Klean Kanteen

Er, this can be added to the "Don't hate us because we're green" category. But you can hate us if you want to. We got Ellie a Klean Kanteen sometime before Christmas and she loves it! We still have a few plastic sippy cups, but this one is by far the best cup we have. If you haven't jumped on the bandwagon yet, I highly suggest it. Plastic water bottles are filling up our landfills by the millions and bajillions daily (that's an accurate count, too).

First Popcorn, oops.

Ellie really wanted to share my popcorn with me one afternoon, so I let her. She's pretty darn good at chewing up foods that rank pretty high on the Food Chewing Difficulty Charts (just made that up), so I didn't think it would hurt her. Sometime after I had put Ellie to bed, I told Dan "oh guess what? Ellie ate half a bowl of popcorn today!" feeling quite proud of her accomplishment. He looked at me with his best pediatrician face and said "what??!!" Then he told me she could have died from it! Ah! Evidently it's a well known choking hazard... guess I need to find a few books and brush up on my child rearing.

Love,
The Raz's

My Parents

The Mellow Mushroom, where Ellie ate more crackers than I thought humanly possible.


Le Pink Kitchen


A book my grandmother made for Ellie that she got very excited about.


This child loves horses.



Woodford Reserve


What a nice surprise to wake up to, poor Dan had to clean off his car and go to work.


My parents came to visit!

My parents were here all last week and we did several things while they were here (of course!).

Mellow Mushroom was the first fine dining establishment we visited, and it was fantastic, as usual. And no, we did not all leave high and with dreadlocks in our hair. Okay, so I'm the only one who left with dreads. Kidding.

We visited Woodford Reserve Distillery, which is one of my dad's favorite bourbons. Woops, did I give you away, Dad? Haha. He's not a huge drinker, but I'll admit, the allure of the distillery will make just about anyone want to drink bourbon. The tour was fantastic.

It snowed a LOT while they were here, which was fun and made for some stunning countryside views.

My parents gave Ellie this reindeer that would light up and play a 5 minute version of "Jingle Bells" while they were here. She fell in love with it and now expects everyone to dance when she turns it on. He was fun at first, but after Christmas he will be packed away! Thanks Mom & Dad, you got to leave the reindeer behind! They also helped us give Ellie her "big" gift, a kitchen! She loves loves loves it!

We did lots of Christmas Shopping, eating at many other restaurants, hanging out at our house, driving through the Kentucky Horse Park to see the annual Christmas lights... It was a fun visit!

Here are some fun pictures of out adventures!

God's Pantry

Dan and I met another small group from our church last night at a food bank called God's Pantry for some good old fashioned food sorting fun. We took Ellie with us because she is so darn good at sorting things at home (and because she's not quite old enough to leave at home... maybe in a few more months). Well, we didn't end up doing any sorting. Instead, we were working on an assembly line filling up boxes that will be distributed in January to needy families. We lined up and dropped our item into the boxes and slid it on down the line. Dan had Mac N Cheese and Ellie and I had popcorn. Ellie had great fun helping us by throwing our items, sorting them into boxes, and going down to the 8 year old boys that had box milk and stealing some (but she didn't' make it all the way back to us before they reclaimed it). After we got home and Dan was taking her out of the car seat, she gave him "the look" again and we all had a good laugh.

Love,
The Raz's

Mac N Cheese Face

Ellie loves her Mac N Cheese! Yes, we health nut-so's feed our kids mac n cheese (sometimes). It's organic, so that makes it better, right? I want to know if anyone else has a hard time getting it off their kiddos faces? Ellie fights me when I hang her over the sink to scrub that little face and paws. Anyway.

Eat up!

