The Next American Idol?

At the risk of sounding like a bragging mom... oh wait, I can brag if I want too... but these videos are the cutest thing I've ever seen! We were at Devn's sister's house this last weekend and fun was had by all... especially Ellee. They have every toy ever created and a play kitchen set to die for and a playroom fully stocked and heaven for anyone under the age of 12... okay it was heaven for me too. But in the playroom we found the old dance recital costumes and dress up fun... and I must say that I had more fun dressing Ellee up than it seemed she was having.

But then we went downstairs to show off and Aunt Camie handed Ellee a karaoke microphone and the rest is pretty well displayed in the following video clips. Good this Camie always has a camera ready, so she was able to capture this awesome moment! Although we do practice our sweet dance moves daily, we haven't really practiced singing, but Ellee picked up this song pretty quickly!

Sorry for posting 3 clips, but I couldn't decide which one was better... they all have different sweet moves that I just can't resist watching over and over again! Make sure your sound is on! Enjoy!

So we've all seen this Pottery Barn Anywhere Chair, and I was fortunate to find a brand new one from an overstock store for $19.99, including the pink slipcover... one of my latest greatest bargains that I was very proud of. It actually had a little dirt stain, probably from a stroller wheel rubbing against the bottom as it passed by, so they offered it to me for $20 instead of the sale price of $50 (regular price $100). So, knowing that you can zip off the cover and wash it, I proudly took it home. The dirt washed right off and it was seriously good as new. Ellee absolutely loves it and it is the cutest thing to watch her climb into it with her blanket or a book and snuggle or read to herself while lounging.


However... she recently figured out that if she stands on her chair, then she can reach the skittles from where we thought was a sneaky place to stash it. So she found this stash and helped herself one day while I was apparently not paying good enough attention to her. What we ended up with is a nicely tye-dyed chair and a baby on a sugar high!

Ooooh... Mom!!! Look what I found!!!!

Thank goodness for a few things here; one, the chair cover, as mentioned before, is machine washable; two, Ellee loves brushing her teeth; three, we figured out that we need to hide the treats elsewhere!

It is quite hard to say no when she does her sign for more though... we try to reward her when she uses her words or signs to communicate rather than just whining or crying... but I don't think this candy addiction needs anymore feeding! So now we are trying to teach her that the word "no" doesn't mean it's the end of the world! It is a lot to take in as a 1 1/2 year old, I know. So much to learn.

Side note: For a while I think she thought that the sign for more actually was a sign for give me candy! But lately she's been using it even just when she wants me to turn on more music for her to dance too. So very cute! We'll be back with some dancing videos... she has some pretty rockin moves...

ya ya ya... I know...

So I know that Ellee makes a dang cute duck and you will all be sad now that she isn't the first thing you see when you look at my blog (or lack of blog for that matter) but you can always scroll down and still see ducky Ellee anytime you want. As for me... I am back... well for now... no promises, but I will try.

I really don't have a good excuse for leaving you hanging the last 4 1/2 months... but I have been busy... busy with what you might ask... well, let me introduce you to Ellee's soon to be little brother...

{I think these 3d ultrasounds are so cool... but kinda creepy too... you end up with weird distortions... like this first picture, you can see his head and that his fist is up by his mouth, but it also looks like there is a tiny little misshapen arm/hand up by his right eye... and that is actually just a distortion of something else that the ultrasound machine picked up somewhat nearby. And in the lower picture, you can see his face, again with his left hand by his left eye and his right arm looking kind of like he is holding his ear. You can also see his umbilical cord, which is a bit distorted and what looks like part of his right leg, also distorted. But overall it is pretty amazing what they can see these days!}

Yup... we just found out we are having a little boy. He is due July 15th and is growing perfectly. I knew it was a boy early on, cause I felt different than I did when I was expecting Ellee, but I had talked myself into thinking it was a girl since we already had ALL GIRL stuff... and pretty much everything was pink. So it really would have been more convenient to be a girl, but we are super excited for a boy. We'll just have to start from scratch. Bummer... I guess I am just going to have to go shopping and buy lots of stuff! I think Devn is really excited to have a son to take to father son outings and do scout stuff and all that boy stuff too!

So anyway... I am officially welcoming myself back into the blogging world and let's just be hopeful that I keep up with it.

Trick or Treat!

October 31, 2007: Ellee's first real trick or treating experience.

This year I got to take my cute little ducky out to show off to all the neighbors (also ward members, so they appreciated the cuteness even more!). And after the first house, she sure knew exactly what to do.

The first house, next door neighbors Frank and Margie. They were great! They opened the door looked at me, then looked down and instantly had the happiest face I've seen in a long time on. They put the candy basket in front of Ellee and she knew just want to do, like she's been doing this for ages. She picked out the perfect piece, then turned around and walked away! Off to the next house please!

Next up, the Davis's. She was proudly carrying her tootsie roll around with her, that is until the Davis's put their basket in front of her. She then traded out her tootsie roll for a snickers... good job! But then the Davis's showed her that she could hold onto both! And boy, that was sure fun! She then proceeded to put both pieces in her ghosty candy pail making both hands available for more candy.


