Ellie Claire is 16 months old!

Dear Ellie Claire,

I'm about 8 days late writing your monthly letter because I am so busy chasing you around and trying so hard to soak up every precious moment with you! This has probably been my favorite month with you thus far, as your personality is really shining through and I feel like we can really communicate well. It is such a good feeling to know that you understand exactly what I am saying and most often, I can read your mind. As parents, your dad and I finally feel like we "get parenting" enough to survive (although we aren't claiming to be anywhere near perfect)! You are growing and changing from a baby to beautiful little girl before our very eyes. You are 29 inches tall, about 25 pounds, and still in a size 3 shoe. Your little feet are so tiny and that is why we think it took you so long to muster up the confidence to finally walk independently. You started really walking on Friday, May 24 which was our last day of school and your last full week at daycare for the summer. You didn't want to leave that day because you were so excited about your accomplishment! Of course, Miss N. and everyone else were praising you and keeping you the spotlight of their day so you LOVED all that attention. You are saying SO MANY words now. Everyone always compliments you on your vocabulary and how clearly you speak. Maybe one day you will be a news broadcaster or something! You also love to sing. Whether in the church nursery, strolling through the neighborhood, or riding in your carseat, you love to hum little songs to yourself. You won't dare let us catch you on video though! You are very reflective and observant. If there is a speck of anything anywhere, you will find it and ask us about it. You are usually good not to put it into your mouth. Your favorite activities include snuggling and reading with mama, wrestling with daddy, visiting the boos and Maggie at Granny and Poppy's house, being in church nursery, eating gravy biscuits on Sunday mornings before church, swinging outside on the porch (AKA "rock-rock huh?"), coloring, singing, dancing, giving sugar, waving and saying hello to all people. You don't meet a stranger, girl!

You took this picture!

So happy after your gravy biscuit! Precious hands :)

You love babies except when mommy holds them. You MUST have at least one book read to you nightly and some rocking time with mommy in the glider. Whenever I finish our bedtime prayers, you know exactly when to whisper "Amen" in the sweetest voice that God ever created. Your favorite foods are anything we are eating, fruit, kale smoothies, peas, and Bopa-juice (sweet tea). That's seriously what you call it and although I was originally against you having it, Bopa makes it special just for you-decaf with only a little sugar.

You are super schedule oriented and we didn't even try, it just happened. You must have a morning nap (11:30-1:30) and usually a short afternoon nap (3:30-4:30) and you are in bed by 9. Our evenings are always much more enjoyable when you have had that second nap. You are just like your sleep-deprived parents and LOVE to sleep now! Whenever you see a car or anything with wheels, you say "beep beep" and have a new fascination with your pink SUV Little People toy and all other toys that roll. You still don't care very much for TV or independent play for very long. After about 10 minutes you like to be up and moving again! You LOVE to plunder through things like your sippy cup drawer, mommy's purse, and laundry that needs to be folded. You are so animated and dramatic just like her daddy. Your facial expressions are hysterical and could seriously win us some $ one day (maybe?).

My two most favorite times of day are when you wake up and when you go to sleep. There's something about seeing you all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and shouting "I want my BOW!!!!" that makes every day a little bit sweeter. Of course, there is nothing like our special bedtime ritual when you smell super good after your bath and speak to us in a whisper.

I'm going to make a list of your favorite sayings just in case we want to look back sometime and see what your common phrases were.

Mama, Dada, Nana, Bopa (Poppy), NahNah, Baby, Shhhh! (finger over lip), Play Ball Boys, Dog, Where's The ___?, I want more juice, I can walk!!, Dada work, Ben, church, outside, rocka-rock, bird, bee, boo (cow), meow, cat, milk, eat, Shew-wee (every time we change your diaper), night-night, I want ____, puff, cookie, hot, bow, shirt, shoes, head, ear, nose, teeth, water, rain, bite-bite, slide, sit, swing, bye bye, Saige, toot, beep-beep, Jesus, Amen, Awwww......

I've really been thinking and praying lately about the kind of young lady I pray for you to become and what God laid on my heart was "remind her often that she is a Daughter of the King and that she must act like it-in her thoughts, in her words, and most importantly, her actions-and this will draw her near to Me". Then I found these and thought I should definitely include them in the blog post:

Original Source unknown

 Original Source unknown

Happy Daddy Day & Saturday Summary!

Happy Father's Day to my favorite daddies! 