The Raz's

First Makeup

Today while I was putting on my makeup, Ellie grabbed my bronzer - that I've had since college and use as blush - and began studying it. She watches me put my makeup on practically every day and though it appears that she cares nothing for it, apparently she's been hiding her true feelings. After finally getting the package open, the brush and protective plastic removed, she began to paint her canvas. Better known as her forehead. Since I don't wear much makeup, I'm assuming she took her cues from me and didn't use a heavy hand. She later told me that she didn't want to look trashy. I thought it was cute, but had to clean it off before we headed to the doc for her 18 month appointment and flu shot.

Anna

Clyde

OOPS I FORGOT TO POST THIS ONE!

When Dan was a little boy, his grandfather bought them a rocking horse. Apparently someone in Nebraska used to make them and they did a smashing good job. It made it through the 5 kiddos in Dan's family and is now being passed around. Uncle Erik brought the horse back with him after he visited the family back in Louisiana. Ellie took to Clyde immediately! She needed a lot of help at first, but she is now thoroughly enjoying learning how to get on and off of Clyde, and she's almost mastered it.

Hi Ho Silver Away!
The Raz's

Shoe Shopping

It's a woman's prerogative to like shoes, right? And since this is the rule, Ellie isn't about to be an exception! Here we are looking at a shoe sale online, we ordered her a few pair and she got pretty excited. Oh man are we in for it...

Doggie Luv

I think dog-loving is hereditary. When I was growing up, I was the child who would come home saying "can we keep him, mom?" No matter if the dog had a collar on it or not. One evening after eating dinner at my parents house, my brother and I started naming all the dogs we ever owned and it totaled up to more than 20 (sadly, we lived on a country road where no one watches neither the speed or the dogs). Anyway, back to Ellie, which is what this blog is all about, right? I snapped a few pictures of her giving Levi hugs and wanted to share them. Hopefully Levi will be like Dan's childhood dog Blondie. She lived until she was in her teens!

Anyway, hug the nearest do you see and have a good day!

Love,
The Raz's... & Levi

Tree Trimming!

Thanksgiving Day we broke out the tree! What??? We had nothing better to do! Ellie thought it was great fun! She wanted to hang all the ornaments in the same place. So, mostly they are all in clusters on the tree (with all the breakable one's at the top). Ellie especially liked the kangaroo ornament and gave it a hug and a kiss before putting it on the tree. And much to everyone's surprise, she is leaving the tree alone. It's the presents underneath that are too much of a temptation.

Hope you are all enjoying your holiday season!

Love,
The Raz's

First Gum

So I handed off what I thought was an empty gum pack to Ellie for in-transit entertainment today. Turns out it wasn't totally empty. Leave it to your 18-month-old to find the lone piece of gum in a seemingly empty pack. I smelled something fruity and knew she had something yummy. When I reached a stoplight I turned around and saw her chomping down on a teeny tiny piece of gum. She was thrilled with herself. Thrilled. I, however, did not share her same enthusiasm. But I watched her for a few minutes (took pics and video...) and she never swallowed it. She even kept it in her mouth in the store and graciously handed it to me when she tired of it. I was pretty impressed... How did she know not to swallow? Who knows. But regular gum-chewing is probably another few years in her future.

Chew on and Happy Thanksgiving!

The Raz's

Tiny Chef

Each year I make hot chocolate mix during the holidays to give out to family and friends. Last night Ellie was wandering around the kitchen and living room bored out of her mind, so I made an impromptu decision to throw together the mix. I think my mind is confused because there's already Christmas music on the radio and all my neighbors have their tree up, so I felt festive enough to declare it "hot chocolate making time!" Ellie is a pretty good little stirrer so I sat her on the counter and put her to work. Yes, I know what you are thinking and I'm one step ahead of you. In America, child labor is bad... unless you are making food in which the children can partake, right? In this case, Ellie stuck her (very clean and previously washed) hands into the mix and had a ball. Levi the dog also enjoyed cleaning the floor, so fun was had all around! Anyway. If you are in Kentucky during the holidays, you just might be fortunate enough to enjoy some hand-tossed hot chocolate mix. Feel free to stop by!

