Little Ronnie

When I was pregnant, everyone had an opionin as to what sex they thought I was having. Most people guessed boy and one person particulary adminant that they thought it was a boy was my Dad. And throughout the pregnancy, he would give us "suggestions" for names and all of them had "Ron" or "Ronnie" in them after him of course. Now, mind you that when they had Court, they didn't dare have Ronald anywhere in his name since he always said he didn't like it but for some reason, he wanted us to carry on the name. As the pregnancy when on, all of my family started calling the baby "Little Ronnie". Well, we all got a fun surprise last August when of course we had a little girl (who by the way now has her Papa wrapped around her finger!) and of course the name Little Ronnie died. However, being crafty and creative as she is, DeeDee found a rocking horse on one of her yard sale adventures and repainted it and named it "Little Ronnie"! So, now Papa finally has something named Little Ronnie! And of course, Ella James does have Papa's middle name so she does carry on part of his name, the good part! It's still a little big for her but she can climb on rock for a little bit. DeeDee did a great job bringing Little Ronnie back to life, it's so cute!

Ella laughing at how silly her Papa is thinking we would actually name our little one Ronnie!! Sorry, there is only one Ronnie J (as Court and I call him) and we are all thankful for that!

Rocking Horse from Kristin Hennessy on Vimeo.

When Mom & Dad are away...

Ella will play! And dance and take walks and read books and lots of other fun things also. DeeDee and Great Grammy came up to watch Ella (and Dakota) while we were back at Virginia Tech. Ella showed off her new walking skills but I think her dancing got the biggest smiles and laughs of the weekend. Dancing with Great Grammy and check out our other jealous child, had to be right in the middle of the action also. Don't forget about me!

This girl has dancing in her veins, she starts to dance whenever she hears music. She must take after her DeeDee and Great Dougan Aunts. Let's just say, she can dance with the best of them!

Playing one of her other favorite games, peek-a-boo with Great Grammy.

Hugs and snuggle time, this is very rare for Ella, she doesn't sit still long enough!

I think DeeDee and Great Grammy wanted to get Ella to start reading while we were away. I don't think that happened but she did say "Dee" and pointed to DeeDee so I think that was more than enough! Ella is so lucky to have such amazing grandparents and great grandparents in her life. Thanks DeeDee and Great Grammy for coming to watch Ella so Mommy and Daddy could get away for the weekend.

It's official...Ella is walking

Our little tentative, cautious girl actually took her first step a couple days before her first birthday back in August and each day, she would take a couple more steps but every time she would fall down, she would start crawling again. She would stand up on her own, take a couple of steps and for some reason, she was usually holding something in her hand. Not sure if it helped for balance or what but it was so funny. It was usually the Ipod, remote control or she liked to hold the dog leash at the beach. But last week, it finally clicked with her and she decided no more crawling for her. Now when she falls down, she gets right back up and keeps going. She is getting more steady everyday and she is officially off! We finally captured her on video Sunday in the cul-da-sac, she was a little unsure about walking outside at first but now she is fearless!

Untitled from Kristin Hennessy on Vimeo.

H-O-K-I-E-S

It had been way too long. Way Way too long! First I was pregnant and then we had a newborn last fall so it had been way too long since we have been back to one of our favorite places, Virginia Tech. We first had the idea of having a fun weekend without the kids when we found out VT was playing ECU and one of neighbors went to ECU and the others wanted to come back and see what Mike and I have been telling them about for so long. So, the grandparents all arrived to watch the kids and the adults headed up for a fun weekend. The weather was perfect and the game even better and we all had such a fun time. Especially the grandparents that got to stay at home and spoil the little ones and the adults got to relive some of our college glory (although, we quickly realized that we can't hang with the college kids anymore!).

The Charlotte crew, divided on who they were cheering on but we were all in good spirits at the tailgate.

The girls and yes, I tried to get them to wear VT shirts but they would soon learn, they should have worn orange and maroon!

The guys having a few drinks before we headed off for the game.

I even got to meet up with some of my sorority sisters that all came in for the game. It is funny how times have changed, 3 of us have kids, 1 is pregnant now and the other is engaged and getting married this spring! I guess we are officially old now.

Is there a more beautiful setting for a football game than Lane Stadium? Yeah, I didn't think so either.

The first half was a really close game and the Hokies were actually behind by 3 points but things started to turn around in the second half.

And this is how it finished, finally a victory for Virginia Tech after a rough start to the football season. Hopefully we can start moving forward from this win and forget the first 2 games.

After the game, we went back to our tailgate spot and had so much fun celebrating the big win. We planned on just going back for another drink or two but ended up staying until late and even ordered pizza to our spot for some dinner. We are pretty die hard fans!

And of course we had to show our friends that had never been to Blacksburg before our favorite spot, Top of the Stairs. I think they enjoyed it and enjoyed the rail drinks even more!

Charlotte invaded Blacksburg! It is such a memorable and magical place for Mike and I and we were so happy to share it with some of our closest friends. It was definitely a fun and wild weekend but we are all very tired now and were happy to get home to see the kids. Plus, Ella is officially walking nonstop now so we couldn't wait to get home to watch her, more pics and videos of her walking later this week, stay tuned. Thanks again to DeeDee and Great Grammy for coming to babysit Ella and Dakota all weekend!

