Going Fishing!

My nephew Cooper is obsessed with fishing.  On the days that my mom keeps him, she takes him to this park near her house that has a fishing lake.  He watches the men fishing and has a fantastic time.  Barry loves to fish and once Cooper found that out, he would tell Uncle Barry he wanted to go fishing.  He even told one of the fishermen at the lake that his Uncle Barry was going to teach him how to fish.

Every single time we talked Cooper on the phone, he would talk to us about going fishing.  We knew we had to get him a fishing pole for his birthday.  We were back in Texas by the time he turned 4, but we did give it to him while we were in Michigan.  I think it was a success!

Waiting for his surprise!  Yes, he is still wearing his pj's...my sister said she picks her battles and pj's during the day isn't one of them.  :)

Wow!  A fishing pole!

Checking it out.

It's a Spiderman fishing pole!

Happy boy

Ellie wants to check it out.

No Ellie, it's not for babies.

Get away from MY fishing pole!

Maybe if I hold it up high she won't be able to reach it.

Barry getting the line ready.

What a mess!

Uncle Barry teaching Cooper how to hold the pole.

Practicing...

Casting

Way to go!

I want to do it by myself

Success in the grass...now for the lake!

5 month pictures

Yes, I'm way behind on posting pictures. I know! I'm waiting to do Ellie's 6 month post until her doctor visit. With our vacationing and his, we don't go to see him until next week. I'll post after that. For now, here are her 5 month pictures I took.

Two Teeth!

Ellie woke up Monday morning with her two bottom teeth popping through! We knew they were coming, but were just waiting. She is a drooling, chewing, biting mess! I love it!

I still need to update with her 5 month pics and do a 6 month post since that was last Friday. Right now though, I'm just not feeling much like blogging. I'm enjoying every single minute with my girl! I go back to work in 3 weeks and am DREADING it!! I am usually in my classroom working by next week...guess what...not gonna happen! I'm ok with that! This time is way more important to me!

So for now, I'll leave you with some iPhone pics...

Loving the jumperoo!

Looking at herself in the bumbo.  She sits in her bumbo on my counter in the bathroom while I get ready in the morning. 

Ready for the pool.  I found this adorable hat while we were on vacation in Michigan. 

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Blood Curdling Scream

That would be little Miss Ellie doing the screaming. 

We've been home almost a week from our Michigan trip, but our black lab, Sam only returned home tonight.  He spent the first week of our trip here with Barry since he didn't join us until the second week.  Then Sam went to stay with Barry's brother and his family.  Sam and their dog, KC love to play so it works out good.  They live about three hours from us, so instead of making a 6 hour round trip drive to get him we just waited until Barry's parents were going to be in their town to pick him up.  Barry's dad brought him to us tonight. 

Ellie was just waking up from her evening nap when Sam returned.  She has always loved him and he has loved her too.  I went into her room and got her to bring her into the living room.  Sam was across the room sitting down and she took one look at him and started screaming.  It was like nothing I'd ever heard before.  I started talking to her calmly and left the room with her.  I went into her room and Sam followed us in a couple minutes later.  Same thing...screaming!  It was awful. 

I tried calming her down and letting her see it was Sam, but since it's been three weeks and she's grown so much in those three weeks I doubt she remembers him.  I left him in the living room and took Ellie into the kitchen to feed her, he walked in there a bit later and she started shaking and crying.  We decided to put Sam in another room and shut the door until after Ellie was in bed.

She was quite whimpery through her bath and bedtime routine.  It's not like she hasn't been around dogs in the three weeks we have been away from Sam.  My sister's dog is staying with my mom so Ellie saw Maggie every day.  She's not quite as big as Sam, but still a bigger dog.  She loved her.  She would smile and touch her every time Maggie walked up to her. 

I didn't want to force the issue tonight since she was already tired and it was late for her).  Tomorrow we'll try to slowly reintroduce these two.  I'm hoping we can get them to be fast friends again.  Sam seemed to not notice anything was wrong...so that's good.  He's just super tired from two weeks of playing with his friend!  He has been sleeping since we put Ellie to bed. I think that's where I'm headed too.  I need my sleep...tomorrow's a big day at our house...I turn 40!  eeek! 

Here

Every night when I lay Ellie in her crib, I stop and pray over her. While I'm praying for her and her life, I also thank God for this amazing baby girl He gave us. The road to Ellie wasn't a quick or easy road, there were many bumps and even some roadblocks along the way. But, When I stand in her nearly dark room with the only sound that of her sound machine, and watch her sleeping I know it was the the perfect route for us.

Don't worry...she doesn't sleep with a blanket. 
(This was during nap time when I was cleaning out her closet while she slept.
 I had the fan on and just threw the blanket over her because she was in just a onesie
and I didn't want her to get too cold.)

 Our girl will be six months old on Friday and these are the best 6 months of my life (Barry's too)! Ellie brings such joy to our lives. She is learning and growing at such a rapid pace, it is sometime hard to believe all the new things she learns and how quickly she changes. Her smile melts my heart. She is the best part of my day!

No, the road to this darling girl was not an easy one, but I wouldn't change one thing.

These lyrics by Rascal Flatts kind of sum it up for me...

"And I wouldn't change a thing

I'd walk right back through the rain

Back to every broken heart

On the day that it was breakin'

And I'd relive all the years

And be thankful for the tears

I've cried with every stumbled step

That led to you and got me here, right here"

Just some random pictures Barry took last night...

Had to have a drink out of mommy's water bottle

Enjoying some floaty time in the pool

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Life is Sweet!

Doesn't that chair say it all?!?!

We are still on vacation. Although we're heading home tomorrow. The picture was taken on Mackinaw Island. We spent an absolutely wonderful day there. More pics and details about our trip soon!

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