Catching Up...

Miss Ellie!

It's been a number of months since I've posted...life kind of got away from me and I have gotten away from this blog for you. A lot has changed in your life since the last time I wrote. For one - and it's a BIG one - you have a little brother! 

He's a little cutie isn't he? Just like you are. And it's been so wonderful to see how much you love your baby brother Wyatt; I'm so glad to see that you love him and you're affectionate and sweet with him. But then, Ellie, you're one of the sweetest little girls I've ever seen!

We just celebrated your third birthday, and you have been doing gymnastics as well - just started! Your mom took a short video and you are so fearless, child! I admire your tenacity and your bravery to try new things. Good for you sweetie - I hope that's something you keep doing in your life because you'll learn an awful lot just because you're willing to try or learn something new. I'm very proud of you!

For Halloween this year you were Cindy Lou Who and your brother was the Grinch. I was really hoping to be able to join you but I wasn't feeling well and missed out on the fun. However, your mom took some great pictures and I want you to be able to see them. Both of you are adorable - although it cracks me up that your mom drew green eyebrows on your brother to make him look mean for playing the Grinch! Ha!!! So creative - she made your outfits and did a fantastic job. 

I absolutely love the picture of Wyatt smiling with his drawn-on eyebrows, but they work perfectly with his Grinch costume. Very clever Stacy - always so creative, fun and sweet. I hope next year that we'll be able to celebrate Halloween with you and that the weather is better. This year it was very cold and very wet - not the best weather for trick or treating, but at least you enjoyed it. I'm already curious what your mom will think of for next year, or if you decide for yourself what you want to be, sweetie!!

It's November and the leaves are off the trees and the weather has been turning colder and wetter in general. Soon Thanksgiving will be here, and then Christmas. It is really true that the older you get the faster time flies - but we've had so much fun this year with you and your little brother.

We enjoyed S'mores over the summer and you have been really enjoying hugs from your Uncle Roger. I love to watch you cuddle up to him and fall asleep or just rest until you're ready to get up and play some more. And it's cute to watch you eat messy food and how much you enjoy it. 

And today your mom posted these pictures of you on a pretty fall day, and I think they are beautiful. You are always smiling Ellie, and even if you fall or get hurt it's not very long before you are smiling again. We love you very much honey!!! I'll leave this entry with you smiling, as always, and a lovely picture of you and your mom. You both look happy, and deserve it!

Love you to the moon and back, Ellie!

Ah, happiness...!

Your Visit with Buster

My Dear Little Niece,

A short time ago I stopped by to see you and your mom and I brought my Buster with me. I wasn't sure how you would react since he's a large dog, but as soon as I opened the door and you saw him you exclaimed, "DOGGY!!!" and said, "HAAA HAAA HAAA" like the panting sounds a dog makes and came running to him, wrapped your arms around him and you didn't stop smiling until we left.

In fact, you had a wonderful time leading Buster around by his leash, and giving him food you found on the floor or some of the crackers you'd been eating. It was very sweet of you to share with him, Ellie! Buster is not known to turn down food of any kind! 

Let me tell you a little about this beloved furry baby of mine - I hope that you remember him as you get older because he's a dog that is very special.

I found Buster on a farm out in Springport - meaning that I had to drive for a little while out into the country to find him. His momma was a chocolate lab, and she had 12 puppies in her litter. There were all black and all brown pups, some were black and white and others were brown and white, and there were pups with long and short fur in the mix of it too. They were all so adorable! But only one puppy stood out for me - Buster was roly poly and looked like the perfect mutt. He followed me all around the kind farmer's yard and I just knew looking into his eyes that he was meant for me. He was also the farmer's daughter's favorite puppy, and the only one allowed into the house where she dressed him up in her doll's clothes, bathed and brushed him, and took him for walks in her baby stroller. From the very beginning of his life he was loved and cared for and treated gently, sweetly, and I honestly can't think of a better way for a puppy to come into the world than to be so adored by a four year old little girl. 