Seabrook (the finale)

Just a couple last pictures from our fun trip. We were rarely inside but caught a couple of these cute ones on the green couch! Check out all those teeth and she actually cut a few more while we were at the beach so she was battling a little cold and runny nose all week but it definitely didn't slow her down!

The tickle monster made a visit and this little munchkin is soooooooooo ticklish, she can't fight it!

I am so glad we finally got this on camera because it always cracks us up and we all end up hysterically laughing together.

The beach is so tiring and sometimes we even fall asleep in the BOB after a morning run with Mom. Resting up before a trip to the pool.

Final night and final sunset, sad to say goodbye but we can't wait to come back and visit again soon!

I think this picture says it all! This was on the way home and our little peanut was so tuckered out from all the fun and she has been sleeping so well this week. Ella is excited for her DeeDee and Great Grammy to come up and babysit her this weekend. Mike and I are heading up to Blacksburg to watch the VT game. Hopefully they turn things around this weekend.

Seabrook (The Middle)

So, I took a bunch of pictures but won't bore you with all of them but here are some from the middle to the end of our trip to the beach. As you can see, we had amazing weather and even more spectacular sunsets. And of course had to sneak in from cheesy but cute family pictures.

After the sun went down, we were told that was Jupiter next to the moon. The colors were so beautiful.

I think Ella is saying, no more pictures, you will why below, we tortured her for a bunch of them that day!

Wearing Uncle Court's captain's hat, I don't think she was a big fan.

This looks like it could be out of a magazine, the colors were just amazing during the sunets. Now you know why we love happy hour and sunset time so much down there.

All the girls in our white outfits!

Ella having a fit after all the pictures, haha!

I LOVE this one of the three of us, it may become our Christmas card photo.

Cute of the whole family except DeeDee had her eyes closed.

Hanging with Jennifer!

Another night, another sunet and happy hour! Mom and Ella wearing Lilly and Dad wearing Southern Tides, so preppy and I love it!! Perfect for Charleston!

I think Ella is saying, I want a drink for happy hour also!

Why do we have to leave, can't we stay at the beach forever??

Walking around the beach

It's a toss up who loves the beach more, Ella or Dakota!

Ella definitely has her Papa wrapped around her finger, she even started saying Papa by the end of the week.

Seriously, what's up that captain's hat Uncle Court?? Not so sure about that one.

I love sitting in a big girl chair!

Ella loves doggies! In fact, her first word besides Momma and Dada is "doggie". Giving Jennifer's dog Emma a big hug!

Before the Boise State/VT game and yes, we were robbed by the refs in that game. And we won't talk about the other game...

A couple more pictures to come from the end of our trip but as you can see, the trip was amazing! Thanks DeeDee and Papa for everything.

Seabrook (The beginning)

So, we loaded up the car and the 4 of us (of course we brought Dakota) headed down to one of our favorite places, Seabrook Island for 8 glorious days of beach, pool, golf, tennis and sunsets! We have been waiting for this trip all summer and as usual, it didn't disappoint. I took a lot of pictures so will have to break up the posts but here is a glimpse at the beginning of the trip. In the car, ready to go! Yes, we did manage to use every square inch of car space but Ella seems ok with it, Dakota, not so much!

We had a normal routine of heading over to the pool in the mornings followed by the naptime and then afternoons spent on the beach! This little one got her exercise! She took more and more steps each day and was doing so great but she isn't ready to give up crawling completely yet. She loved to walk around the pool and then fall and splash in the water!

I love the pool!

Ella's favorite part of the week was getting to spend so much time with Daddy (and I think Daddy loved all the extra time also!) Here they are swimming together.

So sweet!

We did borrow a float to use for the pool but I am glad I snapped this picture immediately once she got in because I think she only lasted about 10 minutes. She preferred to have one of us hold her or splash around on her own in the kiddie area.

To our surprise, Ella loved the ocean and the beach! We would take her in the waves and jump through them and splash around and she would smile and laugh. As long as we were holding her tight of course. It also helped that the water was so warm!

Soaking up the warm sunshine!

Of course before the trip, I went out and got all these fun beach toys and of course, Ella wasn't interested at all in them. Her favorite toys all week were beach chairs that she would climb in and out of all afternoon and opening and closing the cooler. Why I even buy toys is a mystery?

Her new favorite trick is drinking out of a water bottle. She loves to sip it up and doesn't mind when too much comes out and spills down her swim shirt.

See, I am a big girl and I sit in the big girl chair. We brought down a kids chair but she wanted to sit like the rest of us a big chair and she liked trying them all out!

One of our favorite times of the day at the beach is happy hour/sunset time! The back deck has a perfect view of the sunset and we always make it a priority to hang out together on the deck with a cocktail and toast to the amazing day. Papa telling Ella all about sunsets, definitely his favorite part of the day!

I mean, with a sunset like that, how can you not smile! Never get tired of looking at that.

Look at those two, so adorable!

I am sure you were wondering if I was there since all the photos are of Ella and Mike but I was always the photographer. Finally, I got some time to steal some kisses from my munchkin!

Beautiful setting for an amazing start of the week, we already miss it. More pictures to come soon!