the life of ellie ann peck...

new page

2007-09-09T01:17:00.000-07:00

well, i decided to start a new page for our new family of four...

so update your bookmarks to:
www.kevinandleslie.blogspot.com

see you on the new page!

Halle Update

2007-09-06T16:23:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!

Well, I just wanted to give a little update on the upcoming arrival of Halle Peck! I am at 38 weeks and 5 days... so, we're very close to D-Day! I went in to see the doctor today and will go back in on Monday to see if anything has changed over the weekend. We could possibly induce on Wednesday... we'll know something more definitive on Monday, though... so we'll keep you posted!

I can't believe she's almost here... crazy!

Ellie is so excited to be a big sister and is very ready to help out in every way. Thanks to my good friend Mandy Powell, she found an awesome book that has made ellie way more than ready to become the best big sister ever... in the book, the new big sister's name is ellie and she also has an aunt molly in the book! What a small world!

Well, that's all we've got for now... I've got some pictures to post, but have not uploaded them quite yet... I'll try and get to it soon! :)

Past couple of weeks

2007-08-17T13:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some updated pictures for you...

We took a trip to Phil's Ice House with Sally, Sam, Jennifer, Samantha and baby Jack for some burgers, Amy's ice cream and sweaty fun on the play groud.
(if you are ever in need of a place to eat dinner with your kiddos in Austin, Phil's is the place to go! they have shuffleboard, a great playground, good food and Amy's Ice Cream right there in the building!!)

Sally trying to cool the girls down...
(by the way, Sally was practicing with the girls as she gets ready to have one of her very own! yea sally and justin!!)

ellie and Samantha playing on the playground

It looks like they are hugging, but actually, they were both trying to "drive" at the same time.

Every week when we leave church, ellie MUST walk through the grass and pick some "flowers" for ellie, baby halle, and mommy. What a doll!

ellie had some fun time playing elmo's keyboard game on my computer the other day...

If she could eat yogurt 24 hours a day/7 days a week, she would be the happiest child on the planet!

One of her favorite past times these days... she loves to fix anyone and everyone's hair

We took a trip out to Ikea and ellie fell in love with these crazy chairs!!
(We love Ikea and are so glad they came to Austin!)

ellie loves her some swim diapers... in fact, her newest invention... the swim diaper hat!

This past week, my mom, sister and her kiddos came to visit to go swimming. For some reason, the camera sat on the countertop until the end of the trip. We had a blast swimming and shopping for 2 days!

Here is a pic of the first (of many) slumber party with ellie and Anna... they were SACKED out! What cute cousins! :)

Just in case...

2007-08-17T13:17:00.000-07:00

You ever need to find us on a Friday afternoon...

You can generally find us at "Chickela" eating some good chicken
(Kevin takes Fridays off, so it's a family day)

Playing on the playground

(for some reason, she refused to go up and slide today)

Then, it's off to ellie's wonderland...
The "TOY STORE"... Toys R Us, for the translation

Watching Elmo do the Hokey Pokey

And no trip to Toys R Us is complete without trying out the cars... Kevin says next summer will be her turn to get a car so she can drive herself up to the pool! ;)

So, if you are ever in need of finding us, you know where we are!
(In case you ever want to join us, we hit the Chick-Fil-A/Toys R Us at Parmer and 35)

happy birthday molly!!

2007-08-01T13:31:00.000-07:00

Sending a shout out to Alaska

wishing Molly
a Happy Birthday!

We love you and miss you, Molly!!

(make sure and check out all of her adventures in her blog)

510... a reunion

2007-07-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

this past weekend, the girls i lived with (or nearly with) at a&m got together here in austin for some way overdue time together. to explain the title, 510 was the address of our famous home in college station... 510 ayrshire. what memories lie in that house!! most of the husbands and kiddos were able to come, too, which made for a great weekend! since we are all spread out, it took us about 5 months to get everything all together. we spent a lot of time in the pool and had tons of good conversation with one another. hopefully, it won't be too long before we are all together again!!

a girls pic:

(mandy bannon, julie manning, courtney giddens, libby faulkner, rebecca holm, marianne ballard and me)

a family pic:

A Day in the Hill Country

2007-07-25T18:38:00.000-07:00

Well, as you can see, we have had a fast and furious couple of weeks travelling! We have sure been a busy family the past few weeks! Today, was no different...

