Cute Moments

Super Cute things from today:

1. On our way to the store, Ellison and I drove by the church that Graham and I got married in. I told Ellison, "Daddy and Mommy got married at that church." She responded, "Daddy and Mommy got married there. I am going to married this year." "You are? Who are you going to marry," I asked. "I am going to get married this year. I am going to marry my Grandfather."

2. It is super hot here and I am 24 weeks pregnant, so of course, an occasional ice cream is more necessary than just pure craving, right? So, Ellison and I were heading to get ice cream and this is what was overheard from the backseat... "I like pink ice cream. And daddy wears pink underpants. Ha Ha Ha Ha. That's so funny."

3. On our arrival home, Ellison proceeded to her room to make us "lunch". She then called me in to eat. She had set up several non-edible items as "food". "Mommy, I made lunch. Go sit down and eat your lunch." As I was eating the items, she explained, "Don't eat the book, Mommy. That is a real book. You can read that book to yourself and Bella." She then proceeded to leave the room to let us read.

Potty Training Update

This week, Ellison said good-bye to diapers forever. Of course, we are not ready to say hello to big girl panties, but we decided to take a mini step and make pull-ups a full time thing. How is it going?

The letter arrived in her back pack on Monday. On Wednesday, she used the potty at school and went #2. And this morning, she woke up and headed straight to our potty. Woo Hoo! It is a mini step, but a great step nonetheless. Come Fall, we will be in big girl panties! For now, I think we will stick with pull-ups... at least until after we brave the airport on Monday.

(Let me just say that the note presented a challenge... Ellison hates to wear pants and shorts. In fact, she wakes up in the middle of the night asking to put on Princess dresses. Just another reason that she will be fully trained by the start of the school year.)

Aunt Kimberly

Guest Post by Aunt Kimberly:

Here is what I feel is BLOGWORTHY today --

• E was so adorable with her "E-ism's" today. When I asked her to have a snack with me after summer camp, she responded "Awhh You're telling me."
• She continues to say "Oh Pickle Juice" and rocked out with her groovy and fashionable glasses which she insisted on wearing while swimming.
• We went swimming and she is learning to go after the diving rings... the pink is her favorite.. of course.
• I told her I was tired after 2 hours of playing together and she responded, "I get Art to hug you." Art was at work, so she obliged me with a hug... cute!
• One more thing, she plopped on the floor and claimed a "boo boo" and needed ice. Once the ice arrived, she ate it and boo-boo magically disappeared.

Ellison cracks me up! She is one of a kind.

Love, Aunt Kimberly

(By the way, I had her practice saying Kimberly instead of Kim, which came out more like Kim-bury.. Awe.)

Birthday Party with Daddy

As my exam approaches, I am beginning to lock myself away for hours to study... yuck. What is especially yuck about it is that Daddy and Ellison do super fun things without me. Pity me!

Well according to Graham, Ellison was a complete handful today. His story of taking Ellison to Chloe's Third Birthday Party made me recall the movie, "Trouble Child". Specifically, the super cute little blonde headed girl that caused a lot of trouble.

I mean just check out the pictures above... super cute, right? You would never think she kept going through kid's goodie bags and taking their rings, going up to the cake and diving in, pushing over the water table, and telling the birthday girl to get out of her "own" room!!! Another little girl apparently said, "but she is the birthday girl and this is her room."

Oh my... I hope my exams end soon so I can escort my crazy family to these parties and keep them under control. I already have my hands full with Graham. I kid, or wait, do I?

The Animal Parade

Ellison's summer camp held an Animal Parade, where all of the kids wore masks and paraded through the lawn for the parents to adore. As you can tell from the video, it is very hard to ask a 2 year old to walk by their parent and keep walking :)

Sweet Girl

This morning at breakfast, Ellison looked down at my feet and said "awe, you poor thing. Do your feet hurt? Do you have a boo-boo?" I am not really sure why they looked so bad. Next thing I know, she ran into the kitchen asked her Daddy for a piece of ice and then came running back to me. "Here you go Mommy. Right here, feel better?" Sweet girl.

Just a flashback of our addict

Aunt Ashley thought this video deserved a repost to accurately support my Big Girl transition statements on E's addiction... paci addict aka Ellison Clark.

