Ellis Family Christmas 2012

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. Parker is at that age where he is learning about Christmas and also loving to rip open presents.

We wanted to make sure we took a family picture, because we aren't sure when we will be taking another one altogether. I think these came out amazing! These were taken in the courtyard at the Esplanade in Phoenix. On the weekends the only thing open in this area is the theater and the escalators aren't turned on.

The happy Ellis family!



Ellis-Ellingson 2012




These are some quick photos I took of Eliana.





Santa pictures!! I love how these turned out. We had them done by a professional photographer, who did a Santa special at her studio. She charged roughly the same price as the mall, probably cheaper, and did a great job.





Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!

Eliana is 2 months old!

We have been busy wrapping things up for the BIG move to Montreal in only 16 days! Though I've been taking a lot of pictures, Eliana's 2 month post is a little late.

 

 

Current stats: 

Weight: 11 lbs (25-50th percentile)

Height: 22.25" long (25-50th percentile)

Clothing size: 0-3 months tops//3-6 month pants

diapers: newborn cloth diapers

We are still waiting for Eliana's "official" 2 month appointment. We recently switched back to our old pediatrician and it delayed her appointment a little bit. I'm excited to be back with our former pediatrician(even if it's only for a couple visits), he is an amazing doctor. 

...still has the bluest eyes and some gorgeous long eye lashes.

...has the lightest hair out of all three kids when they were this age.
 

...loves to gnaw on her hands. 

...loves to play with her tongue.

 ...loves to kick things with her feet.

...loves her bouncy chair and her swing.

...rolls over from belly to back. 

(has rolled from back to belly once, I think it was by accident though)

...grabs her for her toys.
...holds her head up pretty good. Not quite 100% steady, but she is close. 

...coos all the time. I LOVE hearing this sooo much!

...gives us the cutest and biggest smiles. It melts my heart.
...she has some of the cutest and funniest expressions.



...she's a pretty good sleeper. She wakes up a couple times a night to nurse, but I'd say it's more like dream feeding. She never fully wakes up at all.
...she is still exclusively nursing.
...co-sleeps in our room.

Love you my little "lana" xoxoxo

Our stockings!

I had the idea to make our own personalized stockings after Eliana was born. I thought it would be a more daunting task, especially with all the extra embroidery I was doing, but they didn't take quite as long as I thought. They took me about a week, even with all the embroidery. I used a GREAT DIY tutorial  from pinterest. There is even a printable pattern.

You can find the tutorial here. 



Stocking DIY cost: 

Cotton fabric(Front): $15.00 (35th ave Sew & Vac)
Cotton fabric(Accents): $5.00
Minky fabric(Back): $5.99 (SAS fabric wholesale)
Crushed velour fabric(Inner): $2.00 (SAS fabrics wholesale)
Embroidery designs: $3.40 ( Planet Applique-On sale)



Total: $31.39!!! 

That doesn't include  the cost of the embroidery materials as I already had them. I looked into buying them retail and each stocking with personalization was around $25.

I didn't use any batting as I had minky on the back and crushed velour inner and I found that it was more than enough fabric. I don't think I could've sewn through any more layers. I also didn't do binding at the top. When I had embroidered my stocking my name ended up being too high and the stitching would have been covered.

Designing a shared room: Picture frame bow holder

I thought it was funny that my last post about their room, was the same day Eliana arrived. If you missed reading that post you can read it here.

I decided, after jumping on the "bow" bandwagon, that Eliana needed a bow holder. Once again, Pinterest came to the rescue. I used this tutorial to make the picture frame bow holder.

Picture frame DIY cost: 

Frame: $2.50 (thrifted)
Chevron fabric: $2.00 (SAS fabrics wholesale)
Grey polka dot ribbon(4 yards):  $1.00 (SAS fabrics wholesale)
Hooks: $1.00 (Walmart)

Total: $6.50!!! 

Total time: 1 hour

Has to be the ugliest picture I've ever seen, but the frame is big and sturdy. I love these vintage frames too.
 
I liked the distressed look the frame already had, so I sprayed a light coat of creme paint so it would match the shelve it would be hanging by.


This project was one of the quickest and easiest projects to do, but I love how it looks. I've seen holders like this in boutique shops selling for over $50 too!

Wittle People Wednesday

Linking up with Ramblings and Photos. I don't know what I'm doing wrong, but I can't seem to ever get her linky button to work for me. :(

So in love...

The bucket list!! Item #1...AZ State Fair

Most of you heard that we will be moving to Montreal at the beginning of the year. We are all pretty excited, but  it's also a little intimidating. Our move date is officially January 3rd, 2013...eek! That is only 6 weeks away. The move led to a conversation with my older daughter about things we want to do in Arizona before we move. We decided to make a little "Leaving AZ bucket list."



