Hoppy Easter from the Ellises

We have once again been more than pleased with the work of Patricia Mingus Photography. Despite a grouchy toddler that was terrified of the chicks and lambs, she was able to capture a set of portraits that have captured the essence of Easter with our Little Lydia. We are proud that Patty is expanding her studio and will soon be based in Washington, Illinois. Although it is about 20 minutes further from her current studio, I am sure the space will allow her to be even more creative and innovative with her photography. We can't wait for her to open her new space. We will be scheduling Lydia's 2nd year portraits for this summer soon. I can't even believe that is possible. These past weeks have brought a lot of opportunities for Brett and I to test our patience, as parenting a toddler that is spirited and active has proven to be an exhausting, yet overtly rewarding and wonderful experience.

I checked Lydia's signing checklist today and was happy to find that Lydia now has over 70 Signs in her sign language repertoire. She signs everything from pear, to colors of the rainbow (including the words color and rainbows), to sad and grumpy. I love seeing her sign, but have been more impressed with her increasingly growing vocabulary of spoken language. I was initially concerned that her signing would limit her spoken language, but she is constantly adding new words or pairing her spoken words with her signs.