Kelling Elizabeth Nichols "Ellie"

Ellie, Ellie, Ellie

2010-02-11T14:33:00.000-08:00

Ellie's First steps

2009-11-07T15:33:00.000-08:00

I"m so excited...today Ellie started taking steps by herself, both Brantley & I were here to witness it! How exciting that both of us were here to see it together!!

Almost ONE!!

2009-10-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my little Ellie is turning one in 15 days!!! My how the time flies!! What joy she has brought to us through this past year!

Ellie is crawling & rolling every where & is now testing her balancing ability! She takes a few steps alone, but can sure walk from thing to thing!

For her 1st birthday her Daddy & I decided on getting her a puppy! So we now have a beautiful white lab named "Cotton"! Ellie loves him so much! Beaux on the other hand 'hates' him right now! So, we shall see how that relationship develops! Here are some pics of Ellie and Cotton!

Go REBS!!!

2009-08-03T09:29:00.000-07:00

We're getting ready for football season!!! Yeah just a month left till kick off!! Here's Ellie learning Hotty Toddy!!

Busy lil lady!!

2009-07-29T12:18:00.001-07:00

So much has been going on the last month, that I haven't had time to update the blog in awhile! Ellie is a funny little lady, she has the best personality & doesn't miss a beat! I take her to physical therapy twice a week with me & she has now become their 'mascot' (so they say)! They can't believe that she's is always so happy, no matter what time of day, she's smiling at everyone & admiring the people in crutches:)

She loves her bath time; I never knew that watching a little one in the tub for 15 mins could be so fun! Ellie has started crawling, especially towards Beaux! Her 2 bottom teeth have come in & the top ones are trying to come thru, but I think we have a week still before those come out!

Uncle Jonathan & Margaret got engaged!!! We couldn't be more excited! Can't wait to see them soon!

Daddy had the other day off, so we headed up to Cincinnati to the Newport Aquarium! Ellie LOVED the fish!! She would watch them swim over her & try to touch them! They had a bird exhibit, where you could feed the birds. I wasn't too happy with this one, but Ellie loved it! She was trying to take a bird home with her I swear!!! She kept reach & grabbing it:) My only problem was the more people kept feeding these things, the more they were going to the bathroom ON PEOPLE!!! Luckily we escaped without any incidents!

But here are some recent pics of the little one!

Mississippi Ellie

2009-06-02T18:24:00.000-07:00

Well, it sure has been awhile since i updated my blogs! Ellie & I have been in Mississippi for over a month now...I broke my arm at the beginning of May, had surgery on it to place a plate & 6 screws! So, to say the least I need lots of help with Ellie & I have a wonderful family who is willing to help me out! We miss Daddy more then anything though! This has been the longest we have gone with out:( Here are some pics of the growing Ellie, I can't believe she is 7 months already!!

Best Picture of the weekend!!

2009-04-13T08:12:00.000-07:00

Of course I am a little biased, but I think this is one of the most gorgeous pics of Ellie! Brantley took it Easter Sunday after church & the 2nd pic is when I left the two of them together for an hour to list a house & I returned to have Ellie passed out in her swing with the spikes still in hair!

1st Keeneland trip & "Grits n' Bits"

2009-04-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

Ellie had her first Keeneland experience the weekend before Easter when her Uncle Rich came to visit and go to the races! In what they call horse country (here in Lexington) you can't find anything horse related for babies! So I took it upon myself to make Ellie's outfit for her first horse race...& in the works is my new company "Grits n' Bits". If you are wondering about the Grits n' Bits; Grits stands for Girls Rich into Style and Boys into Style! I'll have more sample pics coming shortly!

Easter '09

2009-04-13T07:46:00.000-07:00

As you get older you forget how exciting the Easter Bunny, Santa and Birthdays are, until you have kids! It was so much fun going to easter egg hunts, church, seeing the easter bunny, etc...! I can't believe Ellie is getting so big, time has really flown by these past 6 months! We've figured out that carrots, sweet potatoes, pears, applesauce and a couple others are yummy-as for the sweet peas...Ellie turns her head left to right to get away from the spoon and this is after SEVERAL different attempts:) HA! She loves going to baseball games and ANYTHING outside where she can watch Beaux chase things! Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter!

5 months!

2009-03-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Ellie is almost 5 months! What an exciting 5 months it has been, we've been eating cereal for over a month now and just introduced carrots, which she LOVES! We've been to UK baseball games, a friends' bday party and LOTS of walks outside (since it FINALLY warmed up)!! We've learned to roll over, sit with a little help, laugh every time someone sneezes and are starting to show signs of teething! Can't wait to see what else she comes up with!

Going to my friends birthday party!

