And than she was ONE!

Happy birthday my sweet little pumpkin nose!  I cannot express just how crazy fast this year has gone,  Elliotte went from being able to just sleep and poop, to being able to walk, point to dogs and fans, go to the bathtub and crib on command and put dangerous objects in her mouth!  My confidence as a mother has grown ten fold, mainly because I was able to keep alive a totally helpless newborn and now rambunctious one year old.  I feel like I have learned how to be less selfish, and that love for my daughter grows with each passing moment..  She has brought Josh and I closer and made me marvel at God in ways a never thought possible.  She is a gift, and I am so thankful that God choose me to be her mama.

Elliotte can now....
Walk
take off her shirt in the middle of the night
point to things she wants (or doesn't want)
eat things off the floor
kiss (really just slobber on your check)
Hug
Slap you when she doesn't want something (we are working on this)
laugh at silly dancing by her mama and dada
smile when I or dada walk in the room
smile when we say No
run from you when you say no
share when you ask to see what she is holding as long as you give it back ASAP
go to the crib, tub and highchair on command/when she feels like listening
drop cell phones in the dog's water dish
pull random objects into her crib that are within reach when she should be sleeping (i.e. picture frames)
poop in the tub
reach for me when she is hurt or tired
share food with the dog
make my heart swell with joy

Today is her true birthday but this weekend we are really going to party!  All of her grandparents are coming to meet us in OKC to give this party girl a proper one year old party!!!  Elliotte cannot wait to see them and wants to thank everyone who has contributed to her first year of life's survival!  (grandmas)

A festival fit for a peacock!

Sooo, its almost Halloween and since Elliotte's birthday falls on the weekend of such a holiday we decided to dress her up early, and head to the park where the annual Chili cook off happens in our neighborhood!  Our peacock made quite the impression on all those attending, many who thought she was a butterfly, bug of some sort, or a monster.  Idiots.  BUT nonetheless the peacock had lots of fun playing in the park with pops, and sharing chili with mama!  Peacock even WON the cake walk!!!  (And by win, I mean I stood on the squares for her and did all the work while she got to enjoy the spoils of my effort)  She picked a kitty cake, and LOVED the licorice whiskers.  But than again who wouldn't?!  She got jibbed on the costume contest, some stupid werewolf kid won, and he wasn't even that cute to be honest.  I have suspicions that it was rigged...  But that didn't stop the peacock from strutting her stuff proudly on the runway.  Even if she didn't win she will always be the cock of the walk in my heart.  Peacock, you did your mama proud!

A peacock is known to be extremely adorable and a bit rambunctious at times.

Peacocks are capable of riding equine!

Peacocks feast on pumpkins often.

Contrary to popular belief, Peacocks love to swing! 

Here the peacock is with the winner of the Chili Cook off!!! 

Peacocks love Kitty cakes!!!  

My baby is smarter than your baby!

Elliotte loves dogs.  I mean really has formed quite the attachment to them.  In this video she points out the furry canines and matches the momma dog (bitch if you will) with the puppy!!!  She is one smart puppy, and I have a feeling she might be the teacher's pet (double pun)!!!  She loves to look through her baby animal book, perhaps she will be a future veterinarian. On a side note I tend to make up not blogging for a whole month by posting like 5 posts in one sitting...Forgive me.

And this other video shows you how she can now clap on command!!!  BOOYAH!  Oh and point to the fan...Genius.
                                         

And I would walk 500 miles!

Ladies and Gents,
I give you..Elliotte's walking debut!
Please, hold your applause till the end and no flash photography...

She has started walking since 9 months, but its been an uphill battle, lots of falls, bumps, and gunshot wounds.  Nevertheless she grows stronger each passing day, and with more training she will soon enter the Boston.

A Salute to Grandma K!

Long time no type!  A lot has happened since I blogged last.  My mother in law Wendy came down for a visit and we had a great time!  Thank you Wendy for helping and visiting us!  You were even a great sport playing the game we all know and love...Quelf.  You do an awesome impersonation of an Elvis disco dancer!  Elliotte had a lot fun playing in the mud with grandma too!  Josh and his mom went for a walk with Elliotte that somehow ended with Elliotte covered in mud.  It was pretty cute to see her completely filthy...as long as its not a daily occurrence.   Elliotte now has five teeth!  Two uppers, one canine, and two lower!!!  She has bitten me twice on the shoulder but every time I yelled Ouch and No biting, she started to cry, so hopefully we won't have many more repeats.  She is very sensitive.  She also has started to get int o everything!  Her new favorite game is to pull things out of the laundry basket, trashcan, or toy box.  She enjoys eating cucumbers, tomatoes and lots of Cici's cinnamon rolls.  Here are some long over due pics of the visit.

"Yes thats right, I CAN get down and dirty"-Elliotte

I Love playing with G-Ma Keller!

Please forgive my legs in this shot...

Trains...Hogwarts style!

