Christmas 2010

Well, it's about time for me to update my blog. So far, it looks like I'm on a month to month update. Hehe!

We had an interesting Christmas this year. Ellie is starting to understand Christmas and what Santa is all about. I never got the chance to take her to see Santa or get her picture made, but I haven't done that in the last three years so why start now?... We had a great time at all our Christmas gatherings. We missed Christmas at PePaw's (Josh granddad) because of the snow and ice that were on the roads. He decided that it was too dangerous for all of us to come out, so we spent Christmas morning at home. Ellie got up and found all her toys!! Santa had left Ellie a Barbie Jeep power wheel, all the princess barbies, lots of movies and games, Mr. Potato Head, and lots of other things. Ellie really enjoyed the Jeep because she wouldn't open any of the other gifts!! After we played for a while, we headed outside to play in the snow. Ellie was reluctant at first but when she got out there she loved it. I put her in her new boots our cousin got her and her new jacket. She was toasty!! She made snowballs and had a snow ball fight with me and Josh. For some reason, she decided to try to eat the snow!!! So before we went in for the day, I had to get her a small bowl of snow for her to eat. She kept saying, "It's water." I still don't think she understands.

Here are a few pictures of our wonderful Christmas gatherings. By the way, did I mention that we had our first White Christmas!!!??!! It was beautiful!!

My Life with Ellie

While playing in the living room:
Me:"Ellie I love you so much!"
Ellie: "I love you more!"


After getting on to her for walking away from me in Walmart and not listening when I told her to come back:
Ellie: "You being mean to me mommy. You stop it. (spanks my bottom) You be nice."
Me: After trying not to laugh... "Ellie I didn't want you to get taken from mommy. You don't spank me either."
Ellie: "I love you mommy!" (Hugs me)

After asking Ellie if she was ready to go to the beach:
Ellie: "I go put my shoes on." and she walks to her room and gets her shoes on.

Opening up the video cabinet:
Ellie: "What you wanna watch mommy? You want to watch this one. Right. You watch this one."
Me: "Are you sure I want to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks?"
Ellie: "Yeah, I'm sure."

Playing soccer in the living room:
Ellie: "Mommy do it like this. (bounces the ball then kicks it to me)
Me: "Okay" (I copy)
Ellie: "Good job mommy. Okay daddy it's your turn. You go over there behind mommy's tummy.
Daddy moves beside mommy.
Ellie: "No daddy. Let me show you how to do it." She then comes over and puts daddy in FRONT of mommy and shows him how to kick it.

While taking a bath:
Ellie: "Okay Brobee, it's time for your bath. Gus Gus, where are you? It's bath time. Oh, come here Gus Gus. It won't hurt, it's just a bath."

While wiping Ellie's nose I told her "Ellie your nose is running away. Oh no, we have to go get it. Where is it running to?"
Ellie: "It's running to Granby's. Let's go get it."
We run thru the house and I luckily catch it before it goes out the back door.
Ellie: "Thank you mommy."
By the way, it's surprising easy to put a nose back on. LOL.

Cancun, Mexico

Hola! Como Esta? (did I spell all that right?)

During fall break this year, we had the amazing opportunity to travel to Cancun, Mexico!! I have never been out of the states so this trip was really exciting for me. Josh, Ellie and I traveled with the Anders' clan. After a rocky start, the week ended up great.

We woke up at 3am (yes 3am!) Got ready and finished packing. We waited until we had the car packed to wake Ellie up. Well, she of course fought us. We whined and cried until we got into Huntsville. Then she said "we go ride on the big plane?" She was pretty excited about this trip too (daycare said she couldn't quite talking about it). Well, we get to the airport and unload our luggage. Josh calls Tony to see where they are at, and they had to turn around to go back for their passports! Definitely can't forget the passports on this trip! So, Josh helped me get the luggage inside and Ellie and I waited in the chairs for everyone else. When they arrived, Tony followed Josh to his work to drop off his truck. The rest of us got in line to check in. I think just about everyone was flying out that day because it was busy! As we were standing in the security line, we noticed we only had 45 minutes until our plan was scheduled to take off. This frustrated me and Josh because there was a pretty long line to get thru. But we made it and got on the plane. Well, Ellie had to have a seat since she was a paying customer. So the flight attendant moved some people around to let us all seat together (because we were spread out). Once we moved just about everybody, we then were told we were on a delay. Our 6am flight didn't leave until 6:40! I was hoping that we could make our next flight.

