Lately

Ellery is a crawl monster now. She can't stop. All over the place. Diaper changes are now almost impossible. I thought I was so fortunate with a baby that was great about getting changed. Little did I know it was only because she was immobile! AND she's also way harder to put to bed now. I used to lay her in her crib without even rocking her or anything and she'd be out instantly-no crying at all! Now she pretty much cries herself to sleep every nap and every night...bad mom? Advice? She IS tired...like, really tired...she's only taking one nap a day now. She's also been VERY clingy and instantly upset the second I walk away from her lately (as in just the past few days or week...I can't remember!). But she has two new teeth coming in on the top, so maybe that's why? Or maybe it's because I keep her so cooped up all day. After all, it's a billion degrees outside in Dallas in the summer. Poor thing. What ever happened to summer being an outdoor season!? Anyway, who knows! You think you have one type of baby and they just keep changing! But regardless of all that, she is still such a sweetie. It's SO easy to get her to smile and laugh : D Love my doll.

Oh, and Ellery is so smart! She is picking up on a lot of little things we do and loves to mimic us. She now waves, kisses, points, and copies other little movements and sounds we make.

Wearing daddy's hat

 mmm. Made my mama's French Dip Sandwiches with Au Jus. So good:

toast bread

rub garlic on it

sprinkle parmesan

back in oven just till cheese is melted

saute onions & peppers (optional) in olive oil

salt and pepper

1/4 t rosemary

1 T of tomato paste

2 T of worcestershire sauce

2 cups water

about 1 T. beef base

boil 2 minutes

add meat to heat (deli roast beef)

put meat on bread

swiss cheese on top

back under broiler till melted

I also made homemade Shirley Temples this week. I've been wanting to do that forever haha. It's super simple. Just sprite with a couple of tablespoons of the juice from inside the maraschino cherry jars. Add a couple of cherries and there you have it! YUM! (no picture, sorry!)

We went out to dinner with our good family friend, Steve, when he was in town.

 : D

 Miss Ellery chewing on a clear lid. haha

 Getting ready to go swimming. Love her little bum.

 Ellery's first time riding DART! She loved it.

 We took Ellery to the circus. It was great! It started out a little slow and lame-just dancing and juggling and what not...I'm not too into clowns haha, so I was worried the whole thing was going to be lame, but then they brought out a bunch of trained tigers and elephants (I sure hope they treat them well though....) and the acrobats and tightrope guys and a whole bunch of other cool stuff, so it ended up being really good and fun. Although, it was a little hard to pay attention towards the end because Ellery got really restless. She LOVED the first 20 minutes, but then became very uninterested after that (as we expected).

 E loves to find new toys (and this is why I don't buy a lot of toys...because even things like my ironing board are fun for her to play with)!

 SO I might have let her lick the spatula...covered in chocolate frosting...

Oh boy does that make me EXCITED for her birthday in TWO MONTHS!

 Now that Ellery is mobile and pulling herself up, she is getting into everything! Of course. She has yet to do anything really bad or dangerous though...yet...

After going on vacation with Clay's family a couple of weeks ago and feeling LAME for not really taking ANY quality (and by quality I mean shot with my Nikon, good lighting, etc.-Not quality of the subjects in the photos haha) photos while we were there, I've since been determined to use my nice camera more, and simply TAKE more pictures. Even if it's just a tree trunk ^ I just need to be photographing. I miss it, and I love it, so why am I so lazy and unmotivated sometimes?! UGH.