11 Months Old

Happy 11 months Ella Kate! It is crazy to think that in one month we will be celebrating her first birthday!!!! So, what is Ella Kate up to these days? She can stand on her own. She won't take any steps yet, but she is super close. She points at everything and "says" it's name. Her favorite words are duck, ball, dog, bow, book, mama, and daddy. She is on the go constantly. She loves her little push toy that she can walk with. It also can be let down and you ride it like a car. She thinks that is awesome. The laundry basket is a favorite toy as well. She LOVES her baby doll and hugs her and pats her on the back. She rocks her baby and kisses her. It is precious!!! She is not a huge fan of table food, but she does like Nutri Grain bars and Multi-Grain Cheerios. The Toddler Mum Mums are her favorite as well. She is such a loving baby and she gives super hugs. When she hugs, she rubs on our backs. It is something I want to always remember. So, happy 11 month birthday my little peanut!!!!

On a side note, J and the group have made it to El Salvador and checked in to their hotel for the night. They will head home tomorrow!!! YEAH!!!!!

While J is Away

This week Ella Kate and I have been staying at my parents. J and a group from our church headed to Guatemala last Saturday to work with La Senda orphanage/school. They have had an amazing week and were supposed to return today. However, a volcano had other plans and decided to cover the airport and all of Guatemala City with ash. J and the group are an hour away, so everything at the orphanage was fine. So, after a very long day of trying to figure things out, the group will leave at 6:30 am tomorrow morning to ride a bus to San Salvador, El Salvador. They will spend tomorrow night there and fly out on Sunday. They are due to return late Sunday night. This was the best option considering the earliest flight out of Guatemala city will be on June 3rd assuming the volcano stops! Anyway, please lift the team up in your prayers. Pray for safe travels and that they will make it through customs and eventually back in to the states without problems. Also, please lift of the people of Guatemala. Many homes were destroyed and they still do not know the extent of the damage.

So, since Ella Kate and I have been hanging out with the Joneses while J is away, we have stayed busy! Today, Mom, Jordan and I took Ella Kate to the Natural Science Museum. She LOVED it!!! Daddy and I had gone to Bass Pro the other day and EK thought it was awesome, so I knew she would love all the fun critters at the museum. Here are a TON of pictures from our day.
Mommy and Ella Kate...don't you love the rustic background? This is about as close to the woods as I would ever like to be!!!!
Auntie Jo and EK...EK is so happy to have her fun aunts to entertain her this week. She will probably be depressed when we actually go home to our house!
Kay Kay and EK and a brown bear
Ella Kate loved the bear. One of her favorite books is "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?"

One of EK's newest things is to point at everything. It is pretty cute.




It was a super fun day! We passed by the Children's Museum and it is coming along very nicely. I can't wait until this fall when it opens!!!!!

Celebrate Good Times....

Yesterday was my baby sister Haley's 19th birthday!! We celebrated with a yummy dinner at Little Tokyo...my family's FAVORITE place to eat. It was super and was fun to get to hang out with the whole family. Happy Birthday Aunt Hey Hey! We love you!!!
Also a reason to celebrate....Jordan is home from law school!!!! YEAH!!!! I am so excited that she is working in Jackson this summer so we can hang out!!!! Welcome home Auntie Jo!!!!

Life as of Late

Things have been pretty hectic around our house! As of a week ago, we are moving to Hattiesburg! Long story short, we have been praying for direction and guidance as to J's youth ministry position. God is so good and within 2 weeks of praying these prayers, J had received about 5 phone calls from pastors wanting to meet with him about the possibility of becoming the student minister at each of those churches. Let me backtrack a bit, we have loved being a part of starting Wesley Chapel and have learned a ton from the experience but things are beginning to transition and J's position was more than likely going to become part time. Therefore for the sake and livelihood of our family, it was wise to ask God for wisdom and direction as to where He would have us serve. The last few weeks have been very exciting! J began having conversations with the pastor at Heritage United Methodist Church in Oak Grove. Things progressed and after several meetings J was offered the job and we took the position. We are so excited to become a part of this amazing church! It is growing like wildfire with people who are truly seeking the Lord and it will be incredible to be a part of such an awesome congregation. We are also pumped to have so many students already in place so that we can focus on discipleship. We have spent the last week painting, staging the house (I knew all the HGTV would come in handy!) and now the house is on the market. If anyone knows of anybody looking for a house in the Jackson area, please send them our way. We will be heading to Hattiesburg sometime in July (not really positive about the exact time yet) and can not wait to see what God has in store for our family, the students, the community and the church as a whole!

Now, on to some of Ella Kate's favorite things as of late:
She is loving being outside (definitely got this from J and not me since I do not like to sweat!) and she really loves to swing. She would stay outside all day in the swing, however due to the Jones family pale skin, we can only stay out for short periods of time to avoid the ole sunburn!
Ella Kate also really enjoys playing in Haley's laundry basket. I know, great toy, right? Today Haley attached a long handle to the basket so she could pull it easier. They made laps around the downstairs at mama's house for a while. Very entertaining!
This kid loves to read books! This picture was snapped as she read "The 5 Little Ducks" book. It is one of her favorites and she is so proud to point at each duck and say "duck." (I must say that I am very proud of her as well!) She is quite the talker. Excessive talking to come in her future, no doubt!

One last thing:
This past Saturday, some sweet friends and I had the privilege of hosting a baby shower for my dear friend Sally Saulters Ray and baby Vera Kate. We had such a fun time eating, catching up, and checking out all the baby things. We can not wait to meet sweet Vera Kate in July. Ella Kate is super excited to welcome her DG little sis into the world!!!! Pictured below is EK's DG big sis Mary Reeves. I know, I am a bit ridiculous!!!

The Grandmamas and their girls

Mitzi Bailey aka "M", Mary Reeves Gordon, EK, and my mama "KayKay". I know these girls will be great friends just like their mamas!!!

Splish Splash

We are finally well!!!! It has been a rough time for the Nelson Fam!!! Ella Kate caught a stomach bug last weekend. No fun, but she handled it like a champ. And then...mom got it, Haley got it, I got it, daddy got it, and then J got it. It was much worse for the grown ups! But finally, we are finished with it and have been able to have some fun the last few days. J's sweet cousin Lisa sent Ella Kate a little summer happy. It is a precious water play mat that you hook up to the water hose and it sprays all over the place. EK was not so sure about it at first, but warmed up to it and had a blast. She LOVES the water!!! Thank you so much Lisa!!!!! It will be a fun summer for sure!!!!!