Buster always slept in bed with me - how can you look at that face and leave him to sleep on the floor all alone?

 Your cousins Derek, Madison and Ash love Buster too. He's very huggable! 

He's been a very good dog - he always watches over me and I love knowing that he's always close by. He has helped me to rescue many other dogs and cats and even raccoon babies once upon a time! He let the baby raccoon nuzzle up to his nose for warmth after their momma was killed crossing the road. I saw what happened and watched as the babies stayed close to her - I stopped and scooped them all up so they wouldn't be hit by a car too. I brought them home and Buster was so gentle with them. He watched me feed them with a dropper every two hours and while I had one, he took care of the other two orphans. Good boy!

I often call him "Super Buster" because he's such an amazing dog - so loving, smart, intuitive, gentle and sweet. Loyal too. He's protected me in scary situations and is also very goofy and silly. Here are a few more pictures of him, Ellie.

 

Shiloh was his mentor and she took very good care of him!

 That's Kovacs our black cat! They get along really well.

 This is Buster when he was only two years old - the same age you are right now!!!

 For Buster's 5th Birthday, Uncle Roger got him a HUGE rawhide bone. Doesn't he look excited???

Buster will always have a special place in my heart, Miss Ellie Jane. And so because I love him SO much, and I love you SO much, I was REALLY happy that you both loved each other too!!!

 Everywhere he went, you did too. It was so sweet!

 Laughing with Mr. Buster

 Look at you scrunch your nose and smile! You're pretty darn cute!!!

 Aw, both of you are looking at the camera!

You're nose to nose with the old man - waiting for kisses!

 And here the kisses come! 

 Smiles for Buster!

And indeed - you were all smiles when we visited! You kept hugging and kissing him, and he gave you ticklish kisses back! In fact, the last time I came over to see you and your mommy I brought Doyle with me, who'd just been groomed. He's a big white Goldendoodle.

He's very tall, but he is a gentle boy. Doyle intimidated you just a little bit - he's a lot younger than Buster (Doyle is 4, and Buster will soon be 10), and he wasn't as calm. Before I left you exclaimed to me that you wanted to see Buster again! I couldn't help but smile - I was very glad you wanted to see Buster. Anytime you want to see him in fact, I'd come over with him so you could play with him. Although, before I opened the door when I had Doyle with me your mom confessed that you asked if Roger was coming inside haha...that's okay. Your Uncle Roger IS a very sweet man and I like to be around him too. Next time we come over we'll bring Buster together, is that a deal sweetie??

I love you very much, and Buster loves you too!!! The proof is in the pictures, and I wouldn't tell you so if it wasn't true. I'm looking forward to coming over again with my Buster and watching you lead him around the house and play with him. He's more than happy to take any food you want to give him, and will clean your face for you too if you make a mess eating your snacks or dinner. His whiskers will tickle you while he gives you kisses and he'll always be patient and sweet to you, Ellie Jane. In my opinion, there's just nothing better than a doggy hug from Buster!

Well - unless it's a great big hug from you!!!

Love you, sweet pea!!

Auntie Erin

PS - I know it's a little late - but here's your Uncle Roger and Buster!!!! 

A Tinkerbell Halloween

Well, Sweetie,

From what I understand you were so excited to go trick-or-treating that your daddy got pretty worked up too! I think he was geeked about being able to take you for the first time where you could walk on your own. Last year you were an Ewok and it was about as cute as anything I've ver seen. Check you out!

But then this year you were Tinkerbell, and just as cute! In fact as we were walking - your mom, dad, Uncle Roger and myself - you made a new friend. His name was Hunter and he was just a little bit younger than you. Your dad had a wagon, and after you took quite a bad fall he decided to put you and Hunter in it and pull you both from house to house. 

You looked so pretty, and you smiled so much! We had a lot of fun and were grateful your mom and dad invited us to tag along! It will be interesting to see what you want to be next year, sweetie!

We ate pizza and laughed and had a wonderful time. And you were the cutest Tinkerbell I've seen!

