Ellie is 3!

How is it possible?!? We celebrated on her actual day with a fun cowgirl party complete with pony rides! I have so many pictures to unload, edit and share but didn't find the time over spring break! Ill leave you with this one....she was one worn out cowgirl...naptime complete with one of her very own baby chicks (thanks to the Groces! She has some stuffed baby chicks that are like papa's real ones.) she wears her boots and hat picks them all up and says I'm a real cowboy look at all my chicks!

Snow Days

This week we didn't get much snow. But the last forecast that called for snow we got quite a bit.

 

This is really the first time Ellie has been old enough to go out and play. Her first snow she was 9 months old and sick with the flu. It snowed this year on Christmas but was brutally cold and didn't stick to much.

 

She was sick with a little virus the few days before but had been asking all day so we finally bundled up and braved the cold. I was so happy I disregarded the weather and took my big camera out with me rather than trying to rely on the iPhone. I got tons of good pics it was hard to pick just a few!

 

Checking it out!

LOVES it!

Snowflake on her gorgeous eyelashes! So jealous of them!!

Sweet cheeks!

Cheese!

Snow angel time!

 

Baby Chicks

Ellie has been waiting quite some time for the baby chicks to arrive at Papa and Grammy's house. 

She knew how many were coming and what day they were originally scheduled to arrive....that day past and we were still waiting.  FINALLY they arrived yesterday!  She was so excited!!  We braved the cold and sleet to go out and see them. 

They are currently living in the garage under a heat lamp but when they get bigger will move to their fancy new check house complete with nests from my great grandma's chicken house!  We are so excited to watch them grow!

So excited to see them!

Ready to give them some 'bird seed'

So soft

Ready to eat chickies!

Making sure they all arrived

This guy was sleepy!

Hungry!

Learning how to hold them!

Still need a little help with 'being easy'

This one was the sleepiest!

Lovin on a baby with Grammy!

Happy Valentine's Day

Love this sweet little valentine! Thanks Katie for the sweet photos!

Potty Training

I hesitated to share this information because I know there are so many opinions on the subject but ultimately I wanted to share what worked for us!  I will also forewarn that there is poop and potty talk in this post so if that offends you still clear.

When Ellie was just over two years old we bought and read Three Day Potty Training.  I know that this book has LOTS of positive reviews and success stories.  For us...it was a disaster.  At the beginning of Day 3 Ellie had never told us she needed to go potty and all we were doing was running back and forth all day.  I decided that it just wasn't time for us.

Starting in September at 2 1/2 Ellie was consistently telling us when she needed to poop in the potty and was successful at least 90% of the time.  However, we still weren't quite there on going potty.  I attribute this to a few different factors that I will not share on this blog.  At the beginning of November she started coming to us on her own and telling us when she needed to go potty.  We had some big changes coming up so I still didn't push things.  I knew that I would be home full time soon so we decided to hold off just a bit longer.

The Friday after Christmas I put Ellie in panties.  We haven't looked back since.  Since being in panties she has only had TWO accidents.  While I realize this isn't the norm for kids and we could still have accidents in the future.  I attribute her to success to the fact that she was a little bit older and that she was 100% ready when we made the switch.

She has even consistently been staying dry throughout the night and if she does need to go potty overnight she wakes up to go!  We are so happy to say goodbye to pull-ups and diapers.

First Black Eye

I realize there is a possibility it won't be her last....but tonight Ellie got her very first black eye. Poor girl! She fell and hit the corner of Steven's laptop. Who knew a laptop could be so dangerous! She said oh no this is terrible through her tears. A Cinderella ice pack, going to sleep with momma and a little Motrin made it all seem better. I can only imagine what it will look like in the morning.

The cow she is sleeping with is my cousin Kelsea's. Ellie insisted on bringing it home after one of our trips to visit. It's name....'Telsea's cow' (original over here;)). She requested it after she fell and still has a death grip on it!

Stella & Dot Trunk Show

I am going to be hosting a Stella & Dot Trunk Show at my house later this month!  Feel free to shop online!  They have so many fun new items!!

http://www.stelladot.com/ts/8otm5