Post Vacations

Some things to note from life lately:

Clay and I got our first smart phones ever!

I can't tell you how badly and how long I've wanted one!

And so far it's no disappointment. Clay and I LOVE them.

And with that comes instagram:

http://instagram.com/karashurtliff

Can't lie, I'm a huge fan of social media for a million reasons (so yay to being on instagram now!).

Although I try to limit the amount of time spent on it, and I'm really pretty good about ONLY doing it when Ellery's asleep, I'm still always working on prioritizing my time well, and doing the best things first. Something that will probably always be a struggle for me, but hopefully I'll just get better and better at it!

New things E says lately:

She now knows the words to I am a Child of God. Well, she just sings the second half over and over again, "Lead me Guide me Walk beside me..." till the end of the song. She actually sang it ALL day long today. It was pretty cute.

She can almost say her own prayers now. They usually go like this:
"Dear Heavenly Father. Thank you mommy. Thank you..." lots of random things that we catch some of them and don't catch others. And then she usually needs help to know when or how to end it. But she's always thankful for me first : ) ha

Yesterday she said her first big, full sentence (I think):

I asked her what she did in nursery, and she replied,

"I play with toys at church." and some other things that I didn't quite catch : )

She continues to have cute, imaginative conversations between her toys.

I don't write them all down or remember all of them, but here is one I remember:

One toy said, "waa waa" and the other said, "shhh mama's here!" and then another toy said, "shhh daddy's here!" You can tell I say that to her when she cries : )

Today she was making eating, chomping sounds (while just walking around, not actually eating). So I asked her, "What are you eating?" and she said, "mmm food like sandwich cheese and..." then I didn't quite catch what else she listed off, but I thought that was pretty cute ha.

Ellery is typically pretty polite. When she is upset and we tell her it is time for something (like time to go to bed), she will yell very angrily, "No THANK YOU!" Well, at least she said thank you, right? ha.

She also does something funny. She whispers really quietly with a little smirk on her face when asking for something that she knows she shouldn't have (like more show or more cookies). As if whispering will make me say yes : ) okay, maybe sometimes it works...ha.

She was asking for "Mickey Christmas" every. single. day. for a while (a Mickey Mouse episode we recorded back in December). But the last couple of days she hasn't wanted anything to do with the TV.

She is now extremely picky about what color of plate, bowl, and cup she wants to use, and about the utensils she wants to use. She always seems to be very certain that she wants the PINK cup or the GREEN plate, etc. 

My bump end of Dec.

Beginning of Jan. I'm getting big!

(and Ellery now points out my tummy to me all the time!)

Cruisin' around the parking lot with Daddy.

She LOVES to play in the front seats.

 Stroller in the crib? Why not?!

 The FIRST thing she wanted to do when we got home from vacation was play in her crib. She played in it non stop for days after our trips. She sure loves that little play pin of hers!

 Picture on the left: She kept asking me to take pictures of her jumping in her crib : )

(and then she always wants to view them afterwards! ha)

 More colored bath time!

 After eating out at a restaurant. I typically have to take Ellery out while Clay pays because she's usually really done sitting still by the time we are done eating at a restaurant!

 I spy Ellery! She LOVES running around Sam's Club. It's like a park with free samples and toys : )

I made homemade whole wheat tortillas for the first time. I don't think I'll ever do it again. It was quite a bit of work, and they aren't insanely yummy, although they are healthier and it's always nice to know exactly what goes into what you are eating.

 Ellery refused to eat dinner with us one night and then later asked for salad in a green cup. Well, actually she said, "sauce in a green cup." She calls salad "sauce" because we call dressing "sauce" when talking to her (not sure why...ha), and she always asks for more "sauce" on her salad.

 Loves playing with her baby in the stroller, highchair, and swing.

Can't wait to see her as a big sister!

 Trying on her panties ha.

(one day we'll attempt potty training again...)

 Playing chess with Daddy at the library.

 Every time we go to the library, she has to sit in that statue's lap and read a book.

 A smores trifle dessert I made to take to dinner at a friend's house.

 Wandering around the open space by our apartment complex.

 Life with a toddler : )

 New dress. She immediately began twirling the second I got it on her.

 She keeps pulling out her old baby gym/mat and wanting to play under it. So we added a blanket and made it a fort. She loves it.

This book seemed appropriate for the week. Here's why:

These pictures are pretty gross, and maybe Clay will hate that I'm posting them, but we have to document it! Poor Clay had a MISERABLE week last week with a serious break out in hives! We were worried about him because he also had a fever, abdominal pain, coughing, etc. but fortunately those things all went away after a day or two. Unfortunately, his hives lasted over a week, and they were so bad that he had to go to the ER in the middle of the night one night. He had to get a whole bunch of steroids and prescriptions (had to go back to the doctor to get stronger meds because the first set did nothing), and nothing took away the itching (although the pills did help with the swelling/welts). He was literally covered head to toe (in his scalp, under his chin, all the way down to his feet). Everywhere besides his face, thankfully.

His chest.

 Back and side.

Arm (not at its worst!)

Poor Clay didn't sleep for days because he was so itchy and miserable.

Happy to report that they are ALL FINALLY gone now though : )

No idea what caused them. Hopefully it was a one time thing...