Sugar and Spice and Everything Chocolate?

What's the Little Bee made of that makes her so smiley? According to Annie Murphy Paul in her new book, Origins: How the Nine Months Before Birth Shape the Rest of Our Lives, Little Bee owes her sweet disposition to all the chocolate I ate when I was stressed at work. Paul notes that babies born to mothers who eat chocolate daily during their pregnancy smile and laugh more at 6 months. I wonder what all the french fries did for her? Keep smiling, Angel! Love, Elizabeth

Art Walk

This was one of my favorite baby gifts Ellen received! If you have a baby or you are in need of a baby gift I strongly suggest a sweater or blanket (or both!) from Art Walk. My uncle's sister, Shelley Hunt, is a children's fashion designer and these are from one of her latest lines. She has another popular line called My Boy Sam. Both lines can be found at stores like Neiman Marcus and Bloomingdales. Boutiques like Doodles and Motherhood Maternity also carry Art Walk. Here is a link to the whole line www.jamesgirone.com/artwalk . Each set has a sweater, hat, blanket, and booties. Shelley and her mom let me pick a set that I liked and let me tell you this was difficult! I picked Hey Little Diddle but I also love Hoot Hoot, Ducks in the Pond and the boy's Noah's Ark - to name a few. Ellen loves this set and sports it all over town. The knit blanket is backed in the softest cotton and the sweater and hat are so cozy. Ellen also loves the 3D details and plays with the cow's tail and the stars on the blanket. Thank you again, Shelley and Bonnie! Ellen and I love this sweet set! Love y'all, Elizabeth

Bee's Dress!

Oh, Little Bee! If only you knew how hard Cece worked on this baptism dress for you! Here is a shot of the bodice with the sweet hand embroidered bee.

This is the full dress with tons of ruffles and lace. Dr. Pace said it was the longest baptism dress he had ever seen.

This is the slip that Ellen wore under the dress. The slip was also made by Cece and was pretty enough on its own. She had Ellen's full name and baptism date monogrammed into the slip. We plan to pass this dress on and continue to monogram each baby's name on the slip. It's so fun to think of all of our babies and Aunt Muffy's babies wearing this dress. Little Bee, don't you look forward to siblings and cousins? It's a good thing you're a patient angel because it's going to be awhile! Love ya, Elizabeth

Happy 4 Month Birthday, Little Bee!

On September 21, Ellen turned 4 months old! She has grown up so much this month. She can turn from her back to her tummy and then back to her back. She can reach for things as small as a raisin. She can also pull things to her mouth and chew on them. We wonder if she might be teething. She is a drool monster, chews on her hands, and one of her gums looks a bit swollen. She also tries to help us hold her bottle. Ellen loves to laugh at the doggies when they play and to bounce in her baby gym. She starts every day with a long conversation about her dreams. We love her sweet baby babble. Happy birthday, Angel! We love you, Elizabeth

Nap Time

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
I love my sleeping family. Elizabeth

Party On, Little Bee!

Today we took the Little Bee to her first birthday party. The party was a first birthday for Catherine. Catherine is t he daughter of a friend of ours and goes to Ellen's school. The party was a circus theme with a bouncy house, clown, cotton candy, James Coney Island and a photo booth. Ellen threw on her tutu and was ready to rock. Once we got there she was a bit tired but she got to hang out with Mimi, one of her cool older friends. Below is a picture of she and Mimi in the photo booth. Little Bee, you come from a long line of party people on your Grandpa's side. We hope you had fun at your first birthday party and that you enjoy many more! Love you, Elizabeth

Welcome Charlie!

Last night Ellen got to go meet her new best friend Charlie. He was a very sweet little guy with tons of precious hair and such cute pouty lips. His mommy and daddy were doing great and are very calm parents already. Daddy Will expertly executed a diaper change and told us about other diaper adventures he has already had. Mommy Julie looked great and was already very mobile. Visiting them reminded us of being in their shoes about three and a half months ago. We loved that hazy cocoon of new parenthood. Lloyd and I would watch Ellen for hours and marvel and her tiny movements. Those first days are exciting and scary and filled with more love than you new your heart could hold. While we loved those days and were missing them yesterday, we also love where Ellen is now. Every age and stage brings something new and we have loved every minute of it. We know Will and Julie will too. We look forward to being with sweet Charlie and watching him grow. Kisses and snuggles, Charlie, from the Little Bee and her Mommy and Daddy

Ellen's New Trick

When you contemplate having kids it is fun to think about what traits of yours they will get. Will she be girly and bad at sports like me or the star of her soccer team? Will she be as clueless about directions as I am or have an internal compass like her father? Will she have blond hair (yes, if I give her my hairdressers number) or her daddy's dark hair? You hope so much that they get the best from the buffet of genes you both have to offer. I am personally grateful that she seems to have her daddy's ability to digest milk! When thinking about all of this it never occurred to me that she might adopt my ear tucking. This was something I did from infancy when I sucked my thumb, a self soothing technique. She has always rubbed her ear when soothing herself but more recently this has developed into folding her ear, as you see in the picture above. This is causing a bit of a panic in Lloyd and he does not wish his sweet Bee to be an ear tucker. I have more mixed feelings about this. She looks so much like her daddy that I sort of enjoy that this is something that so obviously came from me however I don't want her to have the funny looking ears that result from years of tucking. We are having so much fun discovering what kind of person our Angel Bee is turning into and are excited to see what traits will be all her own. Little Bee, we love you just the way you and will love the person you become no matter what. We'll love you if you are smart, we'll love you if you think math is hard, we'll love you when you are happy and when life gets more rough. I hope you carry this love Daddy and I have for you in your heart for the rest of your life! Love you, Elizabeth

Ellen's Babtisim

On August 29, 2010 Ellen was baptised at St. Luke's United Methodist Church. Baptism is the first of two sacraments in the Methodist Church. Communion is the second. It is the start of a person's spiritual journey. We are received through baptism as an infant and we continue our commitment to Christ later in life. through baptism, we are claimed by God's love, adopted by God's grace and initiated into the Body of Christ. Baptized children are included in church but must be shaped as Christians. As parents, family and congregations, we take responsibility to exemplify the Christian faith. Baptism is a four-way covenant between God, a community of faith, parents and the person being baptized. All four are essential for baptism. We are excited for Ellen to start her spiritual journey and that family and friends were present to witness this with us and to continue to guide her in faith throughout her life. She has already started to attend church with us and is very well behaved when she does.
Ellen was precious in her dress that my mother made for her and was so cute when Dr. Pace held her out to meet her church family. It really looked she was taking a good look at the congregation. We were surprised and excited that she was being baptised along with a sweet baby boy who's parents Lloyd and I know through the rodeo and the landman business. We had a very happy day and were so excited to share it with friends and family who we love very much. Love you all, Elizabeth
PS For those of you who didn't see us up close... Lloyd looked so handsome in his seersucker suit and he even wore a tie with little bees all over it. Ellen and I were quite impressed.