Love at first sight ....

When I say we have a mild obsession in our house with cozy coupes, oh boy do we! Catherine Ellis has never loved a toy or any object (maybe her cat from Aunt Sara and her blanket from Aunt Michelle M. that she sleeps with every night ) like she LOVES the cozy coupe. It was honestly love at first sight ..... their first meeting was at school and she's been head over heels since! Here are a few pics from her first encounter with cozy:

Catherine Ellis & Josie with their first cozy coupe encounter

She has so much fun and is always so unwilling to leave school - I have to bribe her most days, either with promises of seeing Dada or with juice - because of the cozy coupe that we bought her one. Note to self: Buying the toy that your child is obsessed with only makes the obsession worse. Duh Megann and David. However, we love hearing her squeal with glee and laugh and have the time of her life with her beep, beep (this is what she calls her cozy coupe) that it's well worth her having a mild obsession for now.

We've had the car for almost a month and this Sunday David finally had an opportunity to put it together - you would have thought Uniquah from the Backyardigans had just shown up at our front door - she was beside herself that her very own, pink cozy coupe had appeared in her living room - check it out:

Admiring Daddy's handiwork


Testing the door - by far my favorite part of the car

Getting out ...


Oh yeah, digging the cozy coupe

Back in .. I don't stay out for long


Ready for some cruising

Thank you Dada - I think I might let you finish up the back end of the coupe now

You'll notice the back is missing and the steering wheel is not locked in yet - but she couldn't resist!

So this week she and her Daddy have been having a ball in the driveway after school - Catherine Ellis loves a good thrill and Daddy pushes fast and furious - I can hear her squealing with joy when I'm inside!

Getting ready for racing with Daddy


And she's off!


BEEP BEEP!


Now, who could resist this face?

Hope everyone has a great week and a safe Labor Day weekend!

Oh the Places You'll Go ....

We've had so much fun the past two weekends - last weekend was Catherine Ellis's very first trip to Pump It Up for Madeline Solomon's 3rd birthday party and this weekend a trip to Wonderful, Wonderful Camp McDowell!

Catherine Ellis loves to stay on the go just as much as we do - so filling our weekends is not hard nor unusual for us - we stay on the road at least 2-3 weekends a month and while sometimes I wish I had more time at home, the other part of me loves living life - we think there is no better way to enjoy life than to spend it with friends, family and enjoying the great outdoors!

We'll start with Pump It Up! First of all, Madeline has got to be the cutest birthday girl I've seen - she was dressed as Dorothy and her birthday party was Wizard of Oz - which she LOVES!

Madeline's birthday invite - isn't she precious?

We've missed Madeline's other birthday parties, so we were thrilled we were able to attend - Catherine Ellis had a wonderful time and I got quite the workout. I also learned my lesson - when David offers to come along and help - I'll be taking him up on it! I had no concept of the amount of work it would be to jump, carry, climb, slide and tumble around with a 16 month old. Thank goodness for the Cozy Coupe so I could catch my breath! We also got to catch up with some of our Auburn friends that we don't get to see often - it was so wonderful to see the Petersons and Vaughns - sure wish you guys lived closer! Thank you Madeline for inviting us, sweet girl!

Tricia & CE enjoying the slide (and giving Mommy a break!)



The latest obsession .... the cozy coupe!



The basketball bouncy - a favorite!

A natural at basketball - just like her Daddy!

Meeting Owen for the first time - CE loves babies!

Getting to know one another ..



Sharing the love ...

Cozy couping with Henry!

Thank you Madeline - I had the best time!

This weekend we headed to Camp McDowell to reunite with some of my favorite people and to enjoy Tillers - my favorite place on earth. Catherine Ellis has been to Camp a couple of times, but never in the summer when she could enjoy the hiking and water! So off to Tillers we went. What a gorgeous day!

Rocking on the porch in my McDowell tee ..



I love Camp McDowell!

Ready for the hike - it was HOT so CE wasn't too excited yet!

Ah, Tillers how we love thee!

Preparing for the ride back up

Relaxing with the ladies - thank you Carter, Jules and Maggie for a great weekend!

Present

Living in the present, as my Mom would say! We've been living each day to the fullest as summer is winding down and enjoying as much of the day light as we can possibly stand - whose idea was it to fall back anyways? I wish all the days of the year were as long as the days of summer - for some reason it makes me feel like I'm in the moment, living life and taking full advantage of all that God has offered up on this beautiful earth for us.

