An Evening of Fun

Here's a quick run down of a normal evening of play in the Freed household...

Ellie first begins with a leisurely ride through the countryside on her faithful old zebra (a great birthday present from the Wests-thanks!).



Next up, an inverted soar through the air, hanging on by her ankles.

Ellie then enjoys a little scholarly fun after dumping out all the alphabet blocks. She can build 5 letter words like nobody's business (pronouncing them is the problem).

See how proud of herself she is?

And last but not least, we end the evening with a lovely, warm bath. Is there anything better?

1 year old pics

Once again, I'm a little slow on getting Ellie's milestone pictures taken. Her 1-year-old pictures were actually taken on Halloween, when she was 14 months old... better late than never, right? And she was still just as cute as ever, so I don't feel that bad about it. (It was rather windy that day, so please excuse the messy hair)

Happy Halloween!

Our little Minnie Mouse had a great time on her first trick-or-treating adventure (last year she was only 2 months, so it was a little difficult to walk door to door). This year we first made the rounds to the grandparents' houses, then back to our neighborhood to visit the next door neighbors. Then for the rest of the evening, Ellie helped Daddy hand out candy to other children, which I think she enjoyed the most.

Maybe it's a St. Louis thing, but we had lots of kids tell jokes when they rang the doorbell. My favorite was perhaps the little 4-year-old British boy, with his adorable accent ask, "What is a pirate's favorite letter?" And of course, we all know the answer is "R", but it sounds so much sweeter when it's said with an accent.

Bounce U

Ellie's cousins were in town for a visit last weekend, so we decided to try to make a trip to the pumpkin patch on Sunday afternoon....Boy, was that a bad idea! There were a million cars in the parking lot and another million backed up on the road waiting to get in the parking lot, so we quickly aborted that mission and kept on driving. Luckily, nearby was a facility that held the potential of being even more fun than the pumpkin patch. What is this facility, you ask? The answer is, Bounce U. It has all kinds of the big, blow-up gyms, slides, boxing rings, obstacle courses, etc., and we intended to use all of them.

The giant slide seemed to be everyone's favorite, as you can see from the smiles on Kameron's and Valerie's faces.
But Jason and Bryan enjoyed racing each other through the obstacle courses.
Ellie had fun on the big slide too, though it was close to that line of being scary/fun.
And Ellie enjoyed the basketball shoot-out, she just needed slightly longer arms.
So, if you have to miss going to the pumpkin patch near Halloween, this is definitely a fun alternative. And all those babies were asleep in their car seats before we pulled out of the parking lot on the way home.

More play time

Even though we never made it to the pumpkin patch, Ellie looked so darn cute in her Halloween outfit, that I just had to post these pics too. And isn't she just the sweetest little mommie, pushing around her baby....Man, that maternal instinct sure kicks in early.

Old Iron Works Days 2007

The Marler family has been making the trip to Meramec Springs for Old Iron Works Days for as long as I can remember. There were a number of years that we missed because our family was living in Farmington, and my siblings and I were teenagers who couldn't be bothered by such things. But some of our fondest family memories as children were going to Meramec Springs, so we've decided to continue the tradition with Ellie. Ellie attended her first Old Iron Works days last year, when she was about 7 weeks old, but this year she seemed to enjoy herself much more.
She got to swing and play on the slides...which led to a little bit of a fit when we pryed her fingers away from the swing chains to move on to something new.
... she got to pet some goats. And by "pet" some goats, I mean try to stick her fingers in their mouths and noses.
... she got to sit on a blanket on the big hill and listen to some fiddlin' bluegrass music and watch some so-so cloggers (Hi Aunt Lala).
... and she got to play on some of the old playground equipment that I remember playing on as a child. My parents have a picture of me and Andrew on this same horse and wagon, when I was about 3 years old...the horse was so much larger in my memory.
All in all, it was a fun, fall day, and the beginning of many future trips to Meramec Springs.

Where did you get that gorgeous purse?

Ellie is starting to discover the fun of being a girl, and by this I mean, she already loves her bags. Whether we're shopping or waiting for a table at a restaurant, Ellie will entertain herself by dragging around whatever purse or bag I'll let her have. So one evening her papa & mama surprised her by bringing over a beautiful, pink purse, all for her. She instantly filled it with the essentials--toys, books, a Uniqua doll, and a cell phone--and then began dragging it around the family room, waving bye-bye to everyone.

Happy Birthday

Ellie turned 1 on August 31, and enjoyed a birthday celebration over Labor Day weekend. The party was a success, as far as 1-year-old's parties go...meaning she stayed awake and relatively happy through the whole party, including swimming, playing in the sprinkler, eating cake, and opening presents.
I was very pleased with how well the caterpillar cake turned out. Ellie even had her own miniature version of the cake. But we'll see if she continues to get home-made cakes for future birthdays, since planning and preparing for the party is time consuming enough without considering the baking and cake decorating.



Ellie loved opening all her presents and playing with the paper or boxes. But when Papi brought out the red wagon, she was a goner. I can't even count how many laps we made inside the house on that first day with cousin Paige aboard.

Our Toddler is Toddling

From about 11 months on, Ellie was pretty much walking on her own, but Little Miss Cautious always felt the need to keep at least one finger on someone near by. So by the time she finally decided to be brave and take off on her own, she was a pro in no time.

It cracks me up when I hear those little feet moving as fast as they can across the kitchen floor to get to the dishwasher or fridge before I close the door (Ellie loves playing in both appliances). We also have lots of fun "chasing" each other and dancing. And our newest entertainment has come by way of trying to teach Ellie to jump...it is hilarious!

Sweetie!

Our little snuggle bunny....Ellie must have really been missing her daddy while he was playing golf because she wouldn't leave his side once he got home.
But he'd better not dare talk during Mickey Mouse Clubhouse....OR ELSE....
Just kidding. How could this little sweet face be anything but an angel?

Your Backyard Friends...

Ellie has become quite the Backyardigans fan. Her Granny got her a little Backyardigans fold out chair, that she just adores. Now we have to name each character as she points to them, no less than 20 times a day.
And when she hears that theme song, she stops whatever she's doing, starts dancing, and makes her way to the chair.
She may even nap in the chair on occasion, so she is sure to not miss another episode.

Mini Mozart

I think we may have a musical prodigy on our hands, and I'm not just saying that because she's my beautiful, genius daughter.....Well, maybe I am, but I do believe she's a genius. Ellie has grown quite fond of playing the piano, sitting on Mom's lap. And she likes to help Dad strum on the guitar. The best part, though, is watching her little dances whenever music plays. This girl's got rhythm.

9 Month Pics

Now that Ellie is close to 11 months old, I'm finally getting around to posting some of her 9 month old shots. These were taken at the Jewel Box in Forest Park.

The First in Hair Fashion

Ellie's hair is growing in quite nicely, so she's been wearing a lot of bows and barrettes lately. This was the first day she actually got to wear two barrettes at once, and she looked so cute that we just had to share the pics.