We spent the day at the house that Yuna Suh lives in out in Spicewood. It was about an hour trip from Manor, but getting out to the hill country was an amazing escape. Yuna used to nanny for this family and now she helps them with their house... they only come out to the house once a month of so. Halim and Yuna's parents were in town and cooked us an amazing Korean feast. We had a fun day just getting to hang out and catch up with some good friends. The crew consisted of the Paquette, Richardson, Douglass and the Suh families. It was raining most of the day in Austin, but God allowed our day to be perfect... a little cloudy, great breeze, ... man, days like this in july don't come too often. We sat outside on the patio a good portion of the day and just enjoyed the great company and views.

Thanks for such a fun day Suh family!! :)

***********************************

Here are some pics from the day:

What a view from the pool! The Pedernales River is way down below. Here are all the dad's and kiddos in the pool.

ellie making her first shallow jump of the day

Kevin and ellie looking over the edge

ellie getting a little more brave
(by the end of the day, Kevin was standing on the ledge, holding ellie over way up high and dropping her into the water... she is quite the little daredevil)

ellie loving the noodles

Going way up high!

And then launching out to Unca (aka Halim)

Finally, the fish got out of the water... but if you can't tell, her lips were actually blue. With no sun, it made for a cooler swimming day, but she would NOT get out of the water until we made her.

The Ping Pong tourney began and Halim and Kevin had to wait their turn playing air hockey

Julie Paquette took out Halim's dad in the first round (James Paquette ended up winning the tournament)

Meanwhile, upstairs... there is a tee pee set up for the kiddos... however, with a closer look...

our child was PASSED out!!

But then all the girls woke up and attacked Kevin!

(girls: rilyn and ella paquette, ellie, and ella douglass, though ella d managed to get out of the picture for this one) (sadly, the richardson's had taken off and missed the end of the day)

More wrestling with Kevin

Next up... a "pony ride" for the big girls

And Ella P went for a solo ride

ellie and Ella D cheer on Unca as he fishes out some loose pool toys from the balcony up above

And as we were trying to get out the door to load up, the last two girls (Ella D and ellie) decided to splash it up in the fountain in the courtyard.

Finally, a kiss and hug goodbye... but not for long. Ella is in ellie's class and lives right down the street! We love our friends!

Disneyland

2007-07-24T23:53:00.000-07:00

here are some of the pictures from disneyland:

WELCOME TO DISNEYLAND

minnie mouse was the first person we got to officially meet

a quick ride on the tea-cups was so much fun!! technically, this was only ride we rode. all the lines were terribly long and in the hot sun. this line was short and in the shade! and plus, i'm not too sure how many rides they would let this big ole pregnant lady ride, anyways! :)

giving pluto a hi-five!

a visit to disneyland would be worthless without meeting mickey himself!
(she gave him a big ole kiss, but somehow, we managed to miss the picture as they rushed us out the door!)

waiting for the parade

"Hi Tinkerbell!!"
this was (next to meeting mickey) the highlight of the day. every character came by and she got so excited to see all of her "friends" come by to see her!!

on the tram riding back to the car

and as usual, at the end of the day... WIPE OUT!! i mean seriously, 10 minutes in the car and she was OUT the whole way home...
(this time, she had her new friend with her)

Home Again

2007-07-24T21:25:00.002-07:00

we just made it home from a GREAT vacation and visit with kevin's grandmother and uncle danny in bakersfield, california. for those that don't know, this is where kevin was born and where his parents met. his grandparents are well known throughout the town and have a TON of history everywhere you go. the trip seemed to have a perfect balance of busy and rest. we spent our first full day hanging out in bakersfield and checking out some of the local spots. our first adventure was to CALM (the California Living Museum). kevin's grandparents were some of the founding members of CALM. they have beautiful california native animals to see... an amazing place. they have bald eagles, all sorts of snakes and lizards, falcons, coyotes... and so much more! :)

we ate at a ton of good locals spots that have a long history with the Smith/Peck families. we spent one evening at woolgrowers where you can dine on pickled cows tongue, blue cheese, and all sorts of basque delicacies! :) (just so you know, ellie and i passed on most and enjoyed a great filet!)

