the party.

p - a - r - t

y? cuz we got to.

we had a little party for ellie and it was a real smash hit. 

(anything involving this much sugar is automatically a smash hit in my book.)

ellie was so dainty with her cake. she used her fork and took tiny bites of frosting until daddy opened up the cake to show her what was inside. she still stuck to that fork and i'm glad - it kept her from going too nuts. she's been practicing hard with that fork and, by golly, she's going to show off her skills!

we're blessed to have so many people who love our little girl.
we're even more blessed just to have her!

let her eat cake!

p.s. - as this post is hitting the internet, ellie and i are en route to utah. pray for our cranky, tired souls so that we don't die of anxiety/stress/exhaustion/etc mid-flight. also, pray for the other passengers on the plane that they will put up with our shenanigans.

spring has sprung?

 
we had an incredibly lovely weekend, by the way. i can't not mention it. with lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s, we spent most of our weekend outside playing.

on saturday we headed to the athens "zoo" and memorial park for a while. we saw all the animals, but ellie liked people-watching more than creature-watching. she walked around most of the zoo by herself until her shoe came off and fell into the golden eagle's pen. we did get it back, but she (daddy) decided she was better off riding in the stroller for the remainder of the adventure.

after we saw what the great city of athens had to offer, we came home and played in the yard for hours. ellie finally got her "off-road feet" (another term coined by daddy) and she chased judge and inspected almost every stick and leaf she saw.

so, basically what i'm saying is that

and we are excited for more weather like this.

one.

she is 

one 

year 

old.

this time last year, i was laboring hard and hoping to see a beautiful new face sometime soon.

it was so worth it.

warning: i am now going to gush about everything she's up to lately.

she's become such a big girl, even more so than a couple of months ago. she'd walk everywhere by herself if i let her. she can basically run (the baby version of running which looks more like a quick waddle) and she has some serious attitude. she throws fits like nothing i've ever seen. she just lets go of all muscle control and flops on the floor. we've finally gotten on the same page about bedtime and naps (at least, for the time being) and i guess she's just too mature to be rocked to sleep. she wants to be left alone, thanks! she practices and does pretty well with spoons and cups. she has gotten better about taking bites instead of shoving all her food in her mouth at once. she loves, loves, loves to play with her toys and run around - outside or inside. 

she's still a very quiet girl most of the time. she jabbers a little more than she used to, but most often she just observes.  she is very curious and loves to inspect things and take things apart. i often find her carrying books around the house and she'll stop and flip through the pages. she's smart - too smart. she grabbed the book i was reading and the bookmark fell out, so she opened the book and put the bookmark back in (so i wouldn't notice?). whenever i mention animals or she hears someone talk about animals on the tv, she goes to find her toy animals. the other day she was watching a show about cows and she went straight to her farm and gathered all her little buddies up (she even knew they were all inside the silo). when i ask if she's hungry, she'll walk over to her high chair and try to climb in. she communicates pretty well without words, so far. i know she has good comprehension.

she signs "more" but she made up her own version of it. she likes to yell at judge ("ud!") and "talk on the phone" to dad ("da!"). when she wakes up, she looks all around the house for daddy. she'll sometimes wait by the windows for a little while for him to come home. she knows he likes to go in the garage and she looks for him in there, too. sometimes she says "ma!" but i think she means "more," not "mama." she can say she wants that ("dat!") and she has started to say out ("aht!"). i think she's very close to saying "hello" and "bye-bye" when she waves.

she loves to give hugs, but not kisses so much. she likes to have other people kiss her toys, though. she does a good pat on the back during hugs and sometimes i even get a little nuzzle on the shoulder. she makes lots of good jokes and definitely knows what's funny. the other day she was making a fuss for no reason and suddenly looked me right in the eye and screamed really aggressively. i was a little shocked and started laughing. she realized how silly it was and started laughing, too. she loves to be crazy and giggle. again, she's so smart. she has already started to pretend things. the other day i gave her a bowl and spoon while i was cooking and told her to make her own food. she stirred and stirred and gave daddy and me "tastes" of what she was making.

ellie likes: 

banana bread

sweet potatoes 

well, any kind of food (almost)

judge

music

dancing 

mcdonalds 

helping mommy

juice

books

pens

anything that an adult has

trying to do grown up things

the park

outside

running 

wearing jammies all day

bathtime

sips of soda

putting on shoes

sitting on laps

cuddling

wiggling

 CHOCOLATE

playing with toys

hugs

mommy & daddy

ellie dislikes:

teething

being tired

when the food is gone

having her face washed

not getting treats

being buckled in

public restrooms

well, there you have it. portrait of the baby as a one-year-old.

