21 months

Happy 21 Months to Miss Ella Kate! She is quite a mess these days but oh so very much fun! She talks non stop...seriously! Her vocabulary has grown so much lately and she really says the funniest things. For example, we were getting ready to go to church and she looked at herself and said, "I cute." I told her "yes, you are." Then she looked at me and said "Mommy cute too." I told her thank you...gotta love some encouragement from the little one!!! Another day, I told her that she was beautiful and she responded with "I know." Think she has heard it a time or two? She even says a precious "bless you" when someone sneezes....LOVE IT!!! EK is still very in to her books. Her favorite right now is a French book that was mine when I was little. We read it like 20 times a day....no lie. She even responds to a few French questions like "what is your name", etc. She will answer "oui" and "non" too. Funny little girl. She sings all the time too. Usually "twinkle, twinkle" "wheels on the bus" and "itsy bitsy spider" are what I catch her singing. She is getting really good at the potty. I believe next week is going to be the week we seriously potty train. She LOVES to go in the potty especially when it means she can get out of the bath tub to go. I will keep you posted as to how it goes next week. Wish me luck! She loves to color and does a pretty good job. She even holds her crayon and pencil correctly. So proud. She loves her puzzles and her baby dolls. She is currently obsessed with "Baby Jude," her Baby Be Blessed doll. We know several babies named Jude, so I guess that is where the name has come from. "Baby Jude" goes everywhere with EK. She is also obsessed with all things trains, planes, and automobiles (really just buses). To be such a girl, she does love these fairly boyish things. She loves when she goes to Madison because my parents take her to the little airport in Madison to watch the planes take off and land. She would sit there all day. Moving on now....
Yesterday, my grandparents and 2 of my aunts came to Hattiesburg for a visit. We had a great visit and Ella Kate loved being the center of attention. We were sad that mom's sub got sick so she didn't get to come and had to miss our little party.
Aunt Diane was in Mississippi from Virginia so we were so happy she came down to see us! I wish we got to visit more often!!!! She brought Ella Kate a train puzzle that makes choo choo noises. Ella Kate LOVES it!!!
I love, love, love this little girl so much!!!! This is her "say cheese" face....LOVE HER!!!!

They are Precious in His Sight

Our church was beyond blessed to host The African Children's Choir last week. These sweet little angels were at Heritage from Tuesday until Friday. Our youth had a pizza party with the kids and had the chance to get some loving in on these adorable children. In case you don't know, the African Children's Choir is an organization that has been around since the early 80s. The seek out the poorest, most vulnerable children in Uganda. Most of these children are not orphans, but their families realize taken part in the choir will offer them a better life. The children, ranging in age from 7-11, tour the US for a year. The do their schooling on the road with their teacher and chaperones. The are the most well behaved children I have ever met. Incredible. Once their year long tour is complete, the children return to Uganda where they are able to continue their education through the university level. The main goal of the choir is to raise up Christian young men and women, provide for their basic needs and education, and then release them to change Uganda and Africa from the inside out. They do not focus on their sob stories, which they all have, but instead on the HOPE they have in Jesus. They all have high goals that they want to achieve in life from being the president of Uganda, to teachers, to preachers, and so on. It was a blessing to be around this group!!! Now on to a few sweet pictures of the precious little blessings...

Such joy!!!!!
We were able to host the bus driver at our house while the choir was here. It was super and Ella Kate LOVED getting to see the bus all week. These pictures are from when we were waiting on the bus to arrive. She talked about that bus all week and called Rachel, the bus driver, "Bus." Flattering.

Happy Birthday Nana!!!

Happy Birthday Nana!!! Today was J's mom's birthday. We were excited to get to spend the day with her at our house. I'm not really sure the day was all Nana had dreamed her birthday would be...you see, Nana and Pop helped us in our yard in Hburg today. They dug up bushes, blew about 8 million leaves down to the back lot behind our house, mowed, and dug up the most annoying, unsightly cactus plants you could ever imagine. Nana, Pop, and J worked so hard and the yard looks a ton better!!! We are very appreciative of their hard work, especially on their spring break. They not only took care of our Hburg house, but went to Jackson yesterday to take care of the yard at our house there as well...which is still for sale...BOOOOOO!!!! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU Nana and Pop!!! We truly to appreciate all you do for us!!!!

Kiss Me, I'm Irish!

More Zoo Adventures

What better way to spend a beautiful March day than with friends at the zoo?!?!?! We are so blessed to have our very own little zoo here in Hattiesburg. Now don't get me wrong, it's no San Diego Zoo...or even Jackson Zoo, but for 2 dollars (that's for me AND ek's admission) you can't beat it!!!
The first thing that we HAD to do upon arriving was ride the train. Ella Kate is a happy, happy girl when she hears that whistle blow.

Who's excited to see the tiger????

Ella Kate was making monkey noises as she "talked" to the monkeys. She just said "AH AH, AH AH" over and over again. She LOVES the monkeys...probably because she acts like one!!!
This is our sweet friend Kristen aka EK's future mother-in-law. It was so fun to spend the day with Kristen and her boys!!! We are already planning our next zoo adventure which will include a train ride to NOLA to the zoo and aquarium!!! I am SUPER EXCITED!!!!!

20 Months

Ella Kate is 20 months going on 15 yrs old! She thinks that she is quite grown up and has such a funny personality. Some EK "funnies"....she refers to her belly button as her "butt." She makes sure to put the "t" sound at the end of it each time she says it. Bless her. She shows everyone her "butt." Oh well!!! She is also so funny when we pray. She always folds her hands and closes her eyes...then peeks. If a prayer begins to go too long, she will "Amen" when she thinks it should end. Pretty cute!!!

Ella Kate is very in to helping pick out her clothing. I normally let her chose between a couple of things that I pick, but on this day, I let her go to town. Yes, that is her bathing suit and cowboy boots. Stylish little thing, isn't she? And yes, her baby doll is naked. ALL her babies are naked. She immediately strips them. Who knows!!!
Ella Kate loves to be outside. We have been busy with the bubbles, side walk chalk, and playing on the swings and slide. She has a blast!!! Other things she loves...pictures of herself. She will get my phone and slide that little finger across the screen and say "Ella" over and over again. Whenever she gets to a video in my pictures, she stops to watch it. Amazing how little ones can work electronics!! One day, I was watching my Friends DVD when she came home from Mother's Day Out. She was not having that though, so while I was unpacking her bookbag, she took out my DVD, opened up a Thomas DVD case, and put the Thomas video in the DVD player and pressed play. Really???? She's just 1 1/2!!!!!

Time is really flying by and I wish I could just slow it down sometimes because I LOVE this stage that she is in right now. I guess that's not how it works though. Oh well, I am going to go and enjoy my day with Miss Priss. Hope you have a great one as well!!!