Everything McDaniel

Ellasyn's Second Year Pictures

2011-10-15T21:47:00.001-05:00

I love my sweet and talented friend, Gara Hill. She is so great at capturing Ellasyn's personality. Ellasyn is not really a big fan of being told what to do, or sitting still in one spot. No, really? A rebellious two year old? I am not sure that even the jelly bean bribes worked this time... although Travis was a big fan! (I may or may not have given him unsupervised amounts of jelly beans while I was trying to get E to smile. Oops.) To say the least, Gara is super stealth with her camera and I am pretty sure that she possesses lightning fast shutter finger skills. Trigger finger? Shutter finger? You know what I mean.

Without further ado... here are the pics:

"This grass feels a little prickly on my toes..."

~ Looking off into the future~

~ Sweet hands ~

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~ Silly girl ~

~ kisses ~

~ precious ~

"CHEESE!"

~How adorable is this girl?~

Thanks again, Gara Hill!

Grama's birthday visit

2011-10-12T21:51:00.001-05:00

Ellasyn and I took a trip up to Oklahoma City to see my sweet Grama and the rest of our favorite Oklahoman's, The Ogle Family. She and I had a great time on the road. She was a good little backseat navigator. Her favorite thing was driving through McDonald's to get apple slices. I know, I know... who drives through McD's for apples? That's my girl. And she doesn't even like the caramel dip that comes with them.

~ Sharing her Potty Book with Grama ~

~ She loves to read ~

She got to go to her very first pep rally with Aunt Tae Tae and Avery at Merritt and Sayre's high school. Merritt is a cheerleader and we got to see her in action! Ellasyn loved the pom girls and has been asking for pom poms ever since. Dancing to the band and the drum line was her favorite part. I wish I had taken a picture. She felt so comfortable in the pep rallyenvironment that she fell asleep in my lap during the loudest part and slept through the whole second half. That never happens, so I tried to take full advantage of snuggling my sweet girl.

We went out to lunch for Grama's birthday at one of my favorite Mexican restaurants... Poblano Grill. Yummm.

~ Mommie, Ellasyn, Grama ~

~ Ellasyn Hannah and Grama Ella ~
(this girl can rock the boots with just about any get-up)

Ellasyn and I loved our mini vacation, but we were so glad to get back home to Daddy.

Keeping herself occupied in the back seat...

TWO years old!

2011-08-22T15:57:00.001-05:00

Ellasyn Hannah is two years old... TWO!

We had a Noah's Ark celebration with lots of family and friends. Water play in the back yard, yummy snacks and a delicious cake!

Travis aka Tadas

Josh aka Dosh

Noah's Ark cake with yummy donut hole bears, tigers and lady bugs.

M.Y.O.M station (Make Your Own Mix)

Ellasyn wore her special birthday dress to church on Sunday and enjoyed lunch at Spring Creek with Marmee, Papa, Bubba, Me-yin-ah (Merinda), Penny, Jude, Daddy and Mommy.

On Monday, her actual birthday, she ruled the day. Donuts at Shipley's, a carousel ride at the mall, lunch at McDonalds with her "girls" a.k.a. cousins. Honey, Grandpa, Kelli and Buck joined us too. :) She had a blast climbing up in the play place with the big kids.

Her doctor's appointment was the week after. It was the first time at Dr. Geppert's that she did not scream the entire time that we were there. She weighs 26 lbs. and is 35" tall! She hit a major growth spurt recently and jumped up on her chart from 60% to 80%. After her appointment we went by her favorite place for a treat. Freeze-onies at Quik Trip!

Ellasyn's vocab grows daily with longer sentences each time.

E: "Imma (may I) have a banana, please."
Me: "We don't have any more bananas. We will get some at the store today."
(Later, after we returned from the store she is eating lunch and looks over into our fruit basket.)
E: "Oh noooo"
Me: "What happened?"
E: "We deent buy some bananas!"
She has a crazy good memory, too!

Picture uploading is slow going on our compuer right now. I will have to do an all picture post next time.

Love,
Us

VBS, 23 Months and San Antonio...

2011-07-06T20:01:00.004-05:00

Vacation Bible School was great... as it always is! I am so blessed to be a part of a church that puts so much emphasis on the Jesus Journey. Our church writes their own VBS curriculum and has an amazing team of ministers, assistants and volunteers to help things run smoothly. This year, I was able to be a part of that team as a "Hallway Coordinator". I know, it sounds pretty official, right? Basically, I made sure the younger preschool and nursery classrooms had what they needed and the teachers were able to visit the wonderful goodie room.

Ellasyn had a blast at "Bible schooo" and even sang herself to sleep on the last night singing..."Have fun Bible Schooooooo... Noaaaaah" (one of her sweet buddies).

Because of the busyness of that week, I forgot all about taking her 23 month picture! However, I did remember the morning that we were getting ready to leave town for a four day weekend and was able to snap a couple quick shots. I am half sad and half relieved that I only committed to the monthly pictures through 24 months. Relieved because it is hard to remember now that she is older and I am always late in making them. But sad because that means she is growing up and turning into a little girl... no longer a baby. *glistening tear down my cheek and a big sigh*

Moving on....

We took our first McDaniel family of three vacation to San Antonio! Despite some naptime/bedtime difficulties, and a few squabbles over who needed to push the stroller and who needed to ride in it... we had an amazing trip. Ellasyn loved the "Hotel Voom" and the fact that she got to sleep in a big bed. Our hotel was right on the Riverwalk and she loved riding the elevator down the the water. She kept asking to "Geh in!" Uh... no, I don't think so. Yucky. We went to all the typical San Antonio attractions... Riverwalk, Market Square, Alamo, The Quarry, and my favorite... Sea World.

~ reading books with her animals during the car ride ~

~ claiming her bed in the hotel room ~

~ dinner on the riverwalk ~

We had fun at Market Square looking for a Mexican dress (you know the bright colored ones with the embroidered flowers) and a child sized belt to have her name branded on.

We walked across the street from our hotel to the Alamo on July 4 to take some pictures and spent the rest of that day in Gruene. When we came back we found out that it was the first time in the history of Bexar County that there would not be fireworks. Sad. So instead we went on the river boat tour, and watched fireworks on tv.

~ This is pretty typical of Ellasyn's photo sessions ~
~ She is too quick to catch on camera! ~

~ red, white and blue family photo ~

The last day we were there was Sea World! I have wanted to take Ellasyn ever since I heard of the new Sesame Street Bay of Play that they added this summer. She loves Abby Cadabby and Elmo... even though she has seen maybe half of an episode of Sesame Street. We have lots of books and the characters are on some of the Earth's Best products that she likes. Right before this trip, she watched an episode of Abby's Flying Fairy School on the computer and learned that fairies have wings and fly. She would flit around the living room and say, "I'm a fee-fee!" So cute. Ethan and I were a little disappointed in the "Bay" part, but Ellasyn loved playing in the splash area and seeing the character show.

~ excited to go to sea world ~

~ waiting for the park to open ~

We watched another show called Azul. It was a beluga/dolphin/Cirque de Soleil type show with divers jumping and flipping off of the rafters in between the ~~fish~~ mammals. I was pretty impressed.

We visited the dolphins and E and Miss E got to pet them. We saw fish and sharks, sea lions with their sweet tiny (not really) new pups, seals and sea otters. Ellasyn loved them all!

~ running through the splash area with Daddy ~

~ dancing while we wait for Elmo and friends ~

~ shaking her little booty ~

~ Zoe was a little too furry for E's liking ~

~ she liked Abby much better ~

~ her first ferris wheel experience ~

~ petting the dolphins ~

We stopped by the Lost Lagoon water park to ride the lazy river. It was a big hit! Ellasyn loved "See-ming" She wore a life vest and we were in tubes... but it was difficult to hold onto her. We figured out that if we all wore life jackets it was easier to float along with her. It was fun, but not shaded. I got a little fried.

~ floating in the lazy river ~

~ playing in the kiddie pool ~

Before we got to Sea World we told her that we were going to see whales she got so excited and said, "Jonaaaah!" She loves the story of Jonah being swallowed by the "Biiiig fiss". I am a little glad that she was asleep when we got down to the Shamu show... that theater was packed to the gills. Ha. (I know that whales are really mammals) Ethan and I watched for a little while from the very top and got to see the newest Baby Shamu. It was pretty cute to see him/her doing the tricks with the Momma Shamu. On the way back from Shamu, since Ellasyn was sleeping comfortably in her stroller ~~we just parked her in the shade~~ she and I waited in the shade while Ethan rode the Journey to Atlantis.

~ Ethan is in the last row on the far left ~

A full day of fun in the sun = free evening of entertainment riding the elevators up and down the 11 floors of the air conditioned hotel.

~ who needs to pack bath toys when you have two cups and a spoon? ~

~ a little maraca seranade ~

~ my sweet girl in her favorite "Cars" jammies on the roof of the hotel ~

It took all evening, but the pictures are loaded. Enjoy!

Love,

22 1/2 Months!

2011-06-12T21:56:00.000-05:00

Where has the time gone? No. Seriously. Where?? My baby is almost two! She loves to remind me... "ah-mose two".

Her vocabulary has exploded. She is stringing two, three, sometimes four words together. She is also repeating things that she hears us say. Fortunately, the worst of it has been, "C'mon Doood!"

Some of my favorite sayings, so far, are:
"Ah nee goves ahn!" (I need gloves on! She is a little obsessed with the gloves that her caretakers wear while changing diapers, and I am thankful that they wear them. She reminds them to!)

"I hurt knee. Pay gahn." ( I hurt my knee on the playground. She has just learned what "hurt" means. After a broken arm scare... which turned out to be a bruised/strained elbow?... she now knows that you can get hurt on the playground.)

"ahp baby" (Wrap up baby. This can be used when she wraps her baby, or when she wants you to wrap her up like a baby.)

"I see deeger" or " uhllah digger" (I see digger. Yellow digger. There is a digger that has been working near our house and she loves to see it when we drive past.)

"Ess-ahn's sahns" (Ellasyn's songs. She loves to listen to her Bible songs in Mommie's car.)

