Conversations with Ellis

Yesterday we were sitting in the car waiting for my mom and dad to show up for dinner and Ellis kept turning the back seat lights on and off. Growing tired of this I asked her to stop and here is how the conversation went:

Me: "Ellis, please stop turning the light on and off"
Ellis: "Why mommy?"
Me: "Because I said so - why do you want to keep doing it?"
Ellis: "Because it will make me happy"

What?! She is so funny - she will say the most random things and picks up on little details and words that I don't think she understands yet. During the holidays she is especially funny with her words: for Halloween, she called it Halloweens. Each time we go to Target she gets excited and wants to look at "More Christmas". I really think she thinks the holiday is called "more Christmas" and not just Christmas. She loves going to Costco to look at all the decorations and see all the toys she wants. We can't walk down any aisle without hearing her say "I want that......I want that...." over and over again. We tell her that if she is good Santa will bring her presents on Christmas.

Its fun to have a toddler at Christmas time because we have actually been able to call "Santa" and have Ellis talk to him (my dad). A couple times it has been when she was bad but most of the time it is when she is good and she is just updating Santa on her status. All we have to do now when she acts up is say we are going to call Santa and she freaks out. It is so cute!

She is so funny and I am very grateful she is my daughter.

Cinderwella

For Halloween this year Ellis wanted to be a princess so I started looking online for cute princess costumes. I really wanted to stay away from the generic store-bought costumes, plus I didn't want to pay a lot of money for them, so I hit up Craig's List. On it, I found a lady who actually makes princess costumes custom fit for your child for only $25. They turned out absolutely adorable and were a huge hit at the Ward Halloween Party, the mall and out trick or treating.

I tried foam rollers on her hair for the first time and was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Here she is in all her "Cinderwella" glory:

Ellis (Cinderwella) and Jaida (Aurora) *note the princess dolls they are both holding*

Ellis and Jaida again (I don't know why Ellis is posing this way - she just does it for every picture she takes now)

At the Ward halloween party - all they wanted to do was run around the stage.

Loni and Amber's daughter Loralei (she was Ariel)

HALLOWEEN NIGHT

Getting ready to go to the mall

At the mall (side note - they absolutely SCORED on candy at the mall)

Out trick or treating that night. For those who can't tell, that is Loni in the pumpkin mask. They had a TON of fun scaring everyone with it this year.

She was ready for the night to end by the time we left (if you can't tell)...

Hope everyone had a great day!

Ellis' First Haircut *tear*

For those of you who know Ellis, most will say that her hair is one of her best features. From the time it finally started to grow in, it grew perfectly. Loni and I have always been amazed at how pretty her hair falls naturally: it swoops in front, curls in back and just looks like we spend hours doing her hair (most of the time). For this fact, we have always been hesitant to cut her hair. But yesterday we bit the bullet and actually got her hair done by my stylist Angelina. Ellis did pretty good for her first time at the salon: she was super excited while we were going and kept asking where Angelina was, but when it came time to sit in the chair she was a little hesitant. We had to take a moment to let her get familiar with the area, gave her a sucker and then she was all game. Of course I had to keep some of her curls in an envelope to put in her memory book (Loni kept making fun of me for this).

Before the cut - she kept running around asking where Angelina was.

I had to get one last picture of the curls...

As long as she has a sucker, she is happy! (is that bad?)

Angelina and Ellis

Ta-da - the finished version!

In retrospect, I wish we would have gone shorter but she just couldn't sit still enough to make a good short haircut. I am hoping next time, since she is familiar with the process now, we can make it shorter.

Pumpkin Carving!

This past weekend Ellis and I decided to carve a pumpkin for Halloween. I went online and found some free Disney Princess guides for carving and we decided to do Cinderella. Ellis was totally game until we had to start pulling out the guts of the pumpkin - then she didn't want to touch the stuff because it made her hands dirty (she is so funny). Anyway, after an hour and half of carving I finally finished the pumpkin - the guide was a LOT harder than I thought it would be. But she loves it and every night we go outside and light it and she calls it her "Cinderwella".

Ellis and I with our matching aprons from Sara Miller *thanks again!*

My big helper before the going got tough. She was very excited for this.

"Carving" her own pumpkin in the guts that I pulled out by myself because it was too "gross" for her.

The finished product.

