Another day at the pumpkin patch

Big girl bed and some extras

A day at the pumpkin patch with Madeline

My girl!

Ok, so I know I have neglected to update Ella's blog. My little bugger is already 18 months and is growing like a weed. We recently went to the doctors and Ella weighed in at 23 lbs. 7 oz (44th percentile). Wow, she has surely come a long way! I can't recall her height but I do know that she is in the 55th percentile. I swear all this child wants to do is eat and we are so lucky that she loves, loves, loves her fruits and like her veggies too. But, her most favorite food is pizza (but it has to be cheese). I wonder where she gets this from??? We'll, that's all I have time for right now. Stay tuned for more soon. I promise not to let months go by!

Summer Vacation

Enjoying a well-deserved drink.


Ella playing at the children's museum.


The amazing view from our balcony.


On the Zoo-Choo.


More Zoo-Choo.


This July, we took our first family vacation. We rented a house at the Cape with our good friends Erik, Nicole, and their daughter, Madeline. We went to the Zoo, the children's museum, shopping, and the beach (of course). This was Ella's first experience at the beach, and to put it lightly, she absolutely hated every minute of it! We were so disappointed that she hated it so much because Erik and I are huge fans. It was like torture to her and she was not a fan of the sand by any means. Well, we'll just have to keep taking her to get her more familiar with it. We have some work to do before our next family vacation next year!

Fun with flowers

Never played in dirt before!

Such a pretty flower.

Mom, the sun is in my eyes.

Cupcake face

One of the only things Ella would eat while she was sick. This photo was taken after she started feeling better. Cute as a cupcake!

Madeline's 1st Birthday

Ella's friend Madeline's 1st birthday!

Ella's second Easter

So much to catch up on

I admit I've been not so great about keeping up with the blog lately. It's just so hard to find time with working full time and raining a one year old! Much has happened since my last posting. First of all, Ella started daycare. And sadly to report at the end of her first week, she caught one nasty virus to say the least. I guess it was only a matter of time before she got sick because she's never really been around a large group of kids before. By mid-day Friday before her first official week was up, her daycare called me and told me she had a fever and that I should come get her. By the time I got her home, her fever shot up to 102 and she was not doing so great - barely drinking and not eating at all. From there it only got worse. On Saturday we took her to the doctor and learned that Ella had an ear infection. I knew that was coming because she had been playing in her ears a lot. We had been really lucky up to this point because Ella has only had one other ear infection besides this one so far. After the doctors we went to the pharmacy to pick up her antibiotic so we could get it in her system. After a weekend full of extremely high fevers and excessive crankiness we decided that we needed to get Ella back to the doctor. When the doctor looked in her ears he told us that she now had a double ear infection and that most likely her antibiotic was not working. We ended up switching the antibiotic which did not start working until the third day. What was supposed to be Ella's second week in daycare ended up being a week at home with mommy battling her high fevers and congestion. This was actually the first time Ella got a fever and she ended up battling fevers that reached 107! I know, I didn't even know that was possible. We were so scared she would start convulsing because of the high fevers but she did not - thank goodness and bless her heart. It seemed like we were constantly on the phone with the doctors and Erik's mom seeking advice. There were times we even called at 2 AM. At one point Erik and I were getting ready to pack her up and bring her to the ER but the doctor advised us that as long as she was coherent and was alert that she would be ok. Because her fevers were so high we had to constantly put her in the bath to try to cool her off. As soon as we would take her out, she would turn purple and start shivering and then fall asleep. My poor little girl. After another visit to the doctors because she had developed a rash over her whole body which turned out to be because of the really high fevers, we were sent to the hospital to have her blood tested. The blood work came back negative for bacteria but positive for a virus.

I am happy to report that Ella is now doing much better though she is still not yet 100%.

Daddy snuggling with Ella when she was sick.


Here is a picture of Ella's rash (on her back) which went away after two days.

A bittersweet update

We have finally decided it is time to put Ella in daycare. From birth until now, Ella has been so very well cared for by my mother and grandmother. Seeing that my sister is expecting her second child soon and there won't be room for three car seats in her car, we've decided that we ought to start looking. If we lived closer, or even in the same state for that matter, life would be easier, but that's just not the case. We absolutely love it here.

Well, it just so happens that a daycare slot from a close and reputable provider will have an opening in two weeks for a 1 year old. We went ahead and reserved the slot and Ella will officially be enrolled in daycare two weeks from now.

