Ellie ~ 12 Months Old

Height: 29 3/4 inches ~ 72nd percentile

Weight: 19 pounds ~ 17th percentile

Oh. My. Heck.  How is Ellie 1 YEAR OLD ALREADY?!  This little girl has completely changed our lives and stolen our hearts over the past year and we couldn't be happier to have her.  She fills our lives with so much love and joy every single day.  I just want to squeeze her all the time.  We love her so much.  We are so blessed that she is ours, FOREVER.  She has made me a Mom and I wouldn't trade this "job" for anything in the world.  I feel so privileged to have the opportunity to raise this precious little girl.  I am grateful every day that I have her in my life.

* Ellie has started to bring books over to me and then wants to get on my lap so I can read to her.  I LOVE this soooooo much!  One of my favorite things ever.
* She has started dancing when she hears music.  It is the cutest thing in the world.
* Her little personality is coming out!  She knows when she is being funny and totally hams it up.  She has also started throwing a fit...like when I take my phone away from her...she starts crying/screaming and does this dramatic tilt of her head and sprawls out on the floor.  Already?!  How is that happening already?!  I just have to laugh sometimes because it is quite hilarious.
* She is learning how to blow kisses.  She puts her hand to her mouth but hasn't quite yet mastered the pull away and blow...but we'll get there!
* Ellie plays her own little version of peek-a-boo...meaning instead of covering her eyes she grabs the sides of her head.  Can I say adorable?!
* Now that Ellie can walk I find myself treating her like a dog! HA!  I call her to follow me and pat my leg...oops!  I also kept her barricaded in the kitchen so she wouldn't pee on the carpet when she had really bad diaper rash and needed to air out. And for the record, she peed on the floor, then slipped in it and fell...
* Ellie got sick for the first time this month.  It was so sad.  I just hate that I didn't know how to help her.  She had a really runny nose and was congested.  There were a few days that she would throw up after she ate because of the congestion, she would start coughing so hard it made her throw up.  She just wanted to sit on my lap all day.  It took her a good week to get feeling better.  Poor girl.
* She hates the vacuum.  Hates.  Even if it isn't on!  The other day I opened the closet it was in to do something and she saw it and started crying!!!  It's comical really.
* Her hair is long enough to put in a ponytail...on top of her head!  It is the cutest thing ever!!!  Just look at the pictures...
* She loves to give kisses!  She has started to do this thing if we are both standing there and we ask for a kiss she gives one of us a kiss and then turns to the other one of us for a kiss and she keeps going back and forth.  I love it!!!
* When we put Ellie to bed and say, "Night, night," she waves at us like bye-bye!  It stemmed from her saying bye-bye to Daddy when he goes to bed.  It is so funny!

Bailey visited us on Spring Break!!!

This past week was so much fun!  My niece, Bailey (16 years old), came out to visit from Indiana for her Spring Break.  I feel so loved that she wanted to come visit me!!!  We had a blast.  It was the first time Bailey has seen mountains and she was obsessed.  They are pretty incredible, so I see why ;)  We had fun hanging out, driving up Logan canyon, shopping (I took her to this little boutique, Bella Me, and she loved it!), riding bikes, eating yummy food and just laughing.  She is so grown up.  It was fun to just talk and catch up with her.  It was fun watching her with Ellie too.  I'm so glad they were able to spend time together. We took so many pictures :)

On Wednesday we headed down to Salt Lake City.  We took a tour of the Conference Center, walked around Temple Square and then did some shopping at City Creek.  It was a gorgeous day!  It was so nice to see the sights...it's been a long time for me...and the first time for Bailey (and Ellie!).

We spent Wednesday night and Thursday with Jared and Megan and kiddos.  We went to the park to play which is always a good time!  This was the first time Bailey met Jared's kids!!!  Rylie was so funny and "decided she was going to be shy" when we got there, but after a few hours she was BFF with Bailey.  Love those girls.  

On Thursday, before Bailey had to fly home, we went to lunch with Megan and the kids and then took a drive up to Squaw Peak in Provo Canyon.  I can't believe I had never been up there when I lived in Provo.  It was beautiful and had an incredible view.  Bailey loved it.  Right before we were getting ready to leave this guy came up and set up to go hang gliding...right in front of us!!!  We talked to him and it was really interesting to learn about.  The pictures are of his first attempt to catch some air, but it was unsuccessful.  Then some of his cords got tangled so he had to get that fixed.  Unfortunately we had to leave to get Bailey to the airport on time...but it was still cool to see!

It was so great to have Bailey come visit!  I can't believe I'm grown up enough that my niece could come visit me...ha!  I'm so glad the weather was perfect while she was here and we got to go do so many fun things!  What a great week!