So sweet

Ensley's new sweetest thing:

"Ensley, guess what?"

Ensley: "I uh oo" - I love you.

I have had trouble sleeping for over a week because of sinus congestion so on Sunday EJ let me rest while he took Ensley upstairs. Look what they came downstairs with!! How cute is that!?

Girl fun

Ensley is a girlie girl and she loves her some bracelets (and balls). She also loves her sweet puppy Kala. Kala loves Ensley too mainly because Ensley's favorite thing to do is give Kala a treat. She says "teat Ka-kao". Then we get a treat and she says "sit Ka-kao". Then we make Kala do all her tricks and Ensley gives her the treat and says "guh guh ka-kao"-good girl kala.

Well last night Kala repaid Ensley for all of the treats by playing dress-up with her. Notice the bracelet on kala's right wrist.

Seventeen Months

Ensley has this laugh and learn puppy that talks and sings. On our way to church yesterday I heard the following conversation from the back seat.

Puppy: You're wonderful. Will you give me a hug?
Ensley: no.
Puppy: You're wonderful. Will you give me a hug.
Ensley: No no
Puppy: You're wonderful. Will you give me a hug?
Ensley: NO NO NO NO NO!

It was a good thing we reached our destination at that point because I think she might have thrown an all out tantrum if that had continues.

At seventeen months Ensley is starting to put a couple of words together to make phrases. When she or anyone else in the room (including Kala) belches or passes gas she says "shoo shoo" for excuse you. She asks me for help saying "haip Mommy haip". She greets us with "Hi, Ka-Ka" "Hi Mommy" "Hi Daddy". When I bring her oatmeal she says "o-mea hah" then blows it. She asks for "more" while signing please, "more juice" "more cheese" "more cacka"-cracker, etc. She plays with her baby doll and asks for "bebe baba"-bottle. When her baby cries she picks her up, rocks her and says "shhhhh shhhh" while patting her. It is the absolute sweetest thing!

She is weaning herself to a one nap kid. At school she gets one two hour nap so the first day home with me she usually catches up with two naps or one long nap. But on day two I can only count on one two hour nap usually.

Bath times were a little traumatic for a few weeks screaming at the top of her lungs and holding onto us for her life but neither of us knew why. Yesterday she had a back to normal bath where I had to drain the water because she was getting pruney and she still played in there for about ten minutes without any water. I am curious how it will go tonight...fingers crossed.

Today while we were coloring I traced her hand and when she pulled away and looked at it she said "Hi!". It is so much fun to see life through her eyes as she discovers things for herself.

We were also able to play outside for about an hour and half today because it was like 60 degrees mid-January. Crazy! She had missed her swing and enjoyed roaming around and taking Kala for a walk.

That is a little nutshell of Miss Ensley at seventeen months.

Do not blame me!

Yesterday I smelled stinky pants and I knew I was all good so I asked Ensley the question I thought I already knew the answer to..."Are you poopy?". To which she replied "ka-ka". I laughed thinking she was trying to blame Kala for her stinky pants.

This morning we were shopping as a family. EJ was pushing Ensley in the stroller. We were standing in an aisle when I smelled stinky pants. I asked Ensley "Are you poopy?" To which she replied "Daddy". I chuckled yet again until I looked at EJ who admitted to his dealings. Then I remembered that when I changed Ensley's pants yesterday she indeed was not poopy. This smartie pants is not taking the blame for someone else's stinky pants!

Sewing, etc

We are going to an FCA rally in conjunction with the Lady Vols game this Sunday. Ensley didn't have any Lady Vols apparel so I made her this dress to wear with the pants she already had. She liked the outfit and was a little fussy when I wouldn't let her have it yet.

Since EJ and I made an agreement that we wouldn't buy her anything Tennessee or Alabama ourselves, I decided I would be sweet and make her an Alabama dress too. However, when EJ asked Ensley if she liked it she said, "No". I, of course, died laughing which she thought was funny. EJ even laughed a little too.

