Ellie is 18 months!

Ellie spent the whole day outside exploring!

Yesterday Ellie turned 18 months old. She spent the day at the Heinsen property in Askov. It was a brisk fall day, the leaves were turning, the sky was ever changing and the wind was blowing but that didn't stop Ellie from exploring. She didn't sit down and if she did it was for seconds.

We arrived at Banning Junction just West of Askov a few minutes shy of 11:00 am. We waited in the parking lot for Aunt Jean and Uncle Tom to meet Hadley, Ellie and I. The girls were anxious and ready to be unbuckled. After their arrival we followed them to the tiny town of Askov where Tom needed to purchase supplies at the grocery store. Then we went down a long road that turned into gravel to take a right to the hunting property. The road into the property was long and curvy but level enough for the Jetta to make it alright. However, the car isn't pearly white anymore. We were all a bit sad to leave Daddy behind, he had to stay back and weld on a project at work. We decided to go without him, stay the night and enjoy the tranquil peace of the woods. There was a meager chance he might join us, if and only if, he got done super early. But as of that morning, he didn't think that was going to happen.

After our arrival I was asked by Aunt Jean if I wanted a bloody mary to celebrate her brothers marriage that hour. I said, "sure!" Then we unpacked our cars contents into my parents camper we had borrowed for the event. Over the next hour it was play time and soon it was chili time. We enjoyed lunch with great company, Tom, Jean, Jim (Tom's friend and part owner of the property) Hadley, Ellie and I. Just as we finished lunch we decided it was time to explore some more and when we went outside we saw Daddy! He surprised us with Talley!

Daddy surprised us!

After some unwinding time Ellie took a nap, I relaxed a little and Hadley and Daddy went for a four-wheeler ride. Hadley calls it four-wheel! Ellie slept just under two hours and shortly after she woke, Daddy, Tom and Rick went grouse hunting. They hunted for about two hours and came back with three birds. Aunt Jean, the girls and I never really sat down. Jean created a great fire and we tried to take a break around it every now and then. Soon, the boys returned and it was time for turkey dinner with potatoes, squash, cabbage and carrots. It was delish! Then all of a sudden it was night time.

The girls went to bed easy. I got Ellie to bed first and then Hadley next. Hadley slept next to her sister and Robert got the couch bed. I took a break and went inside for some adult conversation and a Jameson and ginger, which by the way, is very yummy! At 11:00pm I went to bed myself expecting a quiet camper, but got the opposite. Hadley was awake crying in her Daddy's arms. She must have had a bad dream. She was over tired from no nap and it took me some time to calm her down, with that, she woke Ellie. So finally I just took Hadley and Ellie and laid in bed with them and soon they both fell asleep. Meanwhile, the heat stopped in the camper and after an hour of trying to fix it we decided enough was enough and we would brave the cold. And, yes we did brave it alright. The low was in the 20's and after finally falling asleep at midnight, Robert and I managed to stay asleep until 5:30am. We both woke up and tried to fix it again but to no a veil. Now it was officially freezing in there. The girls did okay under their piles of blankets and Robert and I again managed to fall back asleep from 6:30am-8:30am surprisingly.

It was a fun day and a frigid night with a funny little 18 month old and a fantastic family!

Ellie Tidbits!

Food: Ellie loves pretty much everything. She loves to snack. She like cheese sticks, cookies and yogurt raisins. She tried mustard tonight and said icky and made a sound. It was pretty funny. She tries to eat with her spoon but defaults to her hands.

Clothes: She isn't too picky here yet. She like to roam, so the more comfortable the better. Oh and she keeps her hat on and thinks socks are pretty cool! She is in size 18-24 months. She is pretty normal for her height and weight. Shoe size is a 5.5 to 6.

Skills: She is a runner, climber, jumper, swinger, slider... you name it, she does it!

Loves: She loves Hadley and Ve Ve (Nevaeh) and is still a Mommy's girl. She is pretty needy. She loves her monkey blanket and she enjoys playing with babies and likes to listen to stories.

Doctor: Ellie gets to see Dr. Rios this week at the Children's Heart Clinic in Minneapolis for her one year check up. She will have her 18 month check in November. Opps, I was a little late on the 15 month check... oh well no biggie!

Time just flies...
18 months already! Wow... we love you Ellie to the moon and back again and again. Thank you for being our crazy little maniac! You keep us on our toes!

Dancing Queen!

Hadley's first night at Just For Kixx! 30 minutes of dance Tuesday nights.

What's new?

Already one week into September and I am ready for summer again. It is cold outside tonight... 50's, good sleeping weather, however, my bed is full right now. Hadley, Ellie and Robert are all sacked out. They were out when I got home from work at 10pm tonight.

I decided to have a glass of wine, munch on chips with cheese and watch Leno... well listen to Leno as I type. I am currently very interested in this election. I was very confused about who I was going to vote for... I voted for Obama in 2008... and I am proud to say I plan to vote for him in 2012. I watched his speech last night and it was so moving that my eyes misted. Everything he said, I can identify with...

• The manufacturing because that is the industry my husband is in... 
• The Made in the USA because again that effects Robert's work but it also helps my brother-in-law who is in the shipping business and if our products are popular and other countries want them, it will help him...
• The wind energy, because my brother Chad is going to school for wind energy... 
• College funding because I am in school as well as Chad and many others I know...
• His health care reform, because Ellie has a pre-exsisting  condition and I worry about what the future may bring.
• There are many other items but I can't remember them all... 
• One last thing... he put the change on US and that is so true... we are the change! He is the facilitator who is willing to lead us and tell us the truth!

I hope that when I look back at this blog in 2020, that I can honestly say the Mr. Obama was able to live up to his promises for our Country and for our future, first thing first... he must get elected. I think I need a big sign in my yard, if only my husband would let me!

I am really looking forward to fall programing on TV. I love having shows in my DVR to watch at night while I relax alone and have my quiet time! Soon...

I have a list, a very long list of iCal reminders that tell me when I have a quiz, test, paper, project due. I also took that list and put it into a spreadsheet and it was 5 pages long. I have my first test Tuesday in multiple classes. I haven't studied much yet... probably should be doing that now, but it is too late to really get into something like that... I plan to get a start on it tomorrow and spend time Sunday and Monday night...

Ellie has a terrible diaper rash, it doesn't bother her but it has been around for a week. I have tried the cream, corn starch, new diapers and running naked. But... I am thinking it is probably time for a doctor appointment. She is running now everywhere and she loves to eat grapes which scares the crap out of me, so I cut them up super tiny. She also still loves to cuddle and she enjoys playing with her sister. She likes to dance to music and can master the new park without a problem. Our plans for the fall include enrolling her in ECFE and attending Faith in Action at Church. She is also a huge fan of books, she loves to be read too!

Hadley has learned the word "NO"... she is now starting to use this more and more and it is something we are working around. I hope she gets over it, I think it works best when we offer her choices. She still likes to pick out her own clothes and she is pretty good at matching. She enjoys playing with her babies. I would say that is her favorite thing to do. She loves to pretend play. She also enjoys cartoons more, she gets it. We have worked a little on reading and when we ask her questions about the stories she can come up with the answers most of the time. She has requested a Tinker Bell birthday party theme. And, she loves the new park, we have to go everyday! This fall we are going to go to ECFE in Onamia on Thursdays with Ellie and hopefully have head start visits. We have a meeting next week with the program to see if we qualify. I hope we do because Shanessa has said that was the best thing she ever did with Nevaeh. We will see...