A Trip to the Zoo

This past weekend, we took Ellie to the zoo for the first time!   Surprisingly enough, we have two zoos nearby to choose from.  After multiple people's recommendations, we ended up taking her to Roger Williams Zoo in Providence, Rhode Island this time.  There is a lot to see, but it doesn’t seem overwhelmingly large which seemed especially perfect for younger children.  Everything looked clean and well-maintained, it was easy to navigate and it didn’t start to seem crowded until we were on our way out (on a Sunday afternoon).  Ellie is a huge animal lover, so we knew the zoo would be a hit.  Our neighbors have goats that she goes bonkers for whenever she sees them, so it was no surprise that the farmyard was her favorite part of the whole zoo... possibly also because it was the only place I let her roam free a little bit. ;)  We brought her stroller but ended up taking turns carrying her around because we didn’t think she could get a good glimpse of the animals sitting down there.  She lasted almost two hours before she showed signs that she was going to lose it, so we just kept walking around the path in the direction we were headed so we could quickly see some different animals on our way out.  
 

We would definitely bring Ellie back there again and would recommend it to anyone who's local or local enough to make a day trip out of it!  It was relatively cheap for Tyler and I to get in, it completely tired Ells out, she had fun and we even got a little exercise + plenty of fresh air walking around.  If she was still going strong, I wanted to take her to the Carousel Village on our way out, but maybe next time! :)

Ellie is ONE!

As of 8:24 a.m. today, my baby is officially a year old!!  You know I held her extra tight at exactly that time this morning. ;)

Since her birthday forecast looked less than pleasant (40 degrees + rainy), we decided to go to the zoo over the weekend instead of on her actual birthday.  I'll share some photos from our trip later this week, but in the meantime, here are some of our day today!  Ellie woke up at her usual before the sun rises time, so we had a light breakfast, threw on her tutu and pink glitter bow, played for a little while and then she went down for her first nap.  We just got that pink bow in the mail on Monday, and as soon as I saw it, I knew she had to wear it with her tutu for her birthday breakfast!  They match too perfectly and the combo totally screams birthday princess if you ask me! :)

I didn't think it was necessary to have cake for her today when we're having cake this coming Saturday for her party, but still wanted to sing to her.  Donuts were the obvious option in my mind, so I made a little tower and popped a candle through the center of the top one.  Ellie chose her dad's scrambled eggs over her donut (although, we may or may not have shared one or two before Tyler got out of bed), but she definitely enjoyed being sung to. :)

After breakfast we let Ellie open her presents. Her favorite seemed to be the little wagon filled with beach toys that she picked out for herself when we were at Target a few weeks ago; but, she did give her new piggy rocker (Penelope!) hugs + kisses almost immediately when she walked in the room!   She's still a little bit too small to sit on the piggy all by herself (it's recommended for 18 months+), but she does like rocking back + forth on it while we sit next to her and make sure she doesn't fall off.  She knew right away what to do when she got on it and just started going to town!  This pig is seriously cute and I know we're going to get a lot of use out of it over the next several years.

 

What's a birthday without balloons, you ask?  I got a ridiculous amount of balloons for Ellie's party, and will need some without helium for a little project I'm going to attempt; so, I figured we might as well get a little head start on blowing them up and have some fun today!  A crib/bed/bedroom full of balloons is definitely going to be a Noel baby birthday tradition from now on.  It's such an easy way to have a little fun and get some cute birthday photos!

 

dress // bow (c/o - use code ELLIA15 for 15% off)

We grabbed some takeout for dinner and Ellie got one of her favorite meals - mac & cheese, of course! :)  It was a pretty quiet day, but I think Ellie had fun and it was nice to spend time just the three of us before the festivities continue this weekend.

Also, another project I wanted to do for her party was the photo wall in the kitchen.  I have periodically been using Snapfish to get my Instagram photos printed (4x4), so all I had to do was get the past month or so printed to add to my collection.  It's super easy to upload and they always arrive really quickly.  I know I'm so bad at getting my photos printed if I don't need them for something, but if you're looking to get some prints of your own you can get 40% off if you use this link! I just used scotch tape to hold the photos up on the wall - so far a few have fallen off but it's easy enough to just tape them back up.  I started at the top in the middle and worked my way out.  It's easy if you have something straight to line them up against, like the sign that's right above them.  I had no idea how big it was going to be, but just kept taping until I used (almost) all of the photos I wanted to include!  If you follow me on Snapchat, I'm sure you saw how excited I was about this little wall over the weekend.  I've known I wanted to do it for the longest time and definitely think it'll be another Noel baby birthday tradition! :)  I've seen a lot of different photo display ideas for birthday parties, but trying to narrow down the number of photos to use felt nearly impossible.  This is the perfect way to pick over 100 of your favorites to share! ;)

Hope you're having a great week & staying out of trouble... :)

flower headband 

One more big Happy 1st Birthday wish for our sweet baby girl!! :) And a very Happy Bithday to my dad!! Thanks for sharing your birthday with my girl! Love you! XO

Happy Birthday Eve, Ellie Baby!

It's our sweet little Ellie's birthday eve and I cannot even believe it's already here.  This past year has flown by to say the least and I feel like it was just yesterday that I had a teeny tiny newborn Ellie in my arms.

Ellie girl, you have seriously rocked our world in the best way possible.  We have loved watching you grow + learn every single day.  You are a wild child - always going, going, going as fast as you can, looking to see what you can get away with next, and always looking back for a hand to hold through all of your adventures. You're a rough and tough little lady, but never fail to run over and give us hugs + kisses.  Sometimes when you hug me, you wrap your arms so tight around my neck and it completely melts my heart into a puddle.  You are curious, a kitty-chaser and you love the outdoors.  Your belly laugh is contagious and you have the best squinty-eyed smile I've ever seen.  You love to dance, your baths and your books.  You also love to help us do anything any chance you get.  Despite your desire to explore on your own two feet, you still love to be held and I find you trying to climb up my legs approximately five hundred times a day.  You are my little best friend + sidekick - a huge mama's girl and I'd be completely lying if I said I didn't absolutely love that about you.  You have quite the little personality already and are stubborn, sassy, silly, smart + as sweet as can be.  You are totally loving being a "big girl", and while I wish I could stuff you back in my belly and relive the past year all over again, I am really enjoying watching you grow up too.  You keep our hands full and our hearts even more full.  You have brought so much joy to our entire family and more love than I ever thought possible.  We love you so much, girlfriend. 

Happy First Birthday, Ellia Summer! We can't wait to celebrate with you! XO