new year baby

now you'd think as new year's eve rolled around, with ellery being just over a month old, you would find kyle and i on the couch at our house counting down to midnight. well miss ellery said no way jose, we've got to party! and thankfully we have some great friends who came up with the perfect solution...

doug & kate invited a group of us to stay at kate's parents' house to ring in the new year. now before you think we're crazy, we were offered our very own bedroom & bathroom for the three of us to stay in. also, among the other friends coming were wes & michelle, who were bringing their son along. so given the wonderful accommodations & another baby friend for ellery, kyle & i decided to do it! we got ready, we packed our bags (for what seemed like hours...so much stuff for such a little girl!) and hit the road. thankfully, the drive was just under an hour, the perfect amount for little ellabelle to take a quick snooze!

thank you doug & kate!!

the nye's theme was "bright lights, big city" so of course ellery had to wear her shiny gold dress!

wes, the photographer for the weekend

we had such a fun time that weekend - plenty of games, karaoke, relaxing, laughs, and just catching up with friends. we love getting together with this group, mainly kyle's guy friends from college & their spouses. kyle loves each second he can spend with these guys! (so much so that they stayed up until almost 6am on sunday night...)

yes, i am wearing a wig

and i have to say, ellery was SO great on her first trip away from home! she actually slept the best she ever had! we thought she would be there to ring in the new year with us, but both nights we stayed, she was snoozing the evenings and most of the night away. so proud of her :)

love those little toes!

ellery also got to meet will, wes & michelle's son. kyle & i joke that many of our friends have sons that would make great suitors for ellery. well, will is at the top of the list, so this was a very important first meeting! they did great! ellery showed off and did tummy time for the longest she ever had, and will just stared at her (i think he was enthralled by her beauty :) i mean who couldn't love that crazy hair!!)

daddy teaching ellery how to play chess :)

wes lost a bet with kyle...and had to change ellery's diaper. it was a pretty stinky one, too!

skol vikings!! (i gave kyle this onesie when we found out i was pregnant)

too bad the vikings lost to the bears... e still looked cute!

meeting mike & kate

with such an exciting 2011, it was so wonderful to bring it to an end with such great friends. though i'm not sure our 2012 will be as eventful, here's to a very happy new year!