Big Girl Transitions

Over the next few months, Ellison will be going through some major transitions in her life. The biggest transition will of course be welcoming her new brother. However, before that happens Graham and I have decided it is time to say hello to the big girl bed and goodbye to diapers and paci. In Ellison's World, I am imagining the paci may rival the actual homecoming of a big brother.

A few weeks ago, we started with the big girl bed transition. I will deem it a success at this point because she likes having a big girl bed. She does not always fall asleep in it, and she rarely sleeps through the night. But hey a success is a success in my book.

Now for potty training, we have been working on that one for a while. I know she has the skills, I just need the time at home to eliminate the diapers and let her skills take over. So when exactly will I have this opportunity? Never :) I am committed to making the transition before her school starts in August.

And then there is the very much loved paci. My personal savior, the paci, has been in our lives for the past 2 years and 2 months (Ellison's life). I guess the transition may be life changing for me as well. The plan? To slowly eliminate the paci from everyday life. How is it going? Well check out a conversation between Grandma and E...

"I want a paci."
"Paci's are for nighttime."
"Um, paci's are also for watching TV."
still no paci
"Um, Um, Grandma, pacis are for right now."

Weekend in Review

Besides being stuck in class all day Saturday, the Clark family had a fun weekend. Ellison finally earned her 10 stickers for doing her chores (getting dressed and brushing her teeth). Trust me, the 10 stickers were not earned easily, but luckily she gets dressed several times a day! Also, part of the treat is that she gets to pick whatever toppings she wants, needless to say there was a dollop of yogurt and every single topping available (including fruit) in her cup. She ate a few bites and then danced around the shop to the music on the speakers. This child can feel the rhythm (unlike her Daddy - I kid).

On Sunday, Nana came for a visit and brought Ellison a new Olivia book and doll. E had a great time playing with Nana and making art. Thank you for visiting with us.

A Few Funny Things

• I served E an Amy's Pizza for dinner tonight. Typically, she enjoys the treat. Not tonight... her response, "I want real pizza." I guess that is what happens when she partakes in Pizza Wednesdays at Summer Camp.
• E has become quite the little challenge to get dressed in the morning. Let's just say it takes me all morning long. Yesterday afternoon, I decided to come up with a chart of "chores" entailing getting dressed and brushing teeth. Daunting, I know. So anyways, E gets a sticker each time she completes a chore without throwing a fit and 10 stickers = Ice Cream Outing. I guess I chose the wrong day to implement my plan. This morning, as I explained the chart to E and how 10 stickers would equal ice cream, she informed me that she did not need 10 stickers. Why? Because Aunt Kim took her for ice cream the night before and her leftovers were in the freezer. She then proceeded to the freezer, pulled out the ice cream, and asked for a spoon. Chart = fail. Will try again tomorrow.
• Summer Camp is in full force. E has a new class filled with new kids and new teachers. She now screams (I mean screams) as she leaves, "Bye new friends, bye. See you tomorrow, new friends." It is pretty darn cute.

Update on Big Girl Bed

Good news, Ellison still has a big girl bed. Bad news, she does not always fall asleep in it. Case in point, today's nap... an hour into it I heard crying from her room. I walked in and could not find her. Where was she? Stuck in her closet... where she fell asleep! Lucky and unlucky for me, she napped for an additional 2 hours... why is it unlucky for me? Because she happened to fall asleep on my chest and every move I made would cause a stir, so I decided to save my homework for later and lay still. I must say it was nice to have my baby so close, but I just wish I had made myself a little bit more comfortable before sitting down :) Hey, at least I had the remote!

Big Girl Bed

Saturday was certainly a day of firsts for our precious little girl, first movie and the BIG girl bed. While E and I were at the movies, Daddy was converting her crib into a toddler bed. So how did it go? Well check out the pictures... fell asleep on chair and mommy moved to bed. Did she sleep through night, nope. How did day 2 go? Took about 2 hours for E to take a nap and then at night time she fell asleep on floor. Did she sleep through night? YES! And tonight? About 45 minutes of going back and forth between bed and floor, she ended up sound asleep in her bed. Praying she sleeps through the night :)

First Movie

On Saturday, Aunt Kim and I picked up E's favorite friends from Newbridge Lane and headed to her first movie, Toy Story 3. Ellison was in awe of the big screen and stayed put for almost all of the movie (last 10 minutes she stood up in the back). She loved spending time with her friends. Her favorite toy in the movie... Barbie, of course :)