"Go-ging ah-side" ( Going outside. She loves to play outside!)

"Pat hiney" "Mommie see dahn" "Mommie see cah-pet" (Referring to bedtime when I sit on the floor by her bed and pat her hiney or her back. Mommie sit down, or sit on the carpet.)

She uses "I see", "I need" and "Have that" more than I can count in one day. It always makes me laugh when she repeats the same phrase over and over with exactly the same pronunciation and inflection and I have NO idea what she is talking about.

Here is her rocking chair picture this month...

Toddler Bed and Mother's Day

2011-05-10T22:56:00.000-05:00

We have moved Ellasyn to a toddler bed and the crib has been taken down.

I used to say that I would keep her in a crib until either, 1. she could not fit, or 2. we needed it for another baby. Well, neither of those things happened, but it just felt like the right timing. We found a great deal on the bed we liked and it matches her 50's mod furniture pretty closely.

The first night was a success. Actually every night has been successful... It is nap time that is challenging. Since the sun is still up and all. Black out curtains can only do so much!

My parent's came up for a visit, making my Mother's Day weekend a little extra sweet. We went out for donuts Saturday morning, went shopping in the afternoon , and took Ellasyn to play her first round of Putt Putt that evening. She had more fun running on the greens, dancing to the music, riding her golf club like a broom and chasing everyone's golf balls. She is such a silly little goose!

Here are some pics of the weekend happenings:

~ E loved all the concrete "ah-mohs" ~

~ Making sure Papa is counting all his putts ~

~ My two most favorite people in the world! ~

~ I had to add this one, so you can see what a goofball she is ~ :)

~ Be happy! ~

~ clapping her hands to the music ~
~ She loves to "Daas" ~

~ Action shot of her running down the putting green. ~
~ She loves her "boo shoos" from Papa! ~

~ Reading the "Hungy Pah-poh" with Marmee ~

~ Having a little imaginary snack with her puppy ~

These are from last week... but I had to add them, too. She loves to wear her rain "boose" and it finally rained so we got to go out and play a little. She enjoyed splashing in the little puddle that was on top of this boulder. She kept saying "Wah-ooh, wah-ooh" (water) and "spash"!

Happy Mother's Day!

Love, The McDaniel Family

Easter and 21 Months!

2011-04-26T22:02:00.000-05:00

We had a lovely Easter, I hope that you all did, too! This year was my first year to attend our church's Good Friday service and I must say that it will not be the last. There is something wonderful about seeing people participate in the Lord's Supper while hearing nails being driven into a wooden cross. It was beautiful.

We celebrated on Sunday by attending church and having lunch and an egg hunt with the McDaniel family. It was a little overcast outside but the rain held off. Ellasyn had a blast with her cousins and was a great little egg hunter! She racked up $3.56 in change for her piggy bank and wanted to hold all of it in her "hanns" at once... she was so frustrated that she kept dropping her "mummy".

~ following the Reese's egg trail from her room to the front door ~

~ thanking us for her Easter basket ~

~ having a few puffs as a breakfast appetizer ~

~ our family picture attempt ~

~ her "Egg-cited" face ~

~ putting eggs back in her bucket after they spilled as she climbed in the chair ~

Ellasyn turned twenty one months on Monday! Oh my goodness... we have to start training her to answer "Two" when people ask how old she is.

She loves to count... "Ah, too, pee, fo!" (but only when you are not listening) and play with her "boss" (blocks/legos). When Daddy builds a tower for her to knock down, she says "boss fa dow" She still loves to put anything in a bucket or bag, pull on her rain boots and find her "keys", which are really a bunch of bangles zip tied together. She loves talking on the "pho" and playing with her stuffed "puh-pee dows". She got her first scraped knees and we put on some Hello Kitty "ba bas" (band aids). When those ran out she had to settle for "Daddy ba bas" (plain ole band aids). As you can see, her vocabulary is really picking up! Her first sentence was, "Daddy drives a school bus". Which is true during football, track or cross country seasons.

Here are some pictures of our precious girl. No matter how old she gets, she will always be our baby.

She loves her shadow... and was totally
in awe of it standing right in front of her!

So like any of us would have done...
she gave herself a kiss. :)

Somebody found Mommie's lip STAIN!
Did you know that baby wipes take off just about anything?

Papa came to visit!

We took him to the art festival in FW and ate at Risky's BBQ.
E loved all the animals... especially the moose. (not pictured)

The three youngest McD cousins came to play!

Poor baby William was trying to rest,
but the girls thought it looked like to much fun not to join in.

~ 21 MONTHS ~

Twenty Months and a McDaniel Update

2011-04-07T21:45:00.000-05:00

Ellasyn is twenty months and I can't believe she is so close to turning two! She is pairing words together on a regular basis and surprises me each day with new combos. My favorites so far are: Da-dees Bay-bee, Ma-mees Bay-bee, Pu-pee Daw and Schoo Bus. We are still working on her own name, but she seems to have every one else's down.

She is a true toddler! She loves to run (away from me, mostly), climb and be in charge. Her favorite toys are anything having to do with animals. She loves to put her puppy dogs in her easter basket and tote them around. She enjoys being outside and just become aware of bugs. She is a little skittish of roly polys and ants and she always makes sure that I am aware that they are near by.

Our whole family has been going through some transition the last few weeks since I have started a new job. It all started about 6 weeks ago when I got a call from the Preschool Minister at our church. After much prayer and consideration... long story short... I am the new Preschool Associate for First Baptist Church of Arlington. I coordinate childcare and direct our Mother's Day Out program. As most of you know, this is all new to me. I could not and would not have done it with out confirmation from loved ones and most importantly leading from God. I know that there is no way that this would have worked out with out HIS divine plan behind it. Ellasyn comes with me and stays in child care when it is offered. She has adjusted beautifully and only went through some minor attachement issues. A big thanks to Ethan for being such a great husband and Daddy!

Here are some pictures of our sweet girl...

Twenty Month Rocking Chair Picture

I am ready for my close up!

Pictures from our Spring Break trip to visit Uncle Bubba, Aunt Merinda, Penny and Jude...

Scenic Overlook of the Ozark Mountains

~ My sweet little stinker ~

~ Cousin Bath ~

~ A little Sesame St. before bed ~

19 Month Photo Shoot

2011-03-16T15:33:00.000-05:00

I have to brag on my awesome, talented and lovely friend... Gara Hill. She did a great job capturing Ellasyn's personality in these pictures from the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens a couple of weeks ago. Here are few of my favorites...

~ "Flower" ~

~ so sweet ~

~ Cheese ~

~ stop and smell the daffodils ~

It was much cooler than we thought it was going to be so we added a long sleeve shirt under her little dress and she has on baby legs too!

She gave this look the the four, yes... four, adults that were jumping around, dancing, making crazy noises and waving about trying to get her to crack a smile. Gara is quick... she got some great little smiles out of this one!

19 months and then some

2011-03-09T22:05:00.002-06:00

I am a little behind in my blogging. Who, me? I know, not really a surprise seeing as most of my blogs begin the same way. Oh well...

~ I only have eyes... for youuuu ~

~ peek a boo ~

Ellasyn is 19 months! And then some. She is growing, growing, growing! Her hair is getting longer and she seems to have grown six inches in the last couple of weeks. This series of pictures totally captures who she is right now. A stinker! She was playing, "Let me see how fast I can get out of the chair before Mommie takes a picture."

She loves to answer questions with "Sshh" (Yes) and nod her head. (Which is waaay better than the previous phase of answering everything with "No!") She does still enjoy using the word "No" and has added "Mine" to the mix. Since most days she does not have any one to share with, she will just walk around and say "mine, mine, mine... MINE!!! mine, mine..." In most cases I answer with, "Yes, baby, that is your (fill in the blank)". Another fun conversation we have, usually in the car, is:
E: "Daddy?" Me: "Where is Daddy?"
E: "Ouu" (Work) Me: "Yes, Daddy is at work. Where does Daddy work?"
E: "Coo" (School)
I am so glad that I can interperate Ellasyn speak. :) Silly girl.

We went to the Science and History Museum in Fort Worth with some great friends. Ellasyn loves that place! Her favorite things were dancing to the music and digging for dinosaur bones...

~ Checking out the snake ~

~ dusting off her "find" ~

~ swaying to the music ~

Climbing has become a favorite thing and she has really gotten very good at it lately.

~ climbing to the top of the big kid slide all by herself ~

~ ready to slide down ~

~ tuckered out after all that climbing ~

Spring is on the way and the dandelions are in full bloom. ;) Ellasyn's obsession with picking every last "Ow" (flower) in the yard has given me a new appreciation for weeds.

~ looking for flowers with her new Canton rain boots ~

~ She picked so many that she couldn't hold them all ~

~ airplane ~

~ so excited ~

~ I just can't get enough of this precious face ~

Slice

2011-02-02T21:34:00.003-06:00

Here are some clips of Ellasyn during the snow days. It was actually what I have heard described as "slice"... sleet + ice.

This is her favorite new evening activity... piling all the pillows on the floor and running/rolling all over them!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34zhA-rlPqc

Ethan pulling her in her new sled. Thanks Target for sending the shipment of sleds to the wrong location so that we could buy them on super clearance!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwB_0sL2Vkg

Ellasyn pulling her own sled...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hj8ocQ5bXqc

A fairy princess and breakfast with a movie star...

2011-01-31T22:01:00.000-06:00

I loved these pictures too much not to share!

The wings, wand and tiara were given as party favors at a birthday party for our sweet friend, Lexi.

E loves them!

Who doesn't want to wear their sunglasses while they eat breakfast!?

Bippity, Boppity....

Boo!

1 1/2 Years!

2011-01-27T23:10:00.000-06:00

Ellasyn is 18 months old. A year and a half! That seems so grown up. Like she is officially a toddler now. She is getting so tall and her face is getting longer. She doesn't have the little round baby face like she used to. I feel like I was just writing her 17 month update, where did this month go? She is talking more and more. She repeats things that we say and she also likes to jabber on and on, making no sense at all.