2009-03-07T17:17:00.000-08:00

Today Ellie went to her friend Claire's 2nd birthday party! It was so much fun, it was at a cheerleading and gymnastics place! Even though Ellie was a little too small to enjoy the bouncing activities, she sure did enjoy watching all the kids run around!

Ellie's new toys!

2009-02-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

We had an amazing Valentines and Anniversary (18th) this month! Brantley got Ellie her first Valentine stuffed animal-Purcy the Lion! He giggles, growls and shakes-Ellie LOVES him! I think she think he taste great too, she likes to eat his paw! We have also started putting her in her Einstein play station thing-which she loves!! She might only be 4 months, but the girl can reach the bottom, turns herself all around the thing! It's amazing to see her discover things!

Rice Cereal!!

2009-02-12T06:13:00.000-08:00

Our little Ellie is getting to be such a big girl! She started eating rice cereal for the first time last night! She even ate it off the spoon, which we were really impressed by! She loved it too! She ate almost the whole bowl (which wasn't very big, but still). So here are some pics of our little messy rice cereal eater & Daddy in his blue scrubs with Ellie in her pink scrubs...

2009-02-05T12:58:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to all our friends and family! We are so thankful and feel so special to have Ellie in our lives! Every holiday just seems so much more special now that we have her to celebrate them with! Hope y'all have a good one!

Winter Storm 2009

2009-01-29T17:28:00.001-08:00

I can't wait to get back to the South, this winter white stuff is for the birds!! All Lexington schools have been canceled this whole week, we have at least an inch of ice and at least 4 inches of snow and more to come! I must say at first the scenery is beautiful, but then you realize how cold it is and the damage it is causing! Here is Ellie's first snow storm (hopefully there aren't many more to come!)

Ellie in Mississippi

2009-01-22T08:36:00.000-08:00

We just returned to Lexington after being in Ms for a month! We had so much fun, the time went by way too fast! This week we are expecting A LOT of snow, which doesn't make me too happy! I'm a southern girl who likes the weather to be warm or just plain hot! While we were in Ms, we went all over the place! Ellie has now been to Jackson/Madison, Greenwood, Doddsville, and Hattiesburg (our soon to be home!!) Here are some pics of us in Mississippi!

Mississippi Ellie!

2008-12-26T15:25:00.000-08:00

Christmas time in Mississippi! Ellie's first big road trip to Mississippi! We made it home late Monday night & Ellie was such a good traveler! Thank God she loves her carseat & of course her little fish tank on the back of the seat! For her first time in MS, she sure has covered some ground! To Jackson we went till Xmas Eve, Xmas day (& Daddy's bday) till the 28th & then back to Jxn for awhile till Daddy comes back the 9th! Santa was GREAT to Ellie! We can't wait till next year when she can actually see the man in Red! It's so much fun to have her here and to celebrate such a special time with family! We hope all of you have had a great Xmas and we hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

4 weeks Tomorrow

2008-11-26T07:34:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it has been 4 weeks already! The time has FLOWN by, but it has been such an amazing experience so far! It's crazy to see how much she has grown in these 4 weeks! Brantley has started his crazy rotation at the hospital, so we bundle up, bring him dinner and visit with him on the nights he has cross covering and doesn't come home:( It's nice to be able to see him even for a couple minutes! I'm sure it's not easy on him being away from Ellie either! But here are a couple more pics...

Our special gift arrived!

2008-11-04T07:26:00.000-08:00

Ellie was born Thursday, October 30, 2008 at 10:53 pm! She was 7lbs 4oz and 20.5 inches long! She is by far the most beautiful thing I have ever seen! She is such a joy! It's hard to go to sleep, because we always just stare at her and are amazed she's ours! Enjoy the pics!

Tomorrow, Tomorrow...

2008-10-28T08:35:00.000-07:00

It's time for us to meet Ellie!

We are headed to the hospital tomorrow night, so Ellie will be here sometime on Thursday!!!! Yeah! I can't believe we are going to meet her sooo soon! We haven't been able to sleep very well lately, not so much because I'm uncomfortable, but we are so excited to meet our little miracle! It's like counting down to Christmas/Brantley's birthday around here-you get to finally see what's in the package!! So, as soon as we get home and settled, I will posted pics of Little Miss Ellie!!

Mommy & Daddy Day!!

2008-10-22T07:32:00.000-07:00

Brantley is off this whole week & what a fun week we are having so far! Yesterday was the best though...we had Mommy & Daddy pedicures! This would be the first time Brantley has EVER stepped foot in a mani/pedi place! Once he sat in the massage chair though, I think he enjoyed it! The little lady really wanted to paint his toes hot pink, but I think she knew Brantley would have taken her down if she tried! ha! After our pedicures we headed to lunch, the boot store & a couple more stores, before heading home to have a great dinner! Yesterday was a day to remember since we don't get days with just the 2 of us often & pretty soon there will be 3!

