Moving Along...

As I said in a previous post, Brad, Ella, and I are building our first house. We are so sick of the apartment life, and ready for some space! Fortunately, our house is moving right along according to schedule (or so our builder tells us). According to our builder, we should be able to close and move in at the end of March or beginning of April. Here are a few pictures that we took today. We are so ready to make this house our home!

Ella is ONE!

On February 11, 2009, our precious baby girl turned one year old! Understandably, I have mixed feelings about this. Part of me wants to hold on to her as an infant as long as possible. But the other part knows that as Ella gets older, the connection and bond that she has with Brad and me will only grow stronger. Now that she is starting to explore the world around her and communicate more, she has actually become more fun to be with. It is amazing how much babies can do by the time they are one. Seriously, I never realized the number of milestones that occur in a child's first year of life until Ella came along.

Ella took her first step one week before her first birthday! Brad and I were both there to witness it, which is amazing! We were all playing on the floor, and Ella attempted to walk to Brad and me. We have never been so proud! Today she officially walked (i.e., she took 4 consecutive steps). In addition to walking, she also talks constantly! We can't understand most of what she says, but I just love hearing her little voice. It is definitely my favorite sound in the world. I can just see so much emotion in what she is saying...I love it!

To celebrate Ella's birthday, Brad and I planned 2 celebrations. We planned a party for her on the Saturday following her birthday (Valentine's Day). To celebrate her actual birthday, which was on a Wednesday, Brad and I took Ella to Chuck E. Cheese. I must also mention that our wonderful friends here threw a little surprise party for Ella at the playdate prior to her birthday. They had a yummy chocolate cake for her, and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her. We just have the sweetest friends here...we are so blessed!!

Brad, Ella, and I had a blast at Chuck E. Cheese!! There were several little rides there that were appropriate for her age, so we literally let her ride them over and over until she was exhausted. Brad and I also played a few games ourselves, which Ella seemed to enjoy watching :) One of the greatest things about having a kid is that you get to be a kid all over again too! Here are a few pictures from the Chuck E. Cheese experience:


We had Ella's Wonder Pets themed birthday party in Columbus, MS at Grammie & Pop's (Brad's parents) house. We are so thankful to them for agreeing to host Ella's party there. We just don't have enough room here to accommodate everyone. My parents, my sister, our friend Jeremy (Worm) and his girlfriend Lindsey joined us for the celebration. We had a cookout for lunch, and then after Ella's afternoon nap we had her official party. We all had such fun! Ella absolutely LOVED her birthday cake! I spent hours making it from scratch (including the buttercream icing), so it thrilled me that she enjoyed it so much. I have decided that in the future I will probably not make her cakes from scratch, but will probably still decorate them myself. It is already quite obvious that Ella is going to enjoy sweets as much as her Mama does :). Ella got tons of great gifts for her birthday. Thank you to everyone!! Here are some pictures from her party: