Summer Wrap Up

I've been off since the end of June with Ellis and it honestly has flown by. This week was the first week back to school so I thought that I'd just recap the summer in one post. First of all, Ellis is the sweetest, funnest, smartest child I know, and I don't really care that I'm probably a little biased. She has also changed a lot over the summer and is starting to seem like a "big girl". Most days we stayed at home and played and that was enough to wear us both out. Here are some pictures of things we did this summer and our sweet little girl. 

Fun in the pool with daddy & mommy. 

She's definitely a water baby!

First Snow Cone of the Season

Happy Father's Day!

Picnic in the park

Fireworks! She loved them and laughed the whole time!

Family picture at the lake on the 4th of July

After the 4th of July, Ellis went to Conway. She stayed with her MiMi & Poppa for a few days and then with Grandpa & Grandma. She had fun, despite getting hand foot and mouth in the middle of it!

Poppa with the 2 youngest grandchildren

 MiMi & Ellis

Aiden & Ellis

Ellis on our weekly shopping trip 

Fun at the Splash Park 

The park with Zoe 

 Some days it's just too hard to stay awake through lunch

 Happy 30th Birthday!

28 Weeks

We've made it to 28 weeks, which means we're in the third trimester, the home stretch! Yay! Little Nora is moving around constantly and giving her momma LOTS of heartburn! Here are some fun facts about Baby Nora and some belly bump pictures!

• She's about 2 1/4 pounds and measures around 14.8 inches 
• She can also blink her eyes
• She may also be able to see light that filters in
• She can hear, although muffled

24 weeks

27 1/2 weeks

Party Time!

We had Ellis' first birthday party on May 25th and it was so much fun! We did a Very Hungry Caterpillar theme since it's been one of our favorite books to read to her. She was so sweet at her party and had a lot of fun. She especially enjoyed opening her presents and with every new present she would say, "Oooh". She was such a lucky girl to have her grandparents, 2 of her great grandmas, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends there. Here are some pictures of her party. 

Party Invite

 Welcome to the Party!

A Caterpillar Collage of her monthly pictures birth-1 year

Family Picture (You can even see Baby Nora)

Ellis with her Great Grandmas

Ellis & her friends playing on the blanket

Smash Cake

She loved everyone singing "Happy Birthday"

"Mmmm, looks yummy"

She wasn't quite sure about the cake, so mom & dad
helped her get her hands dirty

She wasn't too thrilled to have icing all over her hands

Time to open presents!


She had plenty of help from her cousins

We got this slide/swing combo for Ellis and she has really enjoyed it

Lincoln & Aiden having fun "playing" ladder ball

Graham wanted to play too

Family picture the next day that included Adrienne, Mike & the 

boys. Graham was still sleeping when we took family pictures at the party. 

Ellis at 1 Year

One year. I can't believe that it's been one year. It's taken me a few weeks to write this blog because I just was a little overwhelmed by it. I didn't know if I should do a one year post and then a birthday party post or do it all as one, so I've just been avoiding it. (Not like it really matters either way, ha) Anyway, I decided to do two separate ones so be looking for the birthday party one in the coming days. 

On May 30, Ellis was one. The days leading up to her birthday Matt and I were reminiscing about the few days before Ellis' birth. Things like, "one year ago today was our last night sleeping in our house without a child, one year ago today was our last night of sleeping straight through the night, one year ago today we were laying on the couch when my water broke, one year ago today we excitedly drove to the hospital, one year ago today we met the sweetest little girl" and on and on. In the past year we have been so blessed and have really grown as a family. Every day that we have with Ellis we learn more about how to love her and how much the Father loves us. Sometimes it's difficult being the people that are solely responsible for this child that's been entrusted to us but it also comes with so much joy and happiness. We're so excited for the years to come with this little girl!

Ellis at one you are:

• 18 lbs, 3 oz and 28 inches long
• Constantly moving and you are quick
• Eating like a little piggy. Some of your favorites are: turkey, spaghetti, green beans, peaches, applesauce, cereal bars, watermelon, cheerios, yogurt, any kind of bread, fruit pouches
• Drinking out of a sippy cup, we're working on adding in milk and dropping bottles
• Walking along furniture and while holding our hands
• Saying "Uh Oh, DaDa, MaMa, Bye, Hi, BaBa (bottle)" You also have your version of "What's that?"
• Mimicking sounds 
• Signing "All Done" and "More"
• Learning to sort shapes and put toys away
• Dancing anytime you hear music
• Playing hide and seek, your favorite part is when we scare you
• Riding in a big girl carseat
• Iffy about the feeling of grass
• Loving when daddy throws you into pillows on the bed
• Riding on the "cars" that you got for your birthday
• Pulling up to look out the windows
• Giving us toys when we ask for them

 

Such a big girl sitting in her chair!

 This was the only picture I could catch before

she rolled over

"Mom, I really prefer to sit"

One year pictures at Hendrix

"Look what I can do"

Ellis,
It seems like you learn something new everyday. You are constantly laughing, talking and exploring. You love to play with your toys and want us to be right there with you playing along. You are such a smart, loving little girl. We are so glad that God chose us to be your mommy and daddy. We love you!
Love,
Mommy & Daddy

Baby D #2 Is A....

BABY D IS A GIRL!!!!

We went to the doctor on April 30th for our 20 week ultrasound. As always, it was so wonderful to see our healthy baby. And on top of that it was so nice that she cooperated so that we know we're having another little girl. We are so excited to be having another daughter. It will be such a blessing for her and Ellis to be so close in age growing up. We're just praying that they get along well and that they will be best friends.

Here's Nora Grace DeMott:

She's absolutely beautiful already!

20 weeks, May 4th

"Pink for girl or blue for boy? Which one?"

"Girl?!? I'm so excited to have a sister!!!"

Ellis wanted to get in the pictures too

Ellis at 11 months

On April 30th, Ellis was 11 months old! She is getting to be such a "big" girl and is a lot of fun. She has an opinion about most things but to our delight is still a sweet, cuddly, loving little girl. This past month has been kind of rough on her because she's had the stomach bug and then an ear infection pretty much back to back. And on top of that this girl has the craziest allergies and it's tough to stay ahead of them!

Ellis, at 11 months you:

• Weigh 17 lbs, 4 oz (per your most recent Dr's visit on 4/26 for your stubborn ear infection)
• Pull to stand on everything!
• Cruise a few steps around furniture
• Are very curious, you follow mommy & daddy all around the house, exploring everything
• Are an expert at crawling
• Are a social butterfly, everywhere we go you wave "hi" & "bye" to people and stare at them intently to get their attention
• Only wanting to eat off of a "real" spoon, no more baby spoons for you!
• Give lots of kisses (especially to daddy)
• Still jabbering and "singing" 
• Like to get ALL of your toys out of your bins so you can play with all of them at once

Waving "hi" to mommy

We had a rare snow day on May 3rd! (and on the 4th too but it didn't accumulate) 

It was a first for NWA.

Ellis,

Every day you seem to be learning and growing. We love playing with you and watching you explore. You are such a fun little girl with a spunky personality! We love you!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy