor said we might have a Michael Phelps on our hands. He's already outgrown his 0-3 month gowns, in length anyway, his little feet and legs hang out the bottom so they fit more like long shirts as opposed to gowns. I was concerned about his weight because compared to Ella he looks so skinny! She was made of rolls from top to bottom and he barely has any. I'm working on getting him "squishy", but I can't seem to fill him out just yet. He's a wonderful baby-laid back, easy, happy and extremely alert! He usually sleeps 5-6 hours during the night and can nurse both sides in 30-40 minutes, it took Ella that long to do one side. He doesn't waste any time when it comes to his meals! He LOVES a bath now that the cord has come off, but doesn't share that same enthusiasm for the lotioning. Little dude has huge hands and feet...I already had to exchange a pair of his booties for a 6 month size. He's been holding his head up since the day he was born and is so strong, but I knew that already from when I was pregnant with him. He has brought such joy to all of our lives in the past five weeks. He is such a sweet heart and CUDDLE BUG...I am SO in love with him! I've lost my heart again!

POTTY TRAINED!!

We did it! Or, I guess I should say she did it! Ella is officially potty trained...what an accomplishment and what a relief. She has been "poop" trained since February, which in and of itself was wonderful. Until Cale, I hadn't changed a poopy diaper in six months. We were almost completely there in May, but after our trip to Mobile for a week being outside and swimming she digressed. Matt and I didn't pressure her much for several reasons. 1. The urologist said her bladder was just too small at that point to be able to hold it for any length of time anyway and 2. I was pregnant and tired and didn't have the energy or drive to carry her to and from the bathroom and put her on and off the toilet a million times a day, so we waited. After we brought Cale home from the hospital and Matt made his first trip to the store for not just one, but two boxes of diapers something had to give...it was time to get to business!

So, the next afternoon on his way home from work he stopped at the store and bought not one, but two packs of big girl panties. Ella was ecstatic. And, in lue of all the fuss over the baby this was just the perfect way for her to gain back some much needed attention and she ran with it. From that point, she has worn panties all day everyday. She is such a big girl and with the aid of her stool can go potty COMPLETELY on her own.

Matt took her to Toys 'R' Us to pick out ANYTHING that she wanted for tee teeing in the potty and this is what she picked...(that's the best picture she would allow me to get)



A $17 cat in a cheerleading outfit. He tried to talk her out of it and reiterate that she could have ANYTHING, but she was bent on that cat! Whatever makes you happy, sweet girl! The third week she refused to wear a pull-up at night, she just wasn't having it. So, she is completely and utterly diaper free. I'm so proud of her and she has only wet the bed one time in an entire month!

Kindred Spirits

It was a nice day, a beautiful day - warm sunshine, light breeze and all the normal sounds of nature that come with the first days of spring. We had spent the day outside- walking, fishing, watching a select few animals and enjoying the day. Early afternoon rolled around and Ella’s sluggish walk and firm gaze into thin air quickly let us know it was passed nap time. We headed home, but not without taking a quick drive down the dirt road that leads up to our house in an effort to see if we could catch the turkeys during their afternoon gathering. (When it gets this close to turkey season it’s more than Matt can handle to think that they might be in sight and he’s not around to experience it.) So we slowly drove, gazing out the window when we suddenly had to stop. Not for a turkey, not for a deer or a dog or anything else that might cause excitement, but for a squirrel. Ella leaped out of the car and by “leaped” I mean bounded out almost before it was stopped in an effort to plant her feet on the ground as quickly as possible. She slumped down and in her best effort to “tip toe” did so over to the trees where the little family of squirrels were busily going about their day. She had great hopes of being able to grab one and give it love and kisses till her heart was content.

As I watched her, thoughts and stories raced through my mind. For the first time I knew where this innate love and passion for nature and all God’s creatures came from. Matt’s an outdoorsman- he hunts and fishes and basically looks for reasons to be in the fresh air and not in the confinement of the house, but that wasn’t it, it was something different. Though she’s like him in many ways, more than we can count, this particular characteristic was Nancy Dee all over, my grandmother, Nana, on my father’s side. For whatever the reason at this particular moment watching Ella was like seeing Nana almost as if she were a little girl again. The stories of her with her father, outside with the animals or taking care of some fallen bird or neglected animal or bottle feeding a stray dog filled my mind. I obviously didn’t witness these acts first hand, but have heard those stories many times, enough to know this was familiar. Nana has that same indescribable passion for all God’s creatures. When something is hurt you don’t ignore it or leave it, but rather help and nurture it. Take care of what needs to be done, wrap a wing or leg and get its strength back up and then send it back into the wild or keep it if there is any doubt it won’t make it on its own. It’s a unique love and respect that most of us don’t have nor can even understand.

Matt has been “hunting” a beaver for several weeks now. The thing stacks sticks and logs down at the pond and for reasons unknown to myself this is an utter annoyance for him. He’s hung out at the beaver’s house with a gun in true Elmer Fudd fashion, set a trap in the water and generally stalked the animal to the point that it’s almost obsessive. I could care less about the beaver. Whether he’s here, or somewhere else, stacking logs, or swimming or visiting beaver heaven…it makes no difference to me. Matt, on the other hand, has made it his life’s goal to shoot or capture this beaver for disrupting his life. Whatever! Anyway, talk of shooting the beaver was overheard by Ella one afternoon. Her defense for the beaver was that he couldn’t shoot it because and I quote, “it would hurt his feelings.” Sound Assumption and sweet thought. Ella likes to visit the beaver’s house, talk about him as if he’s her friend and has made several attempts to see if we could bring him to our house. Nana would be the only other person in the world I know that would care enough to even consider being on the beaver’s side.


When I was a little girl I spent many moments with Nana working in a garden, picking and planting flowers and watching a tiny tree frog as if it were the last one on earth. I thought of all those things, things I hadn’t thought of in years. It became blatantly obvious at that moment as I watched Ella bonding with her father and loving nature exactly how much she has in common with her great-grandmother. It seems ironic, and true what they say that history repeats itself. Ella LOVES spending time with her grandmothers, both of them. It is a special love, but it is the most amazing thing to see the likeness and similarities in the generations that are seemingly farther apart – that specifically of Ella and her great grandmother. And, I guess the blessing is that she still has the opportunity to learn from and spend time with her, the lesson is that she should!

I wrote this entry around last March and failed to post it. I remembered it because of an event we experienced today. Matt and I took Ella and the baby out for a walk this afternoon. By the pond we found a stray dog. He had a collar, but no tag, wasn’t much to look at, but was clearly healthy and fed and had been out in the previous rain and was wet and slightly muddy from his running around. Ella fell in love immediately. Despite my concern and hesitation they rolled around together, ran and played. She petted her, rubbed her belly and let her lick her face all over, laughing and giggling all the while! I couldn’t help but smile and laugh with her as did Matt…it was a special moment, one of which there was nothing else she’d rather be doing. She named the dog Bolt and was more than tickled that it followed us home, regardless of our best efforts. She’s been asking about her all afternoon!

Just a comparison...

"Biggest"

"Littlest"

When I look at these my heart swells as if it is going to pop out of my chest...that is an extreme amount of blessing for one family. And, I feel so unworthy, but so very thankful for these gifts the Lord has given us! I can't even believe she was ever that tiny, just as I can't conceive of him growing so big...but, OH what fun to watch them grow!!