Sunday Best

I took a few cute pictures of Jackson last weekend before church, because we were actually early to church and had some time to snap pictures. I thought these were too cute to not share, so here they are. Enjoy!

These were taken Sunday, June 26, 2011.

Playing catch up again......

Things have been crazy busy in the Ellard household for the past month or so. But praise the Lord, all has been well. He has helped us through sinus infections, and now pink eye, but we know there is light at the end of the tunnel.

I can't believe my little boy turned 21 months old on June 21, 2011, and is now only 3 short months away from being a two-year old! Again, time please slow down. He is just growing up too fast and we love spending time with him. He is such a talker, and a good one at that. He is bright and smart and picks up on things so quickly. At this rate I'm afraid he is going to outsmart his mother by the time he's in 5th grade!

He loves to read and help around the house...here are a few pics of him reading and helping dad lower his crib...

 

 

Can I just say that it is quite annoying for me to add pictures and I could use a lot or practice!! Anyway, these are a few cute pictures I snapped last Friday.

More 19 Month Photos...hopefully, lol!

Has it really been that long.......

since I blogged the last time?? Boy time flies!

Let's take a stroll down memory lane.....at least since the last time I wrote! Lot's of things have happened in our family since March. We celebrated Andrew's 31st birthday on April 23rd and spent that weekend (which was also Easter weekend) with his Mom and Mr. Reid. For his birthday dinner Mike grilled his famously delicious, and juicy, steaks. Always a favorite with Andrew. And his Mom, who Jackson affectionately calls "Rah-Rah", made him a birthday ball cake. It was fabulous!! I wish I had taken pictures of all this, but it seems I have been slacking on my "photo" game lately.

Anyway, this cake ball cake is made by mixing and baking a cake mix, then you crumble that up and mix it with an icing of your choice, roll into balls, and finally dip in melted white chocolate and chill until hardened. The flavor we had was lemon cake with cream cheese icing and it was simply sinful. Yummo! Oh, and before I forget, we also did an egg hunt for Jackson the afternoon of Andrew's birthday. Jackson was really getting into it until he caught sight of the pond, lol.

For Easter we all got dressed up and went to church; we tried to take a few pics afterward, but that wasn't very successful. Jackson is always ready to change out of his Sunday clothes once we get home. We did get a few cute ones though. I will have to add those at a later date.

So, Jackson got to stay with "Rah-Rah" for the next week and a half while we were preparing and going on our belated 5-Year Anniversary trip to Hawaii. That was a great anniversary/vacation trip, and incidently also our second "baby moon" trip! We found out on April 14th that we were expecting another baby, I had my first prenatal appointment on April 27th, and we hopped on the plane to Hawaii on April 28th! How's that for timing?

"Rah-Rah" had a photographer come out to her house while she was keeping him to take 19 month pictures, and they turned out great! Thanks again Cindy! Here are a few. I would have added more, but had problems uploading additional photos after I posted these.....please help me if you know how to go back and add more once you've already added a few. Thanks!

 

 

When we got back from our trip, we waited another week and a half or two to announce the news to everyone. From the time I got back til' then, I sprained my left mcl and had to be in a knee immobilizer for 5 days straight! Not fun! One of those days was Mother's Day, lol. Jackson and Andrew got me the sweetest cards and picked beautiful daylilies and gladiolias from our flower beds to make a bouquet for me. I have to brag on Andrew because he really took care of me while I had to keep my knee propped up...such a wonderful husband! That night they took me to Red Lobster for dinner. We had a great time!

When we finally announced to everyone,  I was right at 9 weeks. We really had fun telling Andrew's family....and Nancy was the only person we got to tell in person, so I made a special shirt for Jackson to wear for that evening.

Tomorrow my little Jackson will be 20 months old! I cannot believe how big he has gotten and how smart he is. He never ceases to amaze us with his brilliance...and he is such a joy to be around! I mean, he has his moments, but for the most part he is all smiles. His smiles warm my heart.

A few months ago I wrote a few things about Jackson at the time, and now here are a few more tidbits...

20 Things about my 20-month-old, Jackson:

1. He doesn't really have a baby face anymore ;( He is getting to be such a big boy....time please slow down!

2. His eyes are still really blue, especially when he wears blue

3. He weighs around 27 lbs and is 36-38 inches tall.

4. He has become really picky with his food lately, and refuses vegetables and fruit more often than he used to.

5. On the flip side, he is convinced that green bean, carrot, or any other baby food is yogurt, so that's how I make sure he's getting his fruits and veggies for now!! He will kill me when he finds out later, but sometimes as a Mom you have to do what you have to do!

6. He loves his trucks and tractors! Really any type of transportation that is motorized!

7. He is now more interested in watching Sprout TV, and more specifially "Thomas" when we get home from "school" or on Saturday mornings.

8. He often asks to watch "Airpanes" or "Trucks" or "Twactors" on TV.

9. He loves to run around naked in his "cape" after bathtime!

10. He now loves to go "simming" at the Wellness Center with us on the weekends.

11. He can say Wal-mart and likes to go shopping with me there.

12. He is very friendly and likes to say hello and wave to people while we are shopping.

13. He loves for us to play with him and give him attention. If he wants us to spend more time with him, he will walk over and grab our hand and walk us back to his room or wherever he wants to go. He says "Hand" as he grabs our hand....it is the sweetest thing.