saturday, we made the 2 1/2 hour drive into Anaheim to go to Disneyland. ellie (as kevin puts it) LOST HER MIND! she had so much fun seeing all of her favorite people, the parades, the tea-cups, ... the list goes on and on!

sunday, we spent as a lazy day in bakersfield and loved every minute. we made sure to spend a good portion at dewar's the local candy and ice cream shop and in the backyard up high in the tree.

now, we are finally back home and are so thankful that kevin still has 2 more weeks off to spend with ellie and i!

here are some of our bakersfield highlights:

ellie's first plane ride (which she was quite a trooper! both ways, she watched a movie for the first leg and slept the second. she thought it was so cool to be up in the clouds)

the first trip to in-n-out burger

hanging out in the famous smith tree in the backyard with daddy

ellie spending some good, quality time with her great-granma mary

playing the piano, like her daddy did when he was little

dinner at woolgrower's
(a smith/peck family favorite)

out front at woolgrower's

amazing sunflower's in kevin's uncle danny's garden

and as i mentioned above, no trip to bakersfield would be complete without heading to dewar's... a local candy and ice cream shop
(kevin's grandad jack was their first customer when they opened and he ran the entire way there... from what i know now, it was worth the run!) :)

ellie and granma mary sitting out front

waiting patiently for her first ice cream sundae

the ultimate sundae!! chocolate ice cream, fudge and m&m's... doesn't get much better!

kevin helping ellie dig in

YUM!... next up came and amazingly crazy case of Brain Freeze! she had no idea what to do with herself... but we managed to get some warm water into her mouth and she got back to eating her ice cream. :)

a beautiful sunset picture in the backyard

ellie enjoying "her chair" at granma mary's house. she logged some serious hours in this chair throughout our visit.

Day two

2007-07-18T13:13:00.001-07:00

We ended our first night after the zoo playing dress up and reading books with Grammy. Day two entailed a trip to the square in town to my favorite place for lunch... the Merry Heart Tea Room and some swim time in my parents hot tub. We ended the day eating some GOOD fried chicken at the new Babe's restaurant that just opened in town and was amazing! :)

Tonight, we are finally headed to California to visit Kevin's grandmother and to spend a day with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland. We're crossing our fingers that the trip goes well... we'll keep you posted! :)

ellie playing dress up with old dance costumes

One of ellie's all time favorite things to do:
reading books with Grammy!!

ellie and Kevin walking on the square

Swim Time!

Swimming with Daniel, Anna and Grammy (with Belle looking on)

More Zoo Pictures

2007-07-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of other pics from the zoo...

The kiddos put on their telescopes to see the animals

The monkeys watching the monkeys

Watching the lion eating his lunch

The Australian sand pit

Anna and ellie petting a friendly goat

The Vacation Begins

2007-07-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

Our vacation has begun and we have already been busy! We have spent the past few days in Granbury with my family. The first day we spent at the Fort Worth Zoo with my sister and her family. We had a blast seeing all the animals... if only it wasn't so hot! :)

Here are some pics from the zoo...

Eating lunch in the car before we head in

all the kiddos loaded up in the zoo stroller

Me and ellie watching the elephants
(yes, that is actually my stomach ellie is sitting on!) :)

ellie feeding the birds!

and WIPE OUT for the ride home!

More pictures

2007-07-11T12:00:00.001-07:00

Here is one picture from the party of ellie shoveling her cupcake

ellie's grand-dad Earl got her an amazing house for her birthday

ellie's cousin Samantha came over for a Father's Day dinner and enjoyed jumping on ellie's trampoline with ellie and Kevin

another wedding reception pic... too cute!

ellie showing off her first sunburn... yikes! i guess we were outside swimming a little too long yesterday!!

