Birthday Boy

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

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?

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!

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

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...

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

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

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

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