A Perfect Black Friday!

We didn't venture out to fight the crowds yesterday. We decided to stay in and do some Christmas decorating. Ellie put up her Christmas Tree and she did a great job with the decorations. She insisted on putting her stuff animals and babies around the tree. She enjoyed having her pictures taken by her new work of art. We topped off the night by watching Frosty The Snowman. Ellie understands the concept of Santa and I can't wait for all the holiday fun.

It's days like yesterday that make me so happy to be a parent! There's nothing better than seeing events through their eyes. Everything is magical and everything is special.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a perfect Thanksgiving holiday! We were able to celebrate with both sides of our families and Ellie had a wonderful time playing with her cousins! I love this time of the year and it often makes me a little weepy! I am so blessed with the people in my life. I decided to pick five things that I am very thankful for this year.

1. Chris and Ellie- The best gift that I have ever been given! These two people make every day better than the last.
2. My Family- I have the best parents in the world. They are so giving of their time and I don't ever regret moving next door to them. We are also fortunate to live next door to my brother and his family which means that Ellie will grow up playing with her cousins.
3. Chris's Family- I lucked out marrying into this family! I have a great father in law and wonderful sister and brother in laws that make every family event a great time.
4. All our friends- Special thanks to all of you. We love all our old and new friends and are thrilled that we get to spend time with them. We miss all our close friends from Atlanta and other parts of the US and I hope you know that we think about you almost every single day.
5. My job- I know that it might sound silly but I love my job. I love being able to help my clients find their dream home! It's a true honor to be invited into one of your bigger life decisions.

I hope everyone that reads this post will take a moment to think about the things that they are thankful for.

Luke- Ellie's Best Friend and Pony!

I have written about Ellie's and Luke on the blog before but today was a big love fest. It was more of a love fest from Ellie then Luke. Luke is so patient with all of her antics. She loves to brush him and put him to bed. Luke tends to love her more when she is running to the pantry for his treats. Ellie gives him lots of treats but she breaks them off into tiny pieces and I am not even sure Luke can even taste the treat. Ellie decided to make Luke her pony today and he did a wonderful job of letting her ride on his back. It's hard to believe that Luke will be turning 9 on December 31st. He was our first child and he has given us lots of wonderful memories. We are thankful that he has been so good with Ellie and that they are best friends.

We are still waiting for our new computer to arrive but I managed to figure out how to download the pictures to the laptop. Hopefully, I will be up and running again soon. Please bear with me.

A big Happy Birthday to two of our favorite people. Maddie turned 4 and we had a wonderful time at her birthday party. Auntie Mel, Maddie's mom also celebrated her birthday last week. We don't discuss her age!

Hail to The Redskins!

Our household loves to watch Redskins football on Sundays. Ellie has a Redskins cheerleader outfit to help cheer the team onto victory. She wanted to wear it for about 5 minutes and then took the outfit off. She also only wanted to watch Max and Ruby while the game was on. I am sure as she gets older she will enjoy watching football. I loved going over to the Wallace's for their Super Bowl parties. Whitney and I both had hug crushes on John Elway. I hope that Ellie gets a crush on someone a little better looking than John.

Three Year Old Update

We had our three year old check up today. Ellie weighs 29 pounds and 8 ounces and is 36.5 inches tall. She was able to get her flu vaccine but lucked out with only having to get the nasal dosage. She loved the doctor and he did a wonderful job of making her giggle through the whole appointment.





Sorry for the bad picture. Our main computer crashed and we are having it fixed. We are lucky that we didn't lose any pictures since we had just moved all the pictures to our external hard drive. I hope to have some better pictures soon.



Please take a second to vote in our Santa poll on the right side screen. Thanks

More Party Pictures

Some more pictures from the party. Ellie had lots of help with opening her presents. I realize that at her age she wants to play with each present right away. This makes it very difficult to get all the presents opened.

The One Gift She Didn't Get!

Ellie did request one present that I didn't get her. Ellie is ready to be a big sister. She had requested a baby sister or brother for her birthday present. We weren't able to give her that but we hope to in the future. My friend Lou allowed Ellie to enjoy her little girl Ana Sophia at the party. Ellie gave her lots of kisses and proved that she will be a great big sister. I think Ellie's friend Olivia is also ready to be a big sister but she has to take that one up with her parents!

Three Years Ago Today

Three years ago today, we were blessed to have Ellie come into our lives. We were so happy to finally get to meet this little girl that had been in my tummy for the last nine months. There aren't enough words to describe that feeling when you become parents. You never realize how much you can love someone until you have a child. Ellie makes every day better for us even in her terrible two moments.

Ellie is growing up so fast. I wish that I could slow down time. She's very independent and smart. She has a wonderful imagination and loves to tell you all the details of her day. I hope that she will always be willing to share the details of her day with us.

Happy Birthday Ellie Belly! We love you!

The Birthday Party!

We had a wonderful birthday weekend for Ellie. Ellie had a great party on Saturday that was jammed pack full of laughter and giggles from all of Ellie's friends. Ellie got so many great gifts from everyone. Of course in true three old fashion her favorite gift was the largest. Aunt Mimi brought her a little play house that you can see in the pictures. All the kids enjoyed playing in the house. I was so proud of Ellie for sharing all her new toys with all her friends. All the kids enjoyed taking rides in the Barbie Jeep that Grandma and Papa got for her. I am sure she will be driving that all over the place. Thank you to everyone who helped share in Ellie's special day. A special thanks to Katie for helping out with setting up the party and running errands with me. By the way Katie, we didn't even get to the pinata and it's still hanging on the stair rail.

Ellie The Photographer

Ellie loves taking pictures. She took 30 pictures a couple of weekends ago and I thought I would show off her work. Daddy and her babies are her favorite subjects. I must admit that she takes better pictures than I do.

Lots of Mallonee Birthdays!

We have two special birthdays this month. Grandad celebrated his on the 3rd and Aunt Mimi will celebrate on the 12th. Ellie is so lucky to have these two wonderful people in her life. They give her more love then she could ever know. Chris and I would like to thank them for all their support and babysitting duties since Ellie's arrival. Ellie has shared many wonderful moments with Grandad and Aunt Mimi and can't wait to share another special year with them. Ellie loves you and can't wait to see you on Saturday to celebrate her special day. We all know that Ellie's birthday is really the highlight of the month!

Halloween Happiness!

We had a wonderful time trick or treating with the Innis's. They are nice enough to share their neighborhood with us. Ellie and Maddie both dressed up as princesses and did a wonderful job with the traditional saying trick or treat. The fathers were in charge of taking the girls around and making sure they didn't grab large amounts of candy out of the buckets. Auntie Mel dressed up as a nun and I spent most of the time worrying about lightning striking her down for her costume.

Ellie is enjoying all her candy and I am going to have to find some way of getting rid of it asap. I feel bad for throwing away all her hard work.

School Picture

Ellie had her very first school picture taken a few weeks ago. We think it turned out great. She loves going to school and we have lots of wonderful pictures that she has been painting from school. She is learning lots of new songs and we are learning them as well.

Side Note: Happy Birthday Uncle Mike! Thanks for sharing your birthday cake with me.