Elliotte and I took a train to Nebraska this last weekend to see the ole grand-folks and relation in that neck of the woods.  We had a gay ole time but were very exhausted from all the traveling.  We took a train to OK since last time I drove by myself was a bit of a disaster.  She did great on the trip up there, in fact a gentleman in front of us even commented on what a good baby she was.  I am sure they all noticed her right away at the beginning, thinking oh crap not a baby, this thing will be nothing but a nuisance but people around us chimed in as well on how awesome she did.  I told them that it was a fluke. . But really she is a good baby she is just very active and passionate...especially about cheese doodles.  She was pretty good to on the way home but I just couldn't figure out how to get a baby to nap on such limited space.  Finally we succeeded, literally five minutes before we stopped to get off, figures.  Josh was there to pick us up and out to lunch we went!  It was a great way to come back home.

A movie star is born!

having fun with the sunglasses.

This is a book I use to have my mom read to me when I was a little Lass.  I would than crawl around the ground and pretend to be Pinkerton.  I can only hope Elliotte will share the same love for beloved Pinkerton.

We might have a walker on our hands very soon indeed!

Eight months young!

I am bored.  This is what happens. 

Just chillin in my crib.

Elliotte has learned how to crawl, pull herself up, stand, and above all pull heavy objects down on top of herself.  Sweet!  What really has started to be lots of fun for us is the misuse of "nap-time".  I left the room to her nursery for 30 minutes and than came back,  you know, to check on my sleeping baby but instead found this....

Father knows best!

In honor of Father's day I hereby devote this post!  Sooo.. Josh took Elliotte to church on Father's day morning, while I hurried  about getting the house clean and wrapping his presents/running to the store to buy them.  Elliotte really wanted to get her daddy this book we saw at Half price books called Dad's book.  Its a neat little book full of pictures, poems, songs, stories, and even recipes for dads and their kids to enjoy for many years to come.  I liked it because it was only ten dollars.  Shhh don't tell Josh.  I also knew that my husband was in desperate need of a wallet (Because it is always chalk full of Benjamins)  So I got him one for his gift from me.  It was fun to see him on his day of honor for the first time receiving instead of giving.  If anyone knows us that well you will also note that we love to devastate people and than pull a fast one on them and sike them out!  Well when Josh returned home from church I pretended that I didn't remember at all that it was father's day and that there were no presents for him.  I reminded him how earlier he had mentioned that he didn't really care if he got anything or not.  Boy did I have him fooled!!!  I sent him to the kitchen to get chicken out of the freezer for dinner and WHAM!  Present in the freezer!  I hid the dad book in there.  He squealed with delight (or just slightly smiled) who really can remember these things.  But he did enjoy the book and later found his other present the wallet on the toilet.  I am a genius what can I say. It was a Father's day to remember and I am sure we will relive this great day in June for many many years to come!
The End.

Holy Moly!

Sooo....once again I fall behind on blogging.  Sorry friends, nannying everyday this past week has really kicked my butt...AND before that we went out of town to visit Great Grandma at the reunion in KS.  This was Ell and I's first trip out of town by ourselves and believe you me it was not as much fun as one would imagine taking a 7 month old would be.  The ride up was great, my mom rode up with me due to her flight getting cancelled...like three times!  But the ride back was a doozey in a half!  Its hard going to the bathroom with a baby in your arms that is trying to grab everything within sight.  But we made it and thank goodness because I was really starting to miss my husband (he was out of town for about a week) and it made me very thankful that I am not a single parent.  It is one tough cookie to crumble and I only did it for 6 days but it was so good to see my grandma who is 91 years old and lots of other aunts and uncles who had never met the baby before!  She was a trooper even though her mom had several melt downs :)

To sum up the past few weeks we did a lot of hanging around, went to the mall where Elliotte fell asleep in her stroller by holding her foot, tried on funny glasses, and pretty much just fiddled around town.  Anyway I apologize for my lackadaisical attitude and hope this sample of photos make up for my absence.

Sleeping like a baby!

Exhausted from shopping!

silly girl with the glasses!

Pool time!

Ever since I have been nanny, Ell and I have been going to the pool almost everyday!  She loves the water in the kiddie pool because it is just the right depth for splashing and doing her side poses.  If you don't know yet, my baby loves to pose on her side (think swimming suit model).  She also enjoys all the community toys that get left by other children and indulges herself on tasty plastic dolphins, sharks, and sometimes band-aides.  Just kidding!  I am all about strengthen my child's immune system but even I draw the line at blooding bandages.  Josh had the day off this week so we went as a family to another pool that didn't have a kiddie pool.  Josh and I both took turns holding her and tossing her up in the air!  She loved it and her mom got quite the work out by tossing all 21 lbs of pure baby flab!  I debated whether or not to even post these pictures due to the envy that it would no doubt evoke once everyone sees my golden brown tan, but I couldn't resist.   It was a great family day and I have learned that there is not better way to wear out your baby than to go to the pool and let her wiggle around in the water.  Anyway I have some pretty cute pictures of her from her last few trips to the local pool!