NummaNummaNUMMA!!!

In case you didn't know, D is an Ah-MAY-zing cook!!! This is awesome since 1) I can barely cook even if I've got a recipe and everything is premeasured and 2) I LOVE to eat!!! So for what I lack in culinary skills, D definitely makes up for it all and then some.

The other night we had big plans to do a Japanese feast of Godzilla proportions. We planned for sushi (sashimi to be exact) and also tempura. As it happened, we completely filled up on the sushi and had little room left for the tempura so we wrapped up all of the tempura makings and decided that tonight would be the night to finally make it all happen!

Since D is the resident expert of Japanese cuisine, Miss A and I just hung around, stayed out of the way, and looked cute. (Well, it was mostly Miss A who was doing the most of the looking cute but you get what I mean, right?)


Isn't Miss A adorable with all of her "little mama" ways? She wrapped her baby up like that all by herself and carried it around like that!


Still, the food tasted so good that we had to interrupt D so that he could give Miss A's baby a quick kiss...


And also so we good get a little peek at what was smelling so good...


:-O (that's emoticon speak for "Good GRAVY does that every look incredible!!!")


I mean seriously?!! It looked just like something that you could get in any top-rated Japanese restaurant. And if you can get past how gorgeous it looked, you better believe that it tasted just as good! Don't believe me? Ask Miss A... she will COMPLETELY attest to the fact that it was so delicious it was worth wearing even...



Pictures don't lie, folks. Pictures do NOT lie!

Tweet tweet tweet!

Check it out!!! No - on the left!!!

<-------------------------------------------------Way over there on the sidebar and then down just a little bit.

See it???

We are now microblogging via twitter. *sigh* Yes. I've officially caved and done it.

*shrug*

And as tech savvy as I feel like I am, I actually don't know a lick about how to microblog or twitter so 1) I'll let you know how it goes and 2) we'll see how long this lasts until I get mad and quit all together.

Until the fat lady sings though? Keep an eye on that feed over there to the left. I've already tweeted four items since registering earlier today and my most recent (and last for the night) is one about Miss A.

Throwback day!

Today's throwback might be my favorite one so far. This is because it captures so many elements of the collective history of our family all at once. So funny how taking pictures like this seem insignificant at the time but end up being something that totally illustrates something very memorable and so much a part of what has made All of Us Ellwoods exactly who we are!

It's been only four years since we started out in a one-bedroom humble and cozy little abode that was just D and me. Our new house is still cozy and humble but such a far cry from feeling like we are just about living on top of one another in our old two-bedroom apartment (pictured below). Oh the memories of feeling shoe-boxed in all the time and being woken up by car alarms and people yelling at the repo-tow truck as it dragged people's belongings out of the apartment complex week after week...

Unapologetic hugging

You know what I love most about Miss A these days? She's unabashedly demonstrative about her love for others. The people she knows well are truly showered with affection in such a way that they couldn't possibly doubt how much Miss A honestly loves them. Whether she's telling you that outright telling you those three lovely most important words in the world (I love you) or she's sneak attack hugging you, she absolutely loves with no shame and no apology...

Every last drop

Yes - I could have succeeded at discouraging Miss A from drinking down so much of her bath water.

But that would have meant me NOT succeeding at capturing such a great moment and getting such a hilarious picture of her.

Throwback day!

One of my favorite stages of Miss A's was when her "chubby-roly-poly" baby stage. I believe this was in her 8th month. So much chub to love!!

We should have named her Joy

D and I make it a habit to say prayers together daily and saying thanks for the blessing that is Miss A is always included - not just because it's something rote but because we really and truly are that thankful for her.

Two evenings ago, D had his usual Friday things going on so Miss A and I traveled southward to meet up with my parents for dinner. Miss A entertained all of us with her antics through the whole meal and it was noted that she is a very personable little lady. It always makes me happy when this kind of thing is noticed because D and I think this all of the time and I am aware of the fact that we can be biased because we are her parents so it's validating to hear that it is indeed true - she IS very personable!

I don't know how it is that Miss A came out like she did but she's got such a great and even disposition to her and then on top of that she's just so naturally joyful. Sometimes she does get fussy but that's usually only when there's a very good reason (when she's tired and/or hungry) and once we take care of things she's always quickly back to her old self.

Yesterday Miss A and I went out and about for a little bit and then we came back home and just relaxed. Miss A (literally) took it upon herself to literally kick back while eating her snack of "crunchies" (chips, to those not in the "know" and yes - she still does the thing where she gnashes her teeth together when she asks for them, "Crunchies? *gnashgnashgnash*"...)