Merry Christmas... er, I mean Thanksgiving.

The Raz's

Snow!

Yep, it's been snowy here! I took this last week after the first snow. I couldn't believe it was snowing in November. I let Levi out in the morning and he turned around and wanted right back in. Turns out he's not a Husky after all, hah. Poor dog. Ellie didn't seem to be too impressed that it snowed. There wasn't enough to go out and enjoy it, so we stayed inside.

Little Paris Shirt

Ellie's grandma Oma gave her this cute little red striped shirt that came from Paris. Ellie was rummaging through her clothes and had to wear it... now! So I put her in it (and she looked quite Parisian) only to find out that Ellie's been eating too much cheese. Her little belly hung out of it! So, she donned a sweater that Aunt Katy sent her and it masked her mid drift perfectly.

Take note Aunt Joan... these are the only skinny pants in our house. And I bought them on accident at an Old Navy clearance last year. Must have been something in the air in that store that made me crazy.

Hope you are having a great day!
Love,
The Raz's

The "Look"

I think it's written in the rights of parenthood that you get to teach your kids to do silly stuff. At least that's what I was told. Dan has taught Ellie to lower her chin and give him a sassy look. It's really funny and she looks waaaaay too young to be giving out this look. It's been insanely difficult to catch on camera (she's sassy... and I have NO idea how she got this way), but Dan finally snapped a few pictures of it last week. Can't wait to see how much more fun this whole parenthood thing gets.

Tuck your chin, squint your eyes and grin!
The Raz's

Down Home

We went back to Louisiana (about a month ago) and I've been avoiding posting about it because I have 529 pictures from the trip. Only 529, you say? Yeaaaaah, I know. It should be a cinch to narrow them down for a posting, right? Well I just can't do it! I'm still trying to work something out, so eventually there will be a post with evidence that we were indeed back in Louisiana for a week. Until then, Laissez les bon ton roulet folks.

Love,
The Raz's

Cupcake!

Even though we rarely eat them, Ellie has cupcakes on her stocking cap! Mom bought it for her sometime last year and I'm so excited she can wear it. I just love kid clothes! Oh man, I just realized you can't see the cupcakes from the picture. Oh well, you just have to trust me. Hope you guys are having a swell day!

Love,
The Raz's

Weee it's the Wii

I walked into the living room Saturday morning to see Ellie and Dan playing the Wii together. They were boxing. Boxing! It was strange to see Dan pelt her in the face... Ellie's Wii character is so cute and looks just like her. I think Ellie might have knocked Dan down a few times, but overall she was not the winner. That's okay Ellie... you're still a winner in our book! It won't be long until you can beat your dad at boxing any day.

Last Beautiful Fall Day

Fall in Kentucky has been everything I thought Fall was supposed to be. A nice gradual change from Summer to Fall, accompanied by rains and beautifully colored trees. Crisp mornings turn into enjoyable afternoons that turn into chilly evenings. It's been lovely. Well, we got wind that Fall is about to turn into Winter and bringing with it a bunch of rain. So, Dan was post-call on Thursday and we took advantage of the last mildly-warm Fall day by going for a Burley ride. Dan actually had to get Burley down from garage storage, because we had already put it up for the winter. Ellie anxiously waited while Dan put the thing back together... she was ready to go! We took her over to the park attached to our neighborhood and let her swing and play on the slide. Then we rode the bikes out into this massive field and plopped down. Ellie was a bit tired and fairly distracted by airplanes up in the sky (a new discovery as of late... every time one flys overhead she stops, points towards the sky, and says "aahh." This is baby for "airplane" right?). While in the field enjoying our piece of Kentucky Bluegrass, I layed down and took pictures of Ellie and Dan played around throwing his frisbee golf discs. Ellie just ran all around the hills, experiementing with distance and her comfort. Today (Sunday) it is overcast and quite cold. It's going to get down below freezing tonight!

Bundle up!
The Raz's