Our well check went pretty...uh, well. That is a bit of an exageration. It all starts when the nurse calls her name. She gets nervous and clingy. When we walk back, they measure her head with a paper measuring tape... she freaks out. She calms down as we walk to the exam room to undress her and go up to get height and weight... she freaks out. They actually asked me to go around the corner so that they (yes, it took two nurses) could hold her down on the scale. She calms down once we are back in the exam room and she gets to play with the (nasty, germ infested) toys. When she hears the doctors voice in the next room she begins to get nervous again. When he finally comes in and starts with the stethescope it all goes down hill from there... then come the shots... We are worn out by the time we get home!

The stats this month are 31 1/2 inches tall and 23 pounds. Her weight has gone down due to her recent finicky eating. She still eats all the good stuff (i.e. fruit, veggies, milk) so the doctor is not too concerned. We will go back in a couple of months to weigh in. Oh, goodie. Because Ellasyn enjoyed it so much the first time.

Here are some pictures from the last month and her rocking chair picture...

All bundled up... she loves her bear mittens.

Dressed up for the Cotton Bowl game and exhibiting some independence as she stands in the chair after being warned to sit down. She got an extra warning because she was so cute...

Celebrating Papa's birthday.
She wants another bite of that yummy cupcake.

4 generations
Gary Jackson, Courtney Jackson McDaniel, Ellasyn McDaniel, Mary Jackson

"Helping" Mommie make cookies. I know what you are thinking... it is just a lettuce knife!

She is saying, "Mmmmm"

Picking our lovely flowers. :)

Smelling the "Ow" (flower).

Trying out her new tricycle.

18 months!

Playing pat-a-cake with her elephant.

Tickle monster attack!

xoxo - Courtney

Now you see it... Now you don't!

2011-01-17T22:56:00.000-06:00

My husband is awesome! (...for many reasons...) But today he is awesome because, not only did he do ALL the laundry, but he also helped me brainstorm, clean out and organize a space to be my new work "room".

For the past three months I have had the guest room completely taken over with my sewing table, fabric, ribbon and craft supplies. I was on such a roll of making fun things that I did not want to clean up and pack away all my things. Ethan suggested cleaning out the closet and putting my table, machine,etc. in there! Yes! It was a perfect fit! I can't wait to use it tomorrow. :)

What a blessing he is to me! (...for many reasons...)

Catching up...

2011-01-11T22:26:00.000-06:00

I am pretty behind in blogging the events of this past month. I will try and condense it into one post...

We had a wonderful Christmas, make that Christmases. We celebrated Santa at our house before we left town because he needed to lighten his load before the big night. ~~Her Daddy~~... Santa... brought her a tricycle, a push cart and a wagon full of mega blocks. This year was a 'Jackson' Christmas, so we spent some time up in Oklahoma City with my family. It was a great time to hang out and celebrate with one another. Ellasyn enjoyed her two Jackson cousins as well as all the other cousins, aunts, uncles, Papa and Marmee and great-Grama!

~ Seeing our tree for the first time. She was a BIG fan... she loved the lights. ~

~ Trying out her tricycle ~

~ Christmas Morning ~
(yes, we wear matchy pj pants... we are cool!)

~ The whole gang ~

~ Grama with her grands and greats ~

~ At POPS... a favorite OK gas station/restaurant on Rt. 66 ~

~ "Sharing" snacks with Jude ~

When we got back to Arlington, we celebrated two nights in a row with the McDaniel family. Yummy dinner and lots of fun watching all the girls unwrap their gifts. The hit of night #2 was tutus made by Aunt Janis!

~ With Papaw, Nanny and Nanny Susie ~

~ Eating dinner with Zadie ~

~ Ellasyn and her McDaniel cousins ~
From L: E, Olivia, Lili, Sarah, Zadie and William in the bouncy seat

~ Playing with Cousin Olivia ~

Ellasyn turned 17 months on Christmas day. Since we were away from our own rocker, the picture was made when we got back home. This past month has been a whirlwind... She is just as busy as ever. I don't think that there will be a post from now on that does not say something similar. She is just always on the move! She loves to accessorize with hats, belts, baskets... whatever she can find that looks interesting. She dances, rocks her stuffed animals, and a re-newed favorite this month is playing pat-a-cake. She continues her love of reading and will sit for a long time in her Boppy, surrounded by pillows, and look at books. Most recently she has figured out that she is able to open her dresser drawers. Her favorite drawer to get into is the on that holds all of her socks, tights, bows and headbands... she pulls them out and builds a little nest in her reading corner. Such a silly girl! Just this morning, I went into her room to find her in her crib with her pajamas half zipped... I wonder how long it took her to un-snap the tab that "child proofs" the zipper?

~ 17 months ~

~ Loving that chocolate chip cookie! ~

~ Who knew that you could just pour the black beans from the bowl right into your mouth!? ~

~ Enjoying some warm December weather with a bike ride and a trip to the park. ~

~ Catch me if you can! ~

~ The first day she learned the snap and zipper on her jammies. By the third day, they were all the way off. I am just glad that she prefers to keep her diaper on! ~

~ Socks, tights, cover panties and headbands... what else does a girl need? ~

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-22T14:29:00.000-06:00

Customize a digital greeting

Sweet Sixteen... Months

2010-12-05T15:28:00.000-06:00

At church today, in the youth building, there was the cutest display of candy and balloons for one of the girls' Sweet Sixteenth. Her mother's advice to us as we passed was... "Don't blink!" It is crazy to think that our baby girl, who is sixteen months old, will some day be sixteen YEARS old!! I can't talk about it anymore though, because I may start crying. Moving on...

Ellasyn is sixteen months old! She is full of energy, and happiness. The best comparison I can make is the Energizer Bunny... she really does just keep going. She is learning to obey, and she is very good about following one and two step directions. Some of her favorite things to do are dance (anytime, anywhere, no matter what the music is or isn't), read her books, or yours, snuggle with Hollie, try on Mommie or Daddy's shoes and play outside (she loves to pick up one leaf, or rock at a time and hand them to you). If you sing one of her favorite songs she will "sing" along or do the corresponding movements. She loves "Teddy bear, Teddy bear", "I'm a Little Teapot", "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands" and "Rock-a-bye Baby". If you sing "Jesus Loves Me" any time other than bedtime, she will start shaking her head "No". I guess I should find a different bedtime song.

~ Trying on Daddy's shoes and jacket ~

~ Reading to Hollie ~

~ Reading Daddy's Bible ~

~ Getting all cozied up in the wagon ~

She had her cast removed this week, and she is so glad to be able to wiggle, play, stretch and dance with both arms uninhibited. Other than the actual taking off of the cast, which was pretty scary, she hasn't had any "rehab" time. She bounced right back and moved full steam ahead.

We made a trip to Canton, TX on Friday for their Trade Days. This was Ellasyn's second trip with me and she was wonderful. She sat in her stroller and talked, snacked and did NOT take a nap. On the car ride home she talked, snacked and did NOT take a nap. When we got home she played and did NOT take a nap. She went the whole entire day with no nap and she was full of energy. I do not know how she did it. Ethan's parents were babysitting that night while he and I worked a basketball tournament at his school. Jan said she was out at soon as her little head hit the bed.

The last time we went to Canton, I saw the cutest Christmas dresses that had been made out of a vintage table cloth. Being the frugal gal that I am... I decided I would spend $10.00 on the table cloth and figure out how to make a dress, instead of spending $30.00 on one that had already been made. So... never having sewn anything other than pillows and curtains... I gave it a shot. I refused to buy a pattern... because that would cost me an extra $5.00 or so. After I made the second top (the first one would have fit one of her dolls) it turned out pretty good. She wore it to church today!

Here are some more pictures of Our Girl...

~ Post Pigtails ~

~ Checking out Marmee and Papa's new puppies ~

~ Going to Daddy's last football game ~

All decked out in our TA Howard Middle School colors.

~ Gig'em Aggies! ~

~ She will kill me for this one some day ~

~ She has her keys, her purse and her car... Ready to go! ~

Happy Sixteen Months to the sweetest girl I know :)

... with and without the cast

Fall, Fifteen months and First Fest...

2010-11-04T16:24:00.001-05:00

Okay, I am going to start giving a re-cap of the past month with the rocking chair picture at the end. Also, I am a little behind in blogging so this may get a little long. I will do my best to keep it short and sweet. :)

For those of you that have not heard... our sweet girl fell out of her swing in the backyard a couple of weeks ago. She was a little too eager to get out, and I was not quick enough to catch her. Long story short... she has a "buckle fracture" in her left wrist and will be in a cast through Thanksgiving. She is getting around just fine with it and is using almost as much as she ever did. The one thing that bugs her is eating... since her arm is bent, she can't reach her mouth. It slows her down a little having to eat with just one hand.

~Evening of the accident with her splint on~

~We got her cast on her 15 month b-day~

~ She chose blue, but I steered her toward green or purple instead :) ~

Her fifteenth month has been full of fun! She celebrated two great-grandparents' birthdays... Papaw McDaniel and Grandmother Jackson. The CD Jackson's came down for Gmom's birthday and we had a fun time with them at a pumpkin patch in Arlington. Honey (Ethan's mom) treated her to her very first visit to the Dallas Arboretum, which was decorated to the nines with pumpkins, gourds, hay bales,etc. She had a great time wandering around and especially sitting at a little iron table that was just her size. We enjoyed some cooler weather and being able to play in the backyard. Ethan and I took her to the State Fair and we got to see all kinds of animals. (note: NEVER go on the last Saturday it is open... the crowd was ridiculous!) There was a lot more that I can't remember right now. I will have to start taking notes!

