New Years 2015

Tonight is New Years Eve and I'm do ready this year for 2015.  Usually I am thinking about all the things I will do differently next year that I didn't do this year but today I'm feeling a bit nostalgic and very positive about where my life is.  I am so lucky and feel so blessed so my only wish for 2015 is for God to continue to bless me and my family.

I am grateful for a beautiful home filled with our beautiful family.  I am grateful for our gorgeous healthy crazy daughter who brings joy on a daily basis to so many people.  Most of all I am grateful for my husband who works his butt off every day to make sure I can live this life and so  our family can lean on us in their time of need.  He has the biggest heart of anyone I know and I hope 2015 brings some big things for him!  God knows he deserves it.

Progress post

At 18 months they say your child should be able to say about 10 words and that they will try to repeat what you say but may only get out the last syllable or so.

Ellie says countless words way before she hit 18 months! She speaks both English and Albanian so I feel like that has helped her grasp language quicker.  Her brain has had to work harder from day one to understand what my parents say to her in Albanian and what we say when speaking English.  

Oh and she will choose to play with a box over its contents 9 times out of 10. Lol

Some of my favorite things she says are the things she mispronounces :). They absolutely melt my heart.

Poons (spoon)

Bakset (basket)

Anet (shndet- Albanian for bless you)

Tabbet (tablet)

And some words she used recently (correctly I might add) that surprised me are:

Charger

So, mommy, what's up?

Pumpkin Picking 2014

I had been looking forward to this day all year long! We never got to go last year because we were in the process of buying our house and there was just not enough time to fit it in. 

So this year we made it a point to ensure we went before the season was over.  We got lucky with a beautiful day with great friends!

18 Month Update

One thing I've learned is it's not so easy to update a blog with a toddler around!

That being said, I can't believe I have a toddler!  Time is really flying by.  Ellie is growing and learning new things every day.  She says so many words very clearly and then others not so clearly :).

She is speaking both Albanian and English words and has mastered "Thank you" and "You're welcome".

We switched her out of her crib about a month ago and it went ok I guess.  She stays in it but only after she's asleep.  We have had issues trying to get her to fall asleep on her own.  She still needs mommy to put her to bed.  Definitely think this was my own fault and don't think I'm strong enough to change it now.    I guess we can wait until she understands and just does it on her own?? Lol I know, wishful thinking!!

We recently introduced the potty to her.  Not quite potty training but have put it in the bathroom to let her explore when she inevitably follows mommy in there.

And yes that ducky ended up in the garbage! Ew

That's about it for big milestones I think this summer.  It went way too fast!  We did take a month long trip to Macedonia to visit family.  She will never remember this trip but I know her aunts, uncles and cousins will never forget it. They all made it a great time for her and she can look back at pictures when she gets older.

Now the weather is starting to cool down and everyone is back in school so we are trying to get ready for Fall stuff.  Hopefully next weekend we will go pumpkin picking and then get ready for Halloween!

This last picture was Ellie on the trampoline at her cousins house for a birthday party and I'm only including it because I can't get enough of her!

Eliana's First Birthday

So Ellie turned O-N-E on March 16, 2014 and we had a great big party to celebrate.  Haven't had much time lately to post updates but I wanted to make sure I will always remember this day.

It difficult to pick a party theme for this birthday because they aren't really into any characters yet.  The only thing she really loved was elephants so we based our whole day around that or should I say  Ellie-phants!!

We decided to hold it at our house mainly because we didn't want to make it too big.  We would be forced to keep it intimate because everyone needed to fit in our home.  That being said, we still had over 50 people but it definitely could have been worse.  

Because she is our first and we tried so long to have her we wanted this day to be extra special.  I planned every detail of this party for months and months and of course not everything turned out like I wanted it to ( that always happens!)

Nevertheless we had a great time and our princess was super happy.  That's all that matters after all.

Here are some pictures to illustrate how it all went down.

Ellie's First Haircut

I had been putting this day off because I didn't want them to cut off all of her adorable curls but I finally did it!  

On Saturday, April 26th we took her to Snips in Rockaway where they specialize in cutting hair for kids and she was so good!  They have her a small doll to distract her and boy did it work!  No years or even any squirming!

And no trip is ever complete without a Target run! (At least in this family)

Final product is super cute, doncha think?!

Happy Valentines Day!

Our first Valentines Day as a family

MY TWO LOVES

This past year we both got to experience the greatest love there is...not only with our daughter but with each other.  I am so much more in love with him today than I was before she was born because she is part me and part her father.  She would not be the amazing little person she is if it wasn't for him.

We were snowed in yesterday and today so we got to spend a relaxing Valentines Day at home this year.  No fancy dinners in stuffy places this year and I wouldn't change one thing.  :)

Her elli-phant and Elmo book