We made it to Charlotte, NC and was able to cross almost half the airport and make it to our next flight. They were already in line so we didn't get much rest. This was the biggest plane I had yet to get on, so it was exciting. We all sat together again. This plane ride was much longer flight and I was praying Ellie would take a nap. She finally fell asleep about an 1 or so before we landing. While on the plane we had to fill out customs papers. We were in the back of the plane and all they had left was Spanish reading cards!! But with the help of a friendly neighbor that had an English version, we were able to get it done. It took us a while to get thru customs, but we didn't get checked!!

If you have never been to Cancun airport... WOW! There are so many people hounding you for travel things, car rides, and everything else you can think of. It was a little scary walking out of the airport! I had Ellie in my arms and was holding her for dear life!! We made it to our van and the driver was excellent in packing it with all our luggage! This van fit 10 people (we had 9) and he still was able to put in about 14 pieces of luggage!! We made it our resort and they had us on the wrong side, so we all sat outside and waited while Tony went to fix it. He came back about 30 minutes later and said we all had to go over to get our bracelets and keys. So we waited on the bus for lobby to lobby and went to check in. After another 30 minutes, we finally got in!! But, instead of going to our room... we went to eat! It was 3 pm and we hadn't had anything all day but the little bit of snacks they feed you on a plane. Needless to say, we were all hungry!!

Other than our long first day, the week went by really fast!! We stayed at the pool alot since that was Ellie's favorite thing. We ate, and ate, and ate some more. We went to town twice which was nice but a little scary at times. No lines on the road and no clear path to drive thru was scary!! We saw a few shows throughout the week like the Michael Jackson impersonator, Salsa dancing, and fire dancing. Those were all really nice.

I hope that someday we can make that trip again. There was so much to do and we didn't get a chance to do a lot that we wanted. I highly suggest that if you can ever go, please go! It was so worth the trip!!

Update

Well, I have been eating right and working out since first of August and I have only lost 5 pounds! It is so frustrating! I also have been very tired and weak, so I decided that I should find a family doctor to start going to on a regular basis (I mean I'm getting old! I'm almost 30!). I found a female doctor that I really like and she went ahead on our first visit and did some blood work. So I am anxious to get the results. I really think I may be anemic.

Well, basketball is about to start up after fall break and I am looking forward to it. I love working with the younger girls but I hope they know what they are in for. I tend to be a very loud coach. Most parents don't like that, but I guess if they want their daughter to play then they will get over it.

I'm so excited about fall break this year! We are going to Cancun Mexico!! I have never been out of the states so this will be fun and interesting. I have also never flown with Ellie! This makes me nervous. I just hope that she can behave for the three hour flight across the water to get there!! We are going with Josh's aunt and uncle and girls so I have plenty of baby sitters and help if needed. We also went ahead and bought Ellie an ipod so that she will have something to play with and watch videos on while on the plane. I can't wait for this week to be over with!! I'm so excited!!

I know all this is random, but I'm currently trying to get out of house work and just happen to think about a few things.

Happy Birthday Gage and Colt!

Today my nephew turned 5!! Wow I can't believe he is already this old. We had a party for him this weekend and here are some of the pictures. We had tons of fun!

A few weeks ago, my other nephew Colt turned 1! That was a great party. Tons of family and friends were there. All the kids really enjoyed playing outside at Grandmother Foster's house. I think she really enjoyed all the company too.

And let the games begin...

Well, school started back and I am busy again. It seems like I never have any time for myself. When I do watch T.V I get jealous at the moms and how they can go out with the girls, have time to work out, play with the kids, and go to work (a selective few). Must be nice to have a maid, assistant, and nanny. I can hardly find the time to breathe.