A Birthday Girl Video

Here's just a little video of Ellie opening her presents and being sung to! 

Officially a Two Year Old!!!

My, my, my Miss Ellie Jane! We visited your parent's last night to celebrate your birthday and have dinner and enjoy your company. You're a toddler now! You're running and jumping and show so much affection for your Uncle Raja and me. 

Your mom said that you were a bit grumpy before we got there, but now that she's pregnant and you're going to be a big sister she has to take care of herself and can't get on the floor and play with you like she used to. But you cheered up and were so patient waiting to open your presents. And what fun to watch you open them too! You learned to flip them over and look for the seam so you could grab it and rip away - and you tore the paper to pieces in your excitement. What fun to watch you in your happiness and with your little smile and beaming eyes! 

For dinner we ate sloppy joes and cheesy potatoes but you seemed more interested in the avocado slices (wow you devoured those!) and the tomatoes than the meat and potatoes. You don't seem to eat much but if you do like a food you'll mow away! You were a good girl at dinner and I even managed to get a picture of you and your daddy taking a bite of food at the same time in pretty much the same way. I made you a birthday cake and decorated it especially for you - two flowers growing from a heart, and your daddy helped you blow out your candles!

You mostly got clothes for your birthday, and when you put on your Minnie Mouse pajamas you started to run all over the house in  your excitement! Your mom told me that when she dressed you that morning and put an MSU hoodie on that you cried and didn't want to wear it and told her, "no, daddy!"....somehow you thought that she was making you wear boy's clothes and you seem to only want to wear pink and purple haha...I thought you looked absolutely adorable though! We gave you some pink suede boots with fringe and your mom put them on you as soon as you opened them up and you wore them until bed-time. It's so easy to spoil you Ellie - you're such a loving little girl and so sweet. You kept calling my name and I have to admit when I was holding you in my arms and you said that you loved me, my heart absolutely melted! 

We love you SO much, Ellie. And your mama and daddy work very hard to make sure that you have every thing that you need and are so proud of you just for being who you are - a beautiful, happy, sweet little girl who gives hugs and kisses and is very silly but also incredibly smart and loving. You are an amazing child and I feel very lucky that I get to be your auntie!!

You're Uncle Roger picked out a bubble-lawn mower for you, and once your mom and dad put it together for you, you started running around the house with it and when the bubbles started to shoot out of it you'd stop and then stomp on them! I think that toy was a huge hit with you...

It's hard to believe that you're two years old already - I don't know where the time went!! But next week is Halloween and last year you were an Ewok, and this year you'll be Tinkerbell. We'll be coming over with you to walk to a few houses with you and then pass out candy later to other kids. I'm very excited for it! And I'm sure that I'll take a lot of pictures, and will have to post some pictures from last year just so you can see how much you've changed and grown. I am not sure how you'll ever beat looking as cute as you were as an Ewok - but what am I saying? Of course you'll be adorable and we'll have ourselves a blast.

Your birthday falls in my favorite month of the year, and so my dear girl you've given me just one more reason to love it so much!!! I'm so glad that you're affectionate and sweet, and you are so clearly a happy little girl. Oh Ellie, you are very, very loved by a lot of people! 

Happy Birthday, dearheart - I'm glad that Uncle Roger and I could celebrate it with you and watch you so eagerly and joyously open your presents. What a fun night! And hearing you learn new words and string phrases together to talk to us is becoming quite fun and we look forward to watching you learn more!

You're going to be a great older sister - to a little brother or sister. You're ALLLLL girl, loving shoes and dressing up and you have an innate sweetness to give affection to everyone around you.

The holidays are approaching and I know we'll be spending more time with you soon - Thanksgiving will be here before you know it! And then Christmas...I can't believe how fast this year is going!

Here are some pictures of our fun last night, sweet pea! Your mom wasn't feeling very good so I didn't take any pictures of her so that's why you don't see her in them. Look how happy you are opening presents!!! 

Love you! 

Auntie Erin