Harmonica!!

If you follow this blog, you know that Elsie Anne only had ONE paci to 'out-grow'!  Well, last night was the night - she walked into her room after brushing her teeth and found this...

She was a little weary of being excited this time, since she knew it was her last one, but she conjured up a big smile and did a happy dance!!  We promised her that after church in the morning we would make a special trip to 'Peek-A-Boo Toy Store' and she could choose a Big Kid toy!!

This is what she chose... a Harmonica, just like her Great-GrandDaddy plays!!

Practicing a tune for GrandDaddy!



Lilly's Big Day!

A little Ladybug Birthday Party!!  These girls are the cutest!  Daddy is helping Elsie Anne decorate her Flower Pot - love his concentration!

EA loving Lilly's new sand table:)  

Happy Birthday Sweet Friend!  You girls are such big 2 year olds now:)

Caught One!!

Elsie Anne saw this picture of Big Daddy, Tullen, and Thatcher fishing...

...and decided she had to "catch some fish" like her cousins!  She was able to catch a "SNOW FISH!!"

I keep promising her there will be a day when SHE will get to go fishing on a BOAT with them:)

River Walk Mother's Day:)

Such a gorgeous day to call 'mine'!!  We started the day off with a wonderful sermon at Church.  With a smile on our faces, and full & thankful hearts, we walked into town.  We stopped at Clint's Bakery to get coffee and banana bread, and continued our stroll to the River Walk! 

I've often thought Shawn needs a little boy for his outdoor excursions, but watching these two, and the delight they both got from throwing rocks in the river, I take that thought back!  Elsie Anne is the perfect mix of 'girly-girl' and 'tom-boy'...just thought of a new phrase...Elsie Anne is a 'TOM-GIRL'!!

On to the Rock Slide!!  A few rounds of this and we were off to...

...the Bridge over the River! 

I love this shot of us!  In so many ways, it reminds me of what I am so thankful for.  This little creature made me a MOTHER, something I've always dreamt of becoming!  Thank you my Sweet Angel for being ours, for changing mine and Daddy's worlds forever, for showing us all that we have to be thankful for... YOU absolutely make Daddy & I WHOLE!  We love you Princess:)

Chillin' & Grillin'

...with our best buddy, Donnie!!  Seriously, he is MY best friend, SHAWN's best friend, & EA's best uncle (since she knows him more than her real uncles)!  His joke is that he is 'dating a married couple'!!  Love this guy:)

There are really only a few friends we KNOW we will see again, once we move, and DONNIE is for sure!!  He may even move to FLA when the time is right, woohoo:)

'Hen'

As I've requested, we are spending a lot of time with our buddy, Henry!  While our move date approaches, I am having Henry breakdowns more often:(  I can't imagine our lives, especially Elsie Anne's, without him in it!!  He is the big brother she wishes she had, and the closest thing to a cousin relationship she's ever experienced!!

These silly goof-balls are sharing a deck chair and enjoying the nice evening:)  He never gets upset with how close she always wants to be to him, and he's never come close to being aggressive with her.  He just takes all her crazy girl antics with stride:)  Maybe because they've played together since she was 2mo old!!

Splish-Splash in the melting snow puddle!

Sweet girl loving the warm weather & all our outdoor time!

Dillon Marina Park

It was kind of hard explaining what a "MAWIINA" is when the Lake is still frozen and the boats are all wrapped up, but I gave it my best shot & told EA she would see plenty of boats in the water in FLA!!

We met up with our buddies Lilly & Ms. Jill for some Sunshine at the Park!!  It was awesome that the sand was dry enough to play in! 

It was a while before the girls even ventured over to the slides!!

This was our first time back to this park, since last Summer, and it was incredible to watch Elsie Anne do things that weren't even possible back then!  What a crazy transformation Winter brought this Big Girl!!

Too Big...

...FOR HER 'PACI'!! 

I had been racking my brain for the last few weeks, on how to get rid of Elsie Anne's paci, in a way she would understand, and not have anxiety about it!  One night, as I lay awake in bed, it dawned on me that she needed to 'grow out of it'! 

The next morning I showed her all the bags of clothes she had 'outgrown'.  The whole day we talked about what she did as a baby, and how she has grown and changed into a big girl!  This was the lead-in, haha!  After her nap, I slyly snipped off the end of two of her pacis (she has 4 in her crib, that never leave her room, & one in her car seat!)  While we played in her room later, I let her discover them on her own.  She turned around and said, "Uh-Oh Momma, my paci's boken?!!"  I made a huge production and told her, "no Princess, its not broken, you've outgrown it!  It doesn't fit you anymore, just like your clothes when you were a baby!"  She started jumping around and squealing, she was so excited!  It was all she could do to wait for Daddy to get home and tell him!

This is EA after she had 'outgrown' three crib pacis AND her car paci!!!  This is the only ONE she has to outgrow & then she gets to pick out a BIG GIRL toy!!  Can you see the complete excitement & true pride in this child's smile! 

Shawn made sure to take a few 'paci pics' since we don't have very many of them.  Of course, Momma & Daddy are a little sentimental because it just shows us how big our Little Love is getting:)  She now gets such a kick out of telling people "I out-go my pacis! I a big kid!!"

We are so happy and proud of you Elsie Anne!  We love that you truly enjoy learning and growing, and can't wait to see your changes in the next 6 months:)