~ Getting in the spirit of Halloween ~

~ This candy bucket is from McDonald's when Ethan was little! ~

~ Getting more in the spirit with a cute Halloween shirt from Nanny McDaniel and a fun headband! ~

~ Checking out the steer at the State Fair with Daddy. (I don't think Mommie would have gotten that close!) ~

~ State Fair... Petting Zoo ~

~ Cousins Jude and Penny at the pumpkin patch ~

~ Penny says," Look at this pumpkin!" ~

She dressed as a black and white kitty cat for our church's First Fest. She was the cutest kitty cat EVER! Of course I am a little biased... First Fest is a huge community festival that our church hosts. There is lots of yummy food vendors, a ton of games, bounce houses and activities for kids of all ages, performers and trunk or treat. (rows of cars/vans/SUV/trucks with their trunks open and decorated. The kids go through the line and get candy.) It took Ellasyn a little bit to get the hang of it, she wanted to take out the candy that was in her bucket and give it back. She caught on and had a great time. We went down our street when we got home and saw a couple of neighbors. I guess in the age of fall fests, and trunk or treating people don't stay home anymore. Three kids came by our house.... three. I was a little sad about that.

~Getting dressed up!~

~Sitting with our faux Jack-o-lantern before we head to First Fest~

~The McDaniel cousins at First Fest... 3 ballerinas, an Aggie cheerleader and a Lil' Aggie~

~ Going through the Trunk Or Treat line with Mommie and inspecting her candy before she puts it in the bucket. ~

~ Daddy (Indiana Jones) and Ellasyn after her first night of trick or treating ~

~ Her first candy... a Kit Kat. She dove right in! ~

We visited Dr. Geppert this week for her 15 month check up and she is growing right along. I am pleased to say that her head is no longer in the 95th percentile. Her body caught up to it! She is 31 inches tall ( near 75th percentile) and weighs 23 pounds 6 ounces (near the 25th percentile). Tall and skinny, but healthy all around. I could not be happier, more proud or more blessed!

Attempt #1

~ A little blurry ~

~ A little cheezy! ~

Attempt #2

~ A little silly ~

~ A little grumpy ~

~ We got one!! (Thanks to Daddy's quick camera skills!) ~

Alright, so it is a little long... sorry. :)
Lots of love ~ The McDaniel Family

A trip to the Fort Worth Museum of Science!

2010-10-02T11:14:00.000-05:00

We were invited by our friends, Krista and Noah, to take our first trip to the Fort Worth Museum of Science. There was an amazing area for little ones with so many things to do! We had a great little group of mommies and babies from our play group. They all had a great time, as shown in these pictures. The blurry/poorly lit ones were made by my inexperienced photography skills. The awesome ones are from Krista's sweet, high tech camera. :)

~Peek A Boo, Friend!~

~grocery shopping was her favorite part~

~Selecting her produce~

~driving a train~

~The bunny face~

~hula hooping~

~the giant lite bright was a hit!~

~Austin~

~Baby Jonathan~

~Kason~

~Lexi~

~Noah~

~All the kiddos in the ambulance~

~taking care of babies~

Ellasyn is 14 months...

2010-10-01T16:15:00.001-05:00

And there is no stopping her! She is starting to get the hang of running, she loves to be chased, and she loves to dance. Her moves can include bouncing up and down, swaying her head from side to side (think Stevie Wonder), stomping her right foot and, added just today, a little ballerina-esque twirl that she does until she is too dizzy to stand. A clip of some of her bouncing moves...there is no music so please ignore my goofy voice in the background. Better yet, mute would be a good idea. :)

Her rocking chair pictures were a chore this month. She is so active and easily distracted by anything that she would rather be doing. Ethan stepped in and helped with this session. He is great at grabbing her attention and then snapping a quick picture. I guess I am not as entertaining as he is. :)

~this is my favorite~

~I would much rather read this book~

~So we stuck her back in the chair, and I read while Ethan took pictures~

~making a "bunny face"~

She has started to become more aware of the fact that she does not know everyone that speaks to her. She has a new face that she gives to people when she is shy, and sometimes to us when she is trying to figure something out, or just being silly. Ethan was finally able to catch her on camera...

Ellasyn brought me Ethan's shorts and begged for me to put them on. She walked around the house for a while just as proud as can be. She loves her Daddy! When she walked out of them, she brought them back to me to put on again. I love that you can see her little belly sticking out!

What beautiful weather we have been having lately. Highs in the 75s - 80s... a dream come true! Ellasyn has enjoyed being able to play outside without Mommie begging to go back into the a/c.

Papa was near Arlington for work and he stopped by for lunch. He took us to Chuy's (Mommie's favorite TexMex!) Ellasyn hadn't been there since she was in utero... she enjoyed the experience much more this time. I am sorry that the pictures are all mixed up...

~enjoying her play set in the back yard~

~she learned that it is way more fun to go down the slide on her tummy~

~swinging on the big kid swing~

(contrary to the scowl on her face, she was having a great time)

~washing the table after she finished her lunch~

~her favorite thing is to pick up leaves, bark, rocks, etc. one by one and hand them to you~

~"Here's another one Mommie!"~

(and again with the scowl... she really is a sweet girl!)

~intrigued by the "bird" that has landed on our table~

(I have never been so entertained to have a fly on our table at a restaurant)

~posing for a quick picture before we leave~

She is such a joy! We are so blessed and continue to be blessed by her and by supportive family and sweet friends. We love you guys and we are so glad that we are able to share our stories with you!

Love, The McDaniel Family

Fall is here!

2010-09-07T21:17:00.000-05:00

Well, according to the calendar anyway. Which means that halloween, or whatever costumed event you choose, is just around the corner! Ellasyn has been exploring her options lately...

Perhaps a little ghost?

~ oooooooh! scary! ~

Maybe a puppy dog?

~ She enjoys spending time with Hollie ~

A Cowgirl? She loves the hat she got at her buddy, Travis', birthday party!

~ Yes, she walked into the chair. And, yes, I stood by and watched. She's fine! ~

~ Howdy, Baby girl! ~

Well, maybe a kitty cat...

Stay tuned...

We love you!

~ The McDaniel Family

13 months!

2010-08-27T18:08:00.000-05:00

Ellasyn is thirteen months! (and two days) Although, the books say she is now in her fourteenth month?

I can't get a picture with out her big "cheese" face!

~ She was much more interested in the elephant than having her picture made ~

She is keeping us on our toes more than ever. She is so curious and loves to find new things to do around the house. One of her newest things (which I thought we had bypassed) is eating Hollie's dog food. She is so quick to get back in the laundry room that by the time I catch her she has a couple pieces in her mouth or, she is already spitting them out. I guess I should be thankful she spits them out, but why does she keep going back for more??

Here are some pictures of our inquisitive little girl...

~ Playing with her bugs ~

~ This girl LOVES her blueberries! ~

~ I didn't think I would ever use the baby wrap again, but it saved dinner. ~

~ Hollie has all the cool toys ~

~ Yeah, I wish! ~

~ Playing in her kitchen stash ~

A fun filled weekend...

2010-08-22T21:50:00.001-05:00

This was our last weekend before Daddy officially starts back to school. (even though he really started two weeks ago with coaching/teaching responsibilities, etc.) It was full of fun, friends and family!

Saturday morning we started the day (after naptime) at a T.A. Howard Middle School picnic. Fortunately, it was moved indoors due to the 105 degree temps outside! Ellasyn had a blast running around in the gym and watching the older kids in the bounce house. Though she was not interested in getting in, she did enjoy pointing at the giant Nemo and friends on the outside. She tried the inflatable obstacle course with Daddy, but she was not a fan. She joined him at the end for the slide. She liked bouncing at the bottom of the slide, but preferred running around on the floor. We enjoyed visiting with some teacher friends that had not seen Ellasyn since she was teeny tiny.

~ so silly ~

~ This is what I saw most of the time we were there. Ellasyn is on the move! ~

~ Going down the slide with Daddy ~

~ Bouncing on the slide ~

~ More bouncing ~

From the "picnic" we went straight to a birthday party for Ellasyn's buddy, Travis Hill. She has been looking forward to the party since the day we posted the invite on the fridge. It had a picture of Travis on one side and Ellasyn could see if from her high chair. She pointed and jabbered while she ate and sometimes she would ask to hold it. She hugged him and loved him and then we put him back on the fridge. I am sorry to say that we didn't get any pics of the kiddos at the party, but she had a great time partying with some folks her own size. Travis is in our awesome playgroup. We are so blessed to part of such a great group of friends! Needless to say, she was totally exhausted when we left.

After a (not long enough) nap, we checked the mail and Ellasyn got a special package from our friend and FBC media minister, not sure if that is his actual title. One of our family pictures made by the beautiful and talented, Gara Hill, was used on the cover of the fall magazine! Ellasyn can now add "cover model" to her resume. She had a blast looking at the magazine... she is pretty fond of herself. If I was that cute, I guess I would be too.

~ Hugs ~

~ Kisses ~

Don't you wish you could bend like that?

~ A little light reading ~

On Sunday we hosted a surprise party for Ethan's mom. The theme was "Another year of Fabulous! Super, Sensational and Sixty". She was definately surprised. It was so fun, and we had a great turn out of friends and family. Here are some pics of the big event...

~ SURPRISE! ~

~ Ellasyn was a big fan of Jan's b-day necklace and tiara! ~

~ All the granddaughters ~

(Baby William... 1 week, today... was at home resting with Momma)

~ Yummy cake made with love by Cousin Carol ~

Lots of Love!

Courtney

Ellasyn turns ONE!

2010-08-07T17:01:00.000-05:00

Well, better late than never. I am a little behind in my posting.

~ blowing out the candle ~

On July 25th, 2010, Ellasyn celebrated one year of life! We have had such a whirlwind of a year. She has kept us on our toes with all of her milestones, sweet babbles and funny faces.

My parents and sister came up from College Station and my brother's family came down from Melbourne, Arkansas to help us celebrate along with Ethan's family and a few of Ellasyn's friends. Ellasyn's cousin, Jude, turned one on the 27th so he got to join in the celebrations as well.

The theme of the party was "It's all about you... cupcake". So, we had cupcakes of all sizes. Ethan grilled hot dogs and we also had various veggies, chips and dips. Ellasyn humored us and tasted the chocolate cupcake with strawberry frosting, she was not a big fan at first. Ethan helped her out and I think she did like it after all. After some picking, and help from his daddy, Jude jumped right in and picked up the whole thing! They went straight to the bath afterwards for a quick rinse.

