Well, the time has come...

I always knew that this time would come at some point but truly, I didn't realize is would happen so soon. There have been so many happy times, some sad times, and lots of life changes and if you are reading this right now then you have shared them with us.

I have exceeded my space for photos here on Ellie Belly's blog and because I still want to continue to share our adventures I have created a new space for our memories...

Ellie Belly... 3.5yrs and Beyond!

I will have each blog linked to the other to try and make the transition easier for everyone and please be patient with me for the first few weeks. Oh, and thanks for stopping by!

By they way... The photos of our latest adventure are already posted on Ellie Belly... 3.5 and Beyond!

July Fun

Schatzie sporting her new summer style
Ellie the tennis star... Watch out William's sisters!!
Getting ready for the serve.
Thursday night Slip-n-Sliding
Getting ready for the slide.
Woosh!!! (Insert girly squeal)
Planning the next slide.
View from the bottom.
Afterwards Ellie and Sean played some more tennis... Thats hard to do whey you have a tennis ball thief, aka: Schatzie.
Ellie's Growing Garden
The first squash harvest! The tennis ball is there for sizing.
One view.
Tomatoes
Zucchini
Friday Night... Feet on the Street
Ellie and her noodles, what a noodle head!
Other Ellie loves her noodles too!
And so does Joelle!! Let there be noodles for everyone!
Noodle head is eating morenoodles... go figure!
All of us at dinner... Joelle, Cathy, Ellie, Chris, MB, Sam, and Ellie.
Joelle and her ice cream.
Ellie and her chocolate ice cream... Yummy!
Bouncing, bouncing, bouncing!!
Sammy and the two Ellies.
The Ellies laying down listening to the tunes!
Ellie crashed when we got home... And not much later I did the same thing!!
Saturday...
Bouncing around at the Perry Hall Town Fair.
Sitting in the National Guard's Hummer (aka: gassguzzler)
Visiting with one of the dogs in the K-9 unit, Daisy.
And the best part of the day... Ice cream with your girlfriends!
Climbing on the sea monster at The Ultimate Playzone for Ryan's birthday party.
Joelle was at the party too! The pirate ship playhouse.
Sliding down the bouncy slide.
Bouncing with Joelle.
Cake and LOTS of snacks... Happy birthday Ryan!
Down the super fast pirate slide... Weeee...
This is why she likes Aunt Margie and Meme to put her to bed... Can you find Ellie among the animals?? I can't either!

Sunday

At church on Sunday morning doing what she always does... "Rubbing" her friends while they naps.
Playing in the sprinkler in her panties and pouring water down her pants... Oh, the simple joys in life!
And watering her head.
And sitting on the sprinkler.
Ellie's garden... her pumpkin growing up the fence.
"I can see you!"
Hanging out with (on) Schatzie and watching some toons.
Below: Ellie's garden, singing tunes, and playing tennis.

Early Morning Songs with Ellie...

