A Few Crafts

Adam and I did a few crafts the other day and I think they turned out great.

Some fireworks.

A rocket ship, with foil windows and cotton ball smoke. I then had to cut out a second rocket ship for him to play with.

Happy Birthday Ellie!

I cannot believe how fast this year went by and that Ellie is already one! We had a second tier from her birthday party a few weeks ago that we kept to use for this party so that's why it looks messed up on the top.

She had her checkup yesterday and is doing great! She was right at 20lbs, and was 29 3/4 inches long (I think.) She was in the 85th% for head circumfrence but I don't think she has a big head, 75th% for height, and just under 50th% for weight. She got three shots and a finger prick but did great.

Blowing out her candle, sort of!

She didn't really get too messy.

Adam enjoying the cake too.

This is all the messier she got!

Playtime for Ellie's Bday

We went out for dinner to a place called Playtime for Ellie's birthday. The kids had a blast. Adam has always loved this place but Ellie hadn't been there since she was crawling or walking. But she loves it too!

Playing air hockey with Daddy.

Ellie doing the race car game.

At my sister's earlier this week I shot a couple pictures with Joe. He and Adam were hanging out on the couch having a blast. I threw Ellie up there for a quick pic too.

I went to college for elementary ed and they sure focused on gender stereotyping a lot. I think some people are just born one way or the other. Ellie already loves playing dress up. She'll wear a hat half the day, tries to put my high heels on, puts necklaces on, and I am by no means very girly so I have not been showing her how to do this. She just did it herself one day. However, she will not let me do anything to her hair or keep any bows/rubberbands in it so I hope that changes!

Wearing Adam's visor.

With her hat and necklace.

She saw me put batteries in this toy so she played with the screwdriver forever fixing her car. Guess she's not all girly!

Helping Aunt Gina Make Cookies

We went to Gina's for a couple days this week and she wanted to make cookies with Adam. Of course Ellie tried to help too.

Adam's Growing Some More

The past few nights after we read Adam a few books he's been wanted us to go out so he can read by himself. He keeps his lamp on for awhile, or uses a flashlight. We usually have to go in there and tell him it's time to turn the light off and go to sleep but last night he turned his light off and went straight to sleep without anyone asking him to. That just seems like something older kids do and it's so hard for me to see him as a "kid" and no longer a toddler or baby. And to clarify "reading" he has the Leapfrog Tag system and uses his pen to do activities in his books, or just listens to the story. I'm so thankful for my kids' love of reading though and I will encourage this forever!

We met our playgroup friends at the park today. I had never taken Ellie to a park since she's started walking. She climbed right up there and played away! She sat at the top of the slide like a pro and eventually went down, all by herself! I can't believe how brave and crazy she is! Adam had a great time too. We haven't seen his friends in awhile so we were glad that his friend Carter showed up to play. It was weird that they can just run around the playground, up on the big one, and we don't have to watch them as close as we used to. They sure grow fast!

She climbed up all by herself and headed down.

Doesn't she look so old in this picture?

Sibling love! They've been having so much fun together. I'm so glad I'm home and able to enjoy this and that they get to grow up together.

Silly!

Silly Girl

Ellie wanted up in the chair yesterday and then started being silly. I was rocking her and she got excited and just started rolling around and being goofy. I got some cute pictures out of it.

Adam had to jump in on one of course!

The Simple Things

When we decided to have kids I always wondered what kind of life they would have living in the city. Bradley and I both grew up in small towns, on farms, without much entertainment, or money for that matter. We played outside without swingsets, without many toys, and without playgroups. We were able to go outside and not worry about getting kidnapped or any other scary thing. We ventured into the woods, played in the hay barns, went out in pastures, etc. Times have changed and there is no way my kids will ever be going outside and running the neighborhood. My grandparents are aging or gone and the farms are pretty much no longer there. But I'm learning with my kids that no matter where you live or how much money you have, it's the simple things in life that make it fun. Just like those clover pictures from last week. This is Adam's laundry basket and the kids played in this twice yesterday for a good amount of time. Adam pushed Ellie for awhile and then they just sat there and made each other laugh.

Saturday we went back to Columbia to celebrate the kids' birthdays with our families. We bbq'd, had some awesome cake, and went swimming in my sister's subdivision pool. The kids had a great time. Our sister-in-law, Mindy, took all the pictures from the beginning of the party so when I get those I'll post some more. These are the only good ones I got.

Ellie's first birthday cake. She loved it and kept using the candle as a spoon to eat the icing!

Adam is ready to blow out his candles.

Playing in the Clover

There was a big patch of clover in the yard yesterday and for some reason the kids decided to spend most of our time outside playing in it. Adam was picking all the flowers for a bouquet that is in my kitchen now, and Ellie was trying to pick flowers and eat them! I made Adam a clover necklace but he didn't seem too interested.