Ellasyn was a little overwhelmed by all of the company but she enjoyed herself. She liked watching me unwrap her gifts and playing with the tissue paper or envelopes. She was so worn out from all of the fun, she went right down for nap when it was done.

We had a great time visiting with our family. Penny, Jude and Ellasyn are great little buddies. Ellasyn was so excited to see someone her size, she went right over to Jude to give him a kiss and hug... he wasn't so sure about it. I look forward to watching them grow up together.

~ going in for a kiss ~

~ fun in the ball pit ~

Happy Birthday, Sweet Ellasyn! I love you so, so much. I can't believe it has been a whole year since we welcomed you into our lives. You have been an unending source of happiness. You are an amazing blessing to me and our family. I can't wait to see what else God has in store for you. It will be something great, I know!!
I love you ~ Mommie

Birthday Boy

2010-07-27T21:58:00.000-05:00

Ethan celebrated his 30th birthday on July 18. His gift from me was a surprise birthday party at his parent's house. Not just a regular surprise party... an Indiana Jones surprise party. We had a lot of family come and almost all of his buddies from growing up at Hampton Road Baptist Church, in DeSoto.

~ A yummy cake made by Cousin Carol ~ Tater of the Lost Ark, the inspiration for the party ~

~ Indiana Ethan and Ellasyn, she was a little shy with all the people at first, but it didn't take long for her to feel right at home in the middle of them all ~

~ Ethan and his dad, Howard ~ The Family ~

~ All the Indiana's ~

~ The McDaniel Nieces ~ (Olivia-5, Lili-3, Sarah-6, Zadie-18m.) ~

~ Boyhood Buddies ~ Adam, Matt, Chris, Ethan, Greg, Russell, Kevin ~

~ Practicing with Ethan's other gift from me, an Indiana Jones whip ~

We had a great time, and Ethan was mostly surprised. He had some suspicions that I was up to something... but it was worth all the walking on eggshells. Happy Birthday Babe!!

Miss Independance

2010-07-05T11:25:00.001-05:00

Not only did we just celebrate America's Independance, we are also discovering a very independant streak in our girl!

We started our celebrations on July 3rd at the Arlington Independance Day parade. They put on a great show! Our cousin Patty and her family usually camp out for their front row spot the night before. They are so sweet to save room for us, too. Ellasyn loved everything about the parade... the flag waving, the drums, the horses and the Elvi. Yes, that is the plural of Elvis. There is a group that dresses up like Elvis (in all shapes and sizes) and they ride around on teeny tiny motorcycles. It really is a highlight of the parade and she thought it was great!

The parade hasn't even started, but I am so excited!

~ Proud to be an American ~

She loved to wave the flags... Watch your eyes!

She couldn't take her eyes off of the parade, even for a picture.

She finally wore herself out, and kicked back like her cousin Zadie.

The McDaniel Crew (left to right)

Mommie, Ellasyn, Daddy, Hollie-dog, Jan, Howard, Zadie, Lili, Sarah, Stuart, Olivia, Kelli (with Baby Boy)

Modeling her tankini... she found a perfect seat for herself between these table legs. Silly girl!

We had a yummy dinner with all the McDaniels, and fun with cousins.

Sarah, Ellasyn, Zadie

Making sure Sarah eats all her veggies!

Since we had so much fun on July 3rd, our July 4th was nice and relaxing.

Sunday Morning on the way to church. My two favorite people!

Mommie, I am too busy for a picture!

I hope you all had a wonderful time celebrating our independace. I just love this holiday and all that it stands for. I have always been patriotic. I hope that I can pass that on to Ellasyn. We have a great family history of serving this country. While I do not feel the call to join the service and fight for our freedom, I will always support those that do. Thank you to all those that serve and have served our country to protect and provide the freedoms that we, all too often, take for granted.

11 Months... Where has the time gone?

2010-06-27T14:54:00.000-05:00

Our girl is eleven months old. Eleven months!! This means her first birthday is just around the corner! I am still trying to wrap my head around being a mom... and it has been eleven months. So crazy. Amazing, great, awesome, entertaining, blessed and crazy!

Ellasyn has been learning new tricks left and right, it seems. She loves to dance and usually does so while she holds on to the side of the coffee table. Lately, she has been getting brave and letting go. She can stand pretty well on her own, and even dance a little before plopping down on the carpet. She still loves to walk with her push scooter and can maneuver pretty well with out any swivel wheels. Every once in a while she will get frustrated when she is stuck against the wall, or if Hollie is too lazy to move out of her way. She is getting so close to taking her first step. I know it will be any day now!

Ellasyn loves to read her books and her favorites are the ones with animal pictures. Her newest animal sounds are "Grrrrr" for a bear or a lion, "Hoowww" for a wolf, cat and elephant. The elephant noise also has the cutest, most adorable arm movement that she does with it... for the trunk! Such a smarty pants. She loves to snuggle on pillows that we have on the floor, knock down block towers, play her drums and xylophone, and "talk" on Mommie's cell phone or the remote control. She is a great mimic, and will repeat back to us in her own interpretation when we least expect it.

She loves to laugh and tease. She will blow kisses and cheese it up for anyone that is willing to look at her. She loves trips to the store, I think because it is a new audience for her.

Meal time has become quite an adventure as we continue to introduce "real" foods. Ellasyn loves frozen peas, turkey, cheese and corn kernels. Watermelon and bananas are a favorite, and a real fun mess. In her eyes, hair, ears, all over the highchair and the counter if she is close enough to reach. She has found a fun game in feeding Hollie from her highchair. She loves to drop things on the floor and watch Hollie come and get them. Sometimes Hollie is lucky enough to actually be hand fed, too. You would think that we never feed that poor dog!

Our tiny little baby is turning into a toddler right before our eyes. Sometimes when I am holding her, I try to remember how little she was. It is hard. Probably when she is sixteen, I will be trying to remember how little she is now. Teeter tottering around and snuggling on our shoulder when she is tired.

I love this precious little girl! We have been so blessed to be her parents. She is healthy, happy and growing like a weed. Here are some pictures from the last part of 10 months and of course her 11 month rocking chair pics.

First carousel ride... she loved it!

Sitting in her pool, all by herself. You would never know that it took all of me to get her to get in the water. After we both had been sitting in there a while, she decided it wasn't that different from a bath and then she loved it.

Bananas and oatmeal, what a sticky mess.

Loving on Hollie (who is on the patio), Enjoying an early morning ride on her block cart, and snuggling on her pillow throne!

11 months, and our first pony tail (sort of!)

10 months!

2010-05-30T12:11:00.004-05:00

Our girl is so busy these days! She is crawling faster than a speeding bullet and is on the other side of the house before I know it. There will be no more... "You just stay right here while I go and (...fill in the blank...)". Bear crawling is a fun new thing she has learned. Mostly on the tile, which makes me nervous. I guess she doesn't like the way it feels on her knees. She has also just started walking behind her scooter and can make it all the way across the living room! She has mastered the art of pulling up... she loves to see what we have on the coffee table, or the sofa. Hollie is still a source of great entertainment, although she would rather not be. Ellasyn just loves to snuggle on her and run her fingers through Hollie's hair, and grab a handful from time to time. Poor Hollie-dog, she is so sweet and patient.

Ellasyn loves to call "Dada!" and will even point him out in pictures around the house. She also says "Dah" for dog and will answer with "Hmm, hmm" (woof, woof) when you ask her what a dog says. We are working on cat, and for now it sounds more like "Dat" but she knows what she is saying. She loves all animals! I think she will be an animal whisperer, like her Daddy. There is no hope for "Mama" yet.

Checking out the HUGE lizard that found it's way on to our patio. Eeek!

She is starting to eat more and more "real" foods. We have had egg yolks, turkey, peas, banana, pears, strawberries, american and mozerella cheese. She has loved everything that we put in front of her. She enjoys mealtime and is wanting to have more control. It is kind of sad to think that she does not need me to feed her as much anymore. We have already stopped nursing. She just decided she was finished with that! It has been a month now on formula, and she is enjoying the freedom and control that comes with it.

She can still light up the room, and our hearts, with her smile. Even though, today, she is not feeling well (~~we think maybe teething.~~ *We actually found out that it was roseola... a virus that comes with a high fever followed by a rash. She is covered head to toe in tiny little pink bumps -- not contagious. The fever is long gone, and the rash is much better today... almost gone!) she is still a very happy girl. It is such a blessing to be her Mommie and I am so thankful for her.

Our rocking chair pictures are getting more and more challenging. She loves to snuggle her elephant and would much rather be moving around than sitting still for a picture.

Here are some more pictures of her 10th month so far...

Speed crawling with her Lil' Aggie hat on... one of our favorite accessories.

Watch out! Here I come!

Just before Ellasyn turned 10 months we took our first trip to the Fort Worth Zoo. She loved it!

Checking out the monkeys ... and the elephants... they were her favorite!

We also went to OKC to see Grama and the Ogles. She had her first experience in the pool, and really liked splashing in the water.

Visiting with Grama and dinner on the patio with Aunt Teri and Uncle Kelly.

Love, The McDaniels

Riding to the Wall

2010-05-26T23:27:00.001-05:00

My dad is second from the right... the only one without a beard. :)

My dad is a member of Rolling Thunder... actually he is the president this year. It is, for lack of better words, a motorcycle club of veterans that support and honor all POWs, MIAs and active and retired service men and women. For Memorial Day, they are participating in the "Ride to the Wall". They are riding the bikes from all over (my dad started in College Station) to the Viet Nam Memorial in Washington DC. A lo-o-o-o-o-ong ride! It is my dad's first ride like this and he has been so excited about it. If anyone is interested in following his journey he has started a blog.

I am so proud of my Dadde!! Not only for his service to our country but also for wanting to join this group, and then act as president! Now he is off on a two+ week journey to support something he loves and honor those that have fallen protecting our nation's freedom.

A confession...

2010-05-16T22:20:00.005-05:00

Hi, My name is Courtney and I struggle with time management. I just had to go ahead and get that out there. *Whew* I feel better.

