So much to be thankful for...

It has again been too long between posts, but life has been a flurry of activity since before Thanksgiving. Ella continues to make us smile (and laugh) on a daily basis, though her new "trick" of screaming to get my attention leaves a little something to be desired... :) She has 4 new teeth, and recently moved into a big-girl carseat. She loves to dance, in fact, on the daily note that came home from the babysitter on Friday it said, "We sang Christmas songs today, and Ella was the bell ringer and dancer!" This pretty much sums up her personality right now...

We had a great Thanksgiving, spending time with lots of family.

Ella and second cousin Payton checking out the pantry.

A feeble attempt at a family picture...

Ella sporting Uncle Nate's headband

Ella, Brock, and Uncle Nate

Playing in the snow for the first time as a toddler.

Ella and her playmate, Gus. They are good buddies!

Cheesing it up for the camera while decorating the tree!

Fun on the Farm and Halloween

So I guess tomorrow turned into 5 days...Anyway, two weeks ago we went to Weskan for Grammy Cindy's birthday. We had a great time and Ella got to spend a lot of time outside. She loves running around out there, playing with Gus and the kitties, and looking at the cows. She also got to play on the playground equipment for the first time and thought it was pretty fun!







Ella was such fun this halloween! Tim and I had Parent/Teacher Conferences, so we only had to work for a few hours Friday morning, and Grammy was here to watch Ella because our babysitter was moving to a new house. We started out in a bit of a dilemma because the monster costume that we had bought Ella was WAY too hot for the 78 degree October day that we were having, but we got creative and Ella became a butterfly--and a darn cute one at that! She and Grammy got to go the Halloween costume parade at the library in the morning, then we had neighbor kids visiting throughout the afternoon to bring Ella treats. Friday night, Ella trick or treated at several friends' houses and did great. We worked on her saying, "Boo!" when people opened the door, but she just didn't want to do it on cue...

Happy Halloween!

At the library

Trick or Treating at babysitter Tiffany's new house

Fly, little butterfly!

A new post that's been a long time coming!

I don't know that I really have an excuse for not updating sooner, other than life has been a bit busy. I had no idea how hard it would be to juggle home and work, and continue to try to find a balance. If I have missed a birthday (or if you are still waiting for a thank-you from Ella's birthday), I am working on it--I promise!

Life is good. We are enjoying Ella so much right now. She is a walker, almost a runner and the funniest girl that we could imagine. She is always doing things for a laugh (and thinks she is quite funny herself!). Her favorite TV show right now is "Dancing with the Stars." She dances with the dancers and claps when the audience claps, it is too cute! Ella loves to be outside, and can entertain herself for hours in the backyard. I sometimes just watch her, amazed at how grown up she is. She eats, and eats, and eats! Her favorite foods now include blueberries, apples, and this horrible Hamburger Helper junk that I made out of desperation one night. She shoveled it in with both hands. She is using a spoon to feed herself, and does a pretty good job. She really wants to try a fork, but this mama's not quite ready for that. Ella still loves her babies and now gives them bites of her food, drinks from her sippy cup, and washes their faces and hands. She has 4 teeth and is working on her two eye teeth. We haven't heard many new words yet, but are hoping that some come out soon as Ella is getting VERY frustrated with us when we don't know what she wants. She continues to sign "more" and it is pretty much the universal sign for "I want______". She has a new expression that makes me laugh every time that I see it. When you ask her where something is or what happened to something she shrugs her shoulders and holds up her hands, like "I don't know!" Anyway, there is much more that I could say, but this update is getting long enough. I am going to add farm and halloween pictures tomorrow! Hopefully I won't wait so long next time...

Ella's birthday week

I can't believe how long it has taken me to add this entry to the blog!  Life has been kind of hectic, but Ella had a wonderful week of birthday parties and surprises.  Here are just a handful of the hundreds of pictures that were taken...

Ella started off her birthday by getting her new chair.  She woke up to it on her birthday morning, before daddy left for school.  

Ella soon had the chair figured out, and I couldn't keep her sitting still long enough to get an

 "I am 1 today" picture taken...

She loved opening her new Little People Farm when it came in the mail, and couldn't wait to play with it!

Getting ready for her first party.

Ella's friend Justin came over for supper on her birthday night. As you can tell, Ella is kind of a little bully!

Ella and Justin both had runny noses, so we had lots of kleenex around.  When mama wasn't looking, Ella decided to make her own birthday confetti...

Good morning, sunshine!  

(In her birthday PJ's--we had a cupcake theme down to the shoes AND PJ's thanks to Grammy!)  

Party day!  

We had a Ella's party on Saturday the 13th.  Her Grammy and Grampy Harold,  G.G. (Great Grandma Ele), Uncle Nate and Kristin all came to help her celebrate, and we had a wonderful time.  Ella loved getting to spend time with all of them.  

Ella was not fond of the birthday hat!

She wasn't too sure about the cake at first either, and tried to give it away...

but then, she decided that it was wasn't too bad!

BIG GIRL!

Getting ready for a birthday party!

In less than one week my baby girl is going to be one...it's amazing how fast time flies.  Ella is walking all over the place and is attempting to climb onto and into things she has no business getting into.  She is signing "more" and "all done," and is starting to say mama and dada (she's been saying dada for awhile, but it is more consistent now). Ella gives kisses and hugs, and loves her baby dolls. They usually get more kisses than we do!  I am fixing birthday treat bags for the neighborhood kids, as they all love her.  As soon as we pull into the driveway in the evening, we are asked if Ella can come out and play.  And, as you can imagine, she loves the attention!  Daycare is wonderful and Ella is thriving there.  She now wants down as soon as we get there and barely has time to tell me goodbye.  Life is good...

One of the pictures from Ella's birthday invitation photo shoot...

(for those of you waiting for your invitation--we are still trying to get them. Shutterfly messed up the original ones and is supposed to be sending us new ones.  Boo.) 

Ella now gets her own snacks out of the pantry.  She is still quite the eater!

Last weekend, Ella helped Grammy make pancakes.  The pictures make it look like she did really good, but don't be fooled.  I just didn't get any pics of her waving the whisk around and splattering batter...

Ella also attempts to get her own drinks...looks like we need to move the beer!