20 Questions With Ellie

Ellie turned three earlier this month. I decided this birthday was the perfect time to start documenting her likes and dislikes by asking her a series of questions each birthday. It's going to be interesting to see how these change each year or if they stay the same. 

Without further ado, I give you 20 questions with Ellie at age 3.

1. What is your favorite color? purple

2. What is your favorite toy? My Violet (the puppy dog)

3. What is your favorite fruit? grapes, bananas and apples

4. What is your favorite tv show? Dora

5. What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? bananas

6. What is your favorite outfit? my Dora swimsuit Note: This question derailed the interview because she had to then find said bathing suit and put it on.

7. What is your favorite game? Busytown matching game

8. What is your favorite snack? bananas

9. What is your favorite animal? elephants 

10. What is your favorite song? My special song when I sing in Roman’s room "Dance Love You" She learned from her grandma. Note: This is a made up song of which she sang some to me. Her grandma did not teach it to her. :)

11. What is your favorite book? ABCs by Dr Seuss

12. Who is your best friend? Sam

13. What is your favorite cereal? colored cereal (Fruit Loops) Note: I've only bought it one time for her!

14. What is your favorite thing to do outside? ride on my ladybug bicycle

15. What is your favorite drink? Gatorade and milk

16. What is your favorite holiday? Christmas

17. What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Minnie Mouse, Violet and water

18. What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? pantakes (pancakes)

19.  What’s your favorite sport? Race cars

1. Follow up question: Who is your favorite driver? The girl (Danica Patrick) 

20. What do you want to be when you grow up? Cinderella 

Day 1 & 3

Last year, I really struggled with my photography. I felt like I lost my creative drive and spark. Honestly, with being a wife and a mom, working full-time, my business, church, running/fitness and trying to keep a semi-clean house, I forgot what drew me to photography in the first place and lost focus of the main reason for taking it up as a hobby: capturing great moments of my family, for my family.

I'm a New Year's resolution kinda gal, so one of my goals for 2013 was to put my photography into practice more or less every day. I've read about these 365 challenges and questioned if I'd have the time to complete one. As you can see, it's Day 3 and I've already missed a day, but I refuse to be legalistic about it and beat myself up for not following the rules. This is a journey, my friends, and like anything I've ever done, it won't be perfect. I do hope in this task I capture those sweet, sincere moments with my family that are all too forgotten by Dec. 31, and learn some new techniques about composition, lighting and focus. We all tend to remember to take birthday photos, first day of school pictures and document the madness that is Christmas morning. But I hope to capture the blissful chaos in between. And those sweet faces that will only age as the year goes by, frozen in time by the sound of my shutter.

Without further ado, I give you Day 1 and Day 3.

Day 1: I wasn't "into" photography when we purchased this home or I may have made a different selection. There are very few places with dreamy light pouring in. For this shot, I pulled the shades up in our master bedroom on a cloudy day and asked Ellie to come closer to the window. Luckily, she was in the mood to comply. Lighting makes all the difference in an image. I'm hoping with this Project 365, I'll learn how to use the lighting in my home to my advantage.

Day 3: Technically speaking, this isn't a great photo, but it captures our family and the tremendous daddy our daughter has. This NYE party hat has become a toy in our home, thanks to Grammy and Papaw. Ellie asked me earlier tonight, "Can I have that sparkly hat so I can make a rabbit, please?" You see, the matching noise maker is a magician's wand and when paired with the hat and the word "Abracadabra", rabbits appear. Our house is magical.

I have to be honest, I'm nervous and excited about this challenge. It's such a commitment, but I know putting in the extra time will be worth the cost in the end. I'm anxious to try new angles, different editing techniques and force myself to push my limits and try something that's new. 

Anyone else have a photography-related goal in 2013? I have others that I'll probably share, hopefully as they are checked off the list! Boo-yah! 

What's Been Going On As Of Late

I feel like there's so much going on right now that I need to take the time and go back to document through this blog. One of the most note-worthy can be found below.

You read that right ... Ellie is going to be a big sister, and she's so excited! She thinks she is having a baby brother AND a baby sister. Mommy has the sister in her tummy and Ellie is carrying the brother in her tummy. Anytime I talk about the baby making me feel sick or tired, she pats her stomach and says, "Baby brother make me feel sick." 

Currently, I'm 10 weeks along. My first doctor's appointment was about a week and half ago. Due to the issues I had when pregnant with Ellie, my doctor ordered a one-hour glucose test already and a 24-hour urinalysis. I'm praying I don't have the issues with my blood sugar or blood pressure this time around, but I know I'm in God's hands. I'm having those tests ran next week and should know something by the end of the month. We're taking Ellie to the next appointment so she can hear the heartbeat.

I've been sick, but it hasn't been awful. I'm tired, but it's manageable and Dan is huge help. I'm looking forward to my second trimester though. Not gonna lie!

I'm Back

It's been such a long time since I've blogged! I've been meaning to get back to it, but life is so busy and <insert other valid excuse.> Looking back over my old posts I remembered why I started blogging in the first place and vowed to make it a priority again. Those pictures, those stories...those would almost be forgotten had I not hit the publish button. Life is so hectic and full to the brim with duty and obligation. Don't get me wrong; as a mom, I carve out plenty of time to enjoy my family and not worry about the mounds of laundry or stinky dishes growing who-knows-what in the sink. But by neglecting this blog, I've lost memories of my family that I want to share with them as the time passes.

