And she's off...

A couple of weeks ago, Miss Beckett's Uncle Tony witnessed her very first steps. I'm pretty sure his exact words were, "Uh, your daughter just took three steps." Ever since, she's been on the move. She is so brave; she thinks she can full on walk! It's such a difference from her timid older sister. She wants to go so bad! And she tries, wearing a smile the size of her face!
Here she is 8 days shy of 9 months...

Baby girl, stop growing up so fast!!!

Payback is ....

We're in trouble. My mom and dad have to be enjoying this just a bit, even if they don't admit it. Our little 2 year old blessing seems to have developed a mind of her own. Yes, we're in for it.

Yesterday, I was brushing Elliott's hair, getting her ready for a trip to Cleburne. She despises anything to do with her hair. Brushing it, washing it, braiding it...you name it; she hates it. As I began the ponytail, our conversation went like this...

"Stop it, Mommy."
"Elliott, you do not tell Mommy to stop it."
Very matter of factly, I hear...
"Stop it, Anna."

Huh. Payback? I think maybe so.

So pretty!

Elliott loves to be pretty! She loves to pretend to put on my make-up, she constantly wants to put on lotion, she loves to wear dresses and she doesn't want to leave the house without spraying on a little perfume. She tells me and Beck often that we're pretty. She loves pretty!

Monday, we spent a great day with my sister and her family. Elliott loves when her cousins come to play. And, I do, too. We had the best day swimming, visiting and cooking out.

After dinner, we were relaxing, the kids were playing and then, we hear "Malchi, (Elliott's version of Malachi) so pretty!" And, as we looked up...

my poor sweet nephew had a big blue bow in his hair! So funny! My brother in law is going to kill me for this, but I couldn't resist. Isn't he absolutely adorable?!?

MINE!

We have just entered the world of "mine!" Every toy is "mine." Every bite of food is "mine." Anything and everything that Beckett has is "mine." I wish the word did not exist.
This literally just started maybe a week ago. Eddie and I were puzzled. We had no idea where she picked up the word. If she ever has something of ours she's not supposed to, we say "That's Mommy's" or "That's Daddy's." As a matter of fact, she loves to bring us things that belong to us. (Here lately, it's been Eddie's wedding ring. I'm predicting that one day soon we won't be able to find it.) Elliott loves to name the belongings of everyone - "Mommy's cup. Ellie's cup." or "Daddy's pizzi. Ellie's pizzi." She's been pretty good about sharing until lately.
We were eating our regular Sunday dinner with Chelsea and Hoop when Elliott told Beckett, "No, it's mine!" They laughed. (Yeah, just wait Aunt Chels and Unc...just wait). I was telling them that she started this out of the blue and that we couldn't figure out where she got it from. Hoop said "She sounds like the seagulls from Finding Nemo!" Eddie and I looked at each other. Ding! Ding! Ding! Finding Nemo is like her favorite right now - It's her bedtime "moonie."
As I fell asleep a couple of nights ago with Elliott watching her favorite movie, something startled me. I jumped up quick and looked up, focusing on the movie playing. It was the seagulls. They were all shouting back and forth, "Mine!" "Mine!" "Mine!" That word is haunting me.

Little Miss Chatterbox

"Mommy, it's broken."
"What's broken, Elliott?"
"The TV, Mommy. What happened?"

Beckett is crying. Elliott runs in the room, "What happened, Beck?"

What happened? Well, new words, that's what. The vocabulary of my 26 month old has blossomed. It's amazing the new words that flow out of her mouth daily. I love this stage! Aside from the occasional tantrums and the ever-growing independence, I am declaring this stage my absolute favorite so far in the life of Elliott Kate. We're starting to have real conversations. It's great. I'm soaking it up because I know I'm about to enter the world of "Why?"



*Disclaimer - If you are not related to Elliott, you can stop reading here. The remaining blog is for parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and other family members who read to keep up with my girls as well as for my own documentation. Okay, you've been warned.

This stage is seriously awesome! Elle's brain is like a sponge. She picks up little things left and right. We've definitely realized the importance of being a positive role model.

Elliott can...
-identify 24 letters of the alphabet.
-name the shapes circle, triangle, rectangle, square and octagon.
-identify the colors red, green, blue, pink, purple, orange, white, and black.
-spell her name aloud.
-recognize her written name.
-name her body parts.

Elliott...
-disciplines the little one by yelling "Beckett Kate!" Ha! This is because she hears "Elliott Kate" quite frequently these days.
-calls Eddie and me by our names if she doesn't get an answer right away using "Daddy" or "Mommy."
-is now a hugger! Her entire life we have waited for her to throw her arms around us. There's nothing better.
-drags her sister around on her blanket. Beckett has a monster grip - It's hysterical!
-loves to play catch!
-run and grabs your leg and yells "I got you!"

