Graham's Suggestion

On our drive to watch the UF v. GA game this weekend at my parents' house, I failed to recognize the bumper sticker "WWJBD" as meaning "What would John Brantley do?"  I am not sure if John Brantley deserves a bumper sticker, but according to Graham thats what the initials stood for.  I explained to him that my brain is a bit full at the moment and I have no room in it for football knowledge (I can still enjoy a game).  His response, "give up blogging then".  WHAT?!?!?  My Mom was appalled, my Dad agreed.  Oh men! 

Happy Halloween from Alice and the Mad Hatter!

 

Dylan's Discovery

Dylan discovered juice this weekend.  I rarely give Ellison juice at home.  Trust me, she needs no excess sugar in her life.  However, thanks to Chik-fil-a, we had a juice box floating around. Dylan took, tasted, and hoarded the juice box.  Can we say juice drunk?

Panda Time

We make the cutest little pandas!



Ellison



Dylan

This week Ellison and I decided to torture Dylan and dress him like a panda.  Luckily, he was an excellent sport.  He even let Ellison play zookeeper and chase him around a bit :)

  

The Zoo included a rowdy panda and silly penguin.



Peek a Boo Morning

My sweet baby boy woke me up at 5 am this morning.

But how can I get upset with all this cuteness that is my Dylan?

She's Going to the Chapel

and she's going to get married...

ONE DAY!

In the meantime, don't Bennett and Ellison make a cute couple?  This past Saturday, Chantale and Evener tied the knot. Ellison and her best friend, Bennett, were flower girl and ring bearer. The pictures really do not do justice to the hilarities that were taking place on stage (before I escorted Ellison and Bennett off). 

Let's see if I can paint a picture for you... just imagine two very adorable kids standing right next to me.  A few minutes into the ceremony, they decide to sit down. No big deal, right?  Ellison then decides take her shoes off. Next thing I know she has thrown her headband off. Oh wait, then the kicker, she starts picking her nose. When I bend down and ask her to not pick her nose, she turns to Bennett, places one hand over her nose, and with a finger up her nose very loudly proclaims, "my Mom doesn't think I should pick my nose."  They then started giggling (as she picks). Lovely.

It was actually pretty cute.  I removed them only because I wanted the focus to be on the beautiful bride and handsome groom, and not on the two adorable and very entertaining children. 

I will also mention that at Rehearsal, Ellison and Bennett actually lifted my skirt as I stood on stage.  So I am extremely happy that they took me seriously when I told them that big trouble lay ahead of them if they chose to do that again!

The wedding was a blast.  And I am so happy for my very dear friend, Chantale. Welcome to married life!!!

Round 1 - Kids Win

I consider this Round 1 of the Pumpkin Patch Match. As you can tell by the following photos, I was not successful in capturing the perfect pumpkin photo.  There were several things not in my favor:

1. Lack of light (it was just about to rain and about 10 minutes before complete darkness).
2. Ellison needed a nap or just sleep in general.
3. Dylan fell asleep in the car and was not pleased to find himself in the middle of a pumpkin patch.

So dear Pumpkin Patch, we will be back.  And I will find success!

This picture sums it up...
when I asked Ellison to smile, she gave me
2, yes 2, fingers up the nose. Sweet!

Hellriegel-ing It in Atlanta

On Friday morning, Graham and I loaded the kids into the wagon and prepared ourselves for what could have been the longest car ride ever to Atlanta for a family wedding. Although we didn't break any records for longest or speediest trip, we definitely did take our time (10.5 hours to be exact). Luckily, we arrived safe and sound and before rush hour... phew.

I am very happy we decided to make the trip for Kevin's Wedding. Graham, Ellison, Dylan and I had a blast.  Ellison was a dancing machine, alongside approximately 5 other dancing cousins (also machines).  Dylan tried his absolute best to keep up with them all and held his own on the dance floor.  No, he is not walking yet, but you should check out his "dance crawl". Enjoy the photos!

Little girls are always mesmerized by Brides.
So innocent and so sweet.

Kevin danced with his Granmother to "New York, New York"
bringing many joyful tears at wonderful memories.

"Pooped out"

11 months

Our little boy is 11 months. Dylan still has the absolute sweetest temperament.  He always has a smile on his face.  A few things about Dylan right now:

• Loves playing with balls.
• Loves climbing on anything and everything.
• Loves water. (Basically he is either going to be a cute football player or a cute swimmer)
• Loves tackling his Big Sister.
• Loves spaghetti, black beans, green beans.

Happy 11 months to our little guy.  Can't wait to watch you grow.

There have been signs...

There have been signs

from a very young age...

Ellison has always loved a great pair of glasses.

Grandma's closet has been consistently raided for shoes.

Clothing not required.

 

Did I mention the shoes?

  

A girl can't have to many purses, right?

Hopefully this is the only time Ellison wears
this many Mardi Gras beads in the nude!

So I guess it is not surprising that our Mother - Daughter day was spent at the Mall. And when most children would be throwing fits, not Ellison. 

There have always been signs, so I guess this shouldn't be a surprise.

Ellison really wanted to try some over the knee boots at Charles David. The boots hit her shoulder.  The sales lady and I attempted to explain to her that she needed to grow a bit. She settled on some heels...

Bloomingdales awaited us and Ellison tried on a few dresses with me...

Ellison's response to the dress, "I like it, but I would have to wear a bra."  She later tried on a dress that covered her better.  She stated, "this one is A LOT better. I don't need a bra. Oh yeah! This is the one."

Yep, that would be some hot pink lipstick from the makeup counter.

Obviously, I did not purchase the $400 boots for Ellison (I did purchase the heels - but for myself), and I didn't purchase the sparkly dress, and I didn't even buy the lipstick (it was shockingly pink). So it was really funny to listen to Ellison as she wished on a penny.

"I wish for Charles David boots, jewels, fancy dresses, Charles David heels, um, an Alice in Wonderland Costume that is sparkly like Cinderella's gown, um...."  (It went on and on and on)

I post, so I can remember

As life gets busier, I feel like I need to keep updating the blog in order to remember what in the world we have been doing! The past week was filled with a sick day (for me and the kids), bringing out our Fall decorations, lots of studying, the rain cancelling all of our weekend plans, and yes, another Gator loss.

Can you tell he is sick?
Best baby ever award!



I would love for Ellison to play the guitar when she gets older...



just hope she chooses to wear clothes.

Perfect Fall weather!

 

Give Dylan a ball and he is a happy guy.
(Boys are so different from girls)

Sweet Olivia came over to cheer on the Gators.
(Can't say she brought them much luck,
but she did help ease the pain of the loss)

The End.