Noah Parker Ellis arriving late March

So, we picked a name for our sweet baby boy!

Noah Parker Ellis

We are so excited to be having a boy this time around! It should make the whole experience totally different! And of course if you know our family, we like change. We had our name narrowed down to three choices and we tried to get Taylor to say each one outloud. Noah was the only one she could actually say. It was so sweet...and we were glad because it was the name both Mark and I agreed on. Right now we are teaching her to nod her head for YES and shake it for NO. So, its pretty hilarious when she says Noah's name she also shakes her head "no" while she says it. I'm sure we'll work through that one before the baby arrives. We are now at 22 weeks and both mommy and baby are doing well. I've got alot of energy actually and I've been fairly comfortable up until this point. We are excited for the holidays coming up. We'll be spending Thanksgiving here with some new friends. My mom will be coming the week after for a visit and then we're off to Texas for two weeks to spend with Mark's family and our friends in Houston. After that we'll be buying blue and getting ready for Noah!

On another note, please keep my brother, Wesley, in your prayers and my family as well. He was deployed to Afghanistan a couple of weeks ago. He's going to be out on patrol from Camp Dweyer in the Helman province. He is an officer in charge of 40 men over there- and will be mostly out on MRAPs(Mine Resistant Ambuish Protected vehicles). Its difficult knowing my little brother is out there in the war and at times it feels like we're on an emotional rollercoaster. But we are trusting the Lord and His sovereignty. We KNOW He loves Wes even more than we do, and that He can protect him just as easy in Afghanistan as he can here in the safety of his home. We're all praying psalm 91 over Wesley as well as a couple of others. You are most welcome to join us in that too!

We uploaded some funny videos of Taylor Below! Enjoy

Few Videos and Introducing Noah

Here's Taylor at bath time. she loves her bath which you can hear her repeat over and over. she loves to try and jump into the tub and tends to scream at the top of her lungs in excitement. Sometimes the neighbors ask what if we abuse our kids. This is only a small taste with minimal screaming.

Every now and then (ok really most days) there is a scene like this at some point.

Just wanted to update everyone else and the rest of our news. Our new baby is going to a boy! We're expecting Noah Parker Ellis to arrive on March 25th.

October

We took Taylor to the Pumpkin Festival in Half Moon Bay this month. It was a perfect day on the coast! Taylor was more fixated on the ladybugs or "badybugs" as she calls them. Our girl is getting so big. We really have a toddler on our hands now. Taylor is literally running EVERYWHERE and fast! She is picking up lots of new words-her latest ones being spoon, bath, ladybug, shoes, toes, juice, crackers, and eyes. Of course she mimics other words daily - she is definitely a talker and I wouldnt have it any other way!

We asked her "How big is Taylor?" and this was her response

Old car- she loved walking around in the truck bed
playing peekaboo

finding badybugs

Taylor and dada on the haystack

Punkins!

She discovered flowers all on her own!

Spotting balloons in the sky is very exciting

We just got back from a visit in Orlando to see my brother Wesley, who is 1st Lieutenant in the Marines. He was home on leave for a week to visit before he's being deployed to Afghanistan for the next 6-8 mos. We were really glad it worked out for us to fly home to see him. We are all very proud of Wes and his leadership and devotion to our country! He is ready and excited to go of course like all Marines are! HOORAH! He will be in the Helman province while he's there- doing patrol on MRAPS. We will sure miss him while he's gone but we are so honored that our Wes is out there fighting the good fight. Please keep our him and his marines in your prayers- and our family as well.

And here in California, the only news is that I'm about 18 weeks along and we are pretty sure its a boy this time! We can't get the official ultrasound for a couple of weeks but we are pretty sure of what we saw when we took a sneek peek- and it wasn't the "hamburger" situation that we saw with Taylor's ultrasound. SO we will keep you posted when we "officially" find out that its a BOY!

so cute

My friends Kim and Christine from Orlando just opened a new business and they sent Taylor the cutest birthday package! Thank you sweet friends!

Taylor is 1 !!

Our Sweet Girl had her 1st birthday recently! My parents came for a visit over her bday week and we took her to the zoo for the first time. We had her bday party right after our family breakfast. I made her a rainbow cupcake and let her go to town with it. She was hilarious as she shoveled into her mouth without stopping to breath. I think she was really afraid I would take it away from her!

Its hard to believe we have a toddler now. Shes becoming more and more independant these days..wanting to use the spoon herself, walking EVERYWHERE, and of course pointing out her food preferences especially when its something sweet. We are also hearing Taylor try and repeat what we are saying. Her newest words are banana, "look! theres an airplane!", and of course "Aleigh and A-ho" ( for our dogs raleigh and tahoe).

I did have a short cry on the night before she turned one. I'm sad she's not going to be my little baby much longer...of course then Mark reminded me that it was a good thing since I'll have another new baby to take care of in less than 6 mos!

Passys are her "thing" so among the many gifts she got, we wrapped up a box of new passies...as soon as she opened it she kept saying "ooooohh ooohh"

We celebrated Raleigh's bday the week before with a candle in the dog food...I think he was confused

Yeah, this party hat lasted all of 2 seconds

the Taylor toddle

We caught a little girl cruising around the house.

Ellis Party of 6

Well, I guess we'll be changing our blog name in the near future! Yes, we are pregnant again due on March 25th! I'm nearing the end of my first trimester now. I actually found out the day that Mark drove away from Orlando with the moving truck. We figure that God must be up to something with timing like this! But we are very excited to have a new little sister or brother for Taylor Grace. She'll be a great big sis I can already tell. I'm feeling pretty good now but I've had a little bit of morning sickness this time which I had'nt had with Taylor. So, we are wondering if its a boy this time. We've been to the doctor and gotten an ultrasound and the little peanut already had sweet little fingers and toes. Taylor has NO idea what is about to hit her of course. We are just loving on her and trying to enjoy the time with Taylor by herself. She is almost fully walking now although she chooses to crawl when she needs to get somewhere fast. But she's really growing fast now.. we're almost completely off the bottle, switched to milk and on to sippy cups now. Knowing I'm going to have another baby in the spring is overwhelming at times, when I look at Taylor and she still seems so small and young...but now that she's walking and learning to talk I think I have a big girl on my hands now....and she'll be a help to me later I hope. So, if you have any advice on how to prepare a 1 1/2 year old for a new baby bring it on!