New glasses

After 4 years of having the same glasses, we thought it might be time for Ellie to get some new ones.  Her old lenses were a bit scratched up, the pink color had faded years ago, and they were just a bit too baby-ish for her (according to her... I thought they were perfect and adorable!).  

We ordered these through Zenni optical, which seems like a nice concept. Cheap glasses that you order online after you put in your prescription.  Garrett had good luck with them a few months ago so we thought we'd give it a try with Ellie.  These were originally listed at like $17, so I planned to get her two pairs in case one didn't work out (or just so she could rotate in between them as she wanted).  However, by the time I put in her prescription and opted for a few of the "upgrades" (like scratch free lenses, etc... plus her prescription is so strong that the lenses cost an additional $20), we were clocking in at $50.  No longer "cheap" glasses, so we just got one pair for now.

We all love them, and she loves them too which is the most important part.  They are a little big, which bugs me because we measured so well and the reviews said they were even a bit small for their 6-year-olds so I thought we would be okay.  But, oh well.  She will grow into them I suppose.

I can't say I blame her for picking out those cute pink frames.  She looks adorable!

Ellie turns 5

For Ellie's birthday, all she wanted to do was go to Cedar Key and play at the beach, and eat shrimp at a seafood restaurant.  So, that's what we did (a few days early)!  First we stopped for lunch at a little place on the water, then we played at the beach for a few hours.

Garrett brought his net and a bucket so he could catch bait to take fishing the next day.  The girls had a great time picking up all the fish from the net and putting them in a bucket.  Olivia got really good at reaching into the bucket and pulling the fish out, too! It was so funny.

Abbie found a jellyfish, too:

Ellie also requested breakfast in bed (on her actual birthday).  She said she wanted scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancakes with a square of butter on top "just like in the commercials".

She also wanted sushi for dinner, so we picked some up at the grocery store.

We LOVE having Ellie in our family.  She brings a lot of joy to our home and she is so funny - always making us laugh.

We love you, Ellie Bean!

Lately

We've had some cold weather lately, resulting in some.... interesting outfits that Ellie has put together.

Finding books.... er, DVD's.... at the library:

Olivia, looking cute as always:

My friend put together a "boot camp" during the second week of Christmas vacation.  We met every morning at 9 a.m. for a 20-45 min workout.  It was a lot of fun!  And really hard because another friend of mine was "making" me run 3-5 miles with her almost every night that week too.

This was probably my favorite workout -- she called it "12 Days of New Years" and we did it on New Years Day.  There are 12 exercises listed and we did them just like the song, so:
Round 1 - we did lunges to the half court line.
Round 2 - we did sprints to the half court line and back twice, and then the lunges to the half court line
Round 3 - 3 burpees, the 2 sprints, 1 set of lunges
Round 4 - 4 plank walk-outs, 3 burpees, 2 sprints, 1 set of lunges
etc.

Olivia with her bed hair:

Ellie helping Garrett fix her bike:

Abbie, ready for a chilly ride to school:

Concerts

Abbie had her first grade play in November.  It was called "Nuts" and it was SO cute!  Abbie's class were the "big bad squirrels" and they sang the cutest song.  She did a great job, we loved it!

In December, Ellie's class had their preschool Christmas concert.  They just sang 5 short songs, so it only lasted about 10 minutes total, which was great. They sang songs about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas. 

 

One really fun thing about Ellie's preschool class is that half of the kids (10) are also in our ward at church.  We all carpool also, so 5 of us drop off in the mornings and 5 pick up at noon.  It's fun to see my friends for a few minutes each morning when I drop off.  We all also live within a 2-mile radius of each other so I always see people drive past me as we are going to and from school.

It's so fun to have kids in concerts at school.... makes me feel a little bit old but that's okay.  It's a fun stage to be in!

Back to school

Abbie started first grade in mid-August.  She was so excited to be a first grader!  She even knew what teacher she hoped to get... she wanted the one her good friend had the year before.  Sure enough, Abbie was thrilled when she found out that she got the teacher she wanted. (Pretty lucky.. I think there are 8 first grade classes so her chances weren't too great.  Parents aren't allowed to request teachers, either.)

The Friday before school started, we stopped by the classroom to meet her teacher and find her desk.  Abbie insisted on wearing her school uniform. (The students have to wear solid colors, and collared shirts)

Here she is on the first day!!  I drove her that day and walked her into the classroom.  Normally, though, she gets picked up by a neighbor who takes her three kids to the same school.  Sooo nice!  The bus comes at 6:55, but thankfully she doesn't have to leave until 7:20-ish.

Abbie is doing well so far, although it's been a bit of an adjustment for her to have homework every day.  It only takes about 10-15 minutes or so, but she still drags her feet and insists that she "hates" homework.  Let's hope this doesn't last too long, because she has a lot of years of homework ahead of her!

