Ella is 19 Months

 Time is zooming by! Ella turned nineteen months yesterday, but because yesterday was a super busy day with Mass, Nicholas's Sunday School class, yard work, and teaching confirmation, I didn't have time to blog.

You can see in this bath photo her crazy teeth. She now has twelve teeth. Her molars just poked their way through her gums so she can really chomp down hard now. In fact, I just stopped breastfeeding her after two very painful bites to my flesh. She had slowly weaned her way down to one morning feed anyway, so the transition has not been difficult for her. Me, on the other hand, well I already miss that bonding time with my snuggle bug.

Here she in in the outfit Gramme & Grandpa bought her for Easter. It's bright and colorful just like our little monkey!

Lately Ella is addicted to books! I love it! She slows down enough to sit and flip through pages.

Every night before bed she and I snuggle in her rocking chair and read together. Lately she likes all of her touch and feel books.

Last Saturday was the fifth week of soccer for Ella. She loves the running and the obstacle course and parachute the most. Learning to kick the ball into the goal is secondary.

Ella is so smiley and so happy most of the time. However, she has started to make "stink face" as we like to call it when she doesn't get her way which often leads to shrieking and throwing a tantrum. We have realized that if we ignore her, she stops after a minute or so. Oh, the joys of toddler hood!

She is definitely a sleeper. She sleeps 12-13 hours at night. She likes to sleep with her two blankets: a soft green & white one, and the quilt that goes with her crib bedding. She also likes her ladybug night light glowing and she listens to Rockabye Baby the Renditions of Journey while sleeping.

I posted below about our park visit last Saturday, which was Ella's first experience with slides and swings. She LOVED it and cried when we left. I have a feeling we will be spending more time at the park as the weather improves.

Climbing on the jungle gym at Hathaway park.

She is my outdoors girl. She wants to be outside all the time. It's so nice to live in a safe neighborhood where we have a large fenced backyard. I can see her playing and she can roam all over (although she tends to stay near our patio). A few days ago I asked her for a kiss and she pressed her face up against the screen door.


HAPPY 19 MONTHS, ELLIE ROO!

Evening at the Park

We spent the evening at Hathaway Park and it was Ella's first time experiencing park fun! She loved the swings and the many different slides. Nicholas enjoyed going down the slide with me and swinging on the "big" swings. We also walked down to the river, but the people who lived across the way were blaring Nickelback so darn loud that we didn't stay by the water very long. It was a warm, beautiful evening and it was so nice to get outside and spend some time together playing as a family. 

Easter 2012

We had such a wonderful Easter Sunday together as a family. This morning the kids loved opening their baskets from the Easter bunny. Those cute bunny ears you see in Ella's basket lasted all of ten minutes before she broke them. Thank goodness they were only $1.00.

We went over to Jeff's aunt & uncles house for a yummy Easter lunch and Nicholas and Ella were excited to play with their cousins, Zoie & Alex. I couldn't believe how grown-up looking third-grader Zoie is!

Ella was her usual curious self and loved going up and down the stairs with Jeff's aunt Stacey behind her.

 After Jeff and Ella napped, we went over to my parents house for Easter dinner. Uncle Eric and Aunt Tina brought eggs filled with candy and hid them in the backyard so the kids could hunt for them.

Ella caught on quickly and loved running around and looking for the colorful plastic eggs. She would pick them up and put them in her basket, running from one to the next.

Nicholas loved egg hunting too. Jeff pushed him around in his adapted stroller and he had a great time spotting an egg, calling out its color and waiting for Jeff to grab it.

 I think this is my favorite photo of the day. Ella is a runner and she was running all over the yard to find all the eggs. I love how his picture captures her joyful spirit.

Eric & Tina love to spoil our kids. We really appreciated the egg hunt and the gifts they bought for them.

This is a rare photo of our family all together. I absolutely treasure them!

