Week 3

Patrick ,

You seem to be adjusting to your new life pretty well. You are almost 3 weeks already! You like to eat...ALL OF THE TIME. Most people who come over to the house to visit you comment on what a sweet, mellow baby you are. They probably wouldn't believe that at night time you give us a run for our money. You love to be held and snuggled and sometimes fuss when we put you down. You get a little frightened at your crazy sister at times. It looks like your eyeballs are going to pop out when she screams "surprise" right in your face or starts to screech for no reason. She still loves to hold you and wants you to hold her hand. However, when you start to cry she usually books it out of the room. Sometimes, you have this cute little scowl on your face. The past few weeks you have loved to be swaddled tightly, but you are starting to bust loose so I don't think that will last much longer. You seem to like going for rides in the stroller to the park which makes us very happy!

Say Cheese

Elise,
You are starting to become a difficult little gal to take pictures of these days.  When we ask you to say cheese these are the faces we are getting these days....

But once in a blue moon...you get it just right!

Pumpkin Patching

Ellie and Patrick,

We have been to a few pumpkin patches in the last few days. We went with Auntie Angie's family to a very cool pumpkin patch at Dewitt's Farm. It had a lot of fun things for you guys to do. Ellie, you and Mia ran around in the hay maze, jumped in the bouncy house, ate a snow cones... thanks to Uncle Tootles, and got very very dirty. You two also got to ride ponies like real cowgirls! 
Patrick, you and Joey hung out in your strollers in the shade with Auntie Angie and Mikey. You two were very good considering being such little nuggets out at the farm.   

We also went to a pumpkin patch with Daddy-o at Mother Nature's Farm.  Patrick, you slept in the stroller for the most part but did come out and enjoy some nice shade under some pine trees. We all went on a fun hayride around the farm. Ellie enjoyed the animals. They had some large hogs, baby pigs, goats, chicks and chickens. Ellie, you put your finger in the chicken cage and one of them took a hold of your finger and didn't let it go. You didn't even cry or get scared...you wanted to go back and see them again! You are quite the animal lover. You were also able to pick out ANOTHER pumpkin to add to our nice collection at home. I think we have about 7 pumpkins in our backyard now. We have our very own pumpkin patch.

Halloween Birthday

Ellie,

You had a Halloween birthday party this year.  We wanted your birthday to be special this year especially since you just became a big sis too. Lots of family and a few friends came over to help celebrate your big day. Alot of your friends, your grandma and papa and cousins wore a costume. You dressed up as Humpty Dumpty for a while until Uncle Jerry gave you a Tinkerbell outfit and you wanted to change. You had a great time with all your little buddies and cousins running all around the house and in the backyard. You loved showing off your playhouse and I think there were around 8 little kiddos in there at the same time. We had fun decorating pumpkins in the backyard. We ate a lot of snacks, pizza, cupcakes, cake and icecream. You had a great time and were a very pooped out bday girl at the end of the night. I am pretty sure you had a wonderful birthday. You were spoiled rotten by your Mommom and Poppy. They sent you numerous packages in the mail.  We miss them but will see them in a few months. Woo hoo!
You were so excited for your bday all week. You would randomly shout "My birthday next."  It was often the first thing you would say when we would get you in the morning.  You would also tell random people at the grocery store. When people would ask you what you wanted for your birthday you would either say "cake"  or "Mia". You were so proud to have a birthday! We had so much fun at your party and I think all your buddies did too.

 

TWO

Happy birthday sweet Ellie girl!  I look at you little girl and I am simply amazed at the person you are becoming. You love to twirl, sommersault, do the 'splits', dance (shake your booty) and sing. You chatter up a storm. You surprise me everday with the things you say and what you can remember. You belt out songs in the backseat of the car when I am driving or you say “no please” if you want me to change the song. You are so polite and say hello, goodbye, please and thank you when it is appropriate. You are so friendly to everyone you see when we are out and about. You love shopping. It doesn't matter what we are shopping for whether it be grocieries or buying nails at Home Depot. As soon as we get into the car after a shopping trip, you always say "more shopping please." I love when you tell us you need a hug or when we pick you up and can feel your arms squeeze tight. You are doing great at potty training and a lot of the time if you go pee pee on the potty you will run out saying "I did it" or "potty power" and do a happy dance. You love watching clips on the puter, especially Humpty Dumpty and other nursery rhymes, Gigglebellies and Tutitu. You love to be outside in your grass and play in the playhouse daddy-o got for you. I love it when we take walks together and go to the park and you sing songs while we walk. I love love love when you come to cuddle on the couch or in our reading chair and you just lay your cheek next to mine. It is so sweet. I just hope I never forget these precious times with you.
  Of course you can be a little pain in the butt too. You have been pushing your cousin Mikey and your buddy RJ around. You say "no mine" a little too much. You climb up on counters/tables. You will not sleep in your big girl bed, you say brother can sleep there. You make gigantic messes when you eat food and you will not sit down while you eat. We will keep working on these things.
But, you do a wonderful job of balancing your mischief with your charm. Right when Daddy or I are losing our patience with you, you do something to make us laugh.
You are so loved by everybody because you have such a fun little personality. You are crazy, frustrating, sassy, sweet, funny, lovable and so much fun to be around. Auntie Angie always calls you a walking party. Who knew 2 years could go by so fast. I have loved these 2 years as a mommy more than I could have ever imagined.  You fill our lives with so much joy. 

2 year stats:
length 32.5 inches  25th percentile
weight  21.4 lb    <5th percentile