Ella Playing in the Waterhose with Dada

Way Behind...

It has been way too long since we last updated the blog. Instead of rambling about everything that has happened in the past few months, I thought I would just post pictures. I will, however, say that we moved into our new home on April 1st. We absolutely LOVE having a house of our own!

Happy Spring!

It is finally springtime, and we have really been enjoying the wonderful weather! I took Ella to the park almost everyday last week. Many of our friends had the same idea, so Ella had several playmates at the park. It is always so cute watching her interact with other kids. One of my friends took some pictures of Ella playing with her ball, her grocery cart, and her friend Hannah:

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:

Happy New Year!!

Ok, so it has been over a month since I posted anything. Needless to say, we have been extremely busy with the Christmas holidays. We had my parents, my sister, and Brad's parents all stay with us over the holidays (at separate times). We literally had guests at our apartment for 7 nights! We enjoyed seeing everyone, but we were completely worn out. Ella has been teething, and consequently not sleeping very well. While our guests were here, Ella had to sleep in our room, which only made matters worse. Now that she is back in her own room, things are much better.
We had a wonderful first Christmas with Ella. She absolutely LOVED all of her gifts, and thoroughly enjoyed opening them. She still hasn't played with everything yet!
I can't believe how fast Ella is growing and how much she is learning. She will be one year old next month!!! She seems to have gotten really tall lately. All of her pants are too short, but too loose around her waste.
Ella is eating pretty much everything that we eat now, which is fun. She isn't picky at all (unlike her father), so now I have someone to share food with!
Ella can now point at things that she wants; wave; make "piggy" sounds; identify Mama, Dada, doggy, and kitty by pointing; stand momentarily without support; walk with support; say Dada & kitty (still no Mama); clap her hands on command; attempt to do the motions for "Wheels on the Bus" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider"; and indicate that she wants more food. I know that I am leaving tons of stuff out, but she learns so much so quickly!
Below, I am posting lots of pictures from Christmas and New Year's Eve. Ella and I attended a cookie swap playdate hosted by our friends Ashley & Marigny, and a pajama playdate hosted by our friends Carolyn & Bailey prior to Christmas. The first few pictures are from the playdates. The last picture is from the New Year's Eve party that Brad, Ella, and I attended at our friends the McDonalds' home. It was such fun! We celebrated the New Year on Spanish time, which made midnight 6:00 here. That way, we could all bring our babies and celebrate the New Year with them...so clever!