4th of July Week and Weekend!
Wednesday...
Schatzie got her summer haircut... she looks so pretty and cool for the warm temps!
Thursday night...
We stayed up late on Thursday night so Ellie could see the fireflies for the first time. She wasn't too thrilled when I told her we were going to go outside to see some buggies.
But once she saw the first few she was pretty excited. I had to catch a few to show her what these things were that were flashing.
Then she found some on her own! The evening was magical!
Looks like that one got a little too close for comfort!
Friday...
I had off of work so Ellie played hookie from school and we went out to Larriland Farm to pick some blueberries. It was about 45min away so to pass the time we counted trucks on the road... we got all the way up to 75!!
Just letting the wind blow through her hair!!
Mmmm... Blueberries!
Ellie picking a few of her own!
Posing next to a blueberry bush... it may not look like a lot but they sure were good!!
This one is titled "Blueberries in a bag", print 1 of 1. Photo courtesy of Ellie.
Larriland Farm
Mommy picking most of the berries.
More of the farm.
Ellie picking clovers while I was picking blueberries!
Look at all of the pretty flowers!Ellie and I by the blueberry bushes.
We did try to pick the rasberries but that didn't work as well as the blueberries... too many prickleys. Also Ellie kept picking the red ones... not bad but we were picking black rasberries so hers weren't ready yet!
Saturday...
Ellie in her 4th of July outfit. You can't really see them but she is also wearing red cowgirl boots!
See here they are! Erica and Ellie posing in their patriotic outfits!
Ellie and I waiting for the festivities to start... she is ready with her ears already covered!
Erica "cheesing" for the camera with Ellie's tiara on top of her sun hat! What a silly girl!
Silly Ellie wearing her crazy head band!
Lisa and Batman!
Oh look, Andrew looks so much like batman! Hmmm... I wonder why??
Here is the parade group... Julie, Lisa, Andrew, Erica, Margie, Meme, Papoo, Aunt Angela, Cindy, and Ellie
Same group again but I'm in there instead of Lisa.
The begining of the parade...
I will start this by saying that it went much better than last year. Ellie's ears weren't covered the entire time and she didn't hide out in the back of the group. Instead she covered her ears only when the fire engines, motorcycles, and some of the bands went by! Also, she sat up front on the curb for almost the entire time! Way to go E!!
Ellie and one of the fire engines... this one had a bell and not a siren!
Ellie and Andrew perched up on Papoo's lap!
Ellie in Papoo's hat.
Ellie and Marg taking in all of the parade!
Ellie and Andrew watching the band very carefully!
The Raven's marching band!! Go Ravens... Caw, caw!!!
This band was a little loud!
Erica and Ellie on my lap.
TSU Tiger pep band.
That afternoon we were off to a picnic/ cook-out with some friends at their pool. Ellie and Connor were really enjoying their cupcakes!
Connor the cupcake man!
And Ellie the icing face!
Exploring the pool grounds.
Swimming (blowing bubbles) in the "big" kids pool... it went from 2 1/2ft- 3ft... Ellie was in heaven!
Noodle for the Noodle-head!!
Its getting late... almost time to go home and eat dinner!
Ellie went down the little water slide a couple of times and even went under water all by her self (on purpose). She still isn't a big fan but she tried it on her own... I am so proud!!!
One last ride on the elephant before we leave!
Prime spot for the fireworks... in the Target/ Superfresh parking lot!
Popsicles and fireworks... Fantastic!
Ellie and I at the Towson fireworks.
OOhhhhh....
AAAAhhhhh....
BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM!!
Ellie and Papoo snuggled in the back of my car watching the fireworks... it was a long, long day!!
Sunday...
After church in her red, white, and blue dress.
Ellie's mean face... I am sooo scared!!
Climbing on the dinosaur at the playground after church.
Ellie bouncing on the see-saw.
Climbing on the bottom!
Weeeee!!!!!
Playing in the sandbox and building castles. Getting ready for the beach in a few weeks!
Ellie swinging on the swings at Uncle Ronnie and Aunt Pat's house on Sunday evening.
Ellie, Emma, Erin, and Wes on the swings.
Emma having a fantastic tim
Wrestling with Dan in the sun room... Super Ellie.
Ellie playing with Annie. they had a lot of fun but I think that she may be allergic to cats (boo!). The rest of the evening she was itching her eyes and her nose was running... No fun!

Monkeying Around
It is official... this little noodle head needs to start eating bananas for dinner because she has turned into a monkey!
She has been practicing a lot at school and it sure tells.
But you know what... you just can't get the full effect from a series of snapshots! The only way you can truly appreciate the way that Ellie "owns" the monkey bars is to see it in action. And to forewarn you, she was not injured in the making of this video... what you don't see/ hear is at the end, she is laughing her fool head off! Enjoy!

The Yin and the Yang
We are into the last few days of June and as we look back we can see just how opposite the past two weekends have been for starters...
It all started off with a package from Grandma. Ellie was excited about both her Adidas jogging suit and her Fancy Nancy dress-up dress and shoes. So she wore them together!
Then the sick-bug hit... It was Friday evening at the Towson Block Party during dinner and the fever hit. By the time we got home and were going to bed then the upset tummy hit (all over the bed and me) so there was plenty of sleeping to be done on Saturday.
Sunday she was well enough to have a mani and pedi.
See, she was really enjoying some outside time.
Showing off some of her own handiwork.
Ellie and her manicurist pose for a photo.
There were also Nick Jr computer games to be played!
During the week she was feeling much better, unfortunately, I wasn't... Ellie was nice enough to share her bug with me! :-(
Stopping to smell the daises... this was the first one this year!
And oh how Ellie's garden has grown!! That is her pumpkin that has taken off across the yard and in front are her green beans.
Those are her tomatoes and squash.
Look at how they tower over her!!
Our first harvest of the summer!
Ellie's First Camping Trip
Ellie and I were invited to join some friends on a camping trip this past weekend. We didn't go too far, the camp site was about a half hour away from home up by the MD/ PA line (or as some of the southerners insist on calling it... the Mason/ Dixon Line). The campgrounds were great. There was a playground, a pool, and even mini-golf. And as many of you know, I am not the most "outdoorsy" kind of a gal but this was my kind of camping... in a camper with our own beds and AC! We had a fantastic time!!!
Ellie and the girls playing with their coloring books and crayons on Friday evening.
Saturday morning Ellie and I are up early waiting for everyone to wake up.
Lexi, Ellie, and Sarah at the swings
Lexi pushing Ellie on the "E-sized" swing at the playground.
Hanging out on the tunnel... She never did go through the tunnel, just over the tunnel!
Ellie and the girls down at the stream splashing and tossing stones.
Uh, oh! Here come the 3 Musketeers!
She had her tongue going in full force on Saturday!
More splashing and playing... Woo-hoo!
Taking in all of the fun of the morning!
Sarah just hanging out in the water... Why not??
The little ladies posing on the big rock in the deep part. The water was about to their waist before they hopped up on the rock.
More splashing and look, there is that tongue again! Ellie had quite a time splish-splashing in the stream even though she was a little afraid of the minnows.
Lets go fly a kite...
Up in the atmosphere!
We had to take advantage of the breeze while it was there!
Just hanging out pool side. The water was pretty chilly because of all of the rain that we've been having so when the sun went behind the clouds we had to hop out and warm up!
Lexi mugging for the camera.
Look... Ellie has wings and she can fly!!
Ellie and I are just chillin'!
Getting the campfire started after dinner on Saturday. Guess what was for dessert?
S'MORES!!!
Ellie and Sarah enjoying dessert. Ellie likes raw s'mores better than the warm gooey ones. When I say raw, I mean a graham cracker, a piece of chocolate, and marshmallows right out of the bag!
Watching Dora before bed on Saturday night.
Playing on the chute slide before we head home after a fun weekend!