daddy couldn't wait to see her this morning - he wanted to wake her up at midnight to sing to her. she got up for a minute before he left the house at the bumcrack of dawn and we whisper-sang to her then. there will be a party this weekend and it is going to be so yummy. 

that's right, yummy.

we can't imagine life without her. 

for lindsey, again.

this month i've been thinking again about comings and goings.
i've been especially distracted this week. i've had a lot of things on my mind, including the news of my friend lindsey's recent complications.

last february was a difficult time for me to be far away from the people and places that i've always known. here is now home because my own little family is here. i have more than one home, though, because i spent my growing up years in another place and there is such a concentration of people who care about me and i care about them very, very much. it was hard to welcome a beautiful little girl into the world without so much of my "world" physically here with me.
i had lost a wonderful aunt just days before my ellie was born. after speaking to my grandmother on the phone and telling her all about this tiny new person and reminiscing about the miracle of birth, it suddenly hit me . . . that my sweet grandmother had just lost what i had just gained: her very first darling baby, her own tiny new person. she had held her in her arms, just i had, and then she suddenly found herself having to say goodbye (for a time).
it made me sob to think of it. it makes me sob now. not a lot of things can do that.

i'm approaching the first year anniversary of motherhood and of the day when my life became something much more than i ever knew it could be. two thousand miles away, a lovely friend of mine is most likely looking toward the end of her life. barring a literal miracle (which isn't out of the question), another mother is going to lose her own tiny person.
i know it happens every day, but this is much closer to me than it has been in a while. it's especially close to my heart when i try to imagine saying goodbye to the husband and my girl and other future tiny people and i just can't. i can't fathom it. i especially hate being so far away and feeling so useless.

not only is lindsey having to think about saying goodbye, but her family is having to think about saying goodbye to her. i know she's more concerned about them and how they will carry on during this difficult time. if you could take a moment to send good thoughts and prayers their way, please do. keep especially keep in mind her husband who is enduring this with her.

visit out her family's blog in her honor and please, if you can afford it, donate to their cause. they're too young and in such a hard situation already, they shouldn't have to worry about medical bills.

above all, please live your life the best that you can. you owe it to those who aren't going to have those same opportunities.
lindsey's a beautiful person, inside and out, and a wonderful example of how to live.






i've written a post about my friend lindsey before, see here.
i also wrote a post about comings and goings at this time last year, see here.

trend-setting again.

just thought you should know more about next season's newest accessory:
the headband. worn around the neck.

you saw it in this previous post,

now check out the latest photoshoot:

headbands, i tell you. they're the new necklace.

(*just a reminder, i did not put that headband on my child. she can do style all by herself.)

have a good weekend!

val-day.

it's valentine's day.

it's ellie's last "first" thing before she turns one. 

(except presidents day, but that's not a real day. right? right.)

it's our first valentine's day as a family of three. ellie and i are trying to figure out how to get our cute on properly. we're making cafe rio (using her wonderful recipes) and some festive red velvet cake mix cookies (um, yum). we don't have any real plans, except maybe to clean up the house and hopefully sleep sometime tonight . . . since ellie has decided to not sleep more than two hours straight for the past few nights. 

 that's right. i have a grump for a valentine, but i think that teeth might be to blame.

i finally put her in her crib to scream so i could shower and, when the screams suddenly stopped, i went in to check on her. 

i found this: 

needless to say, we're all happy to have each other to love and kiss and cuddle. i don't know what i'd do without my best husband and my best girl. i have to say that i am getting pretty annoyed with all the whiners hating on valentines day, single or not. how can you be so cranky as to hate a day set aside for people to express their love for others a little more than usual? relax.

just enjoy this movie - proof that love of cookies is genetic:

happy grumpsday everyone!

p.s. - it's the first time celebrating my great-grandmother's birthday without her - she would have been 99 today. what a sweet day for a sweet lady.

bang, bang, bang.

so all this blah-yucky-stay-inside weather makes me feel like i need to do something drastic.

bangs. 

i want some. 

husband hates them. 

he claims that bangs are for children because they don't know how to keep their hair out of their faces. 

("i don't want five-year-old wife!")

but still. 

i had long hair with bangs once.

they looked pretty decent, but i worked in food service and had my hair up all the time so the bangs thing didn't really work out.

now i've been virtually making myself over at taaz

(go there if you want to waste a lot of time putting reese witherspoon's hair with your face).

oh, i kind of want bangs. 

but i don't want to have to grow them out again when i decide i don't want them. 

oh, i don't know. 

if i went for it, i would definitely have someone else cut them. 

i usually do those sorts of things myself and it shows.

me now: 

(i didn't do anything to my hair but wash it and brush it)

celeb bangs: 

 to the side. 

