Happy 7 month Birthday!

Our sweet girl is 7 months old! It's such a great age to be a baby! She is sitting up so well and has really started to get around with some slow crawling! There is so much to discover and play with at home with all of brother and sisters toys. She is a very happy smiley baby and loves to be tickled.

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!!

This year was one fun and exciting Christmas for our family! Nothing makes the holidays more fun than little children who are overly excited about everything Christmas! Techniqually Ellie had no clue it was "Christmas" but I do think she felt all the anticipation and excitement coming from her siblings! We were so lucky to have Pa and Grandma Joanne come into town for a week, it made the holiday even more fun. We stayed very busy, looking at Christmas lights, going to see Frosty the Snowman play @ Casa Manana theatre, eating dinner out, going to visit Santa, going to the Children's Museum, seeing the Chinese Lantern Festival in Dallas and most of all Christmas morning and hosting dinner for the entire Halliday family that afternoon. All the kids recieved wonderful gifts this year. Some highlights of what Ellie recieved were a sit to stand walker music toy, bath toys, clothes, teething toys, a rocking horse, and books. She loved getting to open the presents (well the ones Dylan & Abbey didnt rush over to open for her ;)) We cooked Leg of Lamb & Pork Rib Roasts for dinner and they were delish! All in all, I think Ellie enjoyed the season and we loved watching her take it all in.

HoHoHo!

I was not planning on waiting until Christmas Eve to take the kids to see Santa, but wow the time just flew and we never had a chance. One weekend we had an ice storm so were stuck inside @ home the whole weekend, then the next weekend all 5 of us got the stomach flu (talk about the worst kind of sick ever!) and then well what do you know it's Christmas Eve. Luckily the eperience was not anything like the horror I imagined it would be. Other than the grumpy Santa who I think should have been fired, it went great! We got there early, right at 10:00 (oh Pa and Grandma Joanne were in town, which made it so much easier and more fun too!) and there were two families in line before us. It was super fast, almost too fast actually. I felt like they kind of rushed us and I would have liked the opportunity to get a better photo taken. All three kids did awesome, no tears! Abbey was actually Chatty Kathy with Santa would wasn't even paying attention to her (um hello santa? I expect you to acknowledge my child!) Anyways, Ellie seemed to be unphased by it all and looked cute as always. See below: Most Akward Santa Photo Ever....( and some fun ice weekend photos).

Happy 1/2 yr birthday!!!

Wow, 6 months already?!?! I think 6 months is one of the best and most fun months during the first year. Huge milestones happen this month PLUS baby is so happy and smiley doing them! Ellie has officially mastered the scooting around. She doesnt know how to crawl forward but the girl gets around. You leave her in one place, come back and she's across the room. She loves watching her siblings run around the place and enjoys her bath time. She also has discovered "Mum Mums" which are baby rice crackers and loves munching on them. We swear she's teething but no, there are no teeth yet. She has also taste tested carrots and enjoys them. It's a busy, fun time of year with Christmas approaching so she has been busy running around with Mommy getting prepared and shopping which the big kids are in school. Her 6 month apt. is actually scheduled for January so I'll update then on stats.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sheesh, this year is just flying by. This year we celebrated Thanksgiving @ Maw Maw & Pops house in Ft. Worth. They made a lovely mean consisting of Turkey, Ham & Duck and their house was full of family members. The cousins enjoyed playing together and Ellie enjoyed being held. She's giving her Maw Maw a hard time by not letting her hold her, but she does let Pops & Cousin Rachel hold her. She is very fascinated with Landon and enjoys hanging out with him (they are only a few months apart in age). Anyways, it was a great thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for, but most importantly for our healthy bodies and happy hearts. Love our family of five and all the sweet memories we are making together!

Eating solids!

Really since Ellie was able to sit in the high chair...maybe around 3-4 months? she has been sitting in it and playing with toys while the rest of us (Luke, myself, Dylan & Abbey) eat our meals at the dinner table. Just recently not only has she shown some interest in grabbing what I'm eating she has also been having a big growth spurt and wants to nurse all the time. So....I thought lets try solids and see how she does. Well, it's a hard concept to learn! At first she wasnt so sure of it, and really didn't care for it. That took about a week...then she figured out eating REALLY is good, and she liked it! So she's been enjoying herself these days at the dinner table chowing down on sime baby oatmeal cereal mixed with banana, pears, peas and green beans. So far pears and peas are the winners. :)

Happy 5 Months old!

Baby girl is growing like a weed and her personality is shining! She is busy discovering all sorts of new things, like crawling backwards, reaching and grabbing things, blowing rasberries and smiling all the time. She loves watching Dylan and Abbey, and Abbey continually smoothers her with love. She is overall a very happy content baby. Her sleeping habits have not been great lately, she has been waking up more at night and fighting her naps, I guess there is just too much going on in life to waste time sleeping! She still loves to be worn by mommy in the baby carrier and sleeps like a charm in it. She is exploring tons of more toys these days has started eating solids! See the next post on details about that!