Sunny Days and Lots of FUN!!
This past week has been huge for Ellie! It was like this week it clicked and everything she has been working on came together! She can get on the swing at the park all by herself, she can button her buttons and zip her zipper. She put her face in the water at swim lessons, she can go across the monkey bars at school all by herself, actually she showed me when I picked her up one day, she went across them 4 times and I was amazed! To top things off, Papoo measured her yesterday and she has grown an inch since March and is just a hair under 40 inches!! Way to grow, kiddo!!
Friday...
We met up with Joelle and Cathy after work and school to unwind after a hectic week... It was the perfect way to end the week!
Ellie and Joelle having fun rolling old cable spools (or college coffee tables, whatever you want to call them) around in the sand.
Ellie just looking way too cute!
I think they are driving the spool. Oh well, at least they are having fun!!
Saturday...
Saturday morning Ellie and I did the Out for Blood 5k run/ 1mile walk for the Red Cross down at Druid Hill Park in the city.
There were over 200 runners and walkers!
And here is Ellie... Just strutting her stuff! All in all the walk went ok! She lost interest part of the way through and was ready to go so we backtracked and probably ended up walking way more than we had too! But lucky Ellie, she rode on my shoulders for at least half of the walk and guess what... there were lots of hills!Elie and I at the end of the walk!
Yay! We did it! Now it is off to the zoo!
Here we are at the zoo, we got there a little early so Ellie played outside for a bit!
The rhinos.
The ostrich.
A duck looking for food in the mud.
Ellie at the Elephant Outlook.
Ellie and the elephants.
My little map reader. She was in charge of the map on this trip she showed me where to go and how to get there... and not in a bad way!!
We even got to see the baby elephant nursing. It was very cool!
Speaking of cool... Ellie got to see the penguins! This one looks just like Bird!And here he is swimming... The budding photographer took this shot!
Ellie as a penguin! After this picture was taken I had to play doctor... between the humidity, low cut socks, and all of the walking, Ellie got a blister! No worries though, I got her all fixed up and she was fine even if there was some dramatic limping thrown in every once in a while so she could beg for another shoulder ride!
Ellie and I are lions! She is the mommy and I am the baby!
Ellie checking out the fish in the Monkey House.
Speaking of monkeys... The chimpanzees were all outside and full of action! This guy brought a trash can over and was playing it like a drum.
While he was making music the others were running around, climbing, and swinging. Two of them ran off to the side to work on making a baby monkey while yet another decided to show off his alpha-maleness and body slam the window. That startled everyone but really freaked Ellie out! All of this activity went on for about 10 min and as quickly as it started up is settled down but it was really fun to watch!!!
Now Ellie was making music too!
Ellie showing me how to walk like a chimpanzee.
3 little monkeys (and 2 more on her shirt)!
Toucan (aka: The Blueberry Monster)
Ellie learning all about why they call him the Blueberry Monster... That is his favorite food. He will hold one in his beak and show it to everyone then toss it up in the air and swallow it!
Ellie and I riding on the tortoise.
A really pretty bird in the aviary. Just seconds after this photo was taken it pooped on the railing. Ellie was amazed and grossed out all at the same time!
Ellie in the bird's nest.
Ellie as a turtle!
Running through the tunnels.
Ellie riding the kid tractors at the farm area of the zoo.
Brushing the goats... I can't tell who is enjoying this more!
Ellie and I riding the pretend horses!
Trekking back up the big hill after a fun day at the zoo. We were there for about 4 hours and now it is time to go home!
Stopping to see the prairie dogs on the way out.
She's not lion... Ellie loved the zoo!
Sunday...
Playing in the, I mean around, the fountain at church.
Taking it all in!
After church Ellie and I went to Great Grapes Wine Festival at Oregon Ridge. Despite a few bumps in the road we made it and Lisa and Andrew were able to join up for an afternoon of fun and later Beth, Kiley and some other friends joined us!
Attempting the monkey bars... maybe not, these are pretty high up!!
Ellie and Andrew enjoying some tunes.
Ellie in the field enjoying the bluegrass music all by herself!!
Ellie and Andrew in the wagon.
Ellie, Andrew, Lisa, and I
Ellie and Kiley rolling around in the field and listening to some tunes!
Dancing to the music!
Ellie's garden is getting bigger by the day!
Her 'maters are getting HUGE!!
Enjoying some pool time on Sunday evening!
Just scoping out the scene!
Ellie playing with her party boat in the pool!
And below it is a clip of Ellie at the pool. She opens by saying "I'm not Ellie anymore, I'm Butt!" then she spits while she is upside down so it goes right into her nose...