Drama

Just thought I would share a few tidbits from this week with Miss Drama Queen:

• After our wonderful weekend at NSB, E developed a major diaper rash (blame pool). On Tuesday, her summer camp called me to let me know that she was not a happy camper. So I picked her up early and brought her home. She then proceeded to walk around the house like a "Granny" saying, "my bum hurts." She would be stooped over and grasping the diaper cream while continously applying it to her "hurt bum". It was sad, but so dramatic... could not help but laugh.
• She refuses to nap in her bed... so I have been finding her sound asleep on her floor. She then wakes up and calls me into her room for tea (which she had set up previously to passing out. . . apparently).
• Throws fits at bedtime (reason why big girl bed is going into effect this weekend). . . last night after 15 minutes screaming my name, I walked in and she said in her saddest and most manipulative tone, "Mommy, I just can not lay down anymore." I asked her if she had tried to lay down. Her response, "No, I can not lay down anymore. Need to be rocked, in chair, and sing to me." Of course I gave in.

Tidbits

A few blogworthy things to share. . .

1. Ellison has become obsessed with Hannah Montana. How does this happen?!? We have no clue. All of the sudden if the Hannah Montana show comes on or a commercial, all things stop and Ellison is glued. She jams out to Hannah Montana. Say what?!?
2. A few days ago while dressing for work, Ellison was busy trying on Princess shoes (she has 5 pairs!!!). She lined them up and was talking about them. All of the sudden I heard, "Bella, Princess shoes are not for little dogs, they are for little girls." She was certain Bella, the 4 lb. Maltese, was trying to wear her shoes. After a few attempts to persuade her otherwise, I heard her yell at Bella, "crate, Bella, crate." Bella does not have a crate.
3. We were sitting on the beach, when I saw a little crab peek out of its hole. I thought E would enjoy spotting the crab, so I told her about it. We watched the crab go in and out of its hole. Needless to say, for the rest of the trip E would not walk on the sand. Nor would she stop talking about the crab while we were holding her on the beach. Despite explaining that the crab was nothing to worry about, she refused. Oops... lesson learned.

Always the Showoff (in a good way, of course)

Ellison has become quite the little mermaid in the pool. She turned 2 and all of the sudden stopped crying during her Safe Start lessons. In fact, not only did she stop crying, she stopped throwing massive fits and finally graduated!!! It only took two years of Safe Start and several refreshers. Miss Tiffany and I always knew she had the skills, but Miss Stubborn would throw fits, massive fits, when Miss Tiffany would not let her swim to the edge and would instead make her float (how could she?!? ha ha).

Well Safe Start finally came to an end and we started private lessons with Miss Caitlyn at my parents' pool. A week into them and our water bug is now coming up for air during long swims.

This weekend she swam in circles in the pool. She also seems to have picked up a backstroke. Of course, knowing Ellison she has a master plan... if I stay in a backstroke, then I can rock my glasses :)

The Best Part wasn't the Seafood

The Clarks headed over to one of our favorite restaurants

in NSB, JBs Fishcamp. Although the Oil Spill is limiting

the seafood available (ugh), we still enjoyed our meal.

However, we really enjoyed watching

Ellison jam out to the band after our meal!

It was at about this point, that she stopped dancing
for a few moments and screamed,
"I'm a ROCKSTAR Girl. Woo"

She is either a rockstar or superfly... depending on her mood :)

We returned to the condo to find this beauty waiting for us!

Sad Little Mermaid

A mass exodus from the beach...
resulted in a sad little mermaid.

No worries, we cheered her up with a popsicle!

What a Life!

Love the curls!

Just Chillaxin! Life is Good!

Every time I head back to NSB, I am reminded of what a great life I had as a child, teenager, and so far as an adult. How lucky are we to have a beach condo to enjoy? The condo that started off as a bachelor pad for my Dad, transformed over the years to a place we enjoyed as a family. It is now a place, I take my family. And well, we LOVE every minute of it!

Super Fly

This post is courtesy of Aunt Kim. . .
First E picked out this green hat and insisted on wearing it.

Then she chose a purple one for me.Next thing I know, E has the hat on backwards with glasses.

This chick is Super Fly!

I can make you SMILE

Actually, Ellison, yes you can! A bejeweled Ellison at 8:00 a.m. this morning (a regular occurrence).