Zoo Trip, Crawling and Mommy's 30th Birthday- The Piedmont Family has been busy

Hi all
Well I have been working way too much so I decided to take off Thursday and Ellie and I had our first trip to the zoo - I am not sure if ellie loved looking at the kids or all the animals more but we had a great time. She also had her first carosel ride- as you can see from her face the jury is still out on whether or not she is a fan.
She is crawling like crazy now and we are loving it. she has also started pulling up and since she is so tiny I think she will be walking before we know it- not much weight for her to hold up.
My 30th birthday was on Friday- it was low key but Otto/mike gave me the best gift- he had everyone give me gift cards so that I can go shopping which is my favorite thing to do. we went to my favorite mexican restaurant and Otto/mike being the loving husband that he is told the staff it was my birthday hence the large sombrero I was forced to wear. I think he just wanted to rub it in that we are both in our 30s now. But I really was not too upset about turning 30- I have so many blessings to show for my short 30 years in this world and I can not wait for 30 more. ENjoy all the pics below- I am trying to figure out how to post a video so yall can see ellie in action- stay tuned.
Thanks Otto/Mike- you can't tell but my face was about 8 shades of red How cute is she

Ellie and her best friend- they are both so fascinated with each other especially since they now both move at the same speed

Not sure if I like this carousel thing?????

Do you love my hat- mommy said that everyone at the zoo commented on how cute I was in my hat- since they see kids all day she was pretty sure that was confirmation that I am exceptionally cute!

I love my stroller and seeing all the kids!

This is so much fun

I can sit up all by myself

Here I come world- watch out!!!

Happy Birthday Daddy!!!

Mommy and Daddy have been really busy trying to sell our house and find the perfect house for us in Edmond so I decided to pick up mommy's slack and make a special posting to my daddy on his birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY! Mommy and I (and Brimley) think are the greatest! we are so happy that you get to stay home with us all the time now. I love when you pick me up in the afternoons and we have special daddy/ daughter time when Mommy is at work. And I can tell that mommy is so much happier with you here because she has so much more time to play with me now that you can help make my bottles, clean the kitchen and change my poopy diapers. You always make me laugh so hard when you tickle me and my favorite time of day is bath time especially now that I have learned how to splash you - ha ha. I love you daddy and do not think you act nearly as old as you are (since 38 is pretty old- mommy told me to say that)!

Enjoy your new golf clubs- you deserve them. I know that means we will not see you much on saturday mornings but I love when you come back from your golf games because you are so happy talking about how you played and acting like you are Tiger Woods- maybe one day you can teach me how to play too- mommy has already picked me out the perfect pink golf outfit.

I love you daddy- Happy Birthday.

PS- Mommy wanted me to tell everyone that I am crawling now- watch out world!!!

Mommy and Daddy Date Night

When my mom and dad were in town otto/mike had his change of command dinner in which the squadron says goodbye to the former skipper. The timing could not have been more perfect I was not forced to get a babysitter and my parents let mike and I get a hotel downtown so that we could sleep in the next morning- it was perfect. It is supposed to be a formal dinner where everyone gets dressed up. As you can see the junior officers make a joke of it and decided to dress like douchbags- nice. My husband was runner up douchebag- I am so proud. Below are some fun pics from the night- enjoy!.

Here are the men protecting our country- don't you feel safe. The wives that support them- boy are they lucky men

Officers in the United States Navy- watch out terrorists

Top and runner up douchebag.

Ellie's and Friends

Ellie was invited to her first birthday party- her friend Amanda turned 2. She had so much fun looking at all the other kids. The little boy in all the pictures is Ellie's friend Graham who goes tot he same daycare as ellie. He is such a little helper when it comes to Ellie. When mike pics her up Graham tries to bring over the car seat to help load ellie in, he brings her toys when she cries and is about the sweetest little boy (not to mention adorable). He is on a short list of possible future husbands for Ellie as mike and I have decided that prearranged marriage is the way we will cut down on the stress of the dating years. Amanda is also adorable and loves playing with Ellie too. It is so fun to watch them all interact. We had a really great time especially when we tried to get them all in a picture together- I think Amanda's dad caught me on tape trying to get the kids to smile and it is definitely a blackmail tape as I am sure to be making an idiot of myself.
As for Ellie updates, she is still not crawling but very very close and I am not pushing her to start because I know that is just the beginning. She has graduated to the big tub as you can see below and still loves bath time. She is completel opposed to having anything in her hair much to my dismay as we all know I hate having a single hair out of place. She will sit there with a huge devilish grin on her face as she rips the bow and hair rubberband out of her hair- almost as if she is saying "you know you can't get mad at me I am too cute." As a family, we are loving having daddy home all the time and he and Ellie have plenty of daddy daughter time letting mommy have a break- it is such a blessing. We also bought our first family car- a honda pilot- and it is wonderful. We are now ready for our summer road trips. That is it for now- sorry it took me so long to post but blogger was not cooperating with me uploading pics.
Graham and his ladies! So cute. Ellie and Amanda are discussing their outfits and how crazy their parents look trying to get them to smile.

I can't decide if Amanda is holding Ellie's hand or telling her back off Graham is my man!!

Future couple????

Happy baby- messy hair!

SOrry for the multiple pics of the same shot it is hard to decide which is the cutest.

Big girl bath- look how tiny she still looks in the big tub.

I love bath time.