I've quickly become one of those people who I always said I never understood - the type who, when they become parents, spend all of their time with their kids. What can I say? *shrug* It's hard not to want to hang out with a person all the time who is the personification of joy.

Do the twist!

Last evening Miss A learned a fun little lesson about cause and effect:

Twist dancing
+ Binky on a tether
-------------------------
Binky swinging around you in a silly way that makes you and everyone around you laugh

Throwback day

Let's play a little guessing game shall we?

How many pictures have I amassed of Miss A since the day she was born?

Seriously! How many do you think I've taken and digitally filed away?

Answer: Approximately 4,000-4,300

I know. I KNOW. Isn't it hard to believe? I mean, I'm the one that even took them and has sat here for hours on end editing and filing and sorting and organizing and the number even blows me away!

But how many of those do you think I've probably gotten printed up? Hmmm... maybe 50-100? Seriously! No more than 100 of the aforementioned total have been printed.

This is because D and I have just kept them on our hard drive(s) (we have two so that we can backup the one on our desktop!) and then just scroll through them as we see fit. Seems kind of a waste, doesn't it?

Yeah. I think so to. So... we're going to try something a little new.

Just to keep things interesting and fun and surprising, we're going to randomly post some "throwback" photos that we have in our photo archives that have never been seen within email distros, online photo albums, or have been put on the blog.

Sounds good? OK!

Here's our first one. I *think* this was taken when Miss A was experiencing spaghetti squash (one of my personal favorites!) for the first time around her 11 month mark.


Amazing how the time flies, eh? And amazing how this one never made it to the blog since I look at it now and just swoon at what a wonderful moment it captures. *shrug* Who knows why it never made it in the first place.

Anyway, let's hear it for Throwback days, eh? This is going to be fun!!! Stay tuned for more.

P.S. Remember: Throwback days will happen randomly and without warning so be on the look out for them. :)

Style is forever

I'd say it's fair to say that it is rare that Miss A could be called not cute. I think this applies mostly because as a person (albeit a little one), she's got a cute way about her! Her little voice, her crazy open-mouthed laugh, her squinchy eyes that she does sometimes when she gets excited - it all adds up to something that is just easily classified as cute. And this isn't a bad thing especially since a lot of the time she's got to make up for a wardrobe that she just doesn't have.

Now, this isn't to say that Miss A is poorly dressed in the least but one thing can't be denied and that's that most of her wardrobe consists of things going a second or even third go around. She's a regular hand-me-down little gal. D and I are both teachers and we just can't afford to have her dressed to the nines all the time! We like hand-me-downs very much so! Still, sometimes I feel kind of bad that Miss A rarely gets something that is all new and all hers from the very beginning. So thank the good Lord above for discounted clothing stores!!!

I found the below at TJMaxx the other day when I was looking for a new bathing suit for Miss A at a price point lower than $10. I managed to find a very cute suit for her for a solid $8 (Woo-hoo for holding out and not even buying one at Target!!) and I also stumbled upon this amazing ensemble marked down to only $12!!!!! And it even came with a cute headband that matched the top!!!!!!

It was an impulse buy but it's hard to argue that it was the wrong impulse to give into because just look at how stylish Miss A looks...


And because she is such a little fashion bug diva type just completely naturally the way she is, I'll have you know that she added the beaded necklace all on her own! Impressed, are you not?

What can I say? Miss A KNOWS that fashion fades but style is definitely forever.

I've been Pixied

People might argue against this but I'm actually a bit on the shy side. I'm usually behind the camera for the obvious reasons but also because I generally don't like to be pictured as well. I've learned that for a lot of photographers and visual artists, this type of thing holds true for them too.

I decided to come on the other side of the camera today though to document another part of my day with Miss A when we went to the farm and the Enchanted Forest though. After our trip there we took a jaunt over to the Baltimore area to visit the amazing stylist who I've been going to for over five years now!! I know how ridiculous it is to continually drive over an hour to get your haircut but any lady will tell you that when you find someone who does good hair it's well worth a long trip and when you find someone who does GREAT hair it's definitely worth driving even hours away.

Anyway, this past December you might remember that I took the plunge to get all of my hair chopped off with the intention of maybe eventually being brave enough to go even shorter. As it turned out I LOVED having short hair and was that much more encouraged and finally took the big plunge to go for the classic "pixie" cut that I've always envied on others. I'm not sure that I can completely pull it off the way some people can but I just like the cut and the ease of care so much that I almost don't even care...

