WOW .... Where did the time go?

Sorry for the lack of updates ... I don't know where the time goes! So lets see so much has happened since I updated the last time.

We spent Thanksgiving in Spokane with Andy's family. Ella got to play with her cousins ... and she loved the attention. Once again she did very well traveling.

She will be four months old on Sunday. She has rolled over a couple times from her stomach to back. She smiles all the time and is just starting to understand the concept of laughing. Darin and Dylan are her favorite entertainers. The crazier they are the funnier she thinks it is... A little scary if you ask me! She continues to love her bath. She is actually notorious for falling asleep in the tub. She had her first sleep over with Grandma and Grandpa last weekend. She did very well sleeping ... grandma on the other hand may have been awake all night listening for her! She is constantly grabbing at anything and everything ... and of course everything she manages to grab goes straight into her mouth.

Here are a couple random pictures!

Ella was borrowing Jack's (Jen & Brandon's son) horse!

Hanging out in my crib.

My cousins Halle and Faith

Hanging out in my new Jumping Horse from Aunt Carol and Aunt Jennie

Hanging out in my bouncy ... my aunt Michelle is the best at getting me to smile for pictures.

'Tummy Time'

At Ella's one month check up her doctor said it was a good time to start 'tummy time' ... so I tried ... and she hated it! So at her two month check up, I reported back to her doctor that she really could care less about tummy time and that I was not really forcing the issue. Her doctor said not to worry, her neck and muscle tone looked great ... Therefore, I stopped worrying about not doing it, but nevertheless continued trying. Well it became the standing joke how long it would take her before she started raging when I rolled her over ... Usually it was five seconds tops ... and when I did roll her over she looked like a little limp doll sprawled out on the floor... Well, her BFF Alyse was over on Thursday and showed her how tummy time should work (Alyse rolled over last week!). Alyse laid there, held her head high and seemed so proud of herself...Ella continued to show off her limp doll skills. So yesterday I was playing with her on the floor and had the TV on. She was in a great mood so I thought I would ruin it and roll her over ... it seems our little limp doll does knows how to hold her head high ... that is if there is TV to watch! She must have forgot she was on her stomach because she laid there for several minutes basically staring at the TV... Unfortunately mom and dad have a few rules in the house ... one of them happens to be no TV for the little munchkin!!!

Back to Work!

I knew the inevitable would come ... I had to go back to work last Monday. I am pretty sure going back to work was easier on Ella than me. I did really well Monday - Wednesday ... by the time Thursday was over, I wanted to be done for the week. However, I made it through today (Friday) and I am looking forward to sat and sun more than ever. We have a lot of snuggling to catch up on. On a positive note, I do enjoy my job... so returning was also very positive. Additionally, Andy, Ella and I are very lucky. We have family that watches her while I am working so she is getting a lot of love every day!

Spokane!

Ella, Andy and I visited Spokane two week ago. Andy was planning on flying up for the night by himself for his brothers surprise birthday party. Ella and I decided to join them at the last minute to surprise grandma and grandpa Price with a visit. We arrived on Friday and returned home on Monday. Ella was amazing once again on the airplane both directions. I was a bit nervous for the return flight because I was traveling alone with her. She proved to be a very good traveling companion. I did have to laugh at her ... the flight from Portland to Medford was very bumpy ... she was sitting on my lap holding onto my finger ... every time we hit turbulence she would squeeze my finger a littler tighter!

Ella was able to meet the rest of her family for the first time. Great grandma and grandpa Walker thought she was pretty special... she gave them a lot of smiles and even left great grandma Walker with a little stain on her pants (she had a major blow out!). Abby, Walker, Halle and Faith enjoyed her as well and will be looking forward to 'playing' with her while we visit during Thanksgiving.

Pumpkin Patch & Halloween

Ella enjoyed her first Halloween!

First we visited the pumpkin patch with grandma, grandpa, Darin, Dylan and 'aunt' Jennie. The weather was a little wet but she still had fun. She was dressed up in the outfit grandma Price gave her.

We carved pumpkins at 'aunt' Jennie's and 'uncle' Donnie's. I carved Ella's pumpkin ... very traditional! Andy did something a little more complicated ... unfortunately, he did not have it finished in time for the photo. Check out the photo of Ella screaming ... I may have been trying to put her in the pumpkin ... she did not think it was funny! Too cute!

I found this cute little BEE costume at Pottery Barn ... I could not resist! We visited grandpa at work, Moss Adams, and Bapa and Edie.

Two Months!

Ella turned two months old this week! We had a well baby check up this morning. She weighed in at 12lbs 5oz and measured 23 1/3 inches. She is in the 80% for her weight and off the charts for her height! 'Aunt' Jenni captured this great picture of her smiling ... which she is doing more and more of! She is a very happy baby until she wants to eat (which is pretty much all the time). She is becoming more alert each day. She is starting to reach and grab at things. She hates tummy time ... it is the running joke as to how long she will last before she is in a complete rage... it is usually less than 5 seconds. Her favorite time of the day is her 'naked' time right before her bath. She continues to sleep through the night. She is somewhat of a nightowl ... just like her dad. She will typically go down between 10 - 11 and get up around 7 - 8 ... can't complain about that one! :-)

Grandma Cheryl ... did you notice my pj's! :-)

I will update later with pictures of her in her halloween costume ... she is going to be a little bee!

Love Ella and Brenda

Hawaii - Continued.....

We returned from a week in Hawaii ... We enjoyed the company of Jim, LeAnn and Megan (my other family) and my parents. We stayed in Maui at the Westin where we enjoyed all the resort amenitities. This would mark our first major family vacation since Ella was born. Andy and I were nervous taking her on the plane (see the outcome of her first plane ride below) as well and traveling with a 7 week old. All in all she did great.

The first day she was not so sure she liked the hot humid climate. She was a little out of her eliment ... However, by day two she was back to her normal self. She slept like a champ the entire time. We tried to keep her on local time ... which resulted in her waking up around 4-6am. :-) The hotel had a crib that reminded me of something out of mental institution. She did not mind though. The best part is ... grandma and grandpa gave up the large bedroom so Ella could sleep in her crib in the bedroom ... which resulted in my parents sleeping on the hide a bed couch! Of course Ella would have slept just fine in the living room ...

Steve, Debbie, Alyse, Alan (Debbie's dad) and John (Debbie's brother) were also in Hawaii. It was a lot of fun vacationing together. Not to mention hanging in the shade at the pool was a lot more fun with company! Both Ella and Alyse did great hanging by the pool. They were pretty content feeding and then chilling in the BOB.

Here are some pictures. Enjoy!

Thank you Megan for the pretty flower lei! Also, check out the sunburn I got while sitting in the SHADE!

I was not happy ... the wind was in my face! Notice my buddy Alyse ... she was a trooper and loved the wind. We looked pretty cute in our matching swimsuits!

I was not a huge fan of the hats ... they made a pretty cute picture though.