The Summer Update

2007-07-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's been far too long since I've updated, so here we go! It has been a busy summer for the Peck family... where to begin??!

ellie has had many changes this summer... so, lets start with her!

We started out with ellie's 2nd birthday party. She had a ton of friends come out and celebrate her life. About 30 toddlers and kids running around a park was quite a sight to be seen!

She started a mothers day out program twice a week and finally after a month, she is having fun with new friends. She still lets me know that she doesn't want me to leave, but once I'm gone, I am long forgotten! :)

She loves to swim and I mean LOVES but it's been so rainy that we haven't had too many chances to enjoy our pool. Hopefully, things will stay like they are now for a while... sunny and HOT. She has absolutely no fear of the water and just goes and goes until she is ready to pass out from tiredness.

ellie also had the great blessing of being a flower girl in some of our friends (Travis and Katie Wussow) wedding this past weekend (yes, one of the 07/07/07 weddings). She did an AMAZING job!! It was her first wedding and she just walked down the aisle like a pro. At the rehearsal, she sprinted down as fast as possible, but for the wedding, you would have thought that she had done it a million times! Though, I think it helped that Kevin was officiating the wedding, so she had a pretty easy target to get to. From what I hear, she was chanting "daddy, daddy" the whole way down. What a hoot!!

And finally, she is sleeping in her "big girl" bed. On Saturday afternoon before the wedding, it was rest time for the Peck ladies. ellie was in her crib and I was downstairs sleeping. All of a sudden, Kevin hears footsteps upstairs and then they start making their way downstairs. Kevin says, "leslie?" To which the response was, "no daddy, it's ellie!" The little munchkin had, unbeknown st to us, mastered the art of climbing out of her crib with no problem whatsoever. So, she told daddy that she wanted to rest in her big girl bed. FINALLY... a task that we had been nudging her toward for a couple of weeks. Ever since, she loves sleeping in her bed. It's not always easy, but she's getting the hang of it. :)

So, that is our ellie update for now...

As for the rest of us... Kevin begins his sabbatical on Monday and we are so thankful! 3 weeks off! I'm not sure how he will handle it, but I'm sure he'll make do. We are heading to Granbury for a few days next week to visit my family and then Wednesday night, we are heading to California for a few days to visit Kevin's grandmother in Bakersfield! We will also take a little road trip into LA to take ellie to Disneyland. She is SO excited to go see all her friends!! It will be her first plane trip, so we'll see how that goes... After California, we'll be back at the house just taking time off together as a family. I'm sure that will include plenty of time at the pool and the park!

I am so thankful for these next few weeks coming up... Kevin works so hard and the break coming over the next month will be such a blessing!!

I'm just growing an inch an hour, or so it feels. I am 30 1/2 weeks at this point... a little over 2 months to go. 2 weeks ago, we had a sonogram and were told that Halle is looking VERY long and is almost 3 pounds! (For normal babies, they are more on the 2 pound side at this point) GREAT! Hopefully, over the next few months, she'll slow down a little on lb's for me... :) We are getting so excited for her arrival! *oh, another ellie story* So, at the end of May, my family had come in town because Kevin had been preaching for a few weeks. (shameless plug, head over to www.austinstone.org and download his two sermons... they were AMAZING!) So, after they left, one afternoon, I asked ellie to come over and say hi to baby halle. She complied and then told me to tell baby halle hello in her tummy. I told her that baby halle was only in my tummy. ellie sat and pondered a moment and then told me that I needed to tell baby Suzy hello and give her a hug and kiss in HER tummy. Now, she goes around telling me that baby Suzy is kicking her and wants everyone to give her tummy a kiss! What a riot!

But other than housing this big ole baby, I'm great! Kevin threw an amazing birthday party for me with tons of friends last month! What a great husband! The neighborhood girls (Angela Suh, Diana Douglass, Julie Paquette and Jen Richardson) and I have started a bible study together which has been a fun blessing on Monday nights. And speaking of the Suh's, we are also getting so excited about Baby Chi across the street... for those who don't know, the Suh's are also having a little one this fall... Malachi Suh will be joining us in October! We are so excited as the fall approaches! So many babies are coming! I am also looking forward to a weekend with my "girls!" The last weekend of July will be a mini-reunion with some of my dearest college friends here in Austin... they were so sweet to be willing to travel down here since I won't be so mobile here in the next few weeks! ;)

So, I think that wraps us up a little for you... I'll try to get more pics up and update a little more often!

