4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!

Toys Toys Toys and More Toys

Ella LOVES toys. She always has to be carrying something or playing with something. She is a busy body just like her daddy. It is so fun now that she is more independent to watch and see which toys she chooses to play with. She has a toy basket in the living room and I love seeing her fish around in there to decide what she wants to play with next.

She also thinks that any kitchen utensil or anything that comes out of the kitchen is her toy as well. That includes the dishwasher! Ella likes to "help" mommy with the dishes by trying to climb into the dishwasher. She really loves the tupperware cabinet as well.

Father's Day

Slowly but surely, I will catch up with this blog.....

Happy Father's Day!

Father's Day was a very special day in our house. Ella is so attached to an in love with her daddy and the feeling is mutual. It is so amazing to see Ella's face light up when she sees her daddy and Jimmy's face light up when he sees Ella. He's so protective of her the poor girl never had a chance. Sorry boys! She's not allowed to see you until she's 30...or later!

On Father's Day we hung around the house and let daddy be as lazy as he wanted to be. Ella loves taking a nap with her dad. She also loves helping him do chores and likes going to work with him.



Ella and I in daddy's truck while he weeds the lot

Ella at daddy's work not wanting to be changed.

Daddy and his baby girl

For some reason this saying has just stuck with me, I think it is because it was so true with Jimmy.  It was something like,"A woman becomes a mother the day she finds out she is pregnant and a man becomes a father the day the baby is born." Of course this isn't true with everybody and there are many different circumstances, etc. I think it was even from a silly movie like Juno or something, but I feel like this was true of us. My whole world changed when I found out I was pregnant. I still remember that day and the feelings that came over me and I was forever changed instantly. (Sorry Steph for ditching you and making you go to Vegas alone that day!) I feel like Jimmy had those same feelings the day Ella was born. That was the day his whole world changed and he became so enamored with this little girl. They are amazing and both are so special to me. Just like they are so incredibly special to each other. Love you both!

Dr.'s Visit

Ella had a shot visit at 7 months since I am spacing her shots out to only get two at a time. At 7 months she was 17.10 ozs. and still tall in the 98th percentile for height!

While we were waiting, she kept on smiling and making faces with another baby sitting next to us (see the first picture). Of course I was going picture crazy so she finally looked at me like, "Are you done yet mommy?" (cue the second picture!)

Then we finally got called back and lo and behold we got a Mickey Mouse room! Ella LOVES Mickey Mouse (Oh Toooodles!). No, this was not by force it just happened. She was cracking up at all of the Mickey's on the wall and it made for quite the pleasant shot visit. One nurse even looked shocked when we were on out way out because Ella was still smiling away and he commented on how happy she was after her shots!

Bike Rides!

This little chick LOVES being outside. Ever since she was a newborn, if she is upset you just take her outside in the sunshine and it is like hitting a "reset" button on her mood. When it is cool enough, we try to take her outside as much as possible. We had recently been given two bikes by a customer of Jimmy's and Jimmy was really wanting one of those little baby trailers that you hook up to the end of a bike but he wasn't liking the idea of not being able to see her. While he was at Wal Mart one day he came back with a pretty cool contraption! It mounts to the bike in front of the driver and it had a 5 point harness and seemed pretty safe. The one bad thing is that I cannot find a helmet for a baby of her size so she can only ride with daddy because I think she is safer that way. Here are some pics of one of her favorite activities to do outside!

7 months

I know I know...Ella is 9 months and I am just now posting her 7 month picture! Yes, I am running WAY behind on posts. AND, I have been keeping track of everything I need to blog on a handy dandy piece of paper and that paper has mysteriously disappeared (after daddy cleaned up the desk/computer area). Hmmm. Well, here it is. Oh and a story goes along with this one too.

Here is the first shot that I got...happy Ella, smiling away with her beautiful teeth.

Here is the second. KABOOM! Right on her pretty little face. Lots of crying came after this and I felt terrible. I wasn't that far from the chair, probably just an arms reach away but I wasn't quick enough and down she went. Poor girl.

Move Over Malibu Barbie...Ella's on her way!

The Great Walker Debate!

Jimmy and I debated back and forth about a walker. So many books now advise against using a walker due to lack of building up muscles developed through crawling and of course safety reasons. Jimmy gave a good argument and lo and behold, Ella has a walker. She does not spend a lot of time in it but enjoys the time that she does. The steering wheel comes off so you also have the classic tray to put toys on, etc. I think her favorite part of this jeep was helping her daddy build it!

Happy Memorial Day!

