Crazy sleeper!

I really don't know how she manages to fall asleep like this but somehow she does. Definitley does not look comfortable! Thankfully I can move her without her waking up!

Happy First Birthday Ellery!!!

I can hardly believe that Ellery is ONE already! This past year just went by soooo fast! She is getting soooo big and definitely becoming a little girl and not so much a baby anymore :( She is not quite walking yet, unless she's pushing her baby in the stroller, or one of the other push toys that we have. The only words she says are mama and dada....I have a feeling that the chronic ear infection that we battled for two months did not help in that area at all. She babbles all the time though and knows how to get what she wants by pointing or yelling at us to get our attention :) She is a fabulous eater! She will eat anything we put in front of her (hopefully this will help Jackson to try new things by watching his sister) and she loves to feed herself! She also LOVES to play with her brothers toys....which he is not so fond of but is going to to have to get used to....especially since he thinks that all of Ellery's toys are also his ;)
At her 1 yr Dr appt she weighed 20 lbs 13 oz (50%), was 28 1/2 inches (45%), and her head was in the 95%.....another big headed child...which hopefully means extra smart :)
The day that Ellery had her one year pictures taken she was not in a smiling mood at all....definitely can be a lot more serious than her brother! We still managed to get some cute pics though and her are a few of them....

We somehow managed to fit close to 40 people in our little house for her birthday party (oh the disadvantages of having a winter birthday). I will admit it was a little cramped and at times chaotic but we had a great time celebrating with our family and friends!! Ellery received a lot of fun GIRL toys....move over trucks, the dolls have arrived :)

Dakota helping her start to push her stroller from Grandma and Grandpa Donker. She loves it!!

She LOVED her birthday cake!! There was no forcing this girl to eat it :)

She even shared a bite with Mommy :)

Happy girl opening a couple presents on her actual birthday :)

Sitting in her new chair from Mommy and Daddy!

Picking out our Christmas tree!

We have an annual outing with our friends the Ozogs to go and get our Christmas trees! Always a good time and this year the little guys really got into it :)

The boys catching a ride on the cart

Jackson was constantly eating the snow!

My sweet little peanut all bundled up in her carseat

We found a great one and it was the perfect size for our house!

Jackson trudging through the snow

Jackson helping daddy cut down our tree

Checking out the reindeer while we waited for our tree to be bundled

Ellery was less than thrilled to be sitting on Santa's lap!

Halloween 2011!

Jackson and Ellery with Grandpa and Grandma Almy
Trick or treating in downtown Royal Oak

The boys checking out the firetruck!

Pumpkin carving!!

The finished products :)

Jackson getting candy from our neighbors Claire and Henry

My little tiger and cupcake going trick or treating! Jackson had a lot of trick or treating this year. We were out for over an hour and he picked up quite the loot!!

Bathtime !!!

Crazy kiddo's!

I LOVE BATHTIME!!!

My brother just cracks me up :)

Fall fun :)

Jackson trying out Benjamin's cool new quad at his birthday party!
My sweet girl

Jackson and Daddy watching a movie together

climbing the big haystack with his daycare friends on our fieldtrip to the orchard/pumpkin patch

in the baby goat petting area

Daddy and his munchkins after a bath :)

Busted!!! Both of my kids have an infatuation with the dog water....ugh

enjoying some snacks

a future artist?!?

taking a break for a picture after riding around the basement :)

messy face :)

guarding the gate at Grandpa and Grandma's house

Soccer!

We signed Jackson up for a parent/tot soccer class this fall with his friend Alaina from our parent group. It met on Saturday morning for 8 weeks. It was a lot of fun and Jackson really improved with his ball kicking by the end. We are looking forward to doing it again this spring!

The first couple weeks we had to work on not using our hands :)
Getting some one on one with the coach!

working on picking up the cones with his feet

the obstacle course

getting ready to kick a goal!

dribbling down the lane

The last week all the kids got a trophy and goodie bag! Jackson was soooo proud!!