14. Speaking of sweet, he gives really sweet kisses and hugs these days. I always look forward to a bedtime kiss from him at the end of the day.

15. Every night we read him at least two bedtime stories, and most of the time he requests both of them to be the Bible. He has two; one little Bible, and one he calls the "big Bible". That blesses my heart every time.

16. When he is tired he will tell us "Nap" for naptime or "Bed" for bedtime. Thank the Lord he loves his sleep as much as his mother does! Lol...

17. He can repeat anything we say and sometimes says things we didn't even know he knew how to say!

18. He has started saying "Thank you Mommy" or "Thank you Daddy" when we give him a snack or help him with something. You can never teach good manners too early ; )

19. He really likes to say "Cool Dude" and it is the cutest thing!

20. My love for him has grown so over the past 20 months and Andrew & I thank the Lord every day for blessing us with such a sweet little boy. ;)

Welcome Spring!

I am so glad that Spring has sprung, but wish it didn't have to come with all the pollen. :) Andrew's weekly lawn mowing routine is now in full swing and Jackson loves to ride with Daddy on the lawn tractor. He went for his first ride of the season last weekend.

Our little Jackson also turned 18 months old this past Monday, March 21st! I can't believe he is already a year and a half old. Bless his heart, he had a bad fever over the weekend and had to see the doctor Monday, but he is definittely feeling better now. He has learned and grown so much over the past 18 months; I could go on and on about how much he's learned and how great he is talking now. He has definitely started associating (well that started several months back) different objects or things with places or people. It has now become a pretty common occurance for him to say something Andrew or I didn't even know he knew how to say.

He still loves bananas and fishes, but has sort of gone through an anti-vegetable stage lately. He will still eat sweet potatoes and peas every once and a while, but refuses other veggies. That is frustrating at times, but I'm sure it will pass. He loves to play with his trucks, tractor, airplanes, etc. and any activity outside. While at the doctor Monday, he weighed in at a healthy 27 pounds! He is almost 36 inches tall and wears size 18 month clothing, so I guess he's right on track as far as physical growth goes. Here are a few pics of our little booger...


Valentine's Day Weekend

All Because Two People Love Each Other…..

I would like to thank my wonderful husband for five exhilarating years of marriage on this 25th day of February, 2011. It was five years and five months ago, on September 25, 2005, that we met in a singles Sunday school class at Temple Baptist Church. We quickly caught each others eye and started dating shortly afterward. Seven short weeks later my true love, Andrew Scott Ellard, asked for my hand in marriage. Because the Lord had confirmed to me that Andrew was the man I would spend the rest of my life with, I joyfully accepted his marriage proposal.


That night we decided to go ahead and set our wedding date for February 25, 2006, only three months and a few days later. That doesn’t give a girl much time to plan the biggest day of her life, but we both agreed that we were ready to begin living our life together as soon as possible! Why waste time when you know, right?

The big day came and with it came the clouds! For whatever reason, I’ve always been told that rain on your wedding day is good luck, and rain it did. I like to think that the Lord was showering us with matrimonial blessings from above. Watching my bridesmaids walk down the aisle one by one, I couldn’t wait until it was my turn to walk arm in arm with my father and have him give me away to the love of my life. He seemed a little hesitant about the idea, but finally mustered the courage to give us his blessing at the end of the aisle, as he kissed me and put my hand in Andrew’s.     

                                               

We’ve enjoyed many fun times together, from playing cards or Mexican train dominoes at home, to going out on the town, to staying in and snuggling on the couch to watch a movie, to traveling across the country together. We made our first homemade pizza, danced in the rain, had candle-lit picnics in the living room, painted a house, laughed over coffee and dessert at our favorite local restaurant, celebrated one of our Valentine’s Days at a rodeo, bought our first vehicle at an auction, made pear butter and jam with the first crop of pears at our new house in 2008, refinished wood floors –twice, and many other things, together! The best part was being TOGETHER.

Four years after we met, we welcomed our beautiful baby boy, James Andrew Jackson Ellard, into the world. He was born September 21, 2009, and he has brought many new emotions into our life, but the most memorable emotion is love. He is now 17 months old and never ceases to amaze us! It has been such a joy to grow from husband and wife, to father and mother with a precious baby boy. Jackson has grown so quickly and learned so much in his 17 months with us, and has brought such laughter and joy into our lives. I like to think the Lord gives us children because they are truly a gift and because they remind us that we always have an inner child and it’s ok to let it come out…..often!

 

We are given the task of training up children in the way they should go, but I can honestly say that I have learned just as much in the past 17 months as Jackson. The transformation into a mother has truly been an amazing journey, and I couldn’t have done it without the Lord and my wonderful husband, Andrew.

 




Andrew, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, for five wonderful years of marriage. I would like to echo our proclamation to each other from a few years ago. Andrew Scott Ellard, I love you without fear, and without reservation. I want to (continue) make (ing) you happy, and I didn’t just realize that yesterday.

To my Love and my Friend, Happy 5-Year Anniversary! I love you!

A day of Love!

Happy Valentine's Day to all those I love and cherish! Thank you for blessing my life. And thank you Lord for making my life possible and so abundantly blessed through my Savior, Jesus Christ.

More to come along with updated pics....