We rented a beach house over Memorial Day weekend with Anne and Jason and the kids had a blast! I was a bit worried how Ellie would do with the beach, but she LOVED it the first day--not so much the second day!  Here are just a few pictures from the first day!

Yes, we're still alive.  Just seems like we've been living life in the fast lane.  I've been trying to slow things down, but it just isn't happening!

It happened.  My baby boy started kindergarten.  My stomach was in knots about it.  I worried.  Its what I do.  Have I prepared him enough for the big bad world that is out there?  Does he know right from wrong?  Did I teach him to be kind to everyone?  Does he know stranger danger?

I have to take a deep breath and believe that I have done everything I can to prepare my sweet baby.  He is in another person's hands for the majority of the day now.  Even though it breaks my heart into a million pieces not to have him home with me, I am beyond proud of him.  He is a smart, confident, kind, well rounded boy who I know is going to succeed beyond my wildest dreams.

That is not to say that I didn't cry like a baby the first day I dropped him off---who am I kidding, I still tear up almost an entire month later!  He loves school, though.  Loves his teacher, loves his friends, and loves learning.






So, between driving both the older kidlets to school and volunteering at N's school, life has been busy.  It seems like the days are long, but full.  My house is quiet and empty--just Ellie and I a lot of the time.  Its an adjustment that we are all trying to get used to.

I miss all my babies in my house with me.

My little happy baby is 11 months old and once again, I simply cannot believe it.  No way, no how.  But, these last 11 months have been wonderful.  Ellie truly has found her place in our family of 5.  She is my little jokester, my little rebel, yet she is also my sweetheart and my cuddle bug.

Ellie loves her big bubba and her sissy.  She loves to play with them, to aggravate them; she loves to make them laugh and worries about them when they cry; she loves to chase them and wants everything they have.  In other words, she fits right in with them!

This month Ellie has decided that she is officially done with baby food.  She wants whatever we are eating and whatever we are drinking.  She will accept no other.  In fact, she has sort of boycotted spoons all together, believing everything on a spoon is somehow baby food.

She has started saying ma ma, and saying it a lot.  The way she says it is so cute, I love it!  She is also saying "og" for dog and says it all the time.  She is obsessed with dogs, from real ones to ones in books.

She is not doing well with her glasses and will not wear them.  The minute I put them on, she pulls them right off.  There is no distracting her and I'm not sure what to do about it.  After her surgery in July she won't need them anymore.  So, we just need to get through one more month.

She truly is my happy baby, usually full of smiles.  She is getting better and better about going to other people finally!  Garett has actually been able to hold her recently, which is a huge relief.  I can actually do a few things with two hands again.  I sort of forgot what that was like!

She is cruising all over and will be walking soon I just know it!  She has too many things to do to crawl for much longer!

She loves swinging, playing in Emma's pink kitchen, her cow jack in the box, any dog, playing peek a boo, our neighbor Jax, and popsicles.

Happy 11 months baby girl!  I love you to the moon and back!

I don't think I've shared too many pictures of El in her glasses.  She is doing okay with them and will leave them on if I can keep her busy.  But, she always pulls them off after about half an hour.  Then they have to stay off for a bit, or she will fight me about them.  :(  It breaks my heart that she is having to go throught his.  I wish beyond all wishes that she didn't.  I wish her eyes were perfect.  I wish she never had to worry about them.  I wish a lot of things.  But, this is something that we are going to have to deal with, and something we are going to have to work with.

She sure does look cute in them, though!

This year is flying by, and man is it flying by fast!  I am trying to soak up every little second with this munchkin because I know this is the last 9 month old that I'll have. 

Ellie started full on crawling this month and she is fast!  She loves chasing after the kids and getting into whatever they are playing with.  She takes joy in making them squeal and aggrevating them.  It is pretty hilarious.  She gets this smile on her face as the bangs all the furniture in Emma's dollhouse and Emma is screaming.  She actually laughs.  That's my girl!

She loves being outside and watching the kids play.  We play outside with the other kids on the cul de sac almost every night and you can just tell that she can't wait until she is right in the middle of it.  She watches them, studies them.

I really do think that Ellie is my happiest baby yet, as long as I am either holding her or right next to her.  She hardly every cries, unless someone tries to hold her.  She can play for a while with her toys and has figured out how to work them all.  She loves to bounce to the music and has started tilting her head back and forth.  It is so cute!

She is cruising around like crazy on the furniture, so I am pretty sure walking isn't too far behind.  After all, she has to catch up to her big bubba and sissy!

Ellie loves to gives kisses, the big open mouth kisses that leave a bucket full of slobber on the side of my face.  She gives me a big wet one then sits back, very proud of herself, waiting for her round of applause.  We have to clap after the kisses.  Not sure where she got that from!

I love you to the moon and back, baby girl.  Please stop growing up so fast!

They had Western Day at the school a couple of weeks ago and Emma looked so cute all dressed up! I had to take a few snaps of her. Nathan's western day was the next day and I must have forgotten to take pictures of him.

Anyway, here is my pink cowgirl...

This picture cracks me up. Remember when I said Ellie doesn't let anyone else hold her? Here is the proof. We threw a little first birthday party for my cousin's baby and my mom wanted me to take a couple pictures of him. I needed two hands to do that. The second Ellie left my arms, she began crying. I was literally done taking pictures in five minutes and ran over to her to take this picture. She's not wailing here, but she's very upset. If you click on the picture you can see it better.

Anyway, I love this picture because Emma is beyond thrilled and Ellie is the opposite. Emma would swing on this swing all day if we let her

Please just go ahead and pretend like I posted this a month ago. I'm late, as usual with going through my pictures and posting. Three kids keep me pretty busy!

So, my baby is 8 months old. That year mark keeps getting closer and closer and my heart breaks a bit more. I love seeing how my babies grow up, but how how I wish I could just bottle them up as babies.

This month has been a hard one. We found out Ellie has Infantile Esotropia, which I keep telling myself is not the end of the world. You just hate to hear that something is "wrong" with your baby. She is wearing a patch for an hour a day and the dr wants her in glasses all day--which I might add is pretty difficult with a 8 month old. She does look very cute in them, though, and we bought Emma's favorite color--pink! We will go back in May to decide on surgery. :(

Ellie is seriously such a happy baby. She still doesn't let anyone else hold her AT ALL. People think I am exagerating when I say that, but I swear I'm not! Garett can't even hold her, not for a second. I am trying to soak it all up because I know that there will be one day that she won't want me to hold her, hopefully that won't be for many, many years, though!

She is a pro at sitting up and and at army crawling. She hasn't quite mastered the up on all 4's thing yet, but she can army crawl anywhere she wants and very fast! It is cute to watch. With mobility comes to other very frustrated kiddos. She can now get into all of their toys and boy does she!

We started her on Puffs, Yogurt bites, and Crunchies this month. She thinks they are delicious! She's great at her little pincher grasp and always wants to have something in her fingers during meal time. The girl loves her Crunchies!

The weather has been beautiful and so we have been spending a lot of time outside. Ellie LOVES being outside. We spend hours outside every evening and she eats it up. Our neighbor has a little boy that is two months younger that Ellie and they just chill on a blanket watching their brothers and sisters. She also loves to swing. At first she was pretty unsure, but then she realized how fun it is and hates to get out.