Christmas At The McClintick's

What a wonderful Christmas!!! Jeff's parents were able to come out from Florida to spend the Holiday with us, it was so much fun having them here. Ellie just loves her Grammy and Papa!

On my side of the family it seems to have become a tradition that first thing in the morning everyone gets up, lines up and makes the walk down to where the presents are...well I wanted to keep that tradition going even though the line is quite a bit smaller with one person in it...LOL! I think Ellie got the hang of it though...she is still learning how to go up and down steps so she took a little tumble but got right up and headed for her gifts...my favorite moment is seeing her reaction...just love it!

Ellie got so many wonderful things, she is loved so very much by everyone. After a while of opening her gifts she got a little tired so we took a break... I think it had something to do with having to hug every gift she received...she's too cute.





Later that afternoon we had Jeff's Grandma, Grandpa and Uncle come over for Christmas dinner, of which Jeff's Mom did a fantastic job making. She's such a wonderful cook!!
We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful family and to have our little Ellie Bug...

Christmas Time is Here!!!

As I was going through and getting the Christmas decorations out this morning, Ellie found her Mickey Claus and Minnie Claus... I am still trying to decide if she likes them or not...

Oh feeding herself!

I just love this little girl so much! I made Ellie cinnamon rolls and yogurt for breakfast, while I was cleaning up the kitchen I turn around and there she was...

how can you be mad when she is as cute as this...

Everyday just keeps getting better and better!

Miss Lady Bug for Halloween

I was so excited this year for Halloween, thinking yeah...she gets it! We will be able to go trick or treating and she will be so excited to dress up....OH BOY was I WRONG!!! WOW!! Miss Ellie wanted nothing to do with her Halloween costume and forget trick or treating!

What was fun though is staying at home and having Ellie run to the door and watch all the kids in their costumes saying trick or treat...Ellie would say bye to each and every one of them and waive. That made my entire Halloween!

We were able to get a picture of Ellie 6 days later in her costume...were she had no problem putting it on and playing in it...

Ellies Big Girl Bed

This weekend we had to go buy Ellie a new bed, with her being off the charts on her height percentile she no long fits very well in her crib and is able to get her leg over the rail, so before she falls out I figured its time:)

It's a bitter sweet moment, I am realizing that she is growing up and I love it but am sad, I love my little baby girl!

Ellie fell asleep before we finished putting her bed together, so we just placed her in, keeping our fingers crossed that she didn't fall out. She's a wild sleeper:)

We were so paranoid that we lined the bed with pillows just in case...I hope this is all part of being a new parent, or maybe we are just crazy over protective parents...

Ellie did amazing, she didn't fall out and made it to 4:57 this morning before having to get in bed with us...I love morning cuddle time.

I walked Ellie into her room this morning and sad Ellie look...she was so excited to see her new bed. What a perfect moment!

Our Water Baby!!!

There are no questions about it, Ellie LOVES water!

We had to get her this kiddie pool...you will see why.



She is too much fun!!! Just love her to bits and pieces!!!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Today day is the day that I married my best friend 3 years ago! I never thought that I could find someone who still to this day gives me butterflies when I see them.

He takes amazing care of me and is the greatest dad to our little Ellie!

I look forward to spending the rest of my life with the love of my life!!!

Happy Anniversary Jeffrey Lee!!!

My Girly Girl!!!

When we found out that we were having a girl, I was a little worried. The reason being is I have always been a tom boy and was worried I would have a hard time doing the things girls love...hair, clothes, nails and jewelry.

But watching Ellie and how much she is SUCH a girly girl and how much she loves her little purses, dresses, jewelry, baby dolls and yes...getting her toes painted has me so excited to experience it with her.

I am having so much fun shopping for those dresses, purses, jewelry, baby dolls and nail polish...I get so excited because I LOVE seeing her little expression.

Here is a little sample of our girls weekend...I just love this little one!!!

Utah Trip

We were lucky enough to head down to Utah for Memorial Day weekend. We were able to meet our new little niece, celebrate 4 birthdays, visit with Makenna and have Ellie's 15 month old pictures taken by my amazing sister in law. She does such a wonderful job and we are so grateful for her.

We love being able to go and see the family and spend time with them, its something I look forward to at least once a year.

Cant wait until our next visit.

Mothers Day

Mothers Day was fantastic!! I had such a good day with my little family. It was so relaxing, we went and bought Ellie a new quad, lets just say she LOVES it! We sat in the backyard watched her play on her new toy and just enjoyed each others company.

I am so grateful to have such a wonderful Husband who takes such good care of his girls. I am looking forward to many, many more Mothers Days!!

Life just keeps getting better and better!

Phoenix Zoo

We took Ellie to the Zoo today, we think she had fun, I know that we did. It's so much fun to see how fearless this little girl is. She wasn't afraid of anything.

She fed the giraffes, brushed the goats and was face to face with the monkeys.

The one thing I loved is Ellie wore her sunglasses almost the entire time...it was too cute.

We are having so much fun taking her to do things for the first time, it's kind of like living my childhood again...so much fun!!

Crazy Drivers

We took Ellie to her friend Katelyn's house because Katelyn's daddy bought her a new little jeep. Ellie thought is was so much fun! Ellie kept standing up saying go go go... it was too cute!! Neither one of them could figure out how to do it so Marney and I had to push the peddle with our hand, it was a lot of work but worth seeing how much fun they had.

Easter

It feels like its Ellies first Easter because shes mobile, but really it is her second one. Time is flying by so fast. We had a wonderful Easter Sunday, Ellies Grandpa & Grandma McClintick sent her a cute Easter basket with little treats and a bunny she wont put down, Jeff and I enjoyed eating up all the chocolate.

It was such a beautiful day that we were able to throw all the plastic eggs in the middle of the grass in the back yard and have her go to town. She had so much fun.

Later that day Jeffs Grandma and Uncle came over and we decided to try to take some easter pictures with Ellie in her Easter dress, she was so funny. I just love this little personality coming out.

Ellies First Easter

So, I had a brilliant idea, so I thought. I was out shopping one day and saw this cute little bunny that the kids were sitting with and taking pictures, like Santa. I came home and told Jeff, wouldn't it be so cute to take Ellie to have her Easter pictures taken with the Easter Bunny. He giggled and said sure...(what a good husband, always agrees with his wife's crazy ideas).

We got Ellie all dressed up, flower in her growing hair and went to see the Easter Bunny. Mind you Ellie LOVED Santa Claus so I figured it was going to be the same type of experience. OH was I wrong... this was her expression.

I felt so bad, but at the same time I LOVE this picture!! We were finally able to get a not so scared but I am still really mad at you look...

I love this little girl so much and I am loving every minute of every day with her. Happy Easter!!!

Ellie's 1st Birthday!

Has it really been a year? I can't believe it!

We were able to have a fantastic birthday for Ellie! We had most of our friends and family come, it is incredible the amount of support and love that we have. I am so grateful to have Ellie in our lives, but I am even more grateful to have been blessed to have two additional familys become part of ours. This entire process has been more then we could ever have asked for.

Its been so much fun watching the process of Ellie growing, it seems like yesterday she was trying to roll over, now she's walking.

I think it is pretty safe to say that Ellie enjoyed ever bit of her birthday, from all the love and attention, to the presents and I think her favorite part was her birthday cake.

Here are a couple photos of what we were able to enjoy with Ellie on her birthday.