Keeneland

2008-10-22T06:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a blast!! We headed out to Keeneland for tailgating & a couple races! After we headed home to watch Ole Miss/Bama, then we went tailgating & to the UK/Arkansas game! I was very surprised I lasted the whole day, but it wasn't bad at all. (I must admit I was a little sore from walking soooo much in cowboy boots!!) Next week little Ellie will be here & we can't wait to see our little blessing!

Maternity Pics!!

2008-10-07T10:34:00.000-07:00

When we were in Mississippi last week, a good friend of ours is a photographer & wanted to do a maternity shoot for us! Here are the amazing pics! Her blog is listed to the right under Pink Ink Boutique! Thanks Jenny we had soo much fun & the pics are GREAT!!

The countdown is on....

2008-10-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

So we have about 20 something more days!!! I can't believe we get to meet little Ellie soon!! We are so excited! We took our final trip before Ellie gets here to Mississippi last week, we had a blast! Daddy went fishing with some of his buddies down in LA for a couple days & I just finalized some things for the nursery!! Here are the final pics of Ellie's room...now we just wait for little miss thing to get here!

"How are you going to bowl pregnant lady?"

2008-09-15T11:40:00.000-07:00

So that was the question I got from a 7 year-old! ha! Last Friday we decided to go bowling with Lauren, Bryan, the boys and Hobbs! We had a blast, even though I had to fight a 5-year-old for his 6 pound ball:) So we decided to take some pictures to see if my stomach was bigger or the bowling ball...well they are pretty darn close!! Clay also does a great impression of me!!

Couples Shower

2008-09-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Lauren & Bryan had a couples shower for Brantley, Ellie & I; it was a blast! We watched the UK/UofL game, Brantley & Bryan cooked ribs & Lauren did a fabulous job on the details of the shower!

Ellie's Baby Shower!

2008-08-30T14:43:00.000-07:00

On Aug. 9th 3 of my wonderful friends (Wendy (my sister), Lauren and Mary Kempton) gave us a baby shower! It was an amazing baby shower filled with lots of friends and great things for Ellie! We are so blessed to have such wonderful people around us! Here are some pictures from the shower...

Ellie's Room 98% finished!!!

2008-08-25T09:48:00.000-07:00

Ellie's room is almost finished & many of you have asked for some pictures, so here is her room (minus a couple finishing touches)! Hope y'all enjoy it as much as Brantley & I do!

My 30th bday & 10 more wks!

2008-08-25T06:04:00.000-07:00

We have 10 more weeks left! I can't believe how fast the time has gone by & we have so much going on in the next 10 weeks!!! I celebrated my 30th bday last wed & it was great bday thanks to my wonderful husband! Brantley surprised me with a beautiful DY ring & dinner at our neighborhood Mexican restaurant with some friends, plus I had a prenatal massage that afternoon (highly recommended for you pregnant people)! All in all it was a wonderful birthday & I feel so blessed to have such a wonderful husband & a beautiful baby girl on the way!

And down the stretch we come...

2008-08-03T14:55:00.000-07:00

We are in the 3rd trimester! How exciting! I can't believe how quick the time has flown by! Ellie is enjoying herself, moving around and listening to what daddy has to tell her! Every night he talks to her; he let's her know all the fun and exciting things she has been receiving! She seems to listening, because she stops moving when he talks and then starts again when he stops.

We have been really busy the past 2 weeks getting the house ready for our new member. Tomorrow we will have a new roof on our house and Wednesday we will have new kitchen countertops! Plus, this week we are getting ready for my mom, Brantley's mom, my sister and so many more to come to Ellie's baby shower! We can't wait to see everyone!

The NEW swimming pool!

2008-07-20T09:01:00.001-07:00

So about a month ago we purchased a pool for the backyard (we're "testing" pools before Ellie gets here!), that pool wasn't the best so we have a NEW one and it's AMAZING! It's big and so comfortable, I mean you can seriously lean back, kick your feet up and go to sleep. Just ask Brantley, he slept in it for 2 hours! Plus, the alligator matches the pool, Beaux hasn't warmed up to the alligator yet-he's not sure why the alligator moves in the water (the wind blows him around from end to end and Beaux tries to catch him!). Ellie loves it already, she was kicking up a storm when I was sitting in it! I think we might have a lil' swimmer!

4th of July!

2008-07-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

We had a fun 4th with the Nichols gang in town (including Margaret)!! We went downtown for the parade (that's an interesting site), showed them some fun places in Lexington and grilled some ribs! Jonathan was a master at throwing firecrackers-hit our neighbor and managed to throw a smoke bomb in Robbie's new car!!! He got the award for the weekend! ha!