Notice the lack of clothes - she kept taking off her shirt and just wanting to wear the apron. My little exhibitionist...

And all lit up!
Happy Halloween!!!

Fall Activities

It has been a while since I have updated, so I thought i would just recap what we have been up to this fall. I will be going from newest to oldest due to the way the pictures uploaded.

1. We decorated Halloween cookies and ate them to get ready for Halloweens (as Ellis calls it):

Ellis' cousin Donni with his cookie

Ellis with her cookie (pardon her topless manner - keeping clothes on her now a days is a real chore)
Jaida with her cookie - she wouldn't hold still for a good picture.

2. We went to the Pumpkin Patch with my family at Maris Farms (yearly tradition). Note - this year they charged a $5 admission fee to everyone who went - LAME!:

(she hated the wheelbarrow and cried until I got her out) Me, being the good mom I am, made her sit in it until I got a decent picture of her. :)

She loved to ride the horses - she was in heaven and everytime she would pass me, she would wave to me and say "Bye, Mom!"

3. Loni and I celebrated our five year anniversary by spending the night at the Westin in Downtown Seattle. Thanks to my mom for taking Ellis for us for the night! We walked all over Seattle, ate at Gordon Biersch for dinner, saw a movie, went swimming in the pool and relaxed in the hottub at the hotel, slept in, went to Pike Place for breakfast (after our pre-breakfast of the Godiva Cheesecake we ordered the night before), got flowers and just had a great time. It was a wonderful way to spend celebrating 5 years of marriage!

We were out walking in Seattle and noticed a sign for this nail place so we both decided to get manis and pedis!

This was the view from our hotel room - it was very nice.

4. Both my MIL and my mom threw me a baby shower. It was tons of fun - but I didn't take any pics with my camera so I will have to get them from my MIL and do a post. Thanks to everyone who came out and especially the mothers in my life!

This was the diaper cake that Lanae (my MIL), Elaine Sablan and Charelene Nuess made for me. It was very adorable!

5. We headed down to Gas Works Park and saw the Fremont Troll (Ellis' first time there):

Ellis at the top of the hill at Gasworks. She kept wanting to run down the hill - she still loves to run.

Of course, the family photo - Stella is pretty prominent in this picture!

He sure loves his "Chuney"

She was terrified of the troll and wouldn't touch it. She kept saying there were monsters everywhere.

6. We did the Puyallup! It was a blast and Ellis was game for pretty much everything except for the roller coasters. Maybe next year. Her favorite ride was the train that goes around the perimeter of the kiddie area - Loni is a little disappointed that his thrill-seeking ways have not yet been passed on to Ellis. :)

Conversations with Ellis

Setting: driving in the car on the way to Target last night.

Ellis: Momma - there are monsters on the jump-o-line (trampoline).

Me: Really? How do you know?

Ellis: I was watching them and then one came in my room, bonked me on the head and took my barrett!

Me: Really? Were you scared?

Elllis: Yes, I was scared because Daddy shut the door and I cried. But then I kicked and pushed the monster like this {she demonstrates for me while making kicking and pushing noises} and I was all better!

Gotta love the imagination of a 2 year-old

Saltwater State Park & Football Games!

A couple weekends ago we decided to get out of the house and head to Saltwater State Park. It is this quaint little beach right on the Puget Sound that is fun to see and take a little walk along. Ellis loved it; but her main enjoyment was picking any and all flowers she can find. If you are around her and have a flower she will most likely find a way to finagle it into her possession.

Later that day we went to my nephew's football game (he is #75 for the Renton Rangers, hence the #75 on her cheek). Ellis loved it but she mostly loved walking along the bleachers and eating her popcorn. Good thing we only had one minor fall. She is so busy! :)

Ellis the Ballerina

A couple of weeks ago Ellis started her first dance class. She absolutely loves it and every Friday, since the only class they had was during the day, my FIL Gary takes her to her class. She looks forward to it and it so cute doing it. She calls it her "dance class". I am very excited to see her develop and grow throughout it and she even has a performace at the end of the year (June, I believe). She is my tiny dancer. Here she is before her class:


yes the tights are too big, but finding dance clothes for a 2 1/2 year old is a little tough. Although we did get her slippers at Payless and they are adorable (not pictured because she is only allowed to wear them at dance class). I have more pictures from her first day and will post those later.