The Davis Family Blog: 2014

This blog has been on my to-do list for a while. I cannot believe I've waited this long to update it. Sometimes life gets in the way and we have been so busy. Hopefully I can catch up on everything that's happened since the end of May.

We had a wonderful summer. I loved having two months off with EK. Sometimes I feel like I miss so much while at work, so it was nice to be able to stay home with her and teach her new things this summer. We signed her up for swimming lessons with Mrs. Beth and she didn't really care for it. She liked the pool, she just didn't want to let go of me or Hunter. She liked eating Mrs. Beth's lunch each day instead. She did want to slide down the slide a few times and would pick things up off the bottom of the steps, but that was about it. I really don't' think she liked being in "cold" water.

Ella Kate and I also began "Mommy & Me" Gymnastics classes on Monday nights this summer. She absolutely loved jumping on the trampoline and flipping. It was also a great way to tire her our before bedtime. HAHA!

We went on our annual family vacation with my sisters and their families to Panama City for a week in July. This is when we really realized how clingy EK had gotten this summer. She didn't want to let us out of her sight. She would not let her feet touch the sand and wanted no part of the beach. I don't know if it was the thick sand or what…but she wasn't having it. She did like being in the pool at the beach house, though. It was warm and had a nice little "kid" area that she could walk around on. I believe she walked a million miles on it. We also visited an aquarium while we were there and of course went shopping. We picked up a new ornament for her tree, a couple of gifts for her birthday and Christmas, and of course a crab stuffed animal. :) Overall, we had a great time and are hoping she enjoys it a little more next summer.

When we came back from vacation and started back at Gymnastics, she cried every night we went. So, we took a break and started back in September and now she loves it again. THANK GOODNESS! She doesn't like waiting in line to do things and would rather jump on the trampoline the whole time, but I guess that just comes with her age. Patience is definitely not a trait she has right now.

When I started back to school, Ella Kate began daycare two days per week. It is something Hunter and I were torn about. On one hand, we wanted her to be around other kids her age and hoped this would help break her of being so clingy, but on the other hand, we have loved having her be able to stay with my mom each day. But, she's getting at that busy age and I know my mom needs a break every now and then. So, we enrolled her at Mrs. Cindy's daycare and she absolutely loves it. It has been one of the best decisions we've made. After about two weeks, she quit crying when Hunter dropped her off and now she gets right down to play. This makes both of our hearts so happy.

I've been back at school for two months and it has been hectic to say the least. The best part of my day is definitely seeing her big smile every afternoon.

Ella Kate has grown and learned so much these past few months. She's putting short phrases together and her vocabulary is growing each day. She has the biggest smile and loves to laugh. Her first combination of words was "Bye, bye Daddy" and "Bye, bye Mama". She also says "Love you, Mama" and "Love you, Daddy." Then, it was all of a sudden that she started putting all kind of words together. It is amazing how much she learns each day.

Although this may not be appropriate to share, it's one of the funniest things that I want to always remember, so I might as well share it, right? Anytime EK hears a burp or a "poot" she makes sure to let you know she heard it. She will say "Daddy, ewww, Daddy poop. P.U." and hold her nose. It's hilarious. And if you every burp when she's around she makes sure to copy it. I've also been letting her go to the bathroom with me when I go to try and get her used to the potty and the other day she looked at me and said "Mama tee-tee, Daddy poop." I swear I don't know where she comes up with this stuff. She is a mess!!

Her favorite songs are "The Wheels on the Bus" and "If You're Happy and You Know It". She knows all the motions and moves to them, too. Another funny moment was recently when she I was changing her diaper. While I was changing it, she was staring at a canvas hanging on her wall of me and Hunter (it was a maternity picture we had made) and she looked at it and said "Mama, ball" and started rubbing her belly. I told her that was not a ball, that mama had a baby in her belly. She laughed and laughed when I told her that. Then she said "Daddy, crying. Mama, night night" because our eyes were closed in the picture. It's amazing what all she picks up on.