Here are the items we have so far:

1. Go to the AZ state fair...eat funnel cake.
2. Go to McCormick Railroad park.
3. Go to the Phoenix Zoo.
4. Visit  the "Cherry Street" Christmas light displays.
5. Have a Holiday/Moving/Meet Eliana party.
6. Eat at Organ Stop Pizza.
7. Take a family picture in front of a cactus in the middle of nowhere.
8. Visit the Grand Canyon.
9. Trip to Sedona.
10. Visit a couple local museums (Science museum and MIM).
11. Eat at China Village.
12. Eat at China Way.
13. Eat at the NYPD pizza by our house...was suppose to open  months ago :/
14. Take Parker on the light rail.






At the beginning of the month we attended the AZ State Fair and crossed the first item off of our list.  My brother had come into town to meet Eliana and my dad and Aunt Sharon also joined us. I thought it was funny because I have lived in AZ for most of my life and I can only remember going to the State Fair one other time.




Eliana was 3 weeks when we went. She just snuggled in the Beco carrier most if the time.





 



It was a good thing Mark decided to try the fried twinkie as he may never have another chance to eat one, lol.





One of my biggest reasons for going to the fair was to eat a funnel cake. We live only a couple blocks from the fair and the hardest thing was to leave the house and smell nothing but the food at the fair.





I'm glad we were able to kick off our bucket list with such a fun event,  it was a great day with family.

Eliana is one month old!

Current stats: 

Weight: approx 9lbs (25th percentile)

Height: approx 20.5" long (10th percentile)

Clothing size: newborn

diapers: newborn cloth diapers

At ONE month

Loves mama's milk

Loves cuddling

Loves being swaddled

Loves showers

Loves her swing

Loves to sleep

Loves to be talked and sang to

Her nicknames are Ellie, Little Miss and Miss E. 

Eliana is a great baby. She sleeps great, is always content, and makes having three kids a breeze. At least for now. Honestly, she barely cries. She makes a few squeaks here and there when she wants your attention. 

Eliana loves noise...she sleeps even better when I'm vacuuming, sewing or when Parker is running around the house laughing. Once it's too quiet, she usually starts to stir. 

Eliana eats every 2-3 hours, a little more often right before bedtime. She goes to sleep around 7pm. Eliana will get a little cranky if we try to push that to a later time. She loves her sleep. She will take up 2-3 times in the night for feeding or changing, but will wake up fully at around 7am.  

She does pretty good holding up her head when she is laying on our chest (with us sitting at an incline.) It's a little tougher for her when she is flat on the floor. Most of the time she is doing tummy time using the boppy pillow.

She will sometimes smile when I talk to her and I've heard her laughing in her sleep when Parker is singing in the background. I'm thinking she loves Parker's voice. 

It's been a wonderful month and we are looking forward to more adventures to come! 

Love you so much Eliana.

Amazing little man...Parker

I realized that I haven't posted much about Parker lately. I'm sure that is great grandma is wondering how he is doing with all the new changes.

Parker just passed the 26 month mark. Sometimes I forget that he is still so young and still needs so much of my attention. I can't tell you enough of how good of a kid he is. Sure, we have moments where he is out of control... and even that is an understatement, but he is two. He has so many more good moments, than he does bad.

Current stats:

Weight: 26 lbs

Height: approx 33" long

Clothing size: 2T pants, 3/4 shirts

Shoe size: 6/7 wide

Parker talks so much! His newest is when he finds a toy car at a store and looks at you with those big brown eyes and says, "buy it?" Followed by an ever so polite, "please?" It's pretty cute, but the repercussions that come with me having to tell him no, are pretty severe. Usually, with me winding up completely embarrassed in the middle of the store. 

Another cute little story about Parker was when I was eating breakfast, mind you Parker had eaten a BIG breakfast a few minutes prior. Parker sees that what I'm eating looks pretty good and asks me for some. I tell him that it's my breakfast and that he already ate. Parker replies with, "share...please?"

Things Parker loves to do:

 Read, read and more reading.

Watching Caillou or Thomas the Tank.

Anything with wheels...cars or trains. 

Riding the train at the park near our house. 

Playing with his train tracks. 

Favorite things to eat/drink:

Milk

PB&J

Spaghetti

Mac N Cheese

Pizza

Cookies

Parker and Vanessa are closer than ever. It's amazing that even with a 10 year age difference they are nearly inseparable when together. 

I posted this with Eliana's 2 week update post, but Parker loves his little sister. He is doing so good with being gentle and giving hugs and kisses. I hope Parker and Eliana will eventually be just as close as he is with Vanessa.

                                        

Wittle People Wednesday: Newborn cloth

Linking up with Ashley Sisk for Wittle People Wednesday. Trying to get the linky code to work, but it doesn't seem to at the moment.

Eliana will be a month on Sunday, that is crazy to think! I will have a big monthly milestone post for her on Sunday.

 I've been putting a post together for my business blog regarding newborn cloth diapering, so naturally I've had to take a lot of photos of Eliana wearing the diapers since she was born. I want my customers to get an idea of how they fit.  I'm going to share a few of the photos I took yesterday of Eliana wearing my absolute favorite cloth diaper that I made her.



Eliana is still at that stage where she will let me move her all over to take pictures without waking her up.