Elli's 1st Ever Zoo Trip

In June my cousin, his wife and their daughter all came down here to WA to visit for a week. We got to meet up for dinner one night at aunt Nancy's and it was fun to watch Elli interact with Della! They live in Alaska and we hardly ever get to see them so it's always a treat when we do!

Kent, Breea & Della

Della and Elli playing in the yard

Great Grandma and Great Grandpa with the girls

On June 23rd Elli got to go on her 1st trip to the Zoo. My mom, dad, Grandma, Grandpa, aunt Mardel, uncle Tim, Kent, Breea and Della all went to Woodland Park Zoo for the day. I had just found the most perfect zoo outfit at Old Navy for Elli and was a little sad I wasn't able to get the day off of work to join them! Elli had a wonderful time though seeing the animals and spending time with family. At the entry to the zoo Elli made friends with a little 4 year old boy, he was so cute he gave her a kiss on the top of her head to say goodbye! She is so very social,  I love it! Since Great Grandma got a wheelchair, Elli enjoyed holding hands with her while they were strolled together. My mom of course made sure to get a lot of photos for me! She even got a photo of Elli and Della on the big hippo statue for me! My mom said that after one diaper change at the zoo she changed Elli's outfit because it was too difficult to get on and off! At least she looks cute in whatever she wears! Some of her favorite things were pushing her own stroller, the bolts in the barn, and any statue. Elli was a very good girl the whole day even without a nap - she definitely crashed out on the drive home though!

Getting ready to enter the zoo!

She made a friend at the entry gate

Enjoyed holding Great Grandma's hand

Mommy's favorite - the hippo!

Would rather walk than be in her stroller

Really liked banging on this ball

Such a big gorilla hand

Such a Grandpa's girl

Didn't want to cooperate for a photo

Another fun statue

All she wanted from the Zoo Store was a poster

A wonderful day at the zoo!

Elli's 1st Birthday

Wow have I been neglecting my blog!! I'm very sorry! Hopefully it doesn't happen again! I'm going to try and play catch up here so that I can look back in years and remember what happened. :) Let's start on Elli's Birthday!

In July we celebrated Elli's 1st Birthday! Oh what a year it has been! It has been absolutely amazing to watch her grow every single day! Each day brings something new that either we learn as parents or Elli has learned. She is an extremely animated little girl, she loves Max like he's her best friend, she is very social and will go to pretty much anyone, she is a great eater, she is very independant, she loves to dance, she loves shoes (thanks to Grandpa), she likes to figure out how things work, and she is obsessed with reading! I look forward to seeing her continue to grow & learn and become even more like Ray & I!

We had Elli's party the weekend before her actual birthday because we had a lot of other things going on in July. We had her party at Lake Sammamish State Park in Issaquah, hoping it would be a nice day and it was perfect! Ray and I dropped Elli off with auntie Jess and then got to the park at 11:00 to get a grill, tables and start setting up for the party at 2:00pm. She had a wonderful turn out of friends and family, we are extremely blessed! We served hamburgers, hot dogs and all the sides with help from Rhonda & Olga! We got Elli her own cake to eat along with a Winne the Pooh cake for all her guests. I heard the cake was great - I was too busy to have a slice! After she made a mess with her cake I took her down to the water to clean up. We then came back up and did presents - again what a blessing! Her biggest gift was from Grandpa Randy - he made her a cedar toy chest that will be part of the rest of her life! She got puzzles, books, little people house, camping chairs, toy pony, Violet (she deserves another blog), and many more toys! We had a wonderful day celebrating and were so thankful for all of those that showed up! We were a little tired that night....

She absolutely loves her hippo camping chair!

On Elli's real birthday, a Thursday, Ray and I both took the day off to spend the day with her. We met up with Jess, Steve & Isaac and went to the Woodland Park Zoo. We had a wonderful time seeing all of the animals and being with our best friends! We got to see some monkeys up close, as well as a hippo that even made a hippo noise! Of course that was my favorite! :) I think Elli's favorite part was getting to walk and push her's or Isaac's stroller!

After a long day at the zoo we had to hurry home through traffic to meet our family with dinner and cupcakes. My parents, Rhonda, Randy and Shawna all came over that evening for Subway sandwiches, I know not exciting but I haven't even mentioned that I was catering cheesecake for a wedding, so Subway was the best I could do! We had a wonderful evening enjoying Elli, watching 'Yo Gabba Gabba' and of course opening more gifts!

We truly had an amazing few days celebrating our perfect little girl! Even more crazy to think how much she has grown since her birthday! I know that her 2nd birthday will be here before we know it!

Here are some recent photos...

Seriously crying for more food!

My beautiful girl!

TOUCHDOWN!!!

Going on a short hike

Anyone know of any baby photo contests???

We love it so much when she laughs!!

Elli playing with herself

We had Elli's 6 month appointment today and wow is she a big girl! She weighs 19 lbs 10 oz and is 28 inches long! She isn't too round since she is so tall. But there are some babies that weigh that much at one year! She is off the charts in her weight and height! While we were waiting for the nurse to come back for shots she was having a blast with the mirror! She got two shots and something to drink (I don't remember what it was) and she can go get her ears pierced now! It will be a fun girls day out to do that! Now we just need to get her crawling! She can roll over, she's been sitting up for 2 months now, loves to stand and is starting to pull herself up to standing, loves fruit, says 'DaDa', 'BaBa' and just starting with 'MaMa'. She still adores Max and wants me to help her walk and chase him! 

Elli was adorable at the Dr's office today when we were waiting for her shots. She was having a blast playing with her reflection!

Angel Bum

I wanted these PJ's for Elli sooooo bad for Christmas and I was really sad when nobody got them for her! :( We went and looked at the Osh Gosh outlet in North Bend but they had NONE left! Well I ran down to the store last Friday night to grab some stuff for dinner (fried rice & sweet and sour pork) at Fred Meyer. They were having a baby sale so a bunch of clothes were at the entry to the store, which I of course looked through. I found one set of the PJ's but they were in th 3 month size, so I went to the baby department. In the clearance rack I found another set but they were 6 month size, also too small. I told Ray so today we went to Fred Meyer in Redmond and found some! They are 9 month so won't fit her for long but I HAD to do a photo shoot with her! Ray says it looks like she is ready to get a spanking! :) Love that little bum!!