Ellie has become quite the little fashion diva! I let her pick out her outfit yesterday and she chose an orange and white smocked dress, black and white halloween bow, and red crocs! Tonight she chose her pajamas...Valentine's day pj's, orange Halloween bow, and rainboots. I think the common denominator is the Halloween bow!

Playdate with Nana (Anna)

Ellie's sweet friend, Anna, came for a playdate this afternoon. It was incredibly hot for an April afternoon. It was music to our ears when we heard the sweet sounds of the ice cream truck turning on our street. Two bomb pops later and we were in businesss! Notice where Ellie stored her popsicle between licks...hope you can't get the swine flu from our driveway!!!!

Ellie's Vocabulary

As most of you know...we are a little behind in the vocabulary department. When Ellie turned one, the pediatrician asked me if she had 10-15 words in her vocabulary....I just laughed. We are slowly but surely getting more and more words. Here are the words that we have:

Momma
DaDa
Meme- Charley and most all animals
Bubble
Ball
Cow=moo (you ask her to say cow and she says moo)
Dog= meme...said with lots and lots of love
Mow mow= lawn mowers, diggers, big trucks and horses (not sure how they got lumped in)
Baby
Babu= BA
Nana- Mrs. Dabney and her little friend Anna
Pop- Mr. Steve (she will make the pop sound but not put any air behind it)
Es-Es
NaNa- Ladye
Bubba- Our next door neighbor in Aberdeen that she loves!

Hello faithful reader(s)

It has been brought to my attention by my follower from the longest distance (Alaska) that it has been too long since I have posted. I am truly sorry for making my readership wait so long to see what is going on in the life of the Sheltons! Not too much has been going on...we (yes, I did say WE) have been in the process of making curtains and pillows for Ellie's big girl room. Nana and Pop came this weekend and we had a wonderful time. Pop (or Bubba...as Ellie sometimes calls him) made Ellie's twin headboards and brought them to Nashville. We covered them with cute fabric. They look awesome. Brian and I sewed all last week on the curtains for her room. I am pretty sure that Brian will be quitting the practice of law soon to become a seamstress. Do you call a man a seamstress??? He is really great at sewing and especially at the measurements! (except that we made two whole panels and never put the foot down on the sewing machine!!!) Ladye sent us home with the first two seasons of Friday Night Lights, so we have been sewing and watching that!

Saturday night was Ellie's first night in her big girl bed. She crawled right in and never made a peep. I was so proud of her. I went to check on her during nap yesterday and she was sound asleep on the floor. I think she crawled out and couldn't figure out how to get back in. Fine with me...as long as she slept and didn't come out! Thanks Nana and Pop for all your hard work!!! We miss you and can't wait for you to come back.

Our friends Sammy and Lisa came to visit with their little one this weekend. Lisa ran the Music City Half Marathon this weekend. She did great and it was really fun to see them. That is Hailey in the picture with Brian and Ellie. Thanks to Mom and Es for our newest children...Lola and Mae. They are our new birds that have flowers in them. We love them!!!

Not so bad...

We were a little worried about Ellie's Easter Egg Hunting skills on Saturday when she only found 1 egg. Well, she got a lot better on Sunday at sweet Lily Catherine's egg hunt. She did really well...check out all those eggs in that basket. Thanks Aunt Nan for our beautiful new Easter dress, bow and sweater!!! We normally don't wear rain-boots with our dresses, but it was supposed to storm.

My Old Easter Egg Hunt Pictures

Here are the old pictures from the Easter Egg hunt my Mom had for me when I was little! Notice that the Easter Bunny in the picture is the same one we used yesterday!

We had an absolute blast at Ellie's Easter Egg Hunt. There were over 30 families who came and it was so much fun. The Lord provided us with the most beautiful day...I couldn't have ordered a better one. Everyone seemed to have a really great time and stayed for a while. Ellie was probably the worst "egg hunter" in history. She found one (1) egg...took the candy out and threw the egg back on the ground. She ate 10 times more cupcakes than she found eggs. She probably got 10 people to give her a cupcake...who needs to talk when you get everything your little heart desires. Several friends stayed to help us clean up and we started jumping on Jack's (our 85 year old neighbor) trampoline! It was really fun. Thanks to the Aberdeen crew for helping me make all the decorations and cookies....the were a hit!!! The rabbit and signs were the same signs that Mom and Ladye had at our Egg hunts...they are 27 years old and in great shape...so neat! I have pictures of us with that rabbit...I wish I knew how to scan it in. We will post those soon.

Ellie's Easter Egg Hunt

Storms....

Charley HATES storms. He senses that they are coming hours before the weather even turns bad. I am beginning to think we should not have named him after 4 hurricanes. (Charley Frank Ivan Gene Shelton) We had terrible weather on Thursday. He sat in my lap most of the day. You know he is scared if he is letting Ellie ride him like a pony! Charley is seeking anyone who wants to send him on a vacation from Ellie...maybe to the dog spa, a cruise, or just a trip to your house....anyone???