Santa, I've been a good girl!

This weekend we took Ella to see Santa. She did really well and she was able to tell Santa that she's been a really good girl this year for her mommy and daddy.

Such a cutie patootie!

Ella's Baptism

We finally had Ella baptised last Sunday. This was Ella's first time in church and it was actually the first time I had been in quite a while. As for out-of-towners, Erik's parents came up from South Carolina and my cousin Renee came from Nevada. We were so happy to have been able to share this special occasion with our family. My aunt and uncle offered to let Ella wear Renee's dress when she was baptised. It was such a nice gesture and it was special because it was handmade and was worn by my cousin over 23 years ago. Ella looked so cute all dressed up and she did really well. After the baptism we had lunch at our house. It made for a long day but it was worth it!

Ella's First Halloween

Here are some pictures of Ella in her Halloween costume. She made a super cute lamb!

Mommy's Under My Spell (and Daddy Too!)

We're counting down to Ella's first Halloween. We can't wait to dress her up in her lamb costume and bring her to a few houses in our neighborhood. This will be one of many "firsts" yet to come.

A few new developments...Ella is now waving with her hands when you say hi. It's so sweet. Ella's third word (besides hi and daddy) was officially mommy a few weeks back and boy did it melt my heart. She still mostly says da da and daddy but that's ok with us. Ella is also starting to scoot backwards and is making every effort to crawl but is not exactly there yet. On Friday she came down with a small cold (runny nose and congestion) but seems to be doing better now. I've kept the vaporizer running in her room so I'm sure that's helped. She had the flu shot and swine flu shot a few weeks ago and we have her 9 month checkup this week. We can't wait to see how much she's grown. I'll be sure to post her stats. She is barely squeezing into her 12 month clothes and it's definitely time to go shopping for some size 18 months.

We will be making an appointment very soon for her Christmas portrait. We want to get in before the holiday rush.

The Prettiest Flower

Mommy and Ella played dress up this morning! I just couldn't resist!!!

Our Little Pumpkin

Daddy, Ella, and I went for a hayride and pumpkin picking over the weekend. Ella was great and she really enjoyed herself. The weather was a bit brisk so we bundled her up. Here are some pictures from our outing. It's going to be so much fun getting Ella all dressed up for her first Halloween. We bought two costumes - we couldn't help ourselves. Once we figure out which one is a keeper we'll go ahead and return the other one. I know which one is my favorite but we'll have to wait and see.

Happy birthday cousin Madison

Last Sunday, we spent the day celebrating Madison's second birthday. Happy birthday Madison!


The girls playing. Madison is pushing Ella in the car.


Having a blast in Madison's car.

Hi Da Da

A few weekends ago, little miss Ella surprised us with her second word...da da. It was Saturday morning and Erik and Ella were playing together and all of a sudden she looked Erik straight in the eyes and said "hi da da." It melted our hearts and we couldn't believe our ears. I was a little upset that she said da da and not ma ma but that's ok because I've learned that you have to wait for the best things in life!

Ella has been trying new foods these days and has been on stage 2 baby food for about a month now. She loves her solids, especially the fruits! Pretty soon we'll be experimenting with the melt-in-your-mouth food where she will be able to feed herself.

Bouncing Happy Baby

Our Little Goofball

Well, we have come to the conclusion that Ella's personality is going to be like her daddy's - happy-go-lucky! She has got to be the happiest baby ever (well, most of the time) and what a personality she has! There will be times when she will giggle uncontrollably for a few minutes for no reason other than we looked at her. It's really enough to melt your heart. She absolutely loves attention and especially loves to be cuddled and loved, but who doesn't? One of her most favorite things to do is to jump in her jumparoo and what a riot she is when she's jumping. She squeals, squawks, and babbles - it's really the sweetest thing. She'll jump forever if we let her. She's actually been jumping so much that I'm going to have to make sure I put shoes on her when she's in there because her little tootsies are becoming raw. We've also noticed that she likes to bounce a lot as well. She must be used to the motion because she is a constant bouncer at this point. She'll bounce in our arms, when we're holding her in a standing position, when she's sitting down, etc. We've also been calling her "our little goofball" because she is just that.

So far, this is my most favorite stage. She's still a baby and depends on us for everything but at the same she's learning how to become independent and self sufficient. We've noticed that she can keep herself occupied for longer periods of time now. She loves to play with her toys and learn new things. She's trying to crawl but is mostly just "swimming" at this point. Hopefully she'll pick up the crawling thing soon. And, boy will we have our hands full then!

It's official, Ella's first word is "hi." She has been saying it for about a month now. When she first said it we just brushed it off because we thought it was just a fluke thing. She says it pretty consistently now so we're willing to count it as her first word. I must say I am a little sad her first word wasn't mommy!

No teeth to report yet. We're still awaiting their arrival.

7 Short Months Ago

Boy does time fly when you are busy being a baby! We are so blessed to have such a healthy, happy, and beautiful baby girl.

Splish Splash Ella was Taking a Bath...

all upon a Sunday night!

Talking to Grandma on the Phone

Come in Grandma...are you there?

Grandma sure knows how to make Ella laugh!

She Loves Her Sippy Cup

While shopping at Babies R Us a few weeks back, Erik and I came across this sippy cup. We just thought it was the cutest thing and we had to get it for little Ella. Ella has been experimenting with sippy cups for about a month now and she absolutely loves them. She got the hang of it pretty quickly and her eyes light up every time she sees one. We've only been filling it with water as we don't want to give her juice until she's a toddler.

She especially enjoys gnawing on the top of it and popping it in and out of her mouth. I'm sure it feels good on the gums. No teeth just yet...still waiting.

I'm Adorable

This is one of the first things I bought when I found out we were having a girl!

I Love to Read My Books

Spending Time with Nonno and Nonni

Ella Playing with her Nonni

Two weekends ago, Erik's parents traveled back North from South Carolina to drop off Victoria and Austin after spending a month with them. While they were visiting, they looked at several houses in hopes of finding the perfect one. They are looking to move back very soon to be closer to family, especially the grand kids. Ella was able to spend some time with her Nonno and Nonni while they were visiting. They even got to watch her for a whole day while Erik and I were at work. It was a great help as my Dad was going in for skin cancer surgery and my mom, who usually watches her on Wednesday's, Thursday's and half a day on Friday's, wanted to be with him. Thanks Nonno and Nonni for helping out - we are very grateful!

Look...I can sit up by myself now!!!

On Monday, Ella went in for her 6 month well checkup. She got a few shots (which she did not care for) and was weighed and measured. Ella is now weighing in at 16 lbs. 2.2 oz. and is 26 in. long. She's come a long way as you can tell.

Ella just recently started sitting up on her own. She prefers to sit up over rolling over. She does roll over but would rather be sitting up most of the time.

As you can tell from our photos, she is an all around happy-go-lucky baby. She is happy most of the time (though she does have her moments). She's got some cute habits such as being attached to her blankie as it helps her get to sleep as well as fake coughing as a way of getting our attention. It's super cute!

Posing for the camera

Bedtime Stories

Do you like my headband?

Shh...she's napping

Yes, she can put them in her mouth!