Having fun at the rehearsal dinner

Getting ready for the wedding

At the reception

With a chocolate mustache, thanks to some M&M's!

Sleeping soundly in her big girl bed!!

Happy Birthday, Ellie!!

2007-05-02T14:03:00.000-07:00

Well today is the big day!
Ellie is TWO!
(though when you ask her, she will still say, "I'm one!")

Time is flying by way too fast...

We love you, ellie!
Happy Birthday!

ELMO MADNESS!

2007-02-21T15:50:00.000-08:00

So for Kevin's dads birthday, he decided to take the whole family to see Elmo in Sesame Street Live... if you haven't seen this... it's amazing. The show is okay, but seeing hundreds of little ones sitting as still as can be (other than the occasional dance moves)... it was quite a site to see! :) We will definitely go back again next time they come through town.

Here are some pics from the event:

Ellie, her new Elmo shirt, and some great kettle corn... does life get any better?!

Ellie and her cousin Samantha loving the show!

Ellie and her grand-dad Earl

Uncle Sam, Samantha and a hooded Ellie

Ellie back at home with her new Zoe tu-tu!

Mavs Game

2007-02-21T15:42:00.000-08:00

Angela Suh's dad gave the Suh's and the Peck families his Mavs tickets for a couple of weeks ago... we decided to be brave and took Ellie with us... She enjoyed about the first half then was ready to hit the road. We went up to the club level and she was able to run around while the guys watched the game on some big screens... They played the Rockets and blew them out, so at least it wasn't a close game to miss out on! :)

Ellie and the game

Ellie and Kevin

Kevin giving Ellie the play-by-play

Half-time entertainment... this guy was crazy... only the one in the middle is real!

Snow pics!

2007-02-21T15:14:00.000-08:00

Here are some pics from our snow days in January...

Kevin sending ellie down the driveway in a laundry basket!

Ellie freezing to pieces!

Ellie's favorite snowman!

So, it's a little miniature... that's what you get in Texas, I guess!

New pics!

2007-02-21T14:45:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!
So, I'm a slacker... I admit it... Kevin looked at me recently and said October! Come on now!

So... here is a little update:
As for Ellie news... she is talking up a major storm these days. It is so much fun to watch her learning new things every day. What a little sponge! She has recently fallen deeply in love with Mickey Mouse, so hopefully this summer, while we are visiting Kevin's grandma in CA, we will make a stop into Disneyland!! As the days start seeming warmer, she is getting more and more anxious for the pool to open... and me too! Mid-may... that's not too far from now. Until then, we are just getting ready for our family season of birthdays... her daddy's birthday is Feb 28th, Ellie's cousin (my sisters youngest) Anna will turn 2 on March 15th, her aunt Sushie has a birthday on March 17th, uncle Sam is March 19th, a couple of close friends have bdays in April and then on to Ellie's big numero 2 on May 2!! Followed up by cousin Daniel at the end of May who is turning 4! Should be a fun couple of months!

And finally, Ellie's biggest and most favorite news is that she will be a big sister in September! The official date is September 15th, but to her, it won't get here soon enough.

I think that is about it for now... I promise, more to come soon! :)

Here are a few pics to catch you up:
Kevin, Earl, Ellie and Samantha on Christmas Eve

Molly giving Ellie her favorite Backyardigans stuffed animals!

Ellie opening presents on Christmas morning!

And finally, our big news!

October

2006-11-03T11:51:00.000-08:00

Happy October...

As usual, this month went by in a hurry and ellie is growing and changing so much everyday!

She had her 18 month check up and found that she is in the 90-95th percentile in height and 75th in weight... long and lean! (She is 33 1/2 inches long and weighs almost 26 pounds.)