It will require very regimented almost monthly trims to maintain it but I love it so much I feel like it's well worth the investment and the effort.

Into the woods

After hanging out with the animals and then drenching herself at the hand washing stations, Miss A was ready for lunch! And anyone who knows her well enough knows very well that she doesn't let a moment pass her by that might mean she can nibble on something!

I figured it would be hard to convince Miss A to sit nicely at a picnic table and eat her PB & J so I strapped her into her stroller and we headed into the "Enchanted Forest."

(A little history that I just learned today: The original Enchanted Forest used to be one of the only local area amusement parks that was really little more than a bunch of statuettes designed after classic storybook tales. When it officially closed it's doors, the Clark family was able to obtain the Cinderella pumpkin coach so that local families could still enjoy it. The original owners of all of the rest of the amusements of the Enchanted Forest were so impressed by the Clark family's commitment to preserving the spirit of the Enchanted Forest alive that it was agreed that all of the rest of the amusements would follow until the entire Enchanted Forest was moved completely to the Clark family's farm land. Thus, the Enchanted Forest found it's new home and families have been able to continue enjoying it and not have it be just another chapter of local history.)

Since it would have been mean of me to force Miss A to stay seated during the entire trip through the Enchanted Forest, we took our time and would walk a little, and then take a little interlude so that she could get out and walk around while nibbling on her sandwich. I wasn't able to take too many pictures of her with the incredible statues because that would have meant that she would have been able to just run wild and free like a crazy woman. I DID manage to get one really good shot of her with her favorite statues though and I'm sure if the Dish and the Spoon had been real, she surely would have run away with them (as I said before, wild and free like a crazy woman) right after the cow jumping over the moon...

It's hard to tell by the picture but she was actually standing there holding hands with the Dish. So cute because I think she really actually thought they were real by the way she just stood there holding onto the hand like it was going to take off and run away!

A lot of the amusements were a little big and intimidating to her because she's just a little too much of a shorty just yet to be able to see inside of the ones that are now closed off by plexiglass and meant to be enjoyed from the outside looking in. The bright colors intrigued her enough but since it was hard for her to see in any of the windows, she would basically just walk around them a little bit and then get bored and run off into the surrounding areas of grassy knolls. Here she is outside of the house of the Three Bears and Goldilocks...


She's such a little peanut that she was barely even tall enough to look into the extra-large keyhole that was meant just for peeking in!

After the Enchanted Forest I knew that she needed a little time to be able to play in areas sized closer to her. Luckily there were these tiny little playhouses that were by the lovely shaded picnic area and Miss A thought they were just about the best things EVER!!! I mean, seriously!!!! WHOLE houses?!!! And just the perfect size for her?!!! She was in pure and complete bliss and kept going in them and coming out of them over and over again like she couldn't believe that they existed.


This little primitive looking cabin was her favorite of all and watching her enjoy it as much as she did got the gears in my head going with thinking that "Hmmmm... maybe D and I should design and make one of these for her upcoming birthday!" *sigh* If she ends up being a spoiled little girl, it will end up being our fault alone because we always just want to give her the world to have absolutely for her own.

The other little playhouse was slightly bigger than the little cabin and I think it was a little too big for her because I was able to stand up inside of it comfortably. She did very much enjoy the REAL (but terribly out of tune) upright piano inside that was amazingly teeny-tiny and absolutely the perfect size for her. (This picture looks blurry because I had to take it through an old scratched up window pane.)


And before we finally had to leave, we were able to squeeze out just enough time to be able to eat a delicious strawberry shortcake bar...


And then play one last time at one of the amazingly huge playgrounds...




We definitely have plans to return to the farm and the forest sometime in the near future so that we can go on the hayride (the one thing we didn't do!) and we're hoping that next time D will be able to come along as well. Perhaps even YOU can come too! *wink*

Down on the farm

Yesterday I had the great joy of being able to take the day off just have a day to do something completely fun with Miss A. D and I trade off on who stays home on days when our daycare provider takes time off and this time around it was my turn.

At first I started thinking about literally staying home with Miss A and using the time to get household chores taken care of but then I realized how silly it would be to not take better advantage of the bonus time. I quickly got to brainstorming of where and what we could do that would be out of the ordinary and really fun. That's how I was able to come up with going to a local area farm, petting zoo, and "Enchanted Forest." The place where we went was Clark's Elioak Farm. What a ball that place was for us!