One Sunny Day

Last Monday we had a bright, sunny, warm day amidst many, many days of rain. The kids and I took advantage of the nice weather and spent much of the day outside. We went for a long walk around our neighborhood and when it was time to go inside the kids both started whining so I left them in their stroller and pulled some weeds from our flowerbeds. I entertained them with songs and stories and they were just happy to stay outside and feel the sun on their faces. Later in the afternoon, when Nicholas & Ella were napping I went back out and mowed our lawn. I love to mow the grass (shh...don't tell my husband) mostly because I love to see it look so clean and manicured when I am done. I also like the hum of the mower and the ability to have quiet thinking time all to myself. That evening we went to my parents' house for dinner and Ella absolutely loved running around their acreage. This time of year in the Pacific Northwest we don't get too many days of sunshine, so this day was a special treat!

California Trip

Last weekend I spent five days in California. I flew there for the Religious Education Conference that is held in Anaheim for all Catholic educators. I attended the conference Friday, Saturday & Sunday with my co-workers, Lisa & Jamie and learned a lot to help me in my current position as Pastoral Assistant for Sacraments. Jamie, Lisa and I went to Disneyland and California Adventures every evening after the conference sessions and had a great time going on rides, eating at the park, and enjoyed chatting while standing in the long lines.

But the highlight of my trip was the beginning and the end in which I got to spend some quality time with three of my favorite people: my best friend, Lyndsey; her sweet husband, Keith; and the most adorable baby, my godson, Henry.

I was there for Henry's first taste of rice ceral, which is always an amusing milestone to witness as baby usually spits it right out. Henry however, chowed down with fervor and it was adorable. I even go in on the action and fed him a few spoonfuls myself. Most of the photos in this post are of Henry...I couldn't stop snapping away. He is so precious and growing so fast (as babies do)! I LOVE being with my bestie. She is so funny and so silly and I love seeing her be a mom. We laughed, relaxed, watched movies, and ate the most wonderful take-out imaginable. Every time I see Lynds & Keith they order a new cuisine for me to try. This visit we had sushi, Thai, and In-and-Out Burger which were all divine. The sushi was hands-down the best I have ever had in my life.

As always, my trip was much too quick and time went by much faster than I antcipated. I was so sad to leave my friends, but most especially Henry, who will most likely be walking the next time I see him. It is so, so difficult to be so far away from such a sweet baby. Lynds, if you are reading this, PLEASE consider moving closer to me!!!!

I throughly enjoyed my days in California, but was also happy to return home on Monday to my husband and kids. I missed them!

Oh boy, I sure do LOVE these two!

Soccer Babe

Ella started soccer last Saturday. Jeff took her since I was gone at a retreat and he said she loved it! She did some obstacle courses, played parachute, met new friends, and kicked the ball around. Most of all, she was happy to get out of the house and run around and play!

Ella is 18 Months

The sweet little girl pictured above is 18 months-old today! Boy, oh boy, it's hard to believe that in six short months she will turn two!! Everyday is an adventure with our little curious monkey. She likes to climb on everything: the dining room chairs, the fireplace surround, her highchair, her toy car, her rocking chair...basically anything she can stand on is fair game for climbing. She is also into everything and could care less about her toys. She wants to play with all of mommy and daddy's things. Lately she has a great interest in getting into the bills and throwing everything away in the garbage can. She loves to "help" around the house too. She likes to sweep, and dust, and stack little cups and bowls. She is perfectly content to walk around with empty sippy cups and plastic cups that she uses in the bath tub and stir up a special pretend mixture with a spoon. Maybe she will be a chef one day? She likes when we chase her around and even when we aren't playing chase, she runs away from us so we have to chase her, thus starting a fun game. Lately she has taken to sleeping in 'til around 10:00 a.m. which makes it tricky for her to nap in the afternoon. I think the "spring forward" time change last Sunday messed up her internal clock. Ella starts soccer this Saturday and I just know she will love it. I am sad I cannot go with her as I will be leading a youth retreat for work. But I know she will have a blast with her daddy and hopefully she will make some friends and get some energy out. I also hope my hubby remembers to take some pictures of her kicking around the tiny soccer ball so he can send them to me. We are so blessed to have our sweet little Ella Roo! She makes our days so bright and fills our hearts with joy and happiness.