But I wouldn't change it for the world!! I love my life and my family and I try to do what ever I can to make them happy. I did decided this summer that in order for me to keep my family happy, I have to start taking care of myself better. Which means, finding time somewhere in my schedule to have some "me" time. Yeah, right. But I have managed to do it in the last two weeks. I have to get Ellie in the bed by 8 in order to get myself in bed at a decent time. Which for me is 9-10 on a school night. I put her in bed and head straight for the bedroom to work out. Afterwards, I give myself a little computer time, then I clean up and get ready for the next day. By then, I am ready for bed. I need my sleep!

So far this schedule is working. I am anxious to see if it will continue when basketball starts in Sept. I don't think it will, but it is all a mental thing. I have to be motivated and MAKE myself do it. And right now, this muffin top, spare tire thing I have going on it all the motivation I need. It is so gross when I put my pants on and it hangs over the top. GROSS!!! I have to get rid of it. I do not have a goal because I will give it up. So instead, I think I will just keep it going until I feel good about my looks and I have lost at least 20 pounds. I know that may sound like a lot, but I am very close to the overweight mark for my body size and height.

Anyways, like I said earlier, school has started back up and I already know several kids in this class. I thought it would be really hard for me to teach them (and it was for the first day or two), but it has gotten better. They just seem like every other kid to me. I have really large classes this year, which keeps me on my toes. It seems like I can't keep up with my school work. Today, for example, I had them doing a little busy work just so I can get some things done that I really need done! I'm ashamed to say that, but it was true!! I feel like I just can't keep up!!

Basketball starts in September and I'm not looking forward to it. I have a small team but we didn't have good practices this summer. I hope that volleyball keeps them conditioned! I won't have time to do it. We will have just enough time to start plays and making sure these girls know how to play. I know basketball and I want to make sure that these girls understand how to play. I don't want to look like an idiot.

Anyways, I'm rambling... so my point is that I'm dieting, working out, school has started and its been busy, and basketball will soon start. Where in there do you see time for me to do house work? Yeah, I don't see it either. Anyone need work? I need a good housekeeper!!

Last trip for the summer

This weekend we enjoyed the Great Smokey Mountains. We have not be to PF/ G'burg in about 8-9 years, so we decided to go. Man has it changed! Tons to do!! We went with Adam, Ashley and Carter, which was our first family trip with the kids. Of course, they loved being together. We rented a cabin in Pigeon Forge which was really nice. The kids favorite part was the pool table. They would run up the stairs as soon as we got back from anywhere and started rolling the balls around on the table. We would just sit downstairs and listen to them laugh as their pool balls would hit each other.

We spent the entire day Friday in Gatlinburg. With having small children and it being hot out, we got kinda an early start. We left out about 8 and went to eat at this little pancake house that had the best pancakes! Yummy! And then we were off the G'burg. I was surprised that none of the shops were open at 9! It's tourist season!! As we were walking down the strip, we ran into the Morrison clan. Strange meeting neighbors/ friends while on vacation.

Our first stop was the Ripley's Aquarium. The kiddo's loved it!! They got to see so many fish! Ellie was a little scared when the sharks would swim over us as we went thru the tunnel, but finally she started calling them "Bruce." For those that don't know, Bruce is the shark from Finding Nemo. We couldn't get her to touch the rays or horseshoe crabs, but I think she had fun. She didn't like the penguins as much as I thought she would. Of course, I was expecting a lot more from the penguin exhibit. When we left there, the place was getting packed!! Tons of people every where!

We visit all the Ripley's attractions: World Records (which was NOT nice nor updated), Mirror maze (me, Ellie and Ashley found our way our before the guys did), Wax museum (some of the people looked really great), and Believe it or not (which was crowded).

I really wanted to go on the Sky lift but I was terrified of taking Ellie because she is so small. I thought she would be scared, fall out of the chair while we were crossing the street/ stream, or slip off while getting off the chair. But she really enjoyed it. Of course I made Josh hold on the her for dear life since I had the bags. But she was fine. I guess I'm a little over protective. We bought our pictures from there, but you can't see all of her face because of the bar. It is was a great souvenir.