I never knew that I wanted to be a Stay at Home Mom (SAHM), but we are blessed that it has all worked out this way. I LOVE it!! I would not trade it for anything in the world. I think I am pretty great at the "Mom" part, but the somewhat unwritten "homemaking" part of it is more of a challenge. I love to play with my daughter, care for her, love on her, etc. I do not love to clean house, go grocery shopping, run errands, etc. Which, unfortunately, makes me sort of a failure of a homemaker. I have always told my husband, even when we were dating that I am really no good at the keeping a clean house and having a home cooked meal stuff. Through the past (almost) four years of marriage, I would like to think that I have learned and improved on these tasks. But, in all honesty, I don't think I have improved as much as I would like. (I am a master straightener and stacker. If it is neatly stacked and sitting parallel to the edge of the coffee table, counter top, dining room table, it is clean, right? The stacks must consist of similarly categorized items with the largest items on the bottom and the smallest on the top. I have a problem, I know.)

My usual cleaning regimen usually takes place in about 1-2 hours and involves me running around like a mad woman straightening and sanitizing as much as possible and ends just minutes before company walks through the door on Friday night. If we had company come into town every weekend, the house would be clean most of the time and I would have to recover most of the week to gear up for the next cleaning frenzy.

Today, as my sweet husband vacuumed, dusted, and mopped the wood floors while I fed E breakfast, got her dressed for church and entertained her, I realized that I need to try harder to do all of these things during the week while he is working so that we can relax and enjoy the weekend as a family even more. Aside from the guilt that I felt for not being able to do this for him, I am in total awe at the fact that he just did it. He has always amazed me with his incredible time management skills. I guess opposites really do attract! He can get more done in one hour than I could in a whole day. He is like a speed cleaning super hero. I love him and I am so blessed that he chose me to live life with.

So, on my hunt to find the perfect home management plan I have found a website that some of you fellow SAHMs and working moms, too, may find helpful.
Home Sanctuary This is an old post, but it came up in my search and I really like the "5 minute" plan. Another one from the same site.
FlyLady
A little more involved than I am ready for, but a great resource. My aunt has always been a fan.
Keepers of the Home My aunt is also a fan of this site. She leads a group in her church in OKC. I am interested in finding out more about this site as I continue my search for the perfect plan.

I am going to implement the plan that I found on the Home Sanctuary site this week. I will let you know if it was a success. If any of you, like me, have struggled with keeping your home, I hope that you find some of these resources helpful. And know that you are not alone!

Have a blessed day!
Courtney

Encouragement for Moms

2010-05-04T13:47:00.001-05:00

In 2009 there was a baby boom in our church. Ellasyn was born right in the middle of about 18, or so, new additions. I have been blessed to be a part of the play group that was started with these precious children and their awesome mommies! Two of the moms (Krista G. and Gara H.)from this group have posted some encouragement on their blogs with the help of the other moms in the group. They joke that there should be a ENMV edition of the Bible. Exhausted New Mother's Version. The selection of verses is very uplifting and has offered peace and comfort to some, if not all, of the moms in the group. Check it out, and remember to thank your mom this Sunday, on Mother's Day.

Have a blessed day!
Courtney

Christian Service

2010-05-03T14:46:00.001-05:00

Taken from: A Gentle Spirit: Devotional Selections for Today’s Christian Woman
Selection by: Ellyn Sanna

“With good will doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men.” Ephesians 6:7

Our families are small communities, and within them we experience a ‘magnitude’ of opportunities for service. We are accustomed to thinking of Christian service in terms that are nobler, more dramatic, more like Mother Teresa in the slums of Calcutta or Florence Nightingale on the battlefields of Crimea, but even for women like Mother Teresa and Florence Nightengale, service boils down to simple assistance in “trifling, external things.” For us as mothers, this means things as trivial as matching socks, packing lunchs, or wiping kitchen tables. “Be faithful in little things,” Mother Teresa advises, “for in them our strength lies.”

Self-righteous, self-centered service demands visible, external rewards, but the sort of service that Jesus modeled does not concern itself with results. Instead, it is contented even with obscurity.

Jeremy Taylor’s Rule and Exercises of Holy Living, written in the seventeenth century, says that we should “love to be concealed, and little esteemed; be content to lack praise, never be troubled when thou art slighted or undervalued.”

We need to remind ourselves that our value springs from God’s love. We find our truest identities in the midst of his unmerited grace.

Fatigue

2010-05-03T14:43:00.001-05:00

Taken from: A Gentle Spirit: Devotional Selections for Today’s Christian Woman
Selection by: Mary W. Tileston

“For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.” 2 Corinthians 4:16

Let my soul beneath her load
Faint not through the o’erwearied flesh;
Let me hourly drink afresh
Love and peace from Thee, my God!
--- Richter

“In my attempts to promote the comfort of my family, the quiet of my spirit has been disturbed. Some of this is doubtless owing to the physical weakness; but, with every temptation, there is a way of escape; there is never any need to sin. Another think I have suffered loss from -- entering into the business of the day without seeking to have my spirit quieted and directed. So many things press upon me, this is sometimes neglected; shame to me that it should be so.

This is of great importance, to watch carefully – now I am so weak – not to overfatigue myself, because then I cannot contribute to the pleasure of others; and a placid face and a gentle tone will make my family more happy than anything else I can do for them. Our own will gets sadly into the performance of our duties sometimes.” – Elizabeth T. King

Ellasyn is 9 months!

2010-04-30T08:35:00.010-05:00

Over the past month, Ellasyn has grown and changed so much. Some of the highlights are that she is now army crawling and pulling up. She is very fast and moves across the living room in a matter of seconds! Her favorite things to go after are, well, anything that does not belong in her toy basket. (ex: cell phones, remote controls, cd player, computer, Hollie, Mom or Dad's shoes left by the door, etc.) We have been practicing some baby signs so that she can communicate with us. So far, we have learned the signs for "more", "please", and "thank you". She loves to play peek-a-boo and turn pages in her books. She now has seven teeth!! There are four on the top and three on the bottom. She loves to show them off with her big smile!

Our visit to Dr. G's went well (compared to our visit last month when she had a double ear infection and a cold). She is 27 inches tall and 17 pounds 13 ounces. (She lost about a pound since she started burning more calories).

Our sweet friend, Gara, took some great 9 month pictures of Ellasyn. Here are a couple...

I can't wait to share the others with you!

Here are a few more pictures of our sweet girl...

~ 9 month rocking chair picture ~

~ New diaper cover from Honey ~ And a cute dress from Aunt Tae Tae and the Ogles ~

~ Only one shot at the Dr. today ~ She cries more when he looks in her ears :( ~

~ Enjoying her lunch ~

~ She is heading for my shoes in the next room ~

~ She was caught ~ She thinks she is really something ~ And so do I! ~

Look what I can do!

2010-04-20T09:13:00.007-05:00

Ellasyn had a crazy day yesterday, poor girl. We were having a new HVAC unit installed, so Ellasyn and I got out of the house. We walked the mall a couple times and watched the carousel in the food court while we ate. We went to Target to look around and we bought our McDaniel nephew/cousin-to-be a surprise. When we ran out of places to go and money to spend, we spent some time with Ethan's grandmother, Nanny Susie. With no afternoon nap and being in and out of the car most of the day, Ellasyn was out of sorts, to say the least. Once she finally got home and in her own bed, she slept hard... until 11pm, and after I rocked her back to sleep she slept until 6am. Being a little out of sorts myself, and with no afternoon nap (what?) I was not about to get up for the day at 6am. So, I listened to her play with her bear and jibber jabber for another hour and a half. When I went in to get her out of bed at 7:30, this is what I found...

I guess she has been practicing a new skill set. This explains some of the sleeplessness from yesterday. :)

I was reminded this morning as I read a friend's blog... "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above," James 1:17a

No matter how much sleep, or how little sleep I get, Ellasyn is such an amazing blessing to my life. I cannot imagine living with out her. I love every moment that we are able to spend together... at home in our pjs after a crazy day, walking the mall, rocking her to sleep AgAiN. When I am in the moment, I sometimes forget that I should be soaking it up, making memories and storing them away for when she is in her "terrible twos" or coming in 20 minutes past her curfew. (yikes!)

Thank you, God. Thank you for bringing this baby girl into our lives!

Bluebonnets!

2010-04-18T20:37:00.008-05:00

I have been waiting, a little impatiently, for the bluebonnets to come out this year. I saw them pop up in random places, neighbor's yards, fields on the side of the highway... and finally I found some in a nearby park. I dressed Ellasyn up and off we went! Ellasyn did not mind sitting in the grass. I think she kind of enjoyed it. She really wanted to pick the flowers... she even tried to taste a couple petals. Thankfully, I was close enough to catch her. It was a little overcast, so the glare kept her eyes all squinty. It was also near the road, so she was too distracted by the passing cars to smile for the camera. BUT... we got our first ever bluebonnet pictures and I think that we got some good ones. I played with some editing tools on my computer for some of these, the rest are natural.

Enjoy...

~Sooo Big!~

~Picking the flowers~

~Sweet Baby Girl (with low saturation)~

~I love her! (with high saturation)~

~I have had enough, Mommie!~

~Now you tell me! I saw this as I was getting back in the car. Ooops!~

Love, Courtney and Ellasyn

Video

2010-04-10T11:14:00.002-05:00

Easter

2010-04-10T10:34:00.007-05:00

I hope that you all had a beautiful Easter. We had lovely weather and enjoyed spending time with the McDaniel family. All of the McDaniel girls looked beautiful in their Easter dresses. Next year will be different with the addition of a McDaniel BOY for Stuart and Kelli.

Here are some pictures of our day...

...Opening the Easter basket...

...Easter family...

Ellasyn is 8 months!

2010-04-03T10:50:00.006-05:00

Ellasyn is trying so hard to get moving, but she can't quite figure it out yet. A couple of nights last week she woke up crying and when I went in to check on her, she was sleep-crying up on her hands and knees. Poor baby... she is practicing in her sleep. She keeps us busy and soon will be into everything. She can already roll across the floor to reach to stereo and dvd buttons, what is next? She loves to stand up at the coffee table (with help, of course) bang her hands and pull anything off that she can reach. She loved to swing in the backyard and take walks in her stroller. I think she may be a bit of a stroller snob, though. She does not like to be bothered while she is on her walk. :)

We took her to Veteran's Park recently to take some spring pictures. She was not really interested, but we got a couple little smiles from her. The other pictures below are: our monthly rocking chair picture, playing with toys, and spring break with the Jackson cousins in AR. I also attempted to load a short video clip of Ellasyn playing peek a boo... I hope it works!

