Friday, April 9, 2010

Dying Easter Eggs

Ella was so much fun for egg dying this year. She thought it was pretty amazing and really liked the whole thing. The only problem she had was cracking just about every single egg she got her hands on - she just couldn't seem to help herself. She'd be carefully handling the egg and then all of a sudden just slam it against the table or knock 2 eggs into each other. It was as if she forget every time, and then she got really sad that she had done it.

Ready to go


Steve showing Ella how it's done





Is it ready??


Oh my, I can barely believe it!!


Can't help but hugging Daddy!



Coloring an egg



Hmm, not so sure about the dye on her fingers!



Good stuff!


Erin's prized egg


Ella checking out the prized egg (...and then she cracked it!)



Getting sleepy



All done and escaping her smock



Little lovebug




It was really neat, I still love dying eggs, and it's so much fun with Ella here to show her everything and see how much she enjoys it all.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Easter Weekend

We had a really fun Easter weekend. We had beautiful weather all weekend and got to spend some great time with family.

Here are many pictures from the weekend!!

Big hugs for Grammy


Telling stories





Cheeeeese!



On Saturday it was almost 90 degrees so Glenn put up Ella's froggie pool and she loved it! There was none of the hesitation that she had last year, she just got right in and enjoyed herself. She's been saying "froggie pool?" almost every day since, so I know she's dying to get back in.

She's in!









Daddy in? (this is how she asks us to get in wherever she is)






Nice hands for Jossssh





Drying off and snuggling with Aunt Erin (who Ella now calls "Ame" - she will say "Ame please" as if I can just produce her on command)



Flying a kite with "Gee"





We all headed inside and got ready for some serious egg-dying!

Nature Woman's Kryptonite

Ella has finally met a foe in the great outdoors - BUGS! It's gotten really warm in the last week or so and with that has come - bugs...which Ella has decided she does not like.

The other day when we were in the greenway there was a little cloud of bugs that really bothered her and she wanted to be carried the rest of the way home. She also says "it's bees" about most any bug, even non-bees, and wants to be carried as well when there are "bees" around.

Here she is being interviewed by me on a milk break after our bugs encounter!

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Good for my ego...

Who knew I was so funny or such a talented juggler??

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Trip to 'Ron and Josh's

SPECIAL NOTE: Erin, you do not want to miss the end of this one!!

A few weeks ago (yes, I have lots of catching up to do on here...) Mom was here and took Erin on her first overnight trip without me or Steve, and went to see Erin and Josh in Charlotte for the night.

Ella loves her Aunt Erin and Uncle Josh but was unable to say "Aunt Erin" even though she could very clearly say "Josh!" So, the day before they were going to leave, Mom and I were practicing it with her and she got to saying "Ron" or "Roni" but not Erin. Mom said that on the whole drive out Ella was talking about Josh and Mom started thinking that maybe she thought Erin's name was Josh. Erin had taken a half day from work to hang out with them and all afternoon still, Ella was saying 'Josh', so they thought even more maybe she wasn't sure who was who. But then the theory was disproved when Josh walked in the door and Ella yelled "JOSSSHH"... So, no "Aunt Erin" from Ella on that trip.

But Ella had a blast on her trip - Ella just adores the two of them, and they played for hours and hours. She was so involved in her playing that when I called to talk to her, Erin asked her if she wanted to talk to me and I heard her loudly say - "No Way!"...hmpf! She slept great in her pack and play and was just had an all-around really fun time with her Grammy and Aunt and Uncle. It was really nice to know she did so great on a little trip without any parents to chaperone :)

Here are some pictures from the night that Mom took








Erin, this video is just for you - Ella can't wait to see her AUNT ERIN this weekend!! (and we're still working on Grammy...)

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Ella the Outdoorswoman

I've written a lot about how Ella loves her daily walks with Cory in our neighborhood. This weekend I brought the camera along to take a few photos to show our little adventurer on our walks.

It's a decent length walk for her, about a quarter of a mile, which I think is pretty impressive for her little legs, but she does great. We make lots of stops along the way to check out all kinds of things and for lots of exploring.

Alright, let's go!


Pointing to the creek where she likes to throw rocks. We collect them up at the top of the trail and then on the way back we stop and throw them. She always says "throw rocks!"



Stopping for a little chat with Cory


Checking things out


Studying a leaf


She loves puddles, mud, the sky, birds, clouds, trees, pine cones, really anything she can point to ask questions about. She has a really funny explanation for where mud comes from and how it dries up when the sun comes out, always thinks it's so funny when there's a puddle there that was not the last time, or one that's dried up that was there before.


She'll spend hours in the backyard with Steve in the afternoons, walking around, checking things out, laughing at Cory, playing in her sandbox, and as she says "Daddy throw ball Ella" - she loves running after the ball. We try to get her to catch but don't have too much luck with that yet.

The other day she made me laugh when we got in the car after the playground, she said "ewwww, sand in shoe!" and dumped out two shoes full of sand into the backseat of the car.

We've had several weeks now of gorgeous weather and have been taking full advantage of it with our little outdoor explorer!

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

2 Year Photos

After having Ella's 18 month photos taken last summer was so tricky (remember I had to hide under a sheet?!), followed by the Christmas photo debacle in which we got only ONE good photo, I have been deciding what to do about Ella's 2 year photos. I know it's not her favorite activity, and I'm certainly not trying to torture her, but I really want to get pictures each year. So, I decided to try something new in the hopes of establishing a new pattern. I was all set to get them taken, but then she broke her leg, and I of course did not want her boot in the pictures, so I waited out the boot, and this weekend finally decided to go for it.

I told Ella that if she did a nice job for pictures then we'd go to the mall after and get a pretzel and ride the carousel. Oooh boy, did that motivation do the trick!!

I love how the pictures came out and Ella actually had fun and smiled throughout. The lady had this bubble machine and Ella tried to catch the bubbles and had a really good time. Here are my favorites -































I just love the pictures, and am so pleased that this was such a nice, pleasant experience compared to the last two. Ell was such a champ and I was so proud of her. As promised, I took her to the mall after and we enjoyed a soft pretzel and a ride on the carousel. When we were walking toward the end of the mall where the carousel is, as soon as she saw it she said "WOAH, RIDE!!!" and then she looked at me and said "Mommy, I ride!" She loved it and in a very independent move, tried to push my hand off her back while she was on the horse because as she said "I do". We sat on a bench to eat our pretzel she watched the carousel the whole time and would announce when it stopped ("ride done" and then when it turned back on "ride go"). My own little carousel attendant!