What great truth is in this quote-

"I never knew how much I loved you until I saw how much you loved her." My husband is a great daddy. He never hesitates to change diapers, give baths, spend 1-on-1 time, and do whatever necessary to make sure Ellie Claire's needs are met. He loves playing with her, wrestling with her, and always letting her win. He tickles her until she belly laughs and plays peekaboo like a champ. There is no doubt that he loves her and she loves him. He has set the bar quite high in 17 months of daddy-hood!  I made James a photo book of he and Ellie Claire from the past year. This is the second year I've done this because I always want to make sure Father's Day is a super happy and memorable day for him to look back on. We had Father's Day a little early on Saturday-complete with decorations, presents, chicken alfredo, salad, his favorite rolls (Sister Schubert) , and homemade frosty ice cream. Most importantly, we spend time together outside as a family on the porch and then cuddled and played with Ellie Claire before bed. Hearing Ellie Claire laugh with (or at!) her daddy is my most favorite thing! Sunday morning, we enjoyed breakfast at Dairy Queen (had planned to make pancakes at home for him but he likes our traditional breakfast on mornings when we are busy), sang a duet at church ("Your Love Never Fails" by Jesus Culture), and enjoyed lunch with my parents before he had to head work (work because he has next weekend off for the men's conference with church). What a great time together!

 

Click here to view this photo book larger

Not only am I thankful to parent beside my best friend, I am SO very thankful for my own dad. When I try to put into words how special that he is to me, I can't! He has always been a solid rock, a super hard working provider for our family, and a gentle spirit to quietly show me how to live like Jesus. He's always there to help me with anything I ask (over the years there have been some pretty crazy/extreme requests), listen, or provide advice when I need it-and he's never been wrong! I am so very blessed to have the dad that that I do & I don't dare take him for granted!  He's also a super good Poppy ("Bopah" according to her) these days & I just love seeing Ellie Claire interact with my dad. Their smiles when they are together are contagious! He is certainly head over heels for her! These pictures capture just a tiny bit of that!

Finally, most importantly, I am thankful for my Heavenly Father-how lost I would be without Him! I am so appreciative for how God created families, especially fathers for us to love and respect. This video is called "The Ultimate Love Letter from Our Heavenly Father."  I love this!

Saturday Summary- 6.8.13

So much has been going on since my last blog post! We have been super busy with post planning and closing out the school year, Vacation Bible School, having visits with Nana & Angel, and I didn't even mention trying to keep up with an INDEPENDENT walker. Yes, on our last day of school (May 24) Ellie Claire finally took those much anticipated independent steps. She has been walking assisted since right before her first birthday, but it took her another almost 5 months to gain the confidence she needed to step out on her own. She was so proud of herself when she finally did it! That day when I picked her up from daycare, Mrs. N. was so happy and proud of her. Ellie Claire spent about 15 minutes showing me how she could walk and didn't even want to leave. It is such a blessing to have someone keep her where she feels so safe, happy, and confident that she doesn't want to leave! She has been full speed ahead since that day....(insert mental picture of her running. everywhere. without stopping!)

In other news, I received the news during post planning that I will be teaching third grade next year! While it is bittersweet to pack up the classroom where I spent my first 4 years, I am excited and welcome the change. It will keep me on my toes and allow me to plan with James who also teaches third grade. We will really enjoy getting to lesson plan together and have some exciting competitions between our classes. Below is a picture of Ellie Claire in my old classroom, occupying herself with colored pencils. She seriously sat there for about 30 minutes contently playing and "drawing".

This past week, Ida & Angel came up for a visit. We had so much fun just relaxing, spoiling EC, and catching up on some much needed ZZZs since this was actually our first week of summer. We did visit Toccoa Falls since they had never been and had a fun little photo session.

Each night this week, James & I had the privilege of teaching the second and third graders at VBS. It was such a FUN week and we really enjoyed building relationships with the kids and sharing Jesus with them! The theme, Colossal Coaster World, was one of the best VBS themes I've ever participated in. It was about the life of Paul and our theme verse was one of my favorites- "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and love, and a sound mind" 2 Timothy 4:7. I'm praying that each of the children remember that if God can change and use a man like Paul, He can use any of us for wonderful things for His glory! EC loved her goody bag from sweet Miss Audrey on commencement night and getting to peek through the window at her mommy and daddy teaching each night. She also enjoyed extra spoiling from aunt Dar.

On Friday night, James was working and EC wanted to stay up for him to get home so I decided to paint her toe nails. She thought she was so big and loved it! She sat very still, didn't wiggle at all, and kept smiling like she knew this was something special. May I always remember the little moments!

Today, Mama & I decided to take Ellie Claire to Babyland General. Since I haven't been in probably 20 years myself, I had more fun just as much fun than Ellie Claire. She loved the babies, but her favorites were the animals all around-the monkey especially. At the second birth we saw, the baby was a girl and we got to name her Ellie Claire! We were so excited! (Too bad she was $295...) We ended the night dancing to Bible School songs and having pizza with Granny & Poppy. Such a fun day and time to treasure! I have more pictures coming from Babyland General but I left my camera in my parents' car.

I'm hoping by starting "Saturday Summaries" I can hold myself more accountable for keeping up with our life updates in a timely manner!