Halloween

Snow White ruled her kingdom of Cavalcade Circle! Poppi and Gigi came up to help pass out candy and serve in Snow White's prestigious entourage.

2010 Blessing of the Animals

Ponies, turtles, and chickens, OH MY!

Blessing of the Animals is one of my favorite parts of being an Episcopalian family. EK adores visiting all of God's creatures and amazingly enough, is usually well behaved during the service since there's so much to look at.

EK and Daddy reviewing the words to the opening hymn.


Her favorite animal: PONY!


Giving her own two animals a little love.


Not sure what this puppy's name is, but EK loved him!


Chickens, birds, kittens, hedgehogs, bunnies and SO MUCH more! Too cold for fish, though.

Full Time Academia

Here are a few pictures from the past two months. She really is only 2 and a half, even though she's the size of an average 4 year old!



Now that Ella Kate is going to school every day, we don't have nearly as much time to take photos of her escapades. And believe me, they are plentiful. I understand that she keeps her class entertained.

Miracle Baby

Many things about Ella Kate making it into the world are miraculous. (Including the fact that Richard and I haven't taken her out of this world in one of her strong-willed moments.)

Over the last two years, I've posted about the loss of our first baby, Carson. I learned a lot about myself during those months and started to understand that I have very little control over what happens in life.

What I haven't mentioned is that we now have four angels. After losing the fourth baby in late May, I knew that something wasn't right. So, I sat through countless needlesticks and endless vials of blood for genetics testing.

What we learned explains quite a bit about me as a person, in addition to me as a baby incubator. I have a mutated gene. This mutation is a clotting disorder and, when coupled with other genetic markers, causes fetile demise and an increased risk for birth defects. Nourishment clots in my veins and never makes it to the baby. Anyone who has seen how I bruise extra easily can grasp the concept.

The good news is that we know. We have a plan/medication/shots regimen that should give me a running start at carrying another baby - if we choose to go down that road.

Now, the miracle? Ella Kate survived. Ella Kate lived in my overly inhospitable uterus, without the proper medication, without shots, without me even knowing anything was wrong. The only explanation is that my hormones were so strong when we lost Carson that there were enough in my system to somehow sustain EK.

Eventually, we might try to have another baby. I say might, but we probably will try. Whether it'll work, isn't up to us. So, please, don't ask me why we haven't had more children. We've tried. It just hasn't happened. I'm still trying to make peace with that. At the end of the day, all I can pray for is God's will to be done.

And the love of ponies begins...

After battling a terrible tummy bug for a week, we almost didn't take EK to a pony-riding birthday party. She is now in love with ponies! She hasn't stopped talking about ponies since her first ride. Every day she asks to go for a ride. Richard is looking into area petting zoos.

Her first date. This young man jumped in the car with her. We didn't catch his name.


Ma'am, are you absolutely certain this steed is safe?


And she's off!


Again, please! Again!


Less than climactic, but here is a video of EK looking like a professional rider!

Pics from Easter

The Pullen family had a string of bad news, so I wasn't exactly looking forward to celebrating Easter this year. But, our wonderful family, including aunts, uncles and cousins, pulled us out of our funk for a great day!

I'm Not Sure When It Happened,

But EK suddenly became a big girl!

Cheesing with Titi Coco and Daddy


Learning to dress herself has had a few bumps in the road...


Singing her ABCs with GUSTO!

Going Once...Going Twice... Going Three Times...

SOLD!

We finally sold our house in Atlanta. The deal was marred by realtor laziness, inefficiencies and tremendous mess-ups of epic proportions.

But, it's done. Finally. And we can finally, officially, move on to Tennessee. :)

The family that bought our house is great. They have a little boy, named Carson, who is the same age our little Carson would have been. I took that as a sign that everything worked out as it was meant to.

Recent Pictures and Goings On...

Our household has been living up to our blog title recently. My sweet baby is cutting her last set of molars and you'd think there is a scene from Alien playing out in her mouth. True, I don't personally remember teething, but EK is milking it for all it's worth. Suddenly "Kate teeth hurt owww" when it's time to eat something other than chicken and french fries. :)

Needless to say, we really have been Pullen All Nighters lately. As evident by this 1:41 am blog post!

Here are pictures from the last few weeks. Enjoy!

Very happy to be eating her cereal.


How big is Ella Kate? "Kate BIG!"


Imagination Movers was particularly captivating in this rare still moment.


"Mommy, I'm ready to go ride!"


A scene from pretty much every morning.


Waiting on Poppi & Gigi to come visit.


She is very comfortable with that football. And she loves to give us a big Roll Tide. I'm just sayin'.


I adore her pink Ralph Lauren Polo velour track suit! It was a hand-me-down from a friend in Atlanta and EK totally rocks it. It just SCREAMS Puerto Rican Princess. And, yes, she has the booty to pull it off.


Reading a book to Penelope. Can't you tell she's riveted?


Procrastinating before bed. She's become a master of stall techniques.

Motherhood

I've been thinking about motherhood lately. Something magical happens the second women hear their first born cry. We become protectors. We do everything possible to coax smiles. We live for our children.