Good Transition

Ensley started in her new class at school this semester. EJ and I were prepared for a melt-down the first couple of weeks when we dropped her off, but she surprised us. EJ took her the first day and said that she immediately grabbed on to his shoulders when they walked in but as soon as the teacher came over to talk with her she reached for the floor and started playing with her friends (who were familiar faces because most of them had been in the younger class with her at some point). He said she looked up at him a couple of times while he was filling out her paperwork and smiled and said "Daddy" but didn't cry or fuss at all. Whoa!

Then her new babysitter picked her up that afternoon and she said she came right to her when she got there and they had a good afternoon playing. When EJ got home that evening, Ensley was asleep on Miss Emily's ("emie") shoulder in the rocking chair.

She has continued to do well with drop-off at school for EJ and I both and has been a sweet girl for Miss Emily.

We were so thankful that both transitions were so smooth. God is so good!

Kala loves Ensley (especially during meal time)

Ensley has started trying to feed Kala from her high chair. We do not feed Kala table food so I am not sure where she picked this up but it is kind of cute. She now knows she is not supposed to do it so she tries to hide it or be sneaky about it. She calls her then puts her hand down with food in it or she says uh-oh THEN drops food on the floor and then says "ka-ka" like 'well, since it is there we should just let Kala have it'.
Well yesterday she ate a good lunch then asked for a cookie so I gave her a Hershey kiss and she said "No no. Ka-ka". Cutie patootie knew she wasn't sharing that with Kala and just wanted to make sure Kala knew it too. Haha! Love her!

Happy New Year

We spent the weekend at MeMe and PePaw's house. When we got there Friday we did Christmas presents with nieces and nephews then the cousins and Mo had to leave. :(
Saturday we were able to spend a little time with one of my best friends since we were in preschool. Her son Tyler is a few months older than Ensley but they have lived in New Mexico for the past two years and have just moved to Michigan so we don't get to see them enough. It was fun to watch the kiddos play together.
Then we went by my old pharmacy where I started my career as a cashier after school that turned into the profession that I love now as a pharmacist. It was good to see some of the girls again. I look back and wonder if they hadn't been so good to me would I have followed the path of pharmacy...who knows?
The rest of the afternoon we just played with MeMe and PePaw or "Paw" as Ensley calls him. We are so blessed to have such great grandparents all around for sweet little Ensley. Saturday night Ensley had her first taste of MeMe's spaghetti and corn on the cob....yummy, she ate good that night!
Sunday morning we drove to the boot heel to meet little Miss Harper. One of my dearest and best friends from college had her first baby on December 22nd and we got to meet her and visit with the new mommy and daddy a little while. Ensley didn't like Mommy holding another little baby...I guess we will have to work on that before we decide to have another little one. However, mommy liked holding a little baby. As I looked at her sweet little sleeping face I couldn't believe how much Ensley had grown and changed in such a short period of time. And it was hard to believe only 16 months ago Ensley was that little. Man time flies.
We decided to swing by Lambert's on our way home...mmmmm, never a wrong choice. Ensley was so much fun to watch while we stuffed our faces. She had a sip of our sweet tea, and then there was no fooling her. I tried to give her water to her in a Lamberts cup but nope she wanted mommy and daddy's "juice". She liked the okra, macaroni & tomatoes, green beans, rolls and sorghum. She became big buddies with the sorghum lady ;). When they started throwing rolls our direction she raised her hands up in the air as if she'd been there before. It was priceless.
When we set the GPS to take us home we realized we would be driving near some more precious friends we had not seen in a very long time so we called them up and were able to visit with them for a while and meet their sweet 4 year old daughter whom we had never met and see their handsome son whom we had not seen since he was Ensley's age. It is amazing to me how no matter the span of time between visits with true friends you can always pick back up where you left off. We thoroughly enjoyed spending our New Year's weekend with so many loved ones.