I'm sad that Ella won't get to spend as much time with her grandma, great grandma, grandpa, auntie, and cousin but we'll have to make it a point to get together often. They all, along with Erik of course, helped me raise her to the sweet girl she is today and I am so grateful for that. And, I look forward to them helping me continue to raise her! They are my village - as in it takes a village to raise a child.

It will however, save me about 2 hours of driving a day, which will give Erik and I more time to spend with her. The driving has always been worth it to me knowing that she's in excellent hands in a loving and nurturing environment.

It's bittersweet.

They have the same expression!

I love this photo! It was taken the day after her 1st birthday party.

Can this really be comfortable?

This is Ella's new favorite sleeping position. As the caption reads, can this really be comfortable?

Happy First Birthday Ella

Last Saturday we celebrated Ella's first birthday at our house with friends and family. From a 4.14 oz preemie to a healthy and happy 20 something lb (going to the doctors on Monday) baby, it's hard to believe that a year has passed already. Often we sit back and wonder where the time has gone. It's truly amazing how much Ella has touched our lives. We honestly couldn't imagine our lives without her - she makes life worth living. She's the perfect combination on mommy and daddy and we just think the world of her. Ella has grown a lot as well as learned a lot in the past year which is also true for both Erik and I.

As far as Ella's milestones, I'm sure I've missed some but here's what comes to my mind at the moment:

• Is crawling all over the place and is furniture and toy walking
• Has 2 teeth (bottom two)
• Is completely off the pacifier
• Is eating dinner and meals with us and is not really interested in the baby food anymore
• Will be transitioning to whole milk very soon
• Says mama, dada, dog, Ella, hi, baba, what's that, and grandma
• Is completely attached to her Pooh Bear blankie
• When someone says "Oh my goodness" she puts her hand on top of her head (the cutest thing ever - she saw mommy do this one day and she just picked it up)
• Babbles pretend sentences
• Tries to copy everything we do, words and gestures
• Fake coughs and sneezes
• Claps, especially at the end of her favorite songs
• Knows how to turn the lights on and off
• Waves hi and bye when you say "wave" (she doesn't even need to see you do it) or "hi" and "bye"
• Smacks her lips together and kisses when you say "give me kisses"
• Responds well to commands we give her (for example we say "go get that toy" or "where's Pooh Bear" or "where's you hair" or "press the button" or "open and close")
• Dances when you say "dance"
• Knows how to shake her toys when you say "shake"
• Knows how to bang her toys when you say "bang bang bang"
• Loves to play peekaboo
• Looks for hidden toys and objects
• Puts her shape toys in the right slots (for the most part)
• Turns pages when we read books
• Has separation anxiety when we leave the room (it is getting much better now that she knows how to crawl and she can crawl her way to us)
• Loves to put toys on her feet, especially the rings

One of My Favorite Photos

Do I have to say anything else?

Guess Who's Turning One???

Boy does time fly when you are having fun with a little one! We can't believe Ella will be turning one next Saturday. We'll be celebrating by having friends and family over to share this special day with her. At this time last year I was confined to the hospital for several weeks awaiting for Ella's arrival. She was just so eager to make her entrance into the world and we are so blessed to have a sweet, healthy little girl in our lives.

As far as new developments, Ella cut her first tooth a few weeks back and has another one on the way. We didn't ever think that poor girl would get any teeth. On another developmental note, she finally figured out how to crawl. I guess she got sick of rolling and slithering her way around. She is also furniture walking and will be doing it on her own in no time. I guess we're going to have to brace ourselves for what's to come - ready or not!

On my vacation with Ella, we both decided that it was time to get her ears pierced. She cried at first but then was fine shortly after. I must say that they really look adorable on her.

My First Christmas

We had a quiet but lovely first Christmas with Ella. It was so much fun to see her open her gifts and play with all her new toys. Her favorite toy is the Pooh airplane ride on toy Santa got her. She loves to stand behind it and walk and she also likes it when we push her around on it.

My cousin Alyssa along with her boyfriend and two girls came up from North Carolina and we were able to spend Christmas Eve with them. It was so great to see everyone and it was so cute to see all four girls (Kayla, Madison, Ella, and Hailey) play together. We took a group shot of them all together at my parents house and I'm just waiting for them to send me the photo so I can post it.