Miss A was honestly a little overwhelmed when we first got there. There are three parts of the farm and it was a lot to take in! There were giant sculptures and statues of classic storybooks (that's the Enchanted Forest part of it), tiny little playhouses scattered all about to play pretend, animals to pet, cuddle up to, and ride on, and a maze to scamper around in. To help Miss A ease into it all a little easier, we started out in a play area with toys that she was familiar enough with...

It helped tremendously and she began to feel right at home with it all. (Please note Miss A's sandals that show her freshly pedicured piggies done earlier that day! She's finally at the age where she enjoys such a thing much more and spent a good part of the day just looking down at her feet when she walked around.)

Since I couldn't wait to get her to the petting zoo that was our next stop. I thought she would be thrilled to see and touch all of the animals but surprisingly it wasn't "all that" to her.

We started out with the miniature goats that were so tiny they didn't even look real. Since Miss A has had limited exposure to live animals other than dogs, cats, and most recently rabbits, she was confused about the goats. She kept calling them dogs and puppies and barely took a moment to get to know them better. I encouraged her to sit down next to them because they really were that nice and gentle to be able to get closer to but she just wasn't impressed. I mean, it was a DOG just like her dog at home wasn't it? Why should she even care about seeing another dog?!!

After a lot of encouragement from me (and I think just to get me to be quiet already) she obliged my requests and did a "one-finger touch" like what she was taught at daycare. Eh. I'll take what I can get.


After being forced to touch the goat, she jumped up and ran away and straight for the wooden cut out cow and she had no issue walking right up to it and petting it like it was an old friend who she hadn't seen in years. Go figure.

Thankfully, the experience with the wooden cow seemed to be the gateway to her feeling much more confident with interacting with the rest of the animals by her own initiation.

She still wasn't inclined to touch them but at least she walked around and said "Hi" to all of them. Her favorite (by far) was the bunnies but I think it was only because of her recent introduction to the bunny at Grammy and Grandpap's house over Easter. She enjoyed the bunny so much (in fact) that she spent most of the time rattling the lock on the cage to try and open it and set it free.

After the petting zoo we stopped off at the handwashing stations and (not surprisingly) this was one of the highlights of the whole day. She just LOVES playing in water and never lets an opportunity pass her by to play, splash, and drench herself. It's a good thing it was close to 90 degrees otherwise I wouldn't have been able to let her get as wet as she did. Oh the joy of being almost two when your mama says it's OK to make a mess...

So that was the first half of our time on the farm. The rest (in the Enchanted Forest) is going to have to wait for the next time because I gotta get back to work now finishing up grades for third marking period. *Wooo!* I can hardly believe I've got only nine weeks of the school year left. Where did the time go?!!

Sneak Peek: Farmer girl

It's been an extraordinarily long day for me and I am exhausted. Amazingly I wasn't at work today during the day but all this evening instead!

I would love to post all of the pictures of the adventures had with Miss A today but it's going to have to wait until next time. In the meanwhile? Here's a snippet of what's in store for you if you keep coming back for more...

I don't know what you're talking about

What do you mean I have chocolate on my face?!!

The Lost Pictures of Spring Break - part 2 of 2

I bring you the last installment of the lost pictures of Spring break!!!! Can you hear me cheering about from where you are? I'm surprised if you can't because, as I stated previously, I was devastated by the thought that these pictures had been accidentally deleted forever.

Anyway, where we last left off, we were on the western side of PA starting out our Spring break. For these pictures we trucked it all the way across the state to the eastern side where my family is in the process of building a vacation lake house.

In the five years (so far) of the building process, the house really has come a long way! But despite this, the walls are still waiting to be completely finished and the claw footed bath tub that my mom got for "a steal" is still sitting up in the kids' loft area waiting to be moved and installed. *shrug* Until then we all just pay no mind to the patchy looking walls and we bathe all of the little people (read: Miss A) in the deep country kitchen sink instead of showering them in the "big people" shower. To say that Miss A is deathly afraid of the whole experience of stand-up-showering would be the understatement of the year. Good thing she's such a tiny thing and looks so cute bathing in the kitchen sink to begin with because it makes the whole process far from painful - and also provides lots more fun (and funny!) photo ops!

I just love this picture below. She looks like she's doing a shampoo commercial or something...

And the next picture is so classically Miss A with that expression! She's all about the big gaping open mouth smile when she gets REALLY happy about things. Looking at the picture I can almost hear her squeal of pure delight that was likely emitting from her mouth at that moment.


And then right before bedtime, D decided he needed a snack and because popcorn is one of Miss A's favorite snacks, I couldn't bring myself to keep her from it. She likes it so much that every time we go to Target she asks for some to eat while we shop!!! I just love how serious D and Miss A look about eating the popcorn. And also note that they both have the exact same expression on their faces. Like father, like daughter for sure.