That same day was also Ellie's first day of school.  Ellie has been talking about going to school for about a year now, so this was a big day!  Ellie is doing a free preschool that Florida has.  It's every day from 9-noon and she loves it.  She insists on bringing her backpack (with the attached lunchbox, because "it's prettier that way") and it's almost always empty. :)
Ellie with some of her friends from school.  There are 20 kids in her class, and 8 of them are kids from our ward at church. We all carpool and it's fun to see my friends for a minute in the morning too, at drop-off.

Ellie wasn't shy at all... she walked right in and sat down at a table and started coloring.

Abbie gets home from school at 2 so we still see a lot of her, which is really nice.

And you know what else is really nice?  Spending so much one-on-one time with this cutie.  Can't believe I'm back down to one child for a couple hours a day!  I have to admit, it's pretty nice.

Check-ups

Olivia had her 9-month appointment last week (she was just a few days shy of being 10 months old on the day of her appt).

Everything is looking good!  She's moving right along on the growth chart, hanging around the 10-15% mark for pretty much everything.  She's weighing in at 16 lbs 14 oz, and about 27" tall. (The scale in the picture says 17 lbs so I think I was touching it or leaning against it).

Ellie had her 4-year appointment on the same day, and things are looking great for her too!  Her hearing test was fine (although it must be very selective because she rarely seems to be listening at home these days ;).  She weighs 29 lbs 12 oz, and is 3' 2" tall.  Her eyes are unchanged (she had an eye exam a week before her 4-year checkup).  Ellie also got a couple of shots at this appointment, which is why she looks so nervous in the picture below.  I took this as we were waiting for the nurse to come back.  Ellie did great, though, and now she's all caught up and ready for school to start.

Lately, in pictures

Garrett had a chance to go fishing with some fellow residents.  He caught a big red fish and it was delicious! (remember when I swallowed a fish bone?  That was from this guy)

The girls helping me grocery shop:

We bought Garrett a pair of new suits.  He needed one for upcoming fellowship interviews and Macy's was having a BOGO sale.

 Olivia is growing so fast:

She finally started feeding herself recently, which has been a huge help to me!  Finally, we can eat our meals without her screeching impatiently in between bites.

Ellie made a "menu" the other night while I was cooking dinner.  I told her the letters and she did a great job!  She's come a long way over the last few months:

I helped throw a baby shower last week for a good friend of mine.  She has three boys and is having her first little girl, so we needed to celebrate!

Sidewalk chalk with the girls:

Painting:

Some of our friends who moved gave us this little motorized bike.  Ellie calls it her motorcycle and is pretty obsessed with it.  Unfortunately, it has to charge for about 16 hours and then runs for 15 minutes and dies, but oh well.  It's still a lot of fun:

Playing with playdough:

Little Fish

One thing that we have really enjoyed a lot this summer is going to the pool.  We usually go at least once a day, sometimes twice.  In years past we have spent lots of time at other neighborhood friends' pools, but this year I am really enjoying just taking them to our pool, sometimes with friends but usually on our own.  It's usually pretty quiet since our neighborhood is one of the smaller ones.  I love swimming with my girls, but I also love that they are good enough swimmers that I can also lay out and just relax.  If we are the only ones there, sometimes I can even read a book for a bit while they swim.  Olivia usually just sits in her stroller next to me, watching and laughing at the girls, or she also loves to sit on the top step and splash around for a long time.  (Or she eats.  That girl loves to eat!)

Ellie turns four

Ellie turned 4 on July 1.  We had a little "pool party" for her at our neighborhood pool, just really low-key.  We made cupcakes to share and just let the kids swim and run around.  Unfortunately, it started to rain pretty hard about an hour after we got there, so we were stuck under the covered patio for a good while.... the rain never really let up for about an hour!  It was a pretty big rainstorm but the kids had fun playing outside the pool so it all turned out okay.

We had spaghetti & meatball for dinner (per Ellie's request) and ate chocolate cake.

4 things we love about our little Ellie bean:

1. She is hilarious.  Ellie makes us laugh every single day.  She says the funniest things and just likes to be silly. She loves to dress up (multiple times a day) and be "fashion-y".

2.  She is always hungry.  Ellie could eat all day, every day, and never be full.  She's always asking for snacks, meals, drinks, etc... sure it can be a hassle but it's kind of endearing too.  I don't know where she puts it all!

3.  She is a great sister.  She loves Olivia and is a big helper with her.  She and Abbie also get along really well.  Ellie is definitely our more stubborn child, but lately she has shown signs of mellowing out a little.  A few weeks ago, Abbie was upset about something (I had given in on something to Ellie, leaving Abbie with the short end of the deal), and Ellie changed her mind so that Abbie could have what she wanted.  It was really sweet and unexpected.

4. She's persistent.  Not always a quality I can fully appreciate at this stage, but one that I'm sure will serve her well someday.

Happy 4th Birthday, Ellie.  We love you!!