 

 my previous bangs looked a lot like this.

choppy, messy bangs.

i like these. 

what do you think? 

even though i probably won't do them 

because husband's the one who married me and he has to look at me the most.

that's more like it.

now this is how snow in georgia is supposed to happen: 

beautiful at 7:30 am, melting by noon, gone by sunset.

that's right. it doesn't stick to the roads, either.

and it's warm enough to put bare feet on the pavement for a few minutes. 

third time this winter and you've finally done it right, mother nature. thanks. 

can't wait to see what you do with spring.

things you can't teach.

everyone always says that children have their own personalities as soon as they are born (even when they're still in the womb!) but i don't think you can actually have your own "testimony" of it until you watch your own child doing the sorts of things that can't be taught.

i'd like to testify that eleanor fowler is definitely her own person. 

and she's definitely unique. 

you can't teach chattiness. 

i really don't talk on the phone much. like, maybe a couple of phone calls a day. only a few times a week do i have a phone call that last longer than five minutes. daddy talks on the phone even less. 

so where does she get this?

she paces around all day with her play keys on her shoulder. (notice there are two different outfits in the pictures - yes, she chats daily.) she even tries to turn her phone ear away from me, like some sort of miniature teenager. she is talking to daddy, i think, because usually she says "da! da!"

you can't teach style.

i put a headband on her while she was getting changed, just to be silly. she quickly ran away to her room and i found her like this: 

she loves when i bend over so she can put her headbands on my head.

she loves her shoes, too. last week i told her we needed to put her shoes on and she went to her room, got a pair of shoes (that matched) and sat down on my lap so i could put them on her feet. 

you can't teach . . . whatever this is. 

last, but not least, i think she gets this one from daddy:

this whole diaper-change-reading thing has happened more than once.

she's growing up so fast! this morning i watched a movie during her nap so we could cuddle. i just don't want to miss anything.

sappy.

i was boiling water for herbal tea, then opted for cocoa instead.
i'm feeling like a real sap today.

you know. just the whole
tears-in-my-eyes
emotional-for-no-real-reason
life-can-be-so-good-life-can-be-so-sad
mood that i don't really give in to so often.



so here are some songs/videos* that are making me feel all fuzzy and warm and whatever
because i want to make you feel that gross, tingly, sappy feeling, too.

oh, and also imagine that a little ellie runs up to you, hugs your shins and puts her head against your knees and then runs away again. (and she's dancing to the music.)
okay, did i get you?




*one of the videos you actually have to go to youtube to watch, but it does work. also, i know some of you are thinking "country?!" but here in the fowler house, our music tastes are nothing if not diverse. plus it's zack brown band! come on.

happy monday!

ellie has started saying a lot of funny little babbles. 

my favorite is "uhwazzzuhWAZZAHWAZZAH!"

the other night we had chicken curry and she loved it. she ate every last bite.

i got a little video of her telling me how much she loved it.

a great start to a week, right? 

p.s. - ellie has been watching blue's clues lately. she likes to answer when all the little kids answer, even though you can't understand what she says. anyway, am i the only person who thinks "skidoo" sounds a little bit gross? like, when blue "skidoos" into the picture? it doesn't look as gross when i spell it. you have to say it.

"skihh-dooooo" 

yuck.

ouch!

yesterday ellie got her first serious boo-boo.

she dumped judge's water bowl all over the floor and, while making a run for it, she slipped and her eye hit the edge of the door. 

so when i say "she ran into a door," don't report me, okay? 

poor thing. 

boo to boo-boos! :(

(p.s. - notice bottom tooth #3? it's there, but it's hard to see.)

naptime.

i know it really messes with bedtime when she naps so late, 

but how can i possibly wake them up from the cutest nap ever?

i mean, could you?

 

(judge just sleeps all the time, so it really isn't anything special. he'll nap at the drop of a hat.)

groundhog.

mr. groundhog, whatever you do, make nice weather. (wait, you do that, right?)

we had a  really great weekend with "spring-like conditions" and now we're smack in the middle of a whole week of rain. i don't see any motorcycle rides for daddy in the near future, which means no car for mommy, which ultimately means no random sanity-saving trips to hobby lobby this week. 

perfect example of the cabin fever mentioned previously:

 yep. christmas pajama pants worn on the head.

(do my sisters remember wearing clothes as "hair" when we were little?)