Eleven Months Old!

 Holy moly is Ellie's first year going fast! So fast, in fact, that there is only a month left!  This sweet baby has really started to show us some personality in the last month.  She's becoming quite the big girl and quite the little stinker! (It's ok, she fits right in with the rest of us stinkers.)  Ellie will be cruising (literally) through her last month of her first year with quite the stats:

• Now weighs 19.6 lbs and is  27 and 1/4  inches long.
• Suffered her second illness just a few weeks after her first...this time it was a double ear infection.  She really didn't fuss...much.
• Mixed up her sleep routine...again.  She is napping better, as in two fairly consistent naps from 30 minutes to 2 hours a day.  Lately however, she is finding the fun in waking up at 4 a.m.  Mama isn't enjoying it as much.
• Has six teeth.  Last month I mistyped reporting that she had six at 10 months.  She had four bottom teeth last month.  Since then her top two front teeth have emerged.
• Crawls super fast, pulls up on furniture, cruises along furniture and is starting to try and "walk" while pushing a walker or ride-on toy.  She also delights in getting into ANYTHING in her reach.
• Has learned that she doesn't like to be told "no-no" or have something taken away from her.  If she starts getting into something she shouldn't and we tell her gently, "no-no" she wails as if her heart is broken.  
• Talks and talks in that sweet baby babble.  She finally started saying dadadada and she is loud!  
• Can clap her hands, give "five", and likes to sit up on her knees and wave her hands in the air.  
• Has gotten to that stage where she isn't content to just sit!  That means no more schlepping her around town to just anywhere all day.  She wants to move and play!
• Adores her big brother and sister!  She will crawl uber-fast through the house looking for them when she hears their voices from another room.
• Traveled with us to Dallas for a weekend, attended a baby shower, went to both Cooper and Penny's soccer parties, and attended Coop's school Thanksgiving Feast.  Despite what I wrote above, she was as good as gold through all of it!  Such a little team player most of the time!

Hanging out in Dallas.

Fun afternoon at the mall!

Insta-November

My poor camera, complete with the new lens I got for my birthday, has sadly sat idle for two weeks!  Here are a few shots I pulled off my phone, just so I can remember some of the things we've been DOING all month. (Besides school and homework and soccer games and end-of-season soccer parties and meeting all of our fabulous neighbors and getting together with said fabulous neighbors and braving some CRAZY cold snaps and planning for the holidays and projects around the house.  Besides all that.)

We got a playhouse...so. much. fun!

The kids and I goofed off at the mall while Daddy was out of town.

This little thing just keeps changing by the day!

Halloween 2014

Halloween 2014 was a great success!  Being new to our town, and not living in a neighborhood conducive to trick-or-treating, we weren't sure what to do for Halloween.  Luckily we have met some really great neighbors who invited us to attend a block party and "neighborhood bomb" for trick-or-treating.  Their kids are older than ours, but I was impressed with one, how nice they were to our kids, and two, how well our kids were able to hang with the rigors of trick-or-treating.  Every year previously we have gone to a few houses in our neighborhood, then called it quits.  This year we walked street after street with the big kids and it was so fun!  Miraculously we were even home early enough to get the kids to bed almost on time.

The mermaid, the kangaroo, and the knight.

This was Ellie's first Halloween!  She was a happy, go-with-the-flow baby all night!  She didn't even seem to mind her costume!

This little mermaid had a blast trick-or-treating and really surprised us how she was able to hang as long as she did.

Our courageous knight had fun trick-or-treating with the big kids and made sure they were in sight all night long.