Ellison Reese

Although this is Ellison's sight, we couldn't let the loss of her furry brother slip by. No, Tucker is alive and (we think) well. But he went to his new adoptive parent this past Friday. It was a tough week of anticipation for us, and an even tougher day, full of lots of tears. Tucker has been an incredible dog and companion for Jonathan & myself. He's been through a lot with us! Tucker traipsed all over the country with us, and essentially, he was a huge catalyst for Jonathan and I meeting. Tucker came with Jonathan, and that's why it was so hard for us to say goodbye to him. For as long as I've know Jon, I've known Tucker, too. I dog-sat him when Jonathan was just my neighbor. It was hard, too, because Tucker was our "Colorado". It's a place that will always be home for us and represents such incredible memories, and Tucker was a part of it all. We like to think he's on to greener pastures. Thank you, Tucker, for being such a wonderful part of our lives! You'll always be our boy, and we'll miss you forever!!!

Warning... major complaining ahead...

It was an "off" day in the Soto household today. Now I know that's common, but usually it's one person at a time that has the "off" day. For us? Nope. You name it, it went wrong here for Jonathan and myself. From sweet tea & hot sauce getting spilled on our light tan carpet, to the newly mopped floors getting spilled with stuff, to Ellison putting up a fuss at lunch time, to burning the dinner in the oven, it was just an uphill battle ALL day. The Carly Simon song, "It's the Stuff that Dreams are Made of" kept coming to mind. These aforementioned woes are just a few things. I mention all of this, because it sets the scene for what was supposed to be a lovely fall outing for the Sotos...

We've been looking so forward to fall and taking Ellison to the pumpkin patch for the first time to get those cute little fall snapshots and such, while sipping cider and eating fresh doughnuts. I'm not sure why we thought we'd find such a place when we're still wearing summer attire here. I don't know, I guess we were thinking we'd just stage the photos by slipping on a sweater and cute stocking cap for the photo op. No one would notice the beads of sweat falling from our foreheads, would they? We had been looking on the internet for such staple fall places, but thought it strange that we couldn't come up with any in the area. So we asked a couple of neighbors, and were told a place to go that was good. So the Sotos got strapped into the car, and away we went. The intersection we were told didn't seem to be an exact location, so we had to search, which meant going down the street a little ways in EACH direction of the intersection (and turning around a few times), because of course we wouldn't pick the correct direction on the first try. Meanwhile, our sweet little Ellison has managed to spill a pond-size amount of water on her pants. At last, we found the spot. A church parking lot... that just had a bunch of pumpkins for sale. So we decide to try to look for another place that someone else had told me about, which was, ironically, also a church. So we drive all around looking for this place without success. It appears that the "pumpkin patches" here are all fundraisers for churches. So then we decided that it was such a beautiful day, and there were SO MANY things we were putting off doing at home due to our quest for a "quick" fall outing, that we at least could take Ellison to a playground or something. So off we drive all the way back home toward a school near our house. We get in the parking lot, and Jonathan decides we need to try a different school because this playground sucks for Ellison. So off the Griswolds drive in search of the "perfect" playground. We get to another school, and we collectively decide the other one was better. Well, Ellison didn't really care - she was busy soaking her shirt now, too. So BACK we go to the #1 crappy school playground. Thinking Ellison was just going to love every minute, we joyfully and enthusiastically put her on the swing, the slide, the mini-rock climbing wall, and what does she do? Stare at us with a completely blank look. No smiling, no chuckling, no giggling. (Sigh). After an hour-and-a-half of being gone (for what?!), we cut our losses and headed back home. Oh, and I need to mention that after all this, I pull into the garage, only to crash into the bike with the front bumper (no damage done). And need I mention that I have Jonathan in the back seat?! So if there's one thing we learned, it's that there are NO fun fall "cozy" places here in NC like we have been used to in our other home states. At any rate, we managed to get a few cute shots of Mookie. Tomorrow's another day, right?

Ellison enjoyed such a beautiful fall day; we have LOVED the few days we've been able to wear pants - it's just too darn warm here! Ellison really has taken a liking to crunchy fallen leaves. Ever since I put her walker outside, she's obsessed with pushing it in the driveway and picking up leaves, sticks, or anything else she meanders upon. It's cute that she loves to push her walker so much, but not quite as cute when you're trying to haul her through the garage with an armful of grocery bags and she's whining and squirming to get out of your arms as soon as it's in her sight. Her pushing obsession now includes other objects as well: the kitchen chairs, the highchair, the (stationary) activity table, her stroller... it goes on and on. I actually had to resort to putting her in the Baby Bjorn just so she could push her umbrella stroller up and down the driveway all by herself. She's such a silly cutie!

Our baby girl has turned 11 months old! It's an exciting, yet sad time for us as parents. It's amazing to think of what our lives were like exactly a year ago when it was just the 2 of us.

Ellison loves practicing walking, and we call her our little "bulldozer" - she just crawls over any obstacle in her way. Her favorite toys are her baby doll, her teddy bear, and her baby MP3 player. Now as far as her favorite things to play with - they are all adult toys! Her dad's work badge, his cell phone, the laptop, the telephone - she especially loves to push the button that hangs up on people now that she's figured out how to do that. She has 6 teeth, with 2 more on their way. She's very fascinated with her 2 furry brothers. And boy, is this girl a daddy's girl!!! Ellison recently learned how to brush hair and brush her own teeth (she's not too fond of us doing it). We love looking at Ellison when she sleeps - she now always sleeps with her legs tucked right in tight (on her tummy) so that her little butt sticks right up in the air. It's too cute. :) What an incredible 11 months it's been...

Ellison's little girlfriend, Caroline, turns 1 on October 2! We celebrated with her friends and family at a wonderful party held at the Children's Museum in Greensboro. The party was a hit with all the kids (and adults, too!). It sure made us want to be kids again, that's for sure. Miss Caroline looked smashing in her little birthday dress.

Ellison got to sample cake for the first time. It was one of those parenting decisions we stressed about a little. :) Then we figured it would be good practice for Ellison since she gets to have her First Birthday cake soon. After all, she might hate it, right? Needless to say, she inhaled it, and ensured she had at least one fistful of cake at all times. She thought Daddy's pants could use a little color, too, so she got some of the red frosting on him.