Birthday Girl in the House!

Holy freak!  Today my little Ellie Bellie, my little Smellie Ellie, my little Wheezie, my little baby Eloise is a whole ONE year old!  Gah!  Where did the year go?

She went from this teeny little thing...

{photo taken one hour post-birth}

To this sweet and smiley, catch-me-if-you-can walking little girl...

Seriously...in just one year's time!

*sob*

I thought I'd take stroll down memory lane.  

Why don't you stroll with me?

A year in review.

Month-by-month in picture form.

Isn't she the cutest thing...and getting bigger every day!

Every month, in each of our children's first year of life, we sit them down for a little amateur photo shoot.  For the two girls I made a point of shooting them in the same location (our rocking chair) for part of the pictures just to document how much they have grown in comparison to it, to see how their mobility has improved and to take a look back at what motor skills they have gained.  Don't get me wrong we always take more pictures elsewhere (sometimes they move so fast you have to!) and I've even picked some of them to show here, but I will say it really is nice to have one standard background.  I wish I would have done this with Noah too but that's what happens when you are the first born...momma doesn't have a clue!  

Something I found this time around (thanks to blogging!) was the neat-o little 'month' stickers I used for each of these pictures.  Do you see them?  In each picture (minus 10 months, okay so we forgot that one!) Ellie has on a plain onesie and a removable 'month' sticker to show how old she is.  Totally genius.  I found my stickers here.  They were so easy to do, just print out and then cut around each sticker with a pair of scissors and your done, presto wham-o!

So, my little Eloise.  A bit about you on this, your First birthday!

Eloise, 

We love you so much!  You have been the best addition to our family!  You are sweet and caring, at the tender age of 12 months you already feel the need to pat your brother or sister on the back when they are upset and crying.  You love swinging and going down slides, laughing the whole time.  You love popping bubbles and digging in the dirt and we have many stained outfits to prove it.  You like water but only when it's warm, swim lessons have not been your thing.  You love being in your daddy's arms and race for the door when you hear him come into the house.  Your smile lights up every room.  You love to eat, anything and everything, we haven't met a food you have turned down yet :-)  You love to go on walks, walking by yourself and occasionally coming to momma to hold my finger.  You are adventurous and are finding every way to be a big kid, climbing on your sister's tricycle and having momma push you around or standing on your brother's scooter hoping he'll push you along down the sidewalk.  You love playing with all my fabric (yes, it's true!) your eyes light up when you sneak out of my sewing room with a handful of scraps :-)   You love music and dancing and your newest skill is clicking your tongue.  You are a joy to parent, easy and calm and just so sweet.  I cannot wait to see the wonderful little girl you become!

We love you soooo much, 

Always and Forever,

Momma, Daddy, Noah and Penelope

Now we are off to celebrate the birthday girl...we'll talk soon!

XOXO,