We're hoping to potty train her over Thanksgiving and move to a big girl bed over Christmas. We're also hoping to give up the paci on her birthday next week. Pray for us! :) :) I think this is one of the biggest obstacles we will face! She LOVES her paci.

I CANNOT believe she will be two next week. We are having a dinner with family next Thursday and instead of a party this year, we're taking her to the Georgia Aquarium and spending the weekend in Atlanta. We are excited and cannot wait. I will try to update soon after her birthday.

Here's what we've been up to since the end of May…

First Day of Swim Lessons: Monday, June 2, 2014

Giving Daddy kisses

Picking up fish off the steps and putting them into the net!

First Day of Mommy & Me Gymnastics: Monday, June 2, 2014

EK with her friends, Sutton & Tinsley!

Hunter's 2nd Father's Day: Sunday, June 15, 2014

DIVA at Panama City Beach- July 2014

We bought these ugly shoes hoping they would help with the sand issue- NO LUCK!

Playing in the pool!

Out to eat at Pineapple Willy's

Pure sweetness

She was hot and tired!

Love this little stinker!

One of the only times she let us put her down on the sand.

Pointing to the dolphin at the aquarium...

I could eat her up!

Family Photo at The Shrimp Boat

Being bossy as usual!

EK loved Aunt Carlee.

Had to put this one on here- EK shooting her first bird.

Love my family!

My sweet baby!

EK with her new crab.

First Day of Daycare: Tuesday, August 5, 2014

TCHS Homecoming Parade: Thursday, September 25, 2014 (eating Turner's food)!

Breaking it down. The girl's got moves!

Happy Girl!

EK & Tinsley dancing in the street...

This blog is WAY overdue for an update. The end of the school year is just mass chaos and hectic that this blog has sat on the back burner. There is no way I can update everything that's happened since my last post in March so I'll just hit the high points.

Since my last post, we have celebrated Easter, my 31st birthday, Mother's Day, and the end of another school year. One of the best perks of teaching is having the summer off. I cherish the days I get to spend with Ella Kate because I know that she won't be this little forever. I am soaking it all up and loving every minute (even the tantrums we've been having lately). :)

We celebrated Easter on Saturday, April 19th at my grandma (Maw's) house with lunch and no egg hunt because of the bad weather. On Sunday, April 20th we celebrated Easter Sunday with a wonderful church service, followed by lunch at Memommy's and then EK's own Easter egg hunt at our house. The Easter bunny also came to see EK Sunday morning and boy was he nice to her!

The week after Easter was my Spring Break. We decided to take EK to the Jacksonville Zoo that Monday of my break. She loved looking at all the animals and even got to feed the giraffe. She got very excited when we were eating lunch and a squirrel came right up to her. She didn't know what to think about that! But, I think her favorite part was running on the walkways and hearing her shoes tap around!

On Thursday, April 24th she had her 18 month check-up. She was 31 and 1/4 inches long and weighed 21 pounds, 6 ounces. She was in the 25th percentile for height and weight. She is meeting all of her milestones and is as healthy as can be. For that, we are so thankful! After her check-up we dropped her off at Grandma's and headed to Kentucky to see Hunter's Pop and visit Keeneland (one of our favorite places). It had been almost one year since our sweet Nan passed away and we visited her grave while we were there, too. As much as we wanted to take EK on this trip, we didn't want her (or us) to suffer through that. She is getting at the stage where she dislikes being in the carseat and the drive was way too long for her. We're hoping to take her next year.

We had a great time celebrating my 2nd Mother's Day on Sunday, May 11th. Being a Mommy is such a blessing. I hope that I am half the mom to EK as my mom is to me.

School ended for students on Wednesday, May 21st and my last day of post-planning was on Friday, May 23rd. We have a few trips planned before school starts back and I am looking forward to the memories to be made.

There is no way I could write what EK has been up to these past two months- but here is a brief/pieced together version of it... :)

EK is becoming such a little copycat. She copies any and everything we do. She sees me picking up little pieces of trash on the floor and if she ever finds any, she brings it right to me. She doesn't like anything on her hands after she eats and holds them out for you to wipe them. She loves the ole Barney "Clean Up" song and will "wipe" things out the way when you sing it. She is a little OCD like her Mommy I do believe. She also copies my mom who must say "Oy" all the time because every time EK bends down or has to climb up a step, you'd think it was taking all of her energy.

