Sorry ....

Wow ... what can I say ... I am sorry for not posting an update before now. So much has happened in the past three months ... Here is a little recap:

My precious girl - June 2009!

April - Ella turned 8 months old. Andy and I finished our 8th & 7th busy season, respectively. Andy's parents came to visit at the end of the month. Ella enjoyed seeing them. However, her two bottom teeth made their appearance on April 17th ... Needless to say she was slightly cranky over the weekend. We still had a great time.

Thing 1 & 2 - Alyse and Ella April 2009!

May - Ella turned 9 months old. I celebrated my 30th birthday. Andy and I and a few close friends went to Las Vegas. This was the first time we left her for an extended period. Of course she did great. She stayed with grandma and grandpa. They had a great time. She kept them busy walking all over. We also had our first pool party with Alyse. Debbie brought over a little blow up pool. Alyse jumped right in ... Ella was a little reserved at first but soon enjoyed the water for a few minutes. Ella had her 9mnth check up. She checked out healthy. She was 20.5lbs, 29.5 inches long. She is still in the 95+% for her height and around 65% for her weight.

My first pool party with Alyse! - May 2009

Check out my Teeth ... I still only have these two ... but my top 'fangs' are coming in now! I will be a little vampire! - May 2009

June - Ella turned 10 months old. June was a busy month for us. Andy and my dad built our fence in the backyard. Andy built a garden box for Ella and I. She enjoys going out to water it with mom or dad. We went camping at Lake of the Woods ... she loved it. She got her first taste of dirt and could care less that it was freezing. Ella and I also spent a couple days at the Coast with my mom, aunt Carol, Stacey and Alivia. We spent last weekend in the Bay area in California with Andy's parents, brother and sister. Ella did amazing. Normally she hates riding in the car ... She was seriously an angel. She either slept or played the entire way. She went swimming for the first time in a big pool with mom. She attended her first wedding ... of course in my opinion she was the cutest one there! She thoroughly enjoyed spending time with her Aunt Christine, Uncle Jeff and Grandma and Grandpa Price. We are headed to the cabin over the 4th and then to Spokane ... our lives are constantly busy.

Camping ... I loved the dirt - June 2009


My first real swiming Experience - June 2009

A few more fun facts ....

1) Ella has been walking since she was 6 months old holding onto your hands... For about three weeks she has been walking by herself. She takes 4-5 steps at a time ... she is very proud of herself. She now only wants one hand when you are helping her unless she is in a hurry ... she then wants two so she can run!

2) about a month ago she finally figured out how to crawl ... it is still not pretty though! She looks like a worm ... half the time her face is in the carpet and the other time her belly is dragging ... it is very cute. She def prefers to walk ... but is slowly learning that crawling will get her places!

3) she will eat anything off my plate ... but refuses to eat baby food ... how I got a child who will not eat baby food when I don't cook ... i will never know ... I think it is Gods way of telling me something!

4) Ella is very expressive and tries very hard to communicate. She clearly understands what she wants and she tries very hard to let you know ... however ... it ends up sounding like she is whining. We are working on expanding out sign language. She has mastered 'more' ... and uses ... uh, uh, uh for everything else right now.

5) she continues to be a decent sleeper ... however, during our recent travels she has gotten to sleep with mom ... she seems to like this and thinks that her crib is overrated. She also figured out she can easily stand up in her crib!

6) she continues to spend her days with family. Aunt Jennifer typically has her once a week. Aunt Michelle and her hang out for a couple days a week. I also found someone new for once a week. Ella loves her. It is the first time I have left her with non family. It took her a couple weeks to adjust ... but now I can tell they have a great time. Thank you Larissa!

7) Ella loves balls ... my mom got her large bouncy ball awhile ago. She loves kicking it all over the place. She will also sit and play ball by rolling it back and forth.

8) she thinks NO is funny ... in fact I think she does things just so I tell her NO!

Ella is truly and absolute joy. We laugh at her daily and are amazed at how fast she learns something. He little personality is very funny. She is still high maintenance ... but incredibly good at the same time. We are blessed to have such a wonderful little girl to call ours!

Thanks for checking in. I will try and update more timely in the future.

My first swing ride - April 2009 - Thanks Aunt Debbie!

My First Easter ... Mom was trying to pose me for a picture!