We had a lot of fun this month and a little sickness. Ellie had a bad week with hand, foot and mouth disease... No fun! But she's back to herself now. We went to the pumpkin patch again that we went to last year. Ellie's best friend Olivia and her brother William came too. Our neighborhood also had a fall festival... some of ellie's good friends came... including her one and only Sammy Carter!

Kevin is busy with budget season and looking forward to our first vacation in well over a year. We will be heading to Maui right after Thanksgiving!! And it should be interesting being our first trip without ellie... yikes! Ellie will have some fun times with her Ga-Ga, aunt Su-she, and cousins in Granbury for the week, though.

Hope all is well... Happy Thanksgiving!

blessings...

here are some highlights from the month:

Ellie got a little worn out by her "Unca" Halim

Who doesn't love playing in the tupperware cabinet?

Ellie loves her rides on her Daddy!

She loves wearing everyone's shoes

Who doesn't love the Backyardigans? And just so you know, she is wearing 3 different outfits at the same time!! My child has such style!!

September

2006-09-25T15:04:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

Where did the month of September go?? Well, in the month of September, we have had new changes for little miss ellie. The biggest is our new Sunday morning routine. Our church began services this month at 10:45am and ellie has not quite adjusted to her new morning time at church. I'm sure it won't take too long for her to remember how much she loves it! Mothers Day Out has been a gamble.... one day she had fun, two days she didn't... we'll see how it keeps coming. Not much else going on... just loving day after day watching ellie grow up... Here are some pictures from the month...

blessings...

playing with grand-dad earl in the backyard

Loving to color at the kitchen table

Just hanging out and loving it!

Did someone say shopping at Baby Style? And yes, I am wearing my swimsuit... somedays, you just need to wear your swimsuit!

Can't beat a rainy summer night

pictures!

2006-08-19T10:57:00.000-07:00

FINALLY!
this was quite a labor of love... i had to go back and forth between my mac and dell to get this all on here... i hope you enjoy them!!

blessings...

here she is just being cute...

loving on her baby

playing outside in the water (i promise, she was having fun!)

loving her high heels! (again, she was having a blast!)

riding her "bike" in the backyard! (finally, a smile!)

picture problems...

2006-08-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

well, i said i'd have new pictures, but blogger isn't letting me post them, for whatever reasons... i'll try again tomorrow... sorry!

starting fresh...

2006-08-19T00:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

We are back and decided to start ellie off with a new page! Here are some updated pictures for you to enjoy!

Ellie is 15 1/2 months and loves life. She seems to be throwing new tricks into her bag every day... we have such a blast with her. She is growing like a weed... today at her dr. appt, she weighed 24.7 lbs and was 32 inches in length! Crazy! She sure hates going to the doctor though... Other than at the doctor, she is such a friendly little girl...waving and saying "hi-ee" to anyone and everyone (and anything) that moves.

Since we last posted, we moved out to the "sticks" of Austin, well, to be honest, that's Manor (pronounced "May-nor")... :) We love it out here and have a great neighborhood with "Unca" (Halim) and "Gela" (Angela) just across the street. And throughout the summer, we spent a lot of time at our awesome neighborhood pool! Ellie LOVES to swim and jump off the side of the pool into the water... what a hoot!

September 5th will be a big day in Ellie's life... not only will she have just passed her 16 month mark, she will begin her first mother's day out program! She will be going to a place near Kevin's office downtown. Thankfully, she has a couple of friends from church in her class. What a blast!!

For a quick update on the rest of the family... Kevin's wheels are spinning like crazy getting ready for the fall and to start our morning service at our church!! (Our days of sleeping in on Sunday's are running out quickly) He's really thankful to not have any classes looming over his head now that he has finished... although technically he doesn't graduate until December... :)

And I am just enjoying chasing after ellie everyday! Not much is new... I still LOVE staying home with ellie. I'm looking forward to this fall with the new changes in our church... Kevin and I and another couple from our church (our great friends the Lemmons) will be teaching a nearly/newly wed class on Sunday mornings...

I guess that's it for now... thanks for visiting and catching up with us!

blessings...