We've had a great couple of weeks seeing friends and visiting - so I'll catch you all up with some great pics from the past couple of weeks! We love it when friends drop by and spend a couple of hours with us and help us live in the present - what a treat it was to spend a Saturday afternoon with Virginia and her main man Steven - what a fabulous couple! Catherine Ellis had the best time charming Steven and he played along - reading several books over and over and over - like they say 'he had her at hello' - Catherine Ellis was smitten with him from the time they walked in the door - thanks Virginia and Steven for spending a Saturday afternoon with us - can't wait to see you again soon!

Uncle Adam came to visit one Sunday afternoon and we had a blast - thank you Uncle Adam for visiting with us -we can't wait to come play at camp some this fall with you!

We also had some visitors from Ohio pop in last Monday for a visit with their newest addition to the family - Henry! Kara & Adam are fearless parents who hit the road with a 6 week old and have traveled to 4 states over the past 2 weeks - he's a cutie and it was so wonderful to meet him in person! Kara and I were co-workers during my time at Girls Inc. and have stayed in touch over the past 3 years while her husband has been in graduate school at Ohio State. Thanks for visiting with us Newbys!

This past weekend we ventured to North Alabama to visit with my Dad, brother, sister-in-law, and Aunt & Uncle - it was a quick trip, but a lot of fun. Dad has lots of farm land for Catherine Ellis to roam around on and boy did she love every second of getting filthy from head to toe!

Feeding the fish at the Pounder

Trying to catch the fish ....


Hanging out on the falls ...

Sweet Abby - Catherine Ellis loved watching her fetch the ball


Checking out all the leaves on the rocks ..

Catherine Ellis and Granddaddy

Making certain Abby sees the ball ...

Not quite sure what I think about cats yet ....


Cruising the fields with Dada

Farm girl indeed ..


Catherine Ellis & her new best friend, Abby


Aunt Kim and Uncle Andrew (Dew)


The Greats

What a great weekend! Hope you all are living in the present too - each day is a gift, live it to the fullest!

16 Months

Happy 16 Month Birthday Catherine Ellis! Today is a very big day in your life - not only are you celebrating 16 months, but you're officially moving to the Toddler classroom at school! We are so proud of all of your hard work as you're learning to transition to being a big girl! Mommy and Daddy aren't sure we love it as much as you do, but we're learning too:)

August 9, 2010 - 16 months

Here are all the fabulous things you're doing at 16 months - 16 with one to grow on:

• you are in the Toddler classroom - today is your official moving day, August 9, 2010
• you are walking - sometimes running with NO fear
• you use your words so well - you can repeat almost anything anyone says and you always try even if it doesn't come out right. Some of your new words that are our favorite this month: pappie (papppiiiiieee), thank you (dank eww), deer (dee), cat (ca), Drew (dew), bee (b), juice (jewsa), go (GO!), out, down (daown), Abby, bubbles (bublas), and Josie.
• you are napping only once a day now -we've dropped the morning nap and your afternoon naps are getting longer (3 hours this past Saturday!)
• you LOVE babies - you like to babysit and help your teacher in the infant classroom when another baby cries
• you are drinking only 2 bottles a day - one in the morning and one at night - the rest of your milk is out of your cup. You're also learning to drink out of a straw
• you love bubbles and try really hard to blow them yourself
• you are eating table food - you want what everyone else has on their plate
• you say 'thank you' after everything - when someone gives you something and when you give yourself something - it's pretty cute
• you give kisses now when prompted - pucker up your lips and all
• you don't like being confined to the changing table or the highchair - AT ALL - you scream out or no most every time - you literally like to 'eat on the go' as you run from place to place
• when you like a certain food you go 'mmmmmm' and shake your head yes and then point to the food meaning you want more
• you understand simple commands like - no (most of the time), go find Daddy, get your juice, etc.
• you love cell phones! Especially Mommy's new iPhone 4 -the camera allows you to see yourself and you think that is so funny
• you can make animal sounds - cow and owl are your favorite - moooo and who who who
• you love opening and closing doors - when you open you say 'hey' and when you close you say 'bye bye'
• you are finally in the 75th percentile for height and weight - stats from your last check-up (15 months) were: 24.4 lbs, 31 inches long
  

We love you sweet girl - may God continue to watch over you as you grow and prosper in His love!