Yay June!!!
Now that is is warm there are so many things that you can do only in the warm (hot) temps like eating banana and chocolate pudding pops with Papoo... In the winter they just don't melt all over the place (like your face) like they do in the summer!!
See... I told you!
Saturday...
We went to Ellie's friend Ellie's brother Sammy's 6th birthday, did you follow that? Anyway, it was a pool party and because of all of the rain that we have had the Saturday morning sky wasn't looking too promising. Luckily any rain finally went on its way but it was still cool. The pools were heated and the kids loved running from the splash pads to the pool. Lots of fun was had by all!
Ellie and Ellie playing on the splash pad. Talk about little girls squealing!! Eeeee!!!
Ellie running in circles.
Back to the pool to warm up!
Hurray! The third Musketeer made it... Its Joelle!
Again, running back and forth!
Here they are, the Three Musketeers... Joelle, Ellie, and Ellie. Or maybe they are like the brothers from The Bob Newheart Show? You know, Larry, Darryl, and Darryl... Hmm...
Yay! Water fun!!!
Ellie strutting her stuff! Her parents will have their hands full during the teenage years!
Noodle for the Noodle Head!
Snack time.
Getting ready for lunch... Pizza and ice cream cake, yummy! Only Ellie doesn't like pizza, unless it is pepperoni then she picks all of them off and leaves the pizza!
Debating lunch.
After she opened her goodie bag she HAD to try on her new set of pearly whites!
On the way home from the party we stopped at a farm and picked up some asparagus, corn on the cob, and peas. Saturday afternoon we shelled the peas and found out that Schatzie was quite a fan! I snapped a few and gave them to Schatzie and she would pop them with her teeth, eat all of the peas, and spit the shells on the ground... Now that is talent!
Ellie thought that Schatzie's trick was fantastic so she kept handing over peas to her. If you enlarge this picture you can see that the dog has a half a pea pod (w/ peas) hanging out of her mouth!
Ellie helping me shell the peas.
Time to check out the garden!
We have a baby tomato!!!
And everything else in the garden is growing so well!!
Sunday...
After church Ellie wanted me to take pictures of her...
Jumping over the grass!
And with her beautiful smile!
After church we went home, changed, and went to the Charles Village Festival.
If you look closely you will notice that she has two different shoes on... 1 red croc and 1 white sandal. That was on purpose! She got a boo-boo on her big toe the day before, she caught it in the bottom of a door, don't worry, she is fine! But being the drama queen that she is she was unable to wear her other white sandal because it hurt and she wanted to wear her crocs, but she wouldn't wear both! You see, the white sandal hurts her boo-boo but matches her dress and the red croc doesn't hurt her boo-boo. See, I told you, it is very simple... If you can't be 100% fashionable then you can at least put your best foot forward! And lets face it, this wasn't a battle I wanted to fight and yes, everyone noticed!
At the playground at Wyman Park.
Ellie hoopin' it up... She is getting much better at it! And sometimes if you watch close, she even gets the tongue going with her hips... priceless!
You will notice the guy behind her on the pedestal hoola-hooping... Well, this was the 8th straight hour he had been doing it (with a few minute break every hour) and it was only about noon! Wow!
My hoop is bigger than your hoop!
There she goes again!
Doing some arts and crafts while we wait for face painting.
Ellie and I at the Charles Village Festival.
Getting her face painted... a pink and purple butterfly, of course! She was very patient and still... the face painter really appreciated that!
Beautiful! And no, not all of the paint came off in the tub that night so she ended up going to school Monday morning with pink lines on her face!
Practicing her skills at the ring toss... 2 out of 6 ain't bad for her first time!
The bean bag toss was next... 3 out of 5! Way to go!!
Bouncing in the moon bounce!
She is almost flying!
Weeeee!!!
Walking back to the car around the park.
Near the Baltimore Meuseum of Art (BMA) we saw this mobile piece of artwork.
Very interesting! And in case you are waondering... Yes, that is someone's car that they drive!
Ellie taking a breather on the wall to the park.
And sticking her tongue out at me!! You Noodle Head!
Having a cheese stick as a snack before swimming.
Playing with the blowhole of her whale pool before she actually gets wet. The water was really cold on Sunday!
Splash!
She has that "I'm up to something" look in her eye. I think my legs are getting ready for a splash!
Having fun in the pool!
There is that 'look' again!
Goggles are on!
And now they are on and she is ready to go!
Hoola hooping in the pool... Why not??
Water down her pants... Cheap excitement!
Oh wait, there were cars in that bucket too!! Silly Ellie!!!