And then (just because we are all about doing things purely for the sake of a good picture) we handed the whole popcorn bowl over to Miss A to indulge herself to her heart's delight.

And did she EVER take advantage of such an opportunity!!! Look at her go!!! In our house we call this "piggy hands" and "piggy mouth"!


And now for what might be one of my top favorite pictures of Miss A of all time. Technically it's a picture of only part of Miss A but it's something that captures a memory of a lifetime for the way that I will always remember her at this stage...


This is Miss A's hand holding her precious security blanket! She attached herself to it when she wasn't even six months old and despite the fact that I'm sure that it harbors all kinds of germs and carries more grime with it than probably the dog himself, I can't bring myself to try and break her of the habit of carrying it around all the time.

The way it works, wherever Miss A is, the blanket is sure to be somewhere close. The most recent development is documented above with her lacing her fingers with it in a very specific way. She will hold it (with both hands) just as pictured above. She goes through this process of fluffing it so that it created these nice folds and then she will stick her pointer finger into a fold and then take the rest of her fingers and wrap the fabric around her pointer finger. I just noticed that she has started doing this during this very trip and in the time that I noticed it to the end of the trip, she's become so quick with lacing it through her fingers that it's hard to even watch her go through the steps/motions to do it right because she's just that fast!!! It's a small thing but I think it's so sweet and I love it and it will surely be one of those things that we will tell her about when her blanket gets so old that she can't do this anymore.

And that's it! Hope you enjoyed these lost pictures. I'm off to bed now for hopefully a much better night's sleep than last night.

The Lost Pictures of Spring Break - part 1 of 2

I know that I shouldn't measure my life in what I have but when I thought I lost these pictures I was pretty crushed. I'm naturally a visual person and though I have a great memory because of that, I really like having the tangible images created from a camera. (Funny how what is tangible now is digital and is actually not really all that tangible in the physical sense but that's another blog post right?)

Anyway, what once was lost has finally been found. OH amazing grace how you work in wonderful ways when my ability to multi-task fails to coordinate with my memory of what I'm doing when and where! I apologize if they aren't in the correct chronological order - I'm all out of sorts now that I feel like I completed the Spring break series. Without further adieu... I present to you the lost pictures...

PapPap is legendary for his love for all of the little ones. I can't tell you how many times I was told (during pregnancy) that "PapPap LOVES babies!" Woo! People were NOT kiddin' about that! Here he is with both V and Miss A. I only wish that I had a picture of them all dancing with the side-stepping frog as well...

And what Easter celebration would be complete without a visit with a bunny! Thankfully, Grandpap and Grammy have a REAL bunny and nobody was walking through the door in one of those creepy Easter bunny costumes with the weird giant heads. (Seriously? They are creepier than some of the mall Santa Clauses out there!) Miss A was all about the "bunny Bunny BUNNY?" during the whole stay and frequently asked if she could go downstairs to see it and tell it "Hi Bunny!" Too bad her enthusiasm wasn't a little more on point when Grammy brought it up to sit with her and Little V for a traditional Easter portrait. *shrug* Oh well. Can't win 'em all...

And, finally, my favorite series of pictures of all that I was most heartbroken over possibly losing.

Miss A is a very demonstrative little lady when it comes to showing her affections. She rarely dislikes anyone but when she loves you, she is completely forthright in showing you just how much love that is! I can't remember what happened exactly but I think Little V took a little bit of a tumble in his "new walker" ways and he was very upset. His mother (Aunt H) scooped him up right away to comfort him but something about it all prompted Miss A to step in and try and take over for Aunt H. Why? Well because (OF COURSE!) NOBODY can be a little love and comfort like Miss A can, right? I was lucky enough to have my camera in hand to be able to catch the beautiful and tender moment as it unfolded...





I took some serious artistic license to digitally manipulate the colors, contrasts, lighting, and focus of the above but that was only to enhance what was already there to begin with and emphasize how my heart saw it as much as my camera. I tell you... there is nothing quite so heartbreaking (in a GOOD way) as seeing the above take place. It's like it's pure validation as a parent of what you're teaching and doing and showing your child in how to be towards other. If this is how Miss A does unto others for the rest of her life, I'm thinking that D and I will have few problems at all. What a little heart of gold she has.

And there is one more round of lost pictures but I'm going to have to save that for another time because I'm late as it is leaving work and I gotta get to the store to buy diapers and food!