After that, we went home for naps and to refuel for later. After everyone woke up from naps, we got dressed and went back to Gatlinburg to eat at the Peddler. It was great food and service. A little ridiculous to wait 30 min passed our reservation, but overall good. Ashley and I also got Carter and Ellie airbrushed tee shirts, so we had to pick them up as well. Ellie got a Dora and Boots shirt, while Carter got Thomas the train. They both turned out so cute!! After supper, Adam had been wanted to go to this haunted house. Josh and I stayed in the car with the kids (since I don't care for haunted houses and we knew the kids would be too) and let Ashley and Adam go. They said it was pretty scary. After this, we crashed back at the cabin and got ready for the next day.

Saturday. All I have to say about this day was I have never seen so many people and cars in my entire life!!!! We got a little later start than I think we wanted, but we ate at Apple Barn which was so good!! Us adults really wanted to go to the outlets, but it looked like rain, so we went to The Track instead to let the kids have a little fun. We felt bad because we dragged them everywhere Friday and they were pretty good about it. The kids loved the place!! We were afraid to let them ride some of the rides by themselves, but then we saw they were not scared at all and the workers took care of them, so they finished riding most of them by themselves. It started to look more like rain, so we grabbed the kids (which they surprisingly came without screaming) and we headed to the outlets. Here is where EVERY ONE was!! We could not go anywhere because of so many cars. In fact, by the time we left (which was only about 1 or so) people were parking in the grass!!! I was sooo amazed! We went home for naps again and went back to the outlets later. At that time, it was much quieter. We were able to park almost anywhere. Ashley and I split from the boys and took Ellie with us. It was really nice to have "girl time." Of course, we spent too much money. But retail therapy was just what we needed.

Sunday, we headed home. But after breakfast, we went back to the Track to finish spending the rest of our money on the kids. This time, they rode all the rides by themselves! They are such big kids. It was hard to watch them. It made me want to cry to see them being big kids and not needing mommy to ride with them.

Overall, the trip was great. Got stuck in traffic, but I guess everyone had the same idea that we did. Get in that last minute trip before school starts next week!! WHERE DID MY SUMMER GO???!!!!???

Daytona Beach 2010

Here are a few pictures from our recent beach trip. Ellie absolutely loved the ocean!! She was waist deep in the water and didn't care that the waves were knocking her down. She loved the pool too. We went to SeaWorld while we were there. I hated to take her without Josh, but he insisted so I did. She loved it too. It was hot, but she had tons of fun. So enjoy a few of the pictures. The rest are on facebook.

Ellie and Anniversary

Well, Ellie is still her very silly self. Today she was singing her "Yo gabba gabba" songs. This weekend she stayed with mom and dad so that me and Josh could get away for the weekend for our Anniversary. They said she talked nonstop all weekend! She also learned some new phrases. For example: Dad turned a curve a little too fast for her liking and said "Pawpaw be careful." She has also learned "Do you know the muffin man" and "Jesus loves me." It is absolutely precious to hear her sing!!

Josh and I got to get away just the two of us this weekend. We decided to go to Tunica MS since we haven't been in years. It was kinda like our honeymoon since we went to Las Vegas for it. We stayed at Harrah's and it was nice, but it wasn't connected to the casino and we thought that was a little different. Overall, we had a great time and didn't loose to much money! Oh yeah, we also got to go to Memphis on Saturday and walk around on Beale street and see all the blues cafe's and different places. It was really neat and beautiful compared to the rest of Memphis which was not!

Ellie and Dora

Well, Ellie has discovered Dora the Explorer. Anyone that has been around her in the last week or so knows what I am talking about. The child is obsessed with her! She goes around begging me to let her watch it. In fact, when I really need to get something done, I know I can rely on Dora to babysit. I know... I'm a horrible mother for letting TV babysit my child.

Well, I have to admit that I really like the fact that Ellie is learning a little spanish. It's pretty funny to hear her talk. For example, last weekend we went to Grandbys and Papa's to spend the night. While at the breakfast table Sunday morning, Ellie breaks out into Dora dialog.

Ellie:"Lets stop and think..." (picture Ellie turning a little to the side and her hand on her chin like she is thinking) "What do we use when we don't know where to go?"

All of us: Breaks into laughter!

Well, Ellie thought that was funny too and continues to do it. When we were all finished, she told Uncle Tody (thats how she says his name) "Vamonos!"

