two years {oh my}

ellie, you are two!

what a young lady you are becoming!! you are a beautiful bundle of personality...
mommy and daddy are so proud of the wonderful big sister that you are

seconds after you were born,
daddy placed you in my arms...I was so exhausted from the past 32+hours of labor, I could barely hold all 9lbs. 2 oz. of you
you were a big baby!

your hair was the most amazing thing to me {and everyone else}
a head full of dark, lovely curls/
it was funny because so many people had told your daddy and I that we would have bald, blonde babies
and, yet, here you were
so cute...so cute

you have filled are lives from that moment on with such joy
being your mommy and daddy has been such a gift, and more than we could ever have imagined it would be...
BEST THING EVER!!!

these days you are talking more than ever

putting all your words together into darling little sentences

I just love hearing you stutter as you try to figure out what all you want to say at once/

"no" is used an awful lot right now, but we are working on it {grin}

you call your brother "baby", but it sounds british...more like "bobby"

when we go out to eat, you make sure that everyone that passes our table gets officially greeted with a cheery "hi" and as they are leaving with a just-as-cheery "bye"

my very favorite word that you say often is "mamarsh" translated to mean "marshmallow"

you don't call us "mama and dada" anymore...you have definitely moved into the "mommy and daddy" camp//

love love love hearing those words coming out of your mouth!

you have been gradually potty-training over the last couple of months

and we are buckling down now

you are doing so well, and started so early!

you love to eat

you will try pretty much anything

some of your favorites are salmon and dill-sauce, meatloaf, pasta, and broccoli and cashew salad...

snacks are so fun too...you love them

goldfish, cheddar cheese, and sugar snap peas

ellie, you are such an outdoors little girlie

you find excuses for us to go outside all the time

the other day, you played on the porch for an hour while you watched your daddy mow the lawn

you let hudson go first in the swing even though it is your favorite

giving him gentle pushes while he giggles at you

good job, sweetie

reading is still one of your top pastimes of choice

and your little Bible {well-loved} is probably your favorite

you determinedly flip through all the pages looking for "baby Jesus" or "Joshua and Jericho"

daddy has a fun song to go with that one!

coloring and letters are your newest friends

you have conquered most of the letter-sounds and happily point them out to me in your books or on my mail or wherever they may be

it makes me happy to know that you will have a love of reading just like I did as a little girl {and still do when I find the time  :)  }

you definitely have a goofy side

which we all find quite entertaining, my dear

you enjoy pretty things/

necklaces, bracelets, sunglasses, mommy or auntie's lip gloss, lotion, skirts, shoes...

just look at how you have grown!

you are mommy's little helper and busy companion...

you have filled all the little voids of this house and this family with your love and endless chatter {smile}

daddy and I love you ever so much, sweets,

and we are blessed to call you ours!!!

Happy Birthday, darling daughter

YOU ARE 2!!