Ella's Cool New Trick

I've been very good about sticking to my New Year's Resolution of not taking quite so many pictures. I've been trying to only get the camera out about once or twice a week. So, today was a picture day and I got a couple of pics of Ella playing around in the living room. She's so funny now because she knows when she's doing something that she's not supposed to. For instance, she's not supposed to pull on the blinds so she crawls over there, pulls up on them, and then promptly looks back at me and smiles like "look at me Mom, I'm doing something naughty!"

She's also become quite the Cheerio addict and Abby and Charlie have developed a habit of hanging around her high chair in the hopes that she'll drop a few morsels, which she typically does.

However, the big news of the week is that Ella is standing with no hands! And, she took her very first step today! When Keith came home from work today, Ella was standing by herself in the living room. When she saw him she stepped towards him to get him to pick her up. She even regained her balance a little bit after she stepped! She's definitely not walking, but she for sure tried today and I'm sure will be making good progress in the next few weeks. :-) Pop-pop is so proud...he's been working on her walk since about 2 weeks...haha.

P.S.- The colors of the pictures look a little bit different because I've really gotten into digital scrapbooking and have been trying different looks for my pictures. On these I used some Kelsey Smith presets.

Evidence

Just as proof of Ella's improved sleeping habits, here's a picture I snapped of her this afternoon after she took a 2 hour (that's right...2 hour!) nap. LOVE the hair!! She sleeps so hard these days and wakes up with crazy girl hair.

I'm really loving black and white pictures these days in case you hadn't noticed...takes away that yucko indoor lighting. :-)

What's in my basket?

Ella loves digging in her toy baskets these days to find a new toy. She thinks it's such a fun game. And she just can't figure out how all the toys get back in the basket after she's pulled them all out. She hasn't quite mastered the "putting toys back in the basket" trick. :-)

Also, I've waited a little while to post this so I won't be "counting my chickens" but I am happy to report that Ella's sleeping has GREATLY improved. She's sleeping from 7-5:30 or 6 with no interruptions and taking 2 naps. No crying when I put her in the crib and she's sleeping for at least an hour for both of her naps. Those of you who are familiar with Ella's sleeping patterns know this is amazing. Thank you so very much for your prayers about this because I know that's what helped me through "baby boot camp" as I like to call it. All mothers know it is so hard to hear your child cry herself to sleep. But, in the long run, I know it was in her best interest because she is sleeping so well now and is so happy all the time. I love a well-rested baby! So, anyways, thank you!

Toofers and Cute Pics

It's hard getting a picture of babies' teeth! Good grief! Finally got a good one of her top 2 and bottom 2. I think she's got some more coming in soon because she is still drooling like crazy and wanting to gnaw on everything.

We had some extra time this afternoon so Ella and I played around with the camera. Here's a couple that I thought were cute. :-)

SNOW!!

Yes, you did read that correctly. We had a little bit of snow in Alabama. We didn't venture out to play in it because Ella has been under the weather, but I enjoyed taking some pictures for the scrapbooks. It was so beautiful until it melted a couple of hours later.

Our Little Musician

Ella is already a big fan of music. When Keith gets home at night, he plays his guitar for her and she loves it! Lately he's been putting her on the piano bench and letting her bang away on the keys. She thinks she's very grown-up. :-)

Today we're off to the doctor. She's had a runny nose and it sounds as though it's making its way down into her chest. We want to nip it in the bud before it turns into bronchitis or ear infections or anything yucky like that.

Carousel Ride

I was so proud of Keith this weekend...he got on the kid's carousel in our mall so Ella could have her first ride with her buddy Davis B. In a sports coat and tie no less! :-) I think he secretly loved every minute of it. She certainly did!! Such a good daddy...

Big Girl Carseat

We had to switch Ella's carseat out this weekend. She's definitely not too heavy for the Snugride, but she's getting too long. Now that she's in her bigger one she looks so much more comfy. Such a big girl now!

Dad's 53rd Birthday

We celebrated my dad's 53rd birthday this past weekend by going the the bowling alley on Maxwell AFB. Total blast! I had forgotten how much fun bowling is. We played 3 games; I won, Keith won, and my mom won. No winning for the birthday boy. :-( And, I actually broke 100 which is unheard of for me! Ella went along and enjoyed watching for awhile then finally conked out in her stroller. Such a sweet little girl. :)

After 6pm they turned on the black lights...c r a z y! Kind of distracting when trying to bowl I thought...gosh I'm sounding old. :-) Afterwards we did cake, ice cream, and presents at my parent's house. My dad received, as one of his presents, my old Rebel XT so I'm excited for his to join the world of DSLRs!

Just like Mommy!

My dad stopped by the other day to visit for a little while and I snapped a shot of him and Ella playing on the floor. It reminded me of a picture of him and me when I was about 3. Whenever he came home from work, we would play for awhile...I think in this picture I was playing "hairdresser". So the tradition continues of Dad playing on the floor in his flightsuit