Addi Lynn

Our beautiful Addi Lynn has finally joined our family. She was born on Tuesday, March 10, at 10:04 p.m. She weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs 10 oz and is 20 3/4 inches. Both Landon and I are very grateful for all the wonderful help all of our friends and family have been over the past few weeks to help us prepare for her delivery.

Daddy and his little girl enjoying some peaceful time together.

A beautiful morning welcomed our beautiful girl.

Ella has donned the big sister roles and responsibilities with joy. She is very attentive to her baby sister.

Addi Lynn is a blessing to our family. We are so excited for the adventures to come.

Pay It Forward

So, here's how this game works-the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or be lazy and copy and paste like I did). Then come back, let me know you're going to play and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Send me an email with your address, landon.shellie@comcast.net

Remember, only the first three get a gift, so you have to be super fast!

Nesting

Two months ago, it finally hit me . . . I am having a baby! I slowly began working on projects like sewing Ella some dress-up princess dresses. Then as time progressed, I started thinking of all the things that I needed to get done for our bundle of joy. The projects just kept stacking up. Here are just a few of things that have been going on in our home:

The bags are now packed and the batteries in the cameras are charged. Let's have a baby!

Before We Are Four

Our family is growing and I wanted to get a few photos of our current condition before the arrival of our newest addition makes her debue. Landon and I are very excited and of course the big sister to be is also showing her own kind of enthusiasm.

The Visitor

Landon and I really got a kick out of this.

Last night at dinner, we were all sitting enjoying one of my fabulous culinary masterpieces (hahaha - chicken and StoveTop casserole), when out of no where, Ella chimes into the conversation to say, "My sister made a mess in my room," in a matter-of-fact tone. Landon and I looked at each other and laughed. I made the comment, "Not already." Landon turns to Ella and asks her who it was that made the mess and she answered, without hesitation, that was her sister. He then asked her, "Where is your sister?" To which she responded, "In Mommy's tummy." That lead to further inquiries on our part. Landon finally asked, "Well, how did your sister make the mess then?" Ella, in her infinite wisdom, replied, "She jumped out."

If only it were that easy.

The Power of Three

Thursday, January 26, 2006, was a very eventful day for our family; our Ella was born! She came into this world with vigor. We are so grateful for the joy that she has brought to us.

Three years later, she continues to bring joy to all of us. Ella was thrilled to have a birthday party with lots of friends. The festivities began with lunch at Izzy's. What could be better than party bags, goodies, pizza and ice cream!?

Ella made a haul! The smiles that she was giving us all day were so bright I couldn't help but be excited and smile with her.

The fun continued at home. Ella and I baked a cake together. It was made according to her specifications. She wanted a pink heart cake. After she ate her "piece of cake" (the frosting), she promptly asked for more frosting!

The gifts kept coming too. She was so excited over everything, it seemed like she was going in circles for a bit while she was deciding what she wanted to play with first.


I'm so grateful for my little girl, and I hope she will always know how important and special she is.

Potty Time

I am so proud of my little toots. It has been a week, and Ella has had no accidents. A few months ago, I attempted to begin potty training, and I failed miserably. I made some mistakes, and maybe (if you haven't already been through this process) if I share them, you won't make those same mistakes.
First: I started when I thought Ella should be ready.
Second: I had Ella go sit on the potty according to the schedule I thought was appropriate.
And Finally: I started this process when I was in the middle of my first trimester of my pregnancy.
With the wisdom that Landon gained from his father, he told me that "when you train a horse, sometimes things just don't work out. You then have to take some time off, and when you resume your training (when she's ready), the horse will remember what you taught them the first time, and progress without any trouble." Now, I'm not saying that my daughter is a horse, but the training theory seemed to be correct. For the months following the miserable failure, I would periodically ask Ella if she would like to go potty on her potty. For months the answer was no, but one day (a week ago), she agreed and was excited to put her big girl panties on. Since then, she has had no accidents. She even wakes up dry in the morning half the time, and wakes up from her naps dry every day. It's been fun to be excited with her. Now at the end of the day, she gets two coins for every "wet" she does in the potty and five coins for every "poopy." She then sits down and counts her coins as she puts them in her piggy bank (actually its a snail). She loves it when she gets "Lots and Lots of moneys."
Ella's getting to be such a big girl, and I am loving the thrill of being a part of her growth!