We proceeded through the neighbor in a similar manner. Doorbell, candy, smile for the occasional picture, wave bye, waddle off. It was quiet darling if I do say so myself! My favorite thing was at a few of the houses, when they opened the door and didn't have a basket of candy right there for her, she would walk right into their house and take a look around. Then wave bye as she made her way out.

She was a ducky on a mission, a candy mission.

And this is one cute chick!

Mission completed.

rocker-chick?

Yes, rocker-chick is what you get when you cross a rock star dad and little chicky daughter.


The best part about Ellee's costume was her little waddle. You'd waddle too if you had this costume! Plus the added bulk of the diaper! Perfect little ducky waddle!
Ellee got a sucker that she was so excited about that she just couldn't wait for us to take the wrapper off. But once we did, it was all gone before we even got home! I think she liked it!
And to add to the festivities of the day, Donna made us Jack'O'Lantern pancakes for dinner and they were delicious and cute!

more traditions

Carving!!! Wahoo for Pumpkin Carving.

BEFORE:

AFTER: What do you think... does it look like her?

Family Home Evening is always a blast when you get to pull the guts out of a pumpkin!

(Ellee is making the same face in this first one that I make when I change her diapers)

*(Notice pumpkin seed in hair...)*

Pumpkin order (left to right): Abby, Donna, Ellee, Devn, Nikki, Tony SPOOKY!
Abby & Ellee & Devn's Pumpkins... what a cute little family!

I'd like to thank Donna for growing such beautiful pumpkins in her very own garden! Unfortunately we had to pick them before they all turned orange due to the frost. But I actually like the greens one... they are meaner looking!

Ohhhh... a Pumpkin-ing We'll Go

Wahoo for autumn activities... maybe its just me, but it seems like we have a lot more traditions that we do during the fall and winter months. But oh do I love it. I have a feeling that my upcoming posts will be a series of traditions since we still have pumpkin carving & trick or treating coming up!

But for Friday night date night we went to the pumpkin patch with Tony & Nikki, and although it was date night, we brought Ellee along, cause what fun is a pumpkin patch without a little kid to love it too!

What a splendid time we had! Wahoo for pumpkins!

Dove Onslaught

Sadness in my heart... my poor Ellee...

NYC

So Ellee & I made it back safely from a wonderful vacation to the Big Apple. Ben & Laura were great hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves... to the point of exhaustion!
The picture above is just after we arrived in New York. Ellee and I had taken a little nap after our red-eye flight, yes, the same 5 hour flight in which my daughter only slept for 1/2 hour. Miserable. For both of us... and the rest of the passengers. Anyhow, Ellee wouldn't sleep any longer after our little nap and so I thought I'd get her dressed and go play with Laura and the girls. So I sat her down with me and she just wanted to snuggle. So I gladly accepted and then sat her next to me while I got her clothes out of the suitcase. Meanwhile, in the 20 seconds or so it took me to pick out her outfit, she was in this position above, sound asleep. So I too took advantage of this quiet moment to catch another snoozer for myself. Poor exhausted Ellee. However the rest of the day she was giving all of us the most delicious snuggles (and she is not a snuggler)... so maybe it was worth it.

Moving on.

Mary Poppins. The night started out with a train ride into the city. Then a taxi ride from Grand Central Station to the show. Not just any taxi though. The line was so long for the cabs that we went the non-convention route... the bike taxi. Yes, you heard (read) correctly. Who actually rides those things, you are thinking to yourself? Well, we did and it was wonderful... way faster than the standard taxi and we got a guided tour while en route. So great in fact that we did it on the way back to the train station too!

Next, we ate some good ol' New York pizza and off to the show we went.

I don't really have much to say except that it was absolutely wonderful! This was my first Broadway musical and I was not disappointed. I wasn't sure what to expect, but this exceeded all my expectations. I literally sat on the edge of my seat leaning over my knees the whole time. At one point they "blew" the stars into the audience and I got the chills... like dreams really do come true. Then when Mary Poppins herself flew over us at the end, I looked at Laura and we both had the happiest faces ever... you know the one that you had on the first time you walked into Disneyland... and I just felt the magic in the air! Wow. I highly recommend this musical to anyone and everyone! Thanks Ben for taking care of the girls for us!

The next day all of us girls hit the Bronx Zoo and had a blast there too.

The next day we trekked back into the city for some site-seeing with the girls.

First stop... Central Park.

Here is Emily doing a glamour shot for us!

We wandered the streets and headed up to the Giant Disney Store... they even had Aladdin there live in person!

Next stop... Rockefeller Center... Top of the Rock for the best view of the whole city that we could afford.

Here we are 67 stories up... you could see everything in the city! As you can see from the pictures below, Ellee was feeling extra loving and just wanted to kiss me instead of smile! Good enough for me!

The next day we drove over to see the Statue of Liberty... she was further away than I expected, but still, I saw her!

Then on to the Brooklyn Bridge. Today we were lucky enough to have Ben join us on our excursions. We parked on the Brooklyn side of the bridge and walked partway across far enough to get some good shots of the city and the bridge!

More Kisses!

So that is all for now. There are a few more shots that I want to post that Ben & Laura have on their camera, so you'll get to see those later! How lucky for you!