Lately, I've been following the blog of a mother in Texas. Her little girl, Layla Grace, was diagnosed with neuroblastoma. She's chronicled her family's struggles through chemo, radiation, bone marrow transfusions and all the highs and lows in between. She dedicated every last second she had with her baby to fighting for her, comforting her and loving her.

Their story touched me deeply. Ella Kate is only two weeks younger than Layla Grace, so I saw so much of her in their blog. They have the same big blue eyes, use the same sippy cups and look adorable in their homemade tutus.

Layla Grace lost her battle with cancer yesterday.

While I know that God has a plan and a purpose for everything, I can't help but question why He would allow a innocent child to suffer. And, I don't know how a mother's heart can handle it.

Rest in peace, sweet angel.

Awww... NUTS!

In December, we found out that Ella Kate is allergic to peanuts. Driving down I-65 at night, I looked back to find her eyes swollen shut and one side of her lip swollen to kingdom come. That was our first real parenting panic. We stopped at a gas station at Exit 22, crushed an adult Benadryl and forced it down her. I've never sang The Wheels On The Bus so loudly and so energetically in my life. We were doing everything we could to keep her awake.

Fast forward two weeks: we get her blood tests back from the allergist. Most people with peanut allergies will react to them when their blood test results are .35. Ella Kate's result was 50. Yes, that 5-0. And tied for the highest our doctor has ever seen - in 20+ years.

I didn't realize how extremely lucky we were that night on the Interstate. She could have easily drifted off to sleep and stopped breathing. She was very quiet, but something made me look back at her. I'm terrified to think about what wouldn't happened if I didn't. If that's not proof that we have angels watching out for us, I don't know what is. We definitely had divine assistance that night.

The good news is that we know. It'll be a daily battle outside of our peanut-free house, but we at least know what we're battling.

Sure Sign That EK's No Longer A Baby

As soon as she walked in her classroom this morning, she looked at Richard and told him she wanted to draw with her friends. She walked over to the table, pulled her chair out, sat down, and said hello to two other girls.

One of the girls handed her a green crayon, EK signed thank you, smiled, and started drawing.

Only a big girl would so easily interact with her peers. She definitely becoming a little person.

A Very Important Milestone That I Forgot To Blog About...

Richard's offically an MBA! He finished classes last summer, but went through his graduation ceremony in December. We're all ridiculously proud of him - going to school full time while working full time, too. It wasn't easy (for any of us), but it's a huge accomplishment!

So, now, if anyone in or around the Nashville area is looking for a new MBA in International Business and Organizational Management with a BA in Communications and Information Sciences, you know how to reach me. :)

Awaiting the graduate luncheon. Yes, all the graduates really ate in their regalia.


In the graduation line. That's Richard calling his shot.


Two and a half years, $20,000, and lots of hard work lead up this exact moment...


The good news is that as of next month, OUR MBA will be officially paid for. Now we just need to tackle his undergraduate loan...

What Will You Do At School Tomorrow?

25 months is an interesting age. Ella Kate understands so much and wants to communicate ideas more sophisticated than her vocabulary will let her. But, she always manages to get her point across somehow.

Tonight, while reading a book, I asked her what she planned to do at school tomorrow. She quickly rattled off a timeline of her day:
1. Friends - they sing a welcome song in the morning and say hi to their friends
2. Play - they have either indoor or outdoor play time, depending on the weater
3. Eat - snacks and lunch
4. Night Night - nap time
5. Walk - they take a walk throughout the building and "explore" what the other classes are doing. I think this is a GREAT idea so they get to meet all of the teachers.
6. Babies - during their walks, they go and "read" books to the baby class. Easily EK's favorite part of the day
7. Daddy! - When Daddy comes to pick her up.

I was especially impressed that she got them all in that order. What can I say? She's a creature of habit like her Mommy!

Two Months?!?!

I'm quite embarassed that I haven't had time to post anything new since November 2. I've tried handing over blogging responsibilities to Richard, but that obviously hasn't gone well. :)

Ordinarily, I'd try to catch you all up on the latest Lowery-Pullen goings on. But, being a mom to a toddler, I fully realize you all just want pictures of her. So, here they are!

We can't believe it, but sweet EK turned 2 on 12/10. I don't know where the time has gone!


Who knew that one of Christmas' biggest hits would be a plastic spoon to feed her dolls. This is EK loving on her spoon.


Where are the rest of my gifts to open, Gigi?


All tuckered out after many busy Christmas celebrations.


Visiting Poppi's farm. He always has animals around to play with. This is a baby fainting goat. He also trained the adult goats to come up and eat out of EK's hands. She loved it!


She decided that the dog on that stocking was always thirsty. He often got the first sips of her juice or milk.


Her usual stance - glued to Elmo on Gigi's television.


She loved all of Gigi's Santa ornaments. She's giving Santa her best CHEESE face.


Playing with her table and chairs from Poppi and Gigi. She also loves her new play kitchen from Santa. She loves dumping all of the food and utensils in the floor for Mommy and Daddy to clean up.


An UNusual moment of stillness. We don't often get portrait style pictures of her - she moves way too fast.


Coloring with one of her best friends - Pedro the Bear.