Homecoming

Two years ago today cousin Suzanne, Ellie and I were somewhere over the Atlantic on our way back to Texas from Ethiopia. What an exciting travel adventure - Airport Power Outages! Surly Lufthansa Attendants! Lost Strollers and Crying Jet Lagged Children! Fortunately there were some tender mercies along the way - children's Benedryl; Uncle Harry and Aunt Georgie waiting with wat at the D.C. airport where we parted ways with Suzanne; the nice ticket agent at the American counter who must have seen the last 20 hours of travel weighing heavily on us and who bumped a grumpy man out of his first row seat so we could have it on the way to Dallas (trust me sir, we needed it more than you).

Little did I know it was the beginning of a much more pleasant adventure with this incredible little person. Happy homecoming anniversary, kiddo. I'd take that trip again and again to get to you!

If you hadn't seen Ellie for the past few weeks, you might not know last Saturday was her birthday. If you have seen Ellie in the last few weeks, you know that she was going to have A BALLET BIRTHDAY PARTY WITH TUTUS AND CUPCAKES AND I'M TURNING FIVE AND THE CUPCAKES WILL BE PINK AND WHITE AND STRAWBERRY AND EARS PIERCED WHEN I'M FIVE AND THERE WILL BE BALLERINAS AND JUST GIRLS AT MY BALLET PARTY NO BOYS WITH EARRINGS FOR ME AND PINK CUPCAKES AND TUTUS. And so it was.

One of Ellie's friends declared on the bouncy bridge: BEST! ELLIE! BIRTHDAY! PARTY! EVER!



And so it was.

4 years, 364 days old

A month (or two) in pictures (and a few words)

Mommy splurged on an InStyler (as seen on TV). Next stop, Toddlers and Tiaras.



"Dear Santa, I've been good. I love you. I wish it could snow this year. Please bring me a guitar and drum. Love, Ellie" (Our fireplace is blocked with a panel since I fear the gas logs, so we had to leave Santa a key. Thankfully she didn't ask how he would get inside the house to get the key.)

We called NORAD's Santa Tracker hotline and were informed that Santa would be entering Texas airspace at 9:00p.m. EST. She was out by 8:55.

Bedhead and Christmas morning excitement!

Way to deliver, Santa!!!



Those of you who heard me talk about not going crazy with the Christmas gifts can stop laughing now. (Not pictured - she also got a big girl bike.)



Or maybe start laughing at the "Bob the Builder" get-up (accessorized with a chocolate milk mustache.)

MORE presents at the grandparents'. Not spoiled at all.







Green Eggs and (not green) Ham - courtesy of the grandparent bed & breakfast. Huge hit.

Happy New Year! Ellie insisted she could stay up until midnight to see the "party" so we opted to celebrate on east coast time. Sparkling lemonade in fancy glasses and a tiara constituted a sufficient party that she felt it was worth it.

Any snow is cause for gearing up and outside dancing.



Happy 2011 everyone! Hopefully my resolution of posting more will become a reality this year. What? It's February? Chinese New Year resolution it is!

Update coming soon...

We're still here - photos of Christmas will be coming next week. We're temporarily banned from our house due to hardwood floor staining that should be done by the weekend (anyone who's undergone any sort of substantial home improvement project is laughing at my optimism right now.) Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Catch Up Time

Yeah, yeah. I'm a bad blogger. Here's what's happened since we last checked in...

Beach!


First sight of the ocean!


Cousins!


More cousins!


Snake handling!


A fabulous swimsuit wardrobe!


Ellie and I and the grandparents headed out to the last day game of the season. Ellie enjoyed the food, getting a pink Rangers shirt, and singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame." And she watched a little baseball too. She was concerned that "those boys" were spitting and noted that they were not using their good manners.


Next came Halloween. We met up with some of our neighbors and had a blast trick or treating. Ellie and her friend Joshua came back from many a front porch in the first hour shouting "They gave us candy, too!" I'm not sure if they thought everyone was just being really friendly or what.


We went to a party at Gladney and got to see our sweet caseworker Mary! She took a new job this year, so it was such a nice surprise to see her. The man in the white outfit standing behind her is Belay - Gladney's in-country director in Ethiopia. (I had a really nice pic of the three of us which Ellie erased while playing on my phone.) When she went up to him, he looked at her and said "Hiab!" After over a year he recognized her and remembered her name! She was so excited to see him...and the bounce house.


Fall leaves! Ellie's been leaf-peeping in the neighborhood for weeks and shouting on the way to school "I see red! It's a sign of fall!" She's realizing now that aside from the Japanese maple we pass in our neighborhood, brown is really the only sign of fall we get in Texas.




Can I close with a rant? Why is this cute stethoscope shirt only available in the boys' section at Target? Wouldn't it be just as cute in pink or purple? I know that there is a lot more to imprinting a world view on a child than a tee shirt, but if I want to buy my daughter a shirt that declares a statement other than that she's spoiled, a diva, cute, a princess, sweet as candy, etc. I have to shop in the boys' section. I'm not saying she doesn't have her share of pink, butterflies, and glitter in her closet, but she also has Beatles and The Who tees, dinosaurs, and this sweet doc in training one. She wears rhinestone earrings to rock out with her drumsticks and to hunt bugs with her magnifying glass, but who says she can't like both? It would be nice for more stores to consider that girls might like more than one thing - that they might want to wear a pink hard hat while they play with tools or to carry their matchbox cars in their purse.

When she put this shirt on, she went to her closet and got out her tutu to go with it. She told me that she was a doctor AND a ballerina and that she was going to do a dance and then fix me up.

Attention, retailers. Dr. Ballerina needs a little more diversity in your girls' section.

The Rest of the Summer

Oh yeah - I have a blog! Here's a fast recap of the summer since the last entry:

Coffee Table vs. Ellie's Eye! Winner: coffee table.


Playground playtime (needless to say this happened in July, before August and 100 degree weather hit)


Splashing and leaf boat making.



Weekend egg souffle breakfasts and vigorous political debate.



Cousin Suzanne went to Turkey for vacation, and we tracked her whereabouts on every globe and world map we passed during that period. She was very confused at first at why Suzanne would go on a trip in a turkey. Suzanne brought her this lovely jeweled enamel box, which Ellie decided to use for dead ladybug storage.


This cardboard box was a chair, a boat, a spaceship, a house and a general hiding place, although it's pretty hard to hide with all that hair.


The circus came to town! See that tiny child below the GIANT poster?


First day of school - this year she's in Primary II with the "big" 4 year olds.


Ballet class. And first "one ponytail."


First DQ dip cone.


And finally - FIRST TRIP TO THE BEACH! We arrived last weekend at Duck, North Carolina and have been having a wonderful week. We've enjoyed visiting with lots of family, meeting new cousins, etc. More on that later!