A Day With New Meaning

This is the beautiful and amazing baby I woke up to on Mother's Day morning. I didn't just realize then but I realize each and every morning how lucky I am to be a mom...to be Ella's mommy. She has brought so much love into my life and I can't even remember my time without her. My heart just melts and life feels complete when she gives me a hug or says "ma ma ma" and reaches up for me. Mother's Day before was all about honoring my mom and recognizing all that she unselfishly does for her kids. I think when you become a mom yourself you have even more respect and honor for your own mother as this mother's day I did think of my mom as before but also thought about all that she has taught me about being a mom myself. I hope everyone gets to grow up with a mom as wonderful as mine and I hope I can be that mommy to Ella.

Small child, once you were a hope, a dream. Now you are a reality. Changing all that is to come. A love to hold our hearts forever. -Charlotte Gray

Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother. -Lin Yutang

Summer Fun

I am super fortunate to have a job that I have two months off every summer that allows me to stay at home with the baby. It has been a week so far and we have had a lot of fun. She misses Grandma though so I've taken her to see Grandma twice this week with more visits to come. It is definitely going to be hard to leave her again when summer ends but I am trying not to think about it and just enjoy these weeks I have with my wonderful daughter.

Our first week of summer:

Eating lunch at McDonald's with Grandma, Hunter and Briley. She loves them!

Playing on the floor with mommy.

Shopping with Ms. Stephanie and mommy at Kohl's.

We take Moqui for a walk each morning...it is getting hot though so we need to leave a little earlier in the morning!

Dr.'s Visit with Daddy and Off the Charts!

Usually I am lucky enough to have had my mom with me when we go to the dr.'s appointments. This time though, Jimmy was able to take time off of work to come with us. Ella was excited when she woke up in the dr.'s office and saw daddy's face peeking in at her in her stroller.

The visit went well. She is doing everything they would expect her to do at 6 months. She can sit up, she's eating veggies, she stands while holding our hands, grasps things very well, babbles, etc. One thing that isn't so typical is this girl's height! I will share her "stats" below. She also got one shot and one oral at this visit. It seems like we are always doing shots since I have spaced them out to get two at a time but I am happy with that decision so far. She has handled everything very well.

Ella's 6 Months Stats:

Weight - 16 lbs. 14 ozs. - 52nd Percentile

Height - 28 inches - 97th Percentile

(She's going to be patting my head before you know it!)

6 Months!

My little 6 month old ham. I can't believe she is 6 months! She has grown so much. I have enjoyed every second that I have been blessed to spend with her. She is amazing!

Last week with Grandma

Ella's last week with her grandma babysitting was fun and filled with visitors. It just worked out that relatives were in town and also my mom was watching the boys another day so Ella got to spend time with a lot of very fun people.....which includes Grandma too! :0)

My mom and Ella played Beauty Shop!

Grandma and Marty visiting with Ella.

Aunt Loretta from Texas was in town and got to meet our precious angel baby.

Ella loves to spend time with her "boy" cousins.

They are such great babysitter helpers!

Ella also had her Grandpa Jim and Grandma Della visiting from California. I cannot believe I didn't take a single picture of them with her while they were here. I thought of it the morning they left and was so upset at myself about it. Hopefully they will be back soon! She loved visiting with them, they are wonderful!

Teeth and Food

Around 5 1/2 Months Ella's gums really started to bother her. If she put a hard toy in her mouth and it hit her gums just right she would cry in pain for a few seconds. Shortly after, her first tooth came in. It was her bottom left tooth. Then very shortly after that, her second bottom tooth came in and now at 6 1/2 Months, her top tooth is coming in. She only seemed a bit feverish and fussy once or twice through the tooth cutting process (I was expecting much worse). She never gives me a good shot of her pearly whites so this picture is the best I could do. It shows how SOMETHING has to be in her mouth at all times whether it is her hand, foot or a toy!

At 6 Months, I also started feeding Ella vegetables. Sarah showed me how to make it. We've only made one batch so far. We made carrots, sweet potatoes and butternut squash. The squash is her favorite. She ate them well right away but I need to mix a little rice cereal and formula in with the veggies or else it is too much for her baby tastebuds to handle. I think I am going to do some green veggies next.

Straight veggies are a bit too much for her!

Ahh, much better!

Bath Time = Fun Time

Ella still very much loves bath time. She has three toys during bath time: a surf board, a turtle and a mama polar bear with a baby bear on her tummy. She loves all of her toys and she especially loves to look at herself in the mirror while taking a bath. She will splash the mirror and then "kiss" herself in the mirror. It is too cute!

Hair Bows

I have a little obsession with hair bows. For some reason, whenever we go somewhere I have to have a hairbow on Ella and it drives me nuts if I can't find one to match an outfit. Rediculous? Yes! However, I can't stop myself so I just go with it. She seems to not mind (yet) so I am going to take advantage of it while I can.