Happy Easter!
Ethan, Courtney and Ellasyn Hannah

I love your funny face...

2010-03-10T20:11:00.003-06:00

Your sunny, funny face!

This is Ellasyn's new funny face. Although, sometimes it is also her fussy face. :)

7 months and Baby Dedication

2010-03-02T15:05:00.004-06:00

Standing in front of the church

Family Picture, with a very tired baby girl

Taking a break from all the love :)

Grandparents
Howard and Jan McDaniel ... Ellasyn ... Sharon and Gary Jackson

The McDaniel Girls

This Sunday was Ellasyn's baby dedication. It was such a special time for us. What a blessing she has been! I am looking forward to teaching her about Jesus and how much He loves us. I cannot wait to watch her grow in the Lord and one day accept Him into her heart as Lord of her life. As overwhelming as it is, I must say we are so blessed to belong to a wonderful church family that will support each of us along the way.

Also, Ellasyn is 7 months old!! She is loving food, and this month has started eating 'lunch'. Yay! She is getting pretty talented with her sippy cup, but does not really care for the juice that we put in it. She has definintely found her voice, and loves to use it. Whether it is sweet sing song sounds or a deep growl, she keeps us entertained. She is sitting up well, but prefers rolling around. Finally, she has decided that she would like to move around and her preferred mode of transport is rolling across the floor. She works so hard to get to where Hollie is sleeping but once she gets there, Hollie usually gets up and moves. Occasionally, Hollie will put up with the fur pulling and whisker tugging. Ellasyn loves her Daddy and the games that he plays with her. She laughs the loudest when he is around.
Pictures...

Hanging out with her best buddy, Hollie the Collie

Waving at Momma

Ellasyn Hannah is 6 months old!

2010-02-05T20:41:00.013-06:00

Ellasyn is 6 months old! Can you believe it!? She is cooing and laughing, and dadadada-ing. It is so much fun to watch her recognize our voices and look for us around a room. This month she has started eating baby food! So far, we have tried green beans (which she hated), peas, carrots and sweet potatos (which she loved). She also started cheerios, Gerber puffs, and water in a sippy cup. What a big girl she is! She really likes to eat cheerios and the Gerber veggie puffs (sweet potato flavor, of course). At first, she would not pick them up out of my hand, she would just bring my hand to her mouth. It was so funny. Just this morning she actually picked them up and put them in her mouth. She was so proud!

Here are some new pictures from her 6th month, so far...

The rocking chair picture with her 'Ella'phant

Home from the doctor's office after 5 vaccinations... she cried more when he looked in her ears than when she got the shots!

Do I have something in my hair?

Helping me feed her a cheerio

Green beans??

Uh, I think that is a "No!"

Happy Valentines!!
Love,
The McDaniel Family

5 1/2 months... where has the time gone?

2010-01-15T23:03:00.006-06:00

I feel like Ellasyn has changed so much this month. Her personality blooms more and more. She still looks just like her Daddy, but I am beginning to see a little more of me in her. We are still working on a consistent sleeping pattern. It seems that just when I think we have got it figured out, it all changes again. We have been so very blessed. I thank God for our new 'jobs' and for our sweet baby girl.

I can't help but share some more pictures...

Enjoying her snuggly bunny jammies and soft bunny slippers!

She has outgrown her bathtub, and upgraded to the real deal.

So Berry Sweet :)

Just one word... Adorable.

Love to all!
Courtney

Thanks, Grama!

2010-01-05T19:03:00.003-06:00

Look at what we got Ellasyn with her Christmas money! She can't quite reach the bouncy platform, but she already loves it. When she does reach the platform, she will be able to push off of it and bounce to her little hearts content. The seat rotates 360 degrees so that she can play with all of the toys and gadgets that surround her. What will they come up with next?

Love you bunches!

Ellasyn is 5 months!

2010-01-03T17:04:00.006-06:00

Ellasyn turned 5 months old on Christmas Day. Just one more reason to celebrate! She is becoming more alert, interactive and adorable each day. She recognizes her name, leans toward us when she wants us to hold her, loves to watch Hollie-dog and Dixie and Bonnie (our cats), cannot get enough of her feet and toes, loves to stand up and bounce in our laps and enjoys chewing on anything that we give her.

Here are some pictures of the month so far!

She is growing so fast!

She likes to stand up (with our assistance) and chew on the top of her activity gym.

Yummy feet!

Being silly

She loves her Hollie :)

We hope that you all are having a wonderful 2010, so far!
Love,
The McDaniel Family

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2009-12-27T20:37:00.008-06:00

I hope that you all have had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of Our Lord, and remembering the best Christmas Gift of all. I wish you a blessed 2010!

Here are a few pictures from some of our family time this past week...

We set up all her gifts for Christmas morning... I think she was impressed. :o)

Ethan's gift from me... an official Indiana Jones hat, guaranteed crushable and reshapable!

With my stocking that Ethan's mom made me to have at their house

All I got for Christmas is my two front teeth (on the bottom)

2009-12-19T13:40:00.001-06:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Ellasyn is 4 months old!

2009-12-03T22:01:00.019-06:00

Ellasyn is four months old! It has been such a wonderful four months. She is growing so fast... right before our eyes! Her personality is really developing and she has become so much more interactive. She adds new "words" to our conversations each day. She is so observant, it is hard to get her to smile for the camera because she is distracted by the red light that comes on before it takes the picture! Four months old means another picture in her rocking chair, more shots, and rice cereal. She was not so sure about the cereal at first, but she chowed down once she figured it out. It is messy, but so much fun! Thanksgiving was great. I enjoyed getting to see family and spend some time at my parent's home. Ethan and I took Ellasyn to Texas A&M's campus for the first time and took some great pictures. (which are on his phone, and will be added later) Our house is decorated for Christmas, and we even had a little bit of snow the other day! I am so excited to share our Christmas traditions with Ellasyn. She will not remember her first Christmas, but she will definately have lots of pictures to look back on. I am so thankful for digital cameras... I just click away and hope that at least one or two turn out with everyone smiling and all eyes open. Here are some pictures of Ellasyn's fourth month, so far... Four months old... in her rocking chair After her shots at the doctor's office. You would never know that she screamed bloody murder for what seemed like hours afterward. ;o) Not so sure about this stuff. Yum! The Jackson 5 (Plus 5) Back Row: Jude, Chris, Merinda, Ethan, Courtney, Ellasyn Front Row: Cassidy, Sharon w/ Penny, Gary The McDaniel Family Ellasyn was not so happy that we woke her up for a million family pictures! She is giving us 'the look' 4 generations: Sharon Rodgers Jackson, Ella Norman Rodgers, Courtney Jackson McDaniel, Ellasyn Hannah McDaniel Cassidy, Sharon, Courtney Cereal, Day 2 Straight to the bath! Helping Momma decorate the tree, she is already amused by my love for seasonal decorations. Looking back at the tree, it is very tall!

Ellasyn is 3 months!

2009-10-30T09:50:00.003-05:00

I can't believe three months have gone by. Then again, has it really only been three months!? I never knew that I could love someone so much. It is a different kind of love than I have ever known.

She is getting so big, and changes every day. She is enjoying tummy time and loves to look at her bear that plays music and flashes his red nose. She just talks to it and smiles. I wonder what she is thinking? She rolls over from her tummy to her back, but only after much frusteration. She loves to suck on her arm. I am not sure why... I guess she gave up on her thumb? She is still sleeping well, about a 6-8 hours stretch each night. She is a ladybug for halloween, and has already been to the fall festival at our church.

I have been doing a little design work on the side and also making hair bows to sell at a craft fair. Ethan just finished up his cross country season and has about a week left of 7th grade football. I think we are all glad it is almost over!

Here are some recent pictures of Miss Ellasyn doing what she does best... being the cutest baby in the whole wide world!

Ellasyn goes to OKC

2009-10-21T12:59:00.019-05:00

This weekend we went to Oklahoma City to visit family and also for the U2 concert in Norman (which I will post later). Ellasyn did well in the car, until we stopped to switch drivers. She woke up and I spent the last hour or so sshhh-shh-sshh-ing in the back seat with her. We had a great time with everyone and showing off our sweet girl. Ellasyn was a little out of sorts, though. I think that all the extra people and excitement may have been a little too much for her. And the fact that she does not really care for the bottle made things difficult when Mommy and Daddy left her with a whole team of family to care for her. We are so blessed to have such a great family network!

This was Ellasyn's first time out of Texas, meeting Grama, the Ogles (my aunt and her family) and my brother's family (they drove down from Arkansas). She was worn out when we got home!

Sorry there are sooo many pictures... I had a hard time choosing which ones to post.

meeting her cousin, Jude Jackson (born two days apart)

this one makes me laugh every time... like they have choreographed a routine for us...

Marmee and Papa (My mom and dad)

Marmee and Grama with Penny,Ellasyn and Jude

My precious little ghoul ;o)

Ethan and Jude, our only nephew

More pictures from our visit
Mommas and babies

Meeting Uncle Bubba (my brother, Chris)

Grama, Sayre, Teri

Sayre giving Ellasyn her bottle

Our neice, Penelope Jackson, is a firecracker. She had so much fun playing with her babies, reading, chasing our dog Hollie. Whatever Jude and Ellasyn did, Penny's baby did too. It was so funny to watch her, she is very observant.

Celebrating 2 Months, and our first road trip!

2009-09-29T12:57:00.000-05:00

Ellasyn is two months old!! She has changed so much over the last month. She is really rounding out, and often receives the compliments,"Well, isn't she healthy!" or,"She sure is well fed!" I just say thank you. She is healthy and well fed, and I am so greatful! She had a great check up and was so brave when she got her two shots. I was relieved to see that of the five immunizations that she had to get, three of them were in one shot and one of them was a syrup that she had to drink.

