Pork Festival 2010

Saturday we took Elliana to her first Preble County Pork Festival in Eaton, Ohio. She had such a great time! She started off her day at the Pork Smorgasboard (the all you can eat with pork chops, sausage, ham, and all the sides). She had never eaten pork before, but she loved it! She gnawed her pork chop with her 4 little teeth and actually ate a surprising amount.
Ellie also got to see all kinds of farm equipment. She sat in a real John Deere tractor...
A backhoe...
And a front loader (with some help from grandpa)...
She had a great time riding around on daddy's back...
And she got to pet a baby pig! We still have some work to do on petting gentle, but she did pretty good considering she's never seen a pig before!
We all had a great time, and we can't wait to take Elliana back next year!

Playing with Mommy

Ellie Meets Evie

Elliana's cousin Evie came up from Louisville for the day. They had so much fun playing. Evie was even helping Ellie with walking. The girls had a such a nice time together!

Mommy's Little Helper

Ellie likes to help mommy in the kitchen. She is always pulling out pots, pans, and baking sheets for me to use. Now I just can't wait until she can actually help in the kitchen and learn to cook with mommy!

First Hair Cut

On August 15th we took Elliana for her first hair cut. Let's face it, she needed it! The mullet was getting out of control (though she did make the mullet look good and I am sure all the other babies wanted one too!).
Here is the before...
During...
And after...
She did surprisingly well. She never even cried! She just sat in the chair and looked around. She wasn't quite sure of what was going on. I was pleasantly surprised by how calm she was!

Happy 1st Birthday Elliana!

Yesterday we celebrated Elliana's 1st birthday! We had quite the crowd over to our house to help us celebrate. Ellie had a great time and loved all of the attention. She didn't quite know what to make of the gifts. She wasn't very interested. She did love smashing her cupcake! At first she was hesitant, but then she got into it and ate over half of the cupcake. Sugar rush! Overall it was a great day. It is still hard to believe that our baby isn't a baby anymore. I guess she is officially a toddler now! She will always be our baby though.
Thank you to all of our friends and family that came over to help us celebrate our amazing little girl. We thank you so much for your kindness and generosity, especially the gift of your time. Elliana is such a lucky little girl to have so many people that care about her and love her!
Here are a few snapshots from the day. We will post more pictures as we get them.

The ladybug dessert table...yum!
She loved the balloons - first time she has ever played with one!
Wearing her little ladybug party hat.
Being sung to and mommy blowing out the candle. I think she was a bit overwhelmed.
Let the sugar rush begin!
Time for presents. She seemed more interested in walking around the coffee table, playing with a plate, or playing with a bottle of water.

Mommy's Birthday!

Wednesday we celebrated my birthday. Last year I didn't get to "unwrap" the present I really wanted, but this year I had the best present ever: my beautiful baby girl. We had a nice low-key day at home - exactly what I wanted!