Another copycat moment she had is when we were on the way to Kentucky. My sister, Julie, sent us the funniest video of EK walking like my mom, who had a hurt foot and had been limping on it. EK picked right up on it and copied her walk. She will still to this day walk like that if you say "Walk like Grandma." I hope she always has this fun sense of humor.

Ella Kate is starting to call people by name, too. She can say Mama, Papa Greg, Cade, KK, Grandma, and Brent. She doesn't say "Da-da" much anymore but does call him Ma-ma, a lot. My heart just melts when she says "Ma-ma". It's the sweetest sound. If you ask her where someone or something is she throws her hands up in the air like "I don't know" and will say "gone". Anytime you ask her where Cade is, she says "ball". She knows how much he loves playing baseball. We went to watch him at one of his games not too long ago and she went right up to the fence and yelled "Caaaaaaadeeeeee" to let him know she was there. She also found a little strip of pavement that she thought was made especially for her and ran up and down it yelling "GOOOOOOOOOO". In the middle of one of her marathons, she heard people cheering and clapping at one of the games going on at another field and she joined right along with them, clapping away. And when she realized nobody from that game was paying her any attention, she yelled "Heeeewwwooooooooo"!

She has started showing interest in her sorting toys and puzzles lately and likes to try and put the pieces in the right place. When she's had enough of that, she will dump out the toys and throw the puzzle pieces. That a girl! :)

One of EK's newest obsessions is hoarding. The other morning we found her surrounded by about six stuffed animals in her crib. And each time she wakes up, whether it be morning or after nap time, she names them one by one and three of them must accompany her to have her diaper changed. That includes two cats and one horse. Guess she's gotta have back-up?? If you ever take her shopping, it is a must that you surround her with everything you can find that will fit beside her. Then she's set! Another hoarding moment she had just this week- I had just put her down for a nap and kept hearing a funny sound through the monitor. When I looked, I saw she had a golf ball that she had hidden in her crib and was now throwing it around. When she woke up from this same nap, she was playing with a wind-up toy that she also had hidden and was making it go down her crib railing. Such a little clown!!

Ella Kate loves playing with her golf clubs and any kind of ball she can find. This makes her Daddy very happy. She also likes putting lids on and off of bottles. Does anyone know where you can buy empty medicine bottles, because that's what she's getting for her birthday. KIDDING! Kind of. She enjoys golf cart rides and we take one almost every day. While we're riding she points out many things (car, bus, boat, squirrel, woo woo (for dog), tree, cat, bird, truck, car, etc.). She is still obsessed with buses and now squirrels. Every time she sees a tree she says "quuuu" for squirrel. One day, when picking her up from Mom's she was so excited to show me that her Papa Greg trapped a squirrel in the backyard. When I walked in, the first thing she said was "Ma-ma quuuu". So cute!

Bathtime is still one of her favorite times and she will go running to the bathroom when you tell her it's time for her bath. She gets so excited! She has recently learned to "swim" in the bathtub. She will get down on her belly and stick her face in the water and kick her legs when you tell her to swim. And she never lets a bath go by without you washing her feet. She makes sure at some point to stick them up for you to wash. Amen, baby girl- no one likes stinky feet!!!

Although she loves her bath, she does not like Splash in the Boro! She wanted no part of it and would not leave my lap the whole time. I think she wanted the water to be warmer. HAHA! Hopefully she won't pitch too big of a fit next week at her first swim lesson. Stay tuned!

Even though she is a sweet girl most of the time, she has been known to throw a few tantrums when she doesn't get her way. And I mean, laying in the floor kicking or hands in the air and stomping. She gets that from her Daddy. :)

Whew- I think that's it for now. We are excited for SUMMERTIME and beginning Mommy & Me Gymnastics next week! :) Happy Summer to all of you!

Below are some photos from the past two months…