December 2014

December was a good month.  I was so worried about Elle's birthday being so close to Christmas but it makes the month so much fun!  The Christmas season flew by, we watched Christmas movies on repeat, shopped til we dropped, baked and drove around looking at Christmas lights almost every night.

PawPaw and his babes

Dancing with daddy

One day I said to Vito "Monkey, give her a five!"  Elle replied "Monkey no have hands, monkey have toes....Eleanor has socks."

We started the month by celebrating Mary's birthday.  One night Mary, Mom and I went to the theater to see the new Hunger Games movie, It was my first time in the VIP Lounge and I'm hooked.

We also had a birthday celebration for Mary at mom and dad's house.  Dad picked up some really yummy cupcakes from a bakery in Cottleville, they were Bear approved!

Loved getting birthday mail!

All of the birthday celebrating wore Eric out.

We headed to the Bailey Family Christmas the day after Elle's birthday.  On our way there Eric ran in Smoothie King and Elle and I were waiting in the car.  I turned around to check on her and she said "hi, boo boo!" which is something I say to her all the time.  She is the cutest!

Sunday morning breakfast date with daddy.

Trying to get my love for Lucy to rub off on Elle.  The I Love Lucy Christmas special will always be a staple in our house. :)

Some last minute Christmas shopping with MiMi, Henry and Charlie.  This trip was a disaster. We were in the Christmas aisle for ages.

We did some baking for Santa Claus.  We decorated cookies and cupcakes.  Elle was a big fan of the sprinkles and we definitely had a struggle over the sprinkle bottle at one point.

Elle loves having her pictures taken with the dogs, especially Vito...Vito couldn't care less.

Loves to brush her teeth!

We went through the Celebration of Lights one night.  We stopped and picked up a pizza to eat in the car while we waited in the long line to get in.  Elle was so excited to sit on my lap in the front seat with me.  After the lights we stopped by Orange Leaf for some ice cream.

Elle has a bad habit of hiding her lovey's.  I found her pulling several out of a speaker one night.

When she can't find one it's the end of the world.  I always ask her to look around and try to remember where you hid it.  She never looks and always responds, "me no find it".  She gets this from her dad!

We spent the days after Christmas fighting the stomach bug (both Elle and Eric had it in our house) and playing with all of Elle's new Christmas and birthday toys.  Elle loves all of her play foods and will regularly bring me a homemade meal. :)

We started the transition to her big girl bed right after Christmas.  Our first night in her big girl bed.

 The first two nights I slept in bed with her all night, after that if I do lay down with her I get up and go to my room or if she falls asleep in the living room I lay her down in bed.  She usually wakes up at some point in the night and either cries or runs across the house to our bedroom.  We're fine with her coming to our room in the middle of the night as long as she starts in her bed.

Our New Years Eve was super wild and crazy this year.  We headed to mom and dad's for some appetizers, gingerbread making and vacation discussing.  Elle completely shocked me and stayed up past midnight, she even outlasted Henry who I thought for sure would be awake to ring in the new year.

Leave it to Unc...

I enjoyed the gingerbread house just as much as Elle

Confetti poppers on the deck!

It's been such a fun year, I know this little lady has had a blast!

2014

I still have Christmas and Birthday posts to complete but wanted to share my top 14 favorite moments of 2014 since today is New Years Eve. :)

Kings of Leon Concert
Even though I was pregnant and couldn't drink I had SO MUCH FUN at this concert.  Will, Paige, Eric and I are all big fans (Will and I probably lean a little further into the super fan category).  They played so many songs we love, Will got so drunk he missed the end of the concert (he passed out in the bed of his truck :) and we got to meet NACHO!!!!

 

Apple Picking at Eckerts
Eric and I were both off on a Friday so we took our girl out for a ferry ride to Illinois, lunch on the water and apple picking at Eckerts.  It was a cold day but oh so fun!  Elle absolutely loved it and I think this will be a fall tradition our family does every year.

Gymnastics
Elle started taking gymnastics in January and those first few months were the best.  She was so teeny tiny, by far the youngest in her class.  Every Saturday we would go to gymnastics in the morning and then out for breakfast.  We are hoping to sign her up at a different gymnastics studio this winter to get her back in some classes.

Charles Edwin
This sweet little bear came into our lives in February.  It has been such a fun year watching him grow and seeing his little personality shine through.

Vacation
Family vacation was memorable this year.  We had such a fun time and laughed so much and killed so many mosquito's!!! The boat ride with the mosquito madness has to be a highlight.  Even though I'm itchy thinking about it.

6th Anniversary
Eric and I headed to Chicago for our 6th anniversary and had such a fun time!  Even though it is oh so very hard for me to go anywhere without my Roni it was so nice to have a weekend away with him.

Polar Express
I have a whole post coming on this.  It was definitely a highlight of our year.  The kiddos loved it and it was such a fun, magical night.

Baby Brother!
Finding out I was pregnant was both exciting and scary, finding out we are having a little boy was also exciting and scary.  Any fears are fading fast though, I'm just plain excited to meet this little boy.  I'm picturing a mini Eric.

Splash Pad
Eric and Elle discovered this little splash pad on one of their fun daddy/daughter days and Elle quickly became a regular.  I already have big plans for lots of summer days to be spent here.  Once I'm part time I think it will be a fun little Monday or Tuesday activity.

Purina Farms
We had a fun little Saturday at Purina Farms and as much fun as the dog show was the real star was buddy the horse.  Elle fell hard for Buddy that day and since then every horse she encounters is named Buddy.

Meeting Truman
A post is coming on this as well, Elle got to meet Truman Tiger on her birthday.  I don't think the girl has ever been so excited!  We stayed for about an hour so she could play with him.  They played catch, she talked to him, tickled him.  It was Elle's version of meeting an A-list celebrity.

The Crazy Egghunt
This egghunt was insane.  I think it was over about 30 seconds after it started but it made Mary and I laugh.  I don't think we will be participating in 2015.

911
Calling 911 in the middle of the night because I thought our house was on fire and filled with gas when in reality a sippy cup was burnt in the dishwasher. Neither Eric, the police officers, firefighters or EMT's thought it was as funny of a mistake as I did that night.  Can't a girl mix up the smell of burnt plastic and gas without being judged?!

Watching Elle Grow
It is so hard to believe Elle started the year looking like this...

and now my big girl looks like this.  It has been such a fun year watching her grow, learn new things, form sentences, have opinions. 2014 was a really great year and I'm excited to see what 2015 holds for our family.