I'm sure over the next month or two, she'll have learned so much more. I've always heard this is the time where she will surprise us continously! I LOVE being a mommy!

And so it begins...

Elliott is not a big eater. She never has been. While Beck wants to eat everything in sight, Ellie isn't interested in food much at all. Right now, her diet consists of chicken nuggets, burgers, french fries, salad with thousand island, gummy snacks, ice cream and hershey kisses. And, even those junk foods, we can only get her to partially eat. You don't have to tell me. It's horrible. I know. You also don't have to tell me that it's pretty much my diet as well. I know that, too.
Eddie and I often bargain with Elliott when eating: just one more bite, eat two more fries, if you eat one more big piece, you can have ice cream, etc. So, a few of days ago, I asked Elle to eat one chicken nugget and then she could have some candy..not unusual for a dinner routine. I watched her take a bite of the chicken nugget just like a good girl would. Eddie and I were praising her for eating so much dinner! It was a rare occasion. As I bent down to pick something up off the floor, I noticed something under Elliott's leg. Yep, you guessed it. It was the chicken nugget she had somehow sneaked from her mouth to a secret hiding space that her mommy wouldn't notice. I couldn't believe my eyes. In secret code, I told her daddy who asked her where her nugget went - She timidly took the chicken nugget from under her leg and raised it up above the table with an undeniably innocent look. Her daddy and I couldn't resist. It was too funny. Until....
Two nights ago, same song and dance. "Mommy, down, please." "Elliott, one more bite and you can get down." So, here's Elle taking a big bite as only a two year old would, right? No. I turned my head for just a moment and as I looked back at my big girl, I saw her taking the bite out of her mouth and throwing it as quick as she could. Wow.
And so it begins...

Getting back in the swing of things...

Today was my first time back on a golf course since I found out we were expecting our sweet Elle. And, I have to tell you, it was so much fun!
I've made a pact with myself to enjoy the moment (see a previous blog!) and if you've ever played golf, then you're probably laughing about now. Seriously, I don't think I'm the only one who has a hard time keeping a positive attitude during a whole round of golf. It's a frustrating game, but for the most part, I maintained a happy face, truly enjoying the moment.
Despite my moments of weakness and rusty game play, I had a great time. I loved getting back out there. I loved spending quality time with my husband. I even loved taking tips from him. :) I loved the fact that I didn't get totally upset when I hit a bad shot. And, I loved working on my tan.
I know that golf is Eddie's time; he's awesome to take me out. I had such a great time...I hope he knows what he's gotten himself into!

God Bless America!

Last Saturday was a sweaty but eventful 4th of July! We took the girls to the parade downtown Granbury Saturday morning along with Aunt Chels, Holly and Jackson. We met up with the girls' bffs, Baylor and Larin, and had the best time! Elle and Bay love to play "Ring Around the Rosie," (which by the way has a really weird meaning. eeek!)

They are so stinking adorable. Elliott ate at least 4 suckers, thinking she was big enough to eat all the candy the girls gathered. Beckett crawled around chewing candy wrappers left behind. Depsite the heat, we had a super morning!

While the girls napped under the watchful eye of their Gigi, Eddie and I swam the afternoon away in a pool that felt more like bathwater. We enjoyed the time together, but the whole time talked about the things Elliott would be saying or doing and how she would be loving the pool. Seriously, what would we be doing without our precious girls? I hardly remember what it was like and to tell you the truth, I really don't want to...

That evening, we headed out to the Decordova street dance to hang out with our DCBE crowd. Elliott, of course, danced the night away listening to her Unc play and watched all the "kids," as she likes to call them, jump in the bounce houses and get soaked in the dunking booth. And even better, when we got home, Elle was greeted by sweet baby Beck, Grammie and Pops.

It was a great day with great fun and great friends! Happy Birthday, America!

There's been little sleep around here...

and we may have just found out why!
Beck just cut her first tooth! We were wondering when the little pesky things would start to pop up since Elliott had at least two by now.
Our sweet baby Beck is such a great sleeper - she is completely spoiling us! We forgot what it was like to be up with a baby at night. We knew something was bothering her and sure enough, one tiny tooth has broken through her little baby gums.
Look what that mean little tooth is doing to our precious baby...

She's exhausted!

Pwaaa! That's pool in Ellie talk :)

Well, she's following in the footsteps of her sister...Beckett loves the water! Her first time swimming, she enjoyed every minute! And, now that Elle has graduated to her floaties, she's happily passed the hippo on to her baby sister. Now that I am finished with summer school, I'm sure the majority of our days will be spent soaking up the sun, covered in sunscreen, of course.













And, when Beck had enough, here she goes with Daddy, Britney Spears style, on to hang out with her Gigi.

AHHH! I love summer!