We can not get into the car without her begging to watch Dora. I guess these new videos Josh bought for her today will be great for our 10hr trip to Daytona in July.

The New Snow White

 

 

 

 

Isn't she just beautiful!! We decided to play dressup the other night so I pulled out a few outfits that my sister and Grandby had bought her. Of course, she picked out the Snow White outfit and wouldn't take it off!! In fact, she wore it most the day on Wednesday!! Crazy girl!

Life

Well school is finally over with for the summer. Although my job still is on going. I decided to paint my classroom. It was three different colors and really needed it. So, I decided since I am a coach and complain all the time about kids not having school spirit, I did my room is school colors. White walls with blue trim, and a mural of NH Indians on the back wall. And my kids better like the mural because it took me 1 1/2 hrs to just do that. And I'm not done!!!

Well daycare is wanting me to pay the full amount even though Ellie will only be going to daycare twice a week this summer. So after getting into it on the phone, I just decided that I was threw with her and moved Ellie. Well, actually Ellie will be going to her full time through June and then starts Jumping Jacks in July twice a week. I really hate to move her because she likes Sarah and Jessie but I just can't deal with them anymore. Plus, moving her is better for me because now I can pick her up after practice and not have to rely on mom so much.

Here lately I just don't know what is wrong with me. I have everything yet I am still depressed. Nothing seems to make me happy these days and I don't know what will fix it. I just feel overwhelmed sometimes with all the house work, school work, and taking care of Ellie, but even when Josh helps, it still doesn't seem to make me happy. I just can't figure it out!! I'm hoping that once I get all this school stuff out of the way, and clean this house then I will rest and feel better. Life just never seems to slow down!!!

"There's Monsters in My Room"

I get woke up by Ellie. This is nothing unusual. She still doesn't sleep through the night constantly. Oh, how I wish that day would come!! Anyways, here lately when I go in to check on her, she will put her face in her hands and lay on my shoulder. When I ask her what is wrong, her response has been "I'm scared."

Me: "Ellie, what are you scared about baby?"
Ellie: "Monsters"
Me: "Oh Ellie there are no monsters in your room!! Mommy would never let that happen."

She then sits up and tells me that "Huxley took my blanket. Elmo go get his blanket."

I guess in order to understand what she just said, you have to have watched the movie "Elmo in Grouchland" In that movie, Huxley is the mean old man that takes Elmo's blanket down to Grouchland. Elmo has to go into Grouchland to get his blanket back. Well, I guess that we have let Ellie watch this movie one to many times. Because now she is waking up in the middle of the night saying things like that.

Well, I assured Ellie that there are no monsters in her room. I noticed that I had her water bottle on her dresser (I use it to wet her "bed head" in the morning), and thought of a plan. I remembered that Debbie made a similar bottle for Gabe when he thought monsters were in his room. So, I took the bottle and walked with Ellie around her room spraying the "NO MONSTERS" spray. I guess it worked because she went back to sleep shortly afterwards.

What an imagination our child already has!!!
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One day last week, Josh went to the Anders' house to play some games. It was already Ellie's bedtime, so I put her to bed and I went to bed shortly afterwards too. Well, not to long after I fell asleep, I got woke up to Ellie saying "Mommy." It is not unusual for her to do that then roll over and fall asleep, so I waited a second and she stopped. About 5 minutes later, she lets out the loudest, scariest scream you can imagine. I mean, it was one of those screams you never want to hear your child scream. It was like she was being ripped from my arms! Of course, I immediately ran to her room. In the time that it took me to run across the hallway, I had a million different scenarios going on in my head about why she was screaming like that.

From simple things like:
1. She had her foot/hand caught in the rails of her bed.
2. She threw something out of the bed like her favorite blanket.

To horrible things like:
3. Someone was in her room trying to take her.
4. The tree outside her room had fallen on the house and onto her.
5. She had managed to fall out of her bed.

I think you get the picture about how horrible the scream was...

Anyways, I get to her room and she is still laying down in bed. I run over to her and say "Ellie, Ellie what is wrong? Mommy's here." All she keeps doing is crying and looking up (kinda behind me). I get the distinct feeling that something, or someone was standing behind me. Creepy I know... So I turn around and...



of course didn't see anything. So I grabbed Ellie up and she just curled up on me and still was screaming!! I turned her lamp on to see if anything was wrong with her physically. Nothing. She is still screaming!! I hold her tight and rock her. Still screaming! So, I kinda get stern with her, and hold her away from me and say "Ellie, this is mommy!! Please stop screaming and tell me what is wrong!!"

Now, she stops screaming. She proceeds to put her face in her hands and fall into my shoulder. She is no longer screaming or crying. When I ask her what is wrong, she tells me nothing. It took about two minutes of rocking her and she was sound asleep again. I laid her back down and went back to bed myself. I felt helpless! I felt like if someone had really been in there, I wouldn't have been able to get to her quick enough. (It now makes me really rethink having her bedroom upstairs or across the house away from us!)

Of course, I couldn't go back to sleep then. I was scared to death! I just wanted to go back and get her and put her to bed with me. Instead, I called Josh to come home. When he came back home and I told him what happened, I couldn't hold back the tears. That scream just stuck with me. I was scared now! I was so upset to hear her scream like that. I never ever hope I hear her do that again!!!

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Tonight, I was trying to get Ellie dressed for bed when she informed me that monsters took her blanket. So, after we got dressed, I took her water bottle and we sprayed her room down with the "NO MONSTERS" spray. I even showed her how to do it and let her spray a few times.

While I was drying her hair, I let her know that those monsters that she sees in her room are more scared of mommy and daddy than she is of them. She says "Monsters are scared of mommy and daddy." I let her know that mommy and daddy will not let anything happen to her and that we have scared the mean old monsters away. She lets me know that "No monsters take Ellie's blanket."

No Ellie. No monsters will ever take your blanket! Mommy and daddy promises!

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Again, what an imagination Ellie has!!!! What am I to do?

Quotes from Ellie

Here are a few quotes that I have been writing down as they happen. Enjoy!



While laying in bed awake at 2am: "Mommy? Mommmmyyyy. I want a pop tart. You understand? You hear me?"

While playing in the living room with me and Josh, Ellie picks up her (I don't know what you call it, you put in the round picture card and you click the side and if you look into it you will see the pictures) anyways, she picks it up and says "Cheese daddy, cheese mommy" then tosses it over her shoulder like it was nothing.

After already having time out for hitting mommy, Ellie tell me "You be quiet mommy" When asked if she wants time out again, she pauses then says "No I don't think so"

"You go hide" Which actually means, you count and come find me later.

Dances and sings on key, "Someday my prince will come" from Snow White.

"Happy Mother's Day mommy!" Awww, just broke my heart!

"Huxley, don't take my blanket, don't take elmo's blanket. I go get my blanket, Huxley took my blanket."

While in the car on our way to Walmart: Ellie: "Mommy where are we going?" Me:"We are going to Walmart to get some groceries." Ellie: "Nope, we go see Grandby and Uncle Cody." Me: "No, we are going shopping." Ellie: "Oh...okay mommy."

"Where is Cartman?" (which is what Josh calls Carter Kelly)

While the doctor was drawing blood from Ellie's toe, I told here "It will be okay. It will all be done in a minute." When he was finished, Ellie crawled back into my lap and said "It all done. We go to Ellie's house."

Easter 2010

Make a photo slideshow

Easter 2010

We had a wonderful Easter this year. Ellie was finally able to hunt Easter eggs and decorate them. She loved it! She had so much fun trying to find the eggs before Gage did. While at Grandmaw Foster's, Ellie and Gage played outside almost all day. They played with their new bats and balls, some frisbees and bubbles! It was a beautiful day! Maybe next year will be just a pretty and warm! Here are a few pictures from that day.

Seeing her trying to pop the bubble? Notice the tongue sticking out?

Here is who she gets it from!!

Baby Colt enjoying watching Gage and Ellie playing

Beautiful Grandmaw Foster

Hunting Eggs

Ellie decided to play before we got her dress off her. She is just like me!

Don't remember what she was crying about, but isn't that just the saddest face you ever saw?

Gage and Ellie finally took a good picture together

Before we left for church. This was the best picture she would let me have.