We took Ellasyn on her first road trip this weekend. We went to see Marmee and Papa in College Station. She slept the whole way there and the whole way back. It was a great trip. My mom, Ellasyn and I spent Saturday at a scrapbook workshop where I attempted to catch up in Ellasyn's baby book. Ellasyn had a great time hanging out with Daddy and Papa, she is really learning how to turn on the charm.
Here are some pictures...

A Family Picture

Looking for my thumb... waiting to go to the Dr. office

Showing off my cool pink camo bandaids

That's our girl, such a good sport!

Our 2 Month photo with Ellafantastic.

On the way to scrapbook

Scrapbooking...

Loving and Laughing with Daddy

Our little Aggie girl

Love, The McDaniel Family

Grama's Birthday

2009-09-19T22:29:00.000-05:00

Sunday is my Grama, Ella's, birthday! (Ellasyn is named after her)

Happy Birthday, Grama!!

You are an amazing woman. You are an awesome example of a strong Christian woman and you will always be an inspiration to me!

Ellasyn was so sad when I told her that we would not be able to celebrate with you this year. We love you bunches and miss you a lot, too! We are sending you lots of love and happy birthday wishes come true.

Love, Ethan, Courtney and Ellasyn Hannah

Growing like a weed...

2009-09-16T17:11:00.000-05:00

Ellasyn is growing so fast! She loves to smile. She is so close to laughing out loud, I can hardly stand it. She has a blast playing on her activity mat and has really begun paying attention to the hanging toys. She has started making lots of baby talk, sometimes "cooing". Here are some more pictures of our 1 month old...

Some new bows that I made with the Bowdabra! You should get one... Tummy time can be so frusterating!
Meeting "Aunt" Lauren for the first time... all smiles! We love bathtime! An Aggie girl... did she really have a choice? Someone got these for Ethan when he was a baby (as a joke) because his dad was a Longhorn fan. Foreshadow much? A smile for Grandpa A visit from Marmie and Papa. Snuggling with Papa

I hope you enjoyed looking at the pictures as much as I have enjoyed making them!
We love you,
The McDaniels

One Month... Already!

2009-08-31T14:15:00.000-05:00

Ellasyn Hannah is one month old! I really can't believe it has already been a month. Her check up at the doctor's office went well. She now weighs 9 pounds 10 ounces, and has grown two inches!! She is growing so fast, we are already moving up into the next size of diapers. Some milestones she is hitting are: focusing on faces and the toys hanging from her bouncy seat, she smiled at Daddy, lifting her head (although she still hates tummy time).

As I sit here typing, she is asleep in my lap. I realize that some say I am spoiling her, but how can I not!? I watch her little eyes flutter and her sweet mouth pucker and smile as she sleeps. I am working on getting her to fall asleep on her own. She does pretty good in the late afternoons, and at night. Her nights are awesome! She eats, has a bath and then goes down about 9:30 or 10:00 for about 4-5 hours.

Here are some pictures if the month so far...

Trying on our cute beanie

One month old

First "real" bath!

Adoring Cousins... Olivia, Sarah and Liliana

Our cute little family and my new "mom" haircut :)

Thats all for now!
Love,
Courtney

Our first trip to church

2009-08-17T19:29:00.000-05:00

This Sunday was Ellasyn's first Sunday at church. We only went to our Sunday school class, we are starting out slow. I am still not really sure of myself. We wanted to make sure that our 11th graders saw her before they promote to the 12th grade class. It was fun to show her off to everyone. She looked so cute, even though we didn't dare remove her from the comfort and safety of her car seat.

Since we don't have many pictures from Sunday, I will add a few of my favorites so far.

Being comforted by Daddy at the Dr.s office... yes the wallpaper is a little much!

Snuggle time with Daddy

I love watching Ethan be Daddy! He is so hands on, and does an amazing job!

She's Here!

2009-08-02T15:39:00.000-05:00

Ellasyn Hannah McDaniel arrived on Saturday, July 25 at 1:13pm. She weighed 7 pounds and 10 ounches, and was 19 inches long. It has only been 8 days since she has been here with us and it already feels like she has been here all along. We are so in love with her! Ethan and I could just sit and stare at her all day. We are in awe of God's creation in her and cannot wait to experience all that is to come. There have definitely been challenges, but every day brings new perspective!

Here are a couple pictures to show off our precious baby girl...

9 days...

2009-07-15T17:58:00.000-05:00

9 more days until the big "due date"! Many are betting on the day Ellasyn will choose to make her entrance into this world. Some think it will be on Ethan's birthday... July 18, which is already shared by one of our niece's. That would be convenient. My dad is rooting for July 31 so that he can remember his anniversary as well as her birthday. Ethan's aunt is going by the change of the moon, and I am not sure when that will be? Any way you choose, Ellasyn Hannah will come when she is ready.

Am I ready? Most definately. It has been over 100 degrees for the past 14 days here in Arlington, and it does not cool off when the sun goes down. It is hot! Ethan is reminded by his mother during this time of year that he was born during the hottest summer on record in Texas... and it has yet to be beat. So, I guess I can't complain too much? Did I mention that it is hot? We are supposedly getting a "cold front" this week, and I have heard that changes in the weather also bring on labor. I will let you know. Ha.

Ready or not...

2009-07-06T22:05:00.000-05:00

Well, 18 days to the estimated due date! Ethan looked at the calendar yesterday and had a bit of a moment... anytime in the next three weeks, we will have a baby! It has been such a wonderful journey. I think that we have everything ready. I have been procrastinating, and still don't have a bag packed for the hospital. Just a minor detail. ha :) Other than that, everything is set up, assembled, batteried, and in place for our precious daughter to be welcomed home!

We finished the nursery!

2009-06-21T21:51:00.000-05:00

Yay!! The nursery decor is officialy finished! Ethan did a great job of helping me hang everything on the walls. Mom and Jan, Ethan's mom, were an awesome big help sewing the bedding. I love the way it turned out!

Working on the bedding!

One of our other babies, making herself at home, ha!

Hanging over the crib...

The crib...

Baby Shower

2009-06-16T23:07:00.000-05:00

I had a great time at our first baby shower! It is so great to see how loved we are and all of the exitement and support we continue to receive for Ellasyn's arrival. Lots of tiny outfits, blankets, and all sorts of sweet baby girl goodies.

This dress is from my mom. The pin says,"Ella", Ellasyn will be the sixth generation (including myself) to wear it. She will be the fourth generation Ella.

My two Moms... mine and Ethan's :)

Childbirth Class, Part 1

2009-06-14T17:33:00.000-05:00

Alright! We had our first childbirth class last Thursday. It was very... educational, to say the least. We talked about all of the medical terms, the stages of labor... and then we watched the videos. I have decided that those videos should really be shown a lot sooner. Like, perhaps before one decided to start a family! Because it is too late to turn back now! No really, I don't want to turn back... but if it were an option I might have considered it after that first class.

To work or not to work...

2009-06-02T18:04:00.001-05:00

Watch out! Two blogs, in two days... I am on a roll. :)

I met with a potential childcare giver this afternoon. I was so nervous, but she was great. I was able to see her interact with the other two little girls that she is keeping. She loves on them like they were her own children. I was really put at ease seeing her home and how much she cared for the girls. She seems so on top of things and prepared for everything. She had everything a little baby (and her parents) could ever need/ want.

Although, now that I have met her, I am questioning whether I should be working or not. Aaah, the stress of making decisions that you have no prior knowledge about! Can we afford for me to stay home? Will I be a good stay at home mom? I don't know... prayers... prayers... and more prayers. :) Only God knows what will be best for our growing family! And I am so glad that HE does!

53 days?!?

2009-06-01T22:38:00.000-05:00

Okay, Wow. Where has the time gone? I looked over at Ethan a couple nights ago and asked,"Did you realize that in about 8 weeks we are going to have a baby? That is two months!" His response to me was,"It used to be 9 months." I know, right!? The countdown on our blog says 53 more days until Ellasyn's debut! I can hardly believe it. Friends keep asking me if we are ready yet. Maybe it is just me, but can you ever really be ready for your first baby? I am excited, anxious, curious, insert emotion here... all of the above.

The nursery is not done yet, but it is getting closer by the day. I have all of the fabric pieces cut for the crib skirt and bumper pad. Now I just have to sew it all together! I am still looking for the perfect pieces to finish off the wall decor. I know, 53 days... I am working on it.

Here is a picture of one of the things that I am most excited about this week...

A couple of hats, a sweet headband and three adorable flowers to clip on them! I can't wait to see them on my precious baby girl's head.

The McDaniel Family is moving... blogs that is...

2009-05-20T18:43:00.000-05:00

Okay, so I started a blog on shutterfly a while back thinking that I could get my whole family hooked and we could all blot together. Since that didn't work out as I had planned, I have decided to move the blog to blogspot because I like it much better. So here we are!

For those of you needing to catch up...

Ethan and I are expecting a baby girl at the end of July! We are so excited!! We have been working in her nursery, and have just about everything ready. I, with the help of my mother and mother in law, will be making the crib bedding. That is all we lack at this point... other than the supplies and such that we are hoping will start trickling in soon. (wink wink)

I am in the 7th month of pregnancy, and I feel bigger than ever! I am bigger than ever but not as big as it gets. My nurse keeps reminding me that I still have a ways to go. She is great, but I am glad that she will not be the one comforting me at my bedside. The baby and I have been blessed with such amazing health throughout the whole pregnancy. Thanks be to God!

Ethan is about to finish up his 5th year of teaching and coaching at TA Howard Middle School in Mansfield, TX. He will return next year to continue his reign as the coolest teacher ever. (I elected him to that position and I am sure that all others would agree.) I am still sort of in between careers. I have really enjoyed substitute teaching this year, and I am hoping that Arlington will be able to find an art position for me soon!

Everyone asks what we are going to do next year and I always have the same answer for them... wait and see, wait and see. I have learned (sometimes the hard way) that it is not up to me to make plans about my future. I am so glad! God is in control, and whatever He has for our family is yet to be revealed.