Happy Easter!

Happy Easter everyone!!  We have been enjoying the holiday in our house this weekend for sure!  Eloise got her first Easter basket this morning filled with books, a watering can, a little flower pot that we will be planting this afternoon, and BUBBLES!!  She also got a movie and some awesome books, including The Golden Egg Book (one of my personal faves) from her Grandma Claire and Grandpa Tim!  Izzy even got a little Easter bone to gnaw on today!  :)   The girls are happy in this household!

In tradition, I made us some monkey bread for Easter morning and Eloise had her first little taste for breakfast.  She tried to eat a whole chunk before I could tear it up (needless to say, she liked it)!  After breakfast, we got all dressed up in our Easter best and headed off to church with my friend Erica and her husband.  Eloise liked the first half of church and took a little snooze for the 2nd half.  So far it has been a beautiful day to celebrate Easter Sunday and we hope the rest of the day continues to be beautiful.  Here are a few pictures of our little sweetheart on her first Easter Sunday.  God is certainly great!  We are so grateful for the blessings we have been granted. 

Checkin out her Easter Basket

Izzy is sharing her favorite toy with her sissy

The whole Easter get-up :)  Like the flips?

10 Months

Yes, ladies and gentlemen....our little one is 10 MONTHS old!!! Can you believe it? I know we can't!!

10 month picture!!

Watching her doggie "da-da"

We have all been enjoying the beautiful weather in Chattanooga over the last week, but Eloise has especially been enjoying it!  At daycare this week, they got to go on "Buggy Rides" around the school a couple of different days, and one day, they went out TWICE!  She got to see the flowers blooming, she touched the grass, and even got to see a baby bird in a nest near the sidewalk.  From what Miss Hannah said, Eloise couldn't take her eyes off the baby bird!  I saw her once in the "Bye-Bye Buggy" hanging out with her sunhat on and relaxing!  She even has a new friend named Mia and Miss Hannah said that Eloise and Mia held hands on their buggy ride the other day....how sweet is that?!  Also at school, Eloise is learning about "Birds in Spring" and got to paint and create a "birds nest" yesterday with a cup, brown paint, and little sticks!!  Her teachers give her such great experiences and we are so thankful for them!!  Eloise also has two guest readers come to her classroom everyday from my classroom.  Everyday 2 of my second graders get to go down to Eloise's room and they read to the infants!!  My kids LOVE it, and Eloise soaks up every minute of it! These are just a couple of pictures from their first experience!

L to R: Eloise, Taylor, and Lily

Maya and Lily read to the babies

Hello April!!

Happy April Fools Day everybody!!  I am finally getting a minute to post a little!!  Not that I don't have plenty of other things to do mind you, but the harrassment that I have endured (wink wink) for my lack of posting has finally broken me down!  HA!!  Anywho, I don't even remember when I posted last, or what was happening in our household at that point, so I am typing blind tonight!!  I know this is nothing new to any of you, but we have been.....BUSY!!!  Surprised?!  Hehe... I just finished my week back at work after Spring Break which I got to spend with my two girls, friends, and family!! Yay!!  Eric headed out to Las Vegas for their semi-annual ConExpo extravaganzaa the Sunday afternoon before my Spring Break started, and got back the next Sunday, so I was solo-parenting for my break. 
Of course, I can't ever pull myself away from my school, so I went in to work Monday for a couple hours and let Eloise go to daycare.  She didn't seem to mind one bit, and her teachers were very pleased to have her hang out for a bit!  We did get lots of stuff done over break: we got to spend lots of time with my friends, got some school work done, RELAXED, and had visitors!!  Mom, AJ, and Grandma Ann were able to make an surprise visit for the last couple days of my break to see Eloise, Iz, and me!  I was so glad they all could come!!  Missed my dad though!!  After they all headed back, Eloise and I went down to Atlanta with my two dear friends, Trinace and Erica for a day and night of shopping and relaxing!!  Eloise had her first official girls trip to a hotel AND swim!!!  Our hotel was actually connected to one of the big malls in Buckhead, so we were able to walk to the mall from our room!  We shopped til we dropped and then went swimming at the indoor pool at the hotel.  Eloise LOVED it!!!  She could have splashed and played all night and would have perfectly content! :) 
It has been so fantastic to see our little girl grow and learn everyday!  She has gotten so big and curious ovr the last couple of months.  She is 9 months old right now, but will be 10 months old in just a few days!!  She is crawling EVERYWHERE and is pulling up every chance she gets!  She has gotten 2 teeth this month and is working on at least one more that I think will be popping through any day!  She is talking like crazy, saying Ma-ma, Da-da, ba-ba (bottle), and she says da-da for doggie too!  Eric and Izzy share the same name as far as Eloise is concerned! :)  Anytime Eloise sees her doggie, she gets very excited!  Izzy loves Eloise too, but she starts to get a little leery when Eloise gets that crazy look in her eye!  Ha!
Well, enough of my chatter...here are some pictures for your enjoyment! We'll be taking lots more and posting them when we can!

Best friends

She likes Izzy's toys more than her own!

A face only a mother could love.... :)

Such a happy girl!  9 months!!