Ellie is growing like a weed, which i guess means i am too. She's so active, kicks me all the time and now Brantley is able to feel her too! It's truly amazing! We rearranged her room this past week, because we got the rocker back from being recovered and her room is looking great! I'll add the final pics after our shower Aug 9th! Mom and Robbie are coming up to help finish it off! Well here is a pic from the 4th (I'll add belly pics later-for those who keep asking about them-i know i'm bad about adding them!)

Swimming Pool!!!!

2008-06-22T14:38:00.000-07:00

So today we were enjoying a beautiful Sunday afternoon, when we decided that we needed a pool to sit in...so off to Wal-mart we went and this is what we came home with including the alligator! We were just making sure we know what the best pool for Ellie and Brantley will be next year! It will be interesting to see who ends up with the alligator!

20 Weeks=HALFWAY!!!

2008-06-16T08:10:00.000-07:00

This week is our halfway mark! It's crazy to think that we are seriously halfway there, the time has flown by. This weekend was a BIG weekend, we celebrated Brantley's Father's Day-to-be (which really meant Daddy could do whatever he wanted!), so we watched the US Open, LSU and the Celtics/Lakers! Ellie gained another friend this past weekend when our dear friends Erin and Brady welcomed Eileen into the world! So now Crew (Sterling and Bobby's lil' man) and Eileen are waiting for a couple more friends before the end of the year comes!!! We have an anatomy appointment on wed, we get to see Ellie's arms, legs, length, how many ounces, confirm again that she is a girl:), etc... So we'll keep you posted on the progress of Ellie!

Ellie's Room

2008-06-08T17:28:00.000-07:00

We've been pretty busy since we got home from MS! We painted the nursery and put together some of the furniture! It was so much fun getting this together and organized! Brantley is now a professional painter:) Ellie's been more active lately and it's amazing to feel her move! She's getting bigger, weighing in at about 7 oz!!! Well, here are some pics of the nursery so far...

It's a GIRL!!!!

2008-06-03T15:07:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been an interesting couple weeks! We went to Mississippi last week, but the day before we left I was in a car wreck:( So the night before we left we were up at the UK Triage, getting tests done to make sure lil' peanut was doing alright (the seat belt left a small mark on my stomach and bruise from the buckle; plus I'm O- blood type and had to get a shot). So, with all that happening we left Friday night and drove to MS!!!!! Sunday morning we went and found out our lil' peanut is a GIRL!! Kelling Elizabeth "Ellie"!!!!! Kelling was my old middle name and my great grandmother's last name. Elizabeth is my sister's middle name and Brantley's grandmother's name!! Lots of family was covered with Ellie's name and we can't wait till she gets here!!!

16 weeks! Peanut's about 4 inches

2008-05-19T07:05:00.000-07:00

We're at 16 weeks!!! Yeah!!! Peanut's already a Rebel fan, we had a fun weekend cheering for the Rebs! They were in Lexington playing UK in baseball!

Well, we went up to UK last night to see if we could see what peanut is, but peanut didn't want to cooperate. Imagine that, after all the Daddy is Brantley:) We are heading home to Mississippi on Friday and while we are there we are going to try again!

Brantley's new thing is to give the baby an earthquake-do give a baby an earthquake, you put your hand on the belly and lightly move it back and forth. Brantley finds this very amusing!

But here is a picture of the lil' peanut from yesterday!

The beginning of the 2nd Trimester

2008-05-05T12:42:00.000-07:00

So i decided to start taking pictures of my belly, since lil peanut has decided she/he needed more room! So here is the first pic of my belly at 14 weeks!

1st Trimester check up

2008-05-01T17:56:00.001-07:00

Today we had our first trimester check up! Everything looks great, heartbeat is still in the low 170's and all our tests came back normal! YEAH!

We have our next appointment in 4 weeks and then we will know if peanut is a boy or a girl! I'll post the last ultrasound picture as soon as I get it scanned!

So hello 2nd trimester!!

Peanut's heartbeat!

2008-04-21T11:41:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday we went for an ultrasound and heard peanut's heartbeat which was 175 bmp! Plus, the tech was trying to measure lil peanut, but it kept doing sit ups! ha! so all the measurements were so different, so thanks to my crazy lil one, i'm going back wednesday for another ultrasound! but everything looks great!

First Look at Peanut

2008-04-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Today we had our first ultrasound and saw our little peanut! Not much to see now, but we were very excited to see lil' peanut! Peanuts heartbeat looked great and our doctor even said our baby has a good sack (lots of room to grow)! ha! i know what some of you were thinking! Anyways, we will keep y'all posted on peanuts growth!