So, without further ado, I'd like to tell you that I'm back. And, I'm hoping to kick my shoes off and stay a while.  Look for a new post about my family soon, and hopefully an updated blog look! Look at me, already feeling a little ambitious. :)

Mappy Valentime's Day

Dan and I watched a 30 Rock episode a few years ago with Rachel Dratch as a guest star and her character says, "Happy Valentime's" and somehow that morphed into "Mappy Valentime's" and it stuck. We have several sayings/phases that have started out as a joke and now permanently reside in our vocabulary.

Dan and I are super low key, so the day of love has never been a big deal to us. But, gosh, when you have a child, it's so much more fun and special. I took off work early to head to Ellie's party at daycare.

The kids in her class exchanged valentines, and her awesome teachers, Miss Stormi and Miss Allison, helped her make a box for her goodies. They even got roses for the moms. Isn't that sweet?

Ellie brought Smarties and Cuties to her classmates with this note attached.

I always find it interesting to watch all the kids eat. Some go straight for the sweets, others nibble on the cheese, while some pick out the salty and dive in. Out of a cookie, cupcake, grapes, cool whip, bananas, string cheese and Cheetos, Ellie went straight for the cupcake then cookie. 

In the picture above, some of the kids were clanging their juice boxes and Ellie got tickled. It's fun to see her interact with kids her age.

When we got home, we played outside in what little snow we had left. Our neighbors weren't outside...when they are, Ellie makes a beeline over to their house to play with the older girls and their toys.

Of course Ellie got goodies from her Grammy/Papaw and her Great-Grandmas. Daddy got her an Elmo balloon and Mommy and Daddy got her a little monkey purse with a book, candy, fruit snacks, bubbles and a puppy dog.

Mappy Valentime's from the Myers family!

Fun with Photo Booth

It was girls' night tonight--Dan was off getting some corn for deer season, which left me, Ellie and Peaches for dinner and the bedtime routine. Which also meant we could act super silly without a care in the world. We growled, we wrestled, we danced--all great fun which would soon be surpassed by playing with Photo Booth.

I just signed on to play around with Pintrest (still on the fence about it because I like it as a bookmarking tool, but I don't like the idea that all my boards are public) when Ellie walked up and wanted on my lap. I thought, "hey, we could go to YouTube and watch more School House Rocks videos." But then I remembered how much "Unpack Your Adjectives" stayed with me the other day (singing it now!). Then the lightbulb went on. Let's play with Photo Booth. Brilliant!

Take 1: Her eyes are closed

Take 2: Trying to be silly, but she didn't get it.

Take 4: Mommy said 'forget it' to the silly, stick-the-tongue-out face, and went in for a kiss.
Ellie finally gets the stick your tongue out memo.

Take 6: Here we're supposed to be screaming, but I'm not sure what she decided to go with last minute. Wait...yep, I think her nose was running. That's her 'gross, my nose is running' face.

Take 8: Yep, we both nailed this one. We were growling.

Final Take: Me waving bye-bye and Ellie blowing a kiss. Doesn't get any sweeter than this!

We finished off girls' night with a ride around the block in Ellie's car, had a double date with Elmo and Grover, washed our hair and counted our toes. Not exactly pedicures and margaritas, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

P.S. You can always tell how silly we get by E's hair...it was pretty crazy tonight!

The Frog

God uses mysterious ways to guide, reaffirm or comfort us. In the Bible, it was a talking donkey, an angel, a star, among others. Today, for me, it was a frog.

After 93 years, my great-grandma went to be with the Lord and we laid her to rest today. Many people said good-bye to a mother, sister, grandma, aunt and friend. While standing outside waiting to be escorted in, we noticed a little frog hopping toward the door of the church.

You see, my great-grandma loved and collected frogs. She had a large collection of frog stuffed animals and figurines. So, a little frog trying to get into the church was the perfect subtle reminder of God's comfort and love, and grandma's special memory.

And it's that memory and so many others that I'll hold on to as I remember her life and her legacy. She had such a joy and passion for life and a genuine love for others that will remain with me always. In fact, inspired by her love, Dan and I performed a random act of kindness for someone this evening because I couldn't help but reflect upon the joy great-grandma had when she gave someone something...and I want more of that joy in my own life.

I believe that God gives us more when we appreciate what we have and make the most of it. Whether it's our finances, our time or our talents, He loves to bless us with more--but only when we wisely use what he's given us. I wonder if that's why grandma had such a full life...because she was always grateful for what she had and lived her life full of joy, so God blessed that.

I'll miss grandma's smile and her laugh. I'll miss her spunk. She was witty and quick with a comeback. And so funny! She was exceedingly generous. A fantastic cook and talented with a needle and thread.

I realize how truly lucky I am to have had a great-grandma for 29 years. That's something that's rare and I'm forever grateful to God for these many years and for that little frog reminding me of how special she is--as if I could forget.

Her 93rd birthday (note the frog robe)

Five generations, taken last Memorial Day