Elli's Birthday Presents

This is the final post about Elli's birthday. I promise! (please look at the previous two for great pics) We had a super fun day. After dinner the girls got baths and then into their pajamas.
Then we had Elli open her presents and cards. It was well past their bedtime which explains why they look so out of it in some of the shots. Thank you for all the presents. It was fun opening them with her.
Also, please check out the giveaway on Because Babies Grow Up. It's a CD from an awesome rock band for kids called Milkshake. I'd also love it if you'd help spread the word about the giveaway! You're the best family and friends a girl could hope for!

Elli's Birthday Party

We had friends come over in the afternoon to share cake and ice cream. It was a fun party, even though I forgot about the ice cream.


In all about 20 friends came over (parents and kids) and had fun tearing the play room apart. The popcorn was a great snack; I think even a bigger hit than the cake.


Elli scrambled around eating every unattended bowl of popcorn she could find. She absolutely loves the stuff. She was quite excited about the cake, too. It was double layer and I marbled Devil's Food and White together. Yum. I made cupcakes with the extra, but haven't had a chance to make frosting for them yet.

Elli got a stuffed tiger from a friend. It felt perfect since Sammi got her tiger pillow on her first birthday.
Another milestone down. Elli's had quite a busy year what with living in Orem, traveling to Colorado then driving across the country to now live in Tennessee.

Elli's Birthday Breakfast

Happy Birthday, Elli! It's been a fun day. To start, we really kicked off turning 1 by introducing Elli to the joy of cold cereal. She had Honey Nut Cheerios (because they're my favorite) in a bowl with whole milk. I was so impressed with how well she ate it with a spoon. Though she did often hold the spoon in one hand and use the other hand to pick up the cheerios and put them in her mouth. She did an excellent job of eating almost the whole bowl.

Sammi also enjoyed her cereal, but insisted on Frosted MiniWheats.

Some Things Don't Change

I was looking through the blog recently for a specific picture, which I am now posting because it's hilarious. I laugh every time I see it. Sammi was about 16 months old.

But as I was browsing, I came across two posts that really struck me because, well, they are still true, to some extent, for me now. Year(s) later and on the other side of the country and I still feel the same way! Amazing. Here they are:

When Sammi turned 15 months old I posted that Sammi "has entered a new phase where her solution to everything is to cry. This is quite a bit more trying on my patience" I am here to testify that she has not yet left this stage and I think turning three has only intensified the crying. And it is still the MOST trying aspect of parenting for me. I often scream inside, "I can't handle the crying!" Actually sometimes I say that out loud. It's not very mature and I'm working on it. Still. 22 months later.

When I officially announced I was pregnant with Elli I mentioned that Brent had vetoed my suggestion of Daffodil as a girl's name. Elli may forever be grateful for that, but I still really like the name. I can't understand why, exactly. But it strikes me as so cute and I love the nickname Dilly. Brent did promise if we ever have a pet of some kind I may name the pet Daffodil and we will call her Dilly. I'm just not sure I'm satisfied with that, though!

We've Settled In!

So, that was a WAY LONG break! It took forever to get the internet up and running. I was going to have great pictures of our drive across the country, but the camera died a few days before we left and I didn't want to pick out a new one without Brent's input. But, we finally got a new one once we got here, so I have a few things to share from our new home (away from home).

Sammi was a little princess on her birthday. She wore the tiara and balloon everywhere. I was pleasantly surprised when she decided to share it with Elli. What cute sisters. They have really started to playing together and even getting into trouble together.

We met a lot of med school LDS families at a 4th of July BBQ. It was fun to be surrounded by instant friends. The kids played in a little pool and then lit sparklers. IT was fun to visit and eat yummy food.

We went to the Knoxville Zoo. We bought a membership because we only have to go twice and we'll have saved money! It also gets us into the Hogle Zoo back in Utah and the Point Defiance Zoo in Tacoma. We learned a lot about the local turtles and the not-so-local rhinos. The zoo keepers were very friendly and informative.

We have one more week until Brent starts orientation and then classes. While I'm nervous about him starting and how little we're going to see him for the first several months, I think the anticipation is starting to eat us up. It's hard to be in such limbo, especially for Brent who is usually getting up and going to work everyday. But he's working hard around the house to make us feel at home. We have a garden and he is currently working on a snadbox for the girls. We also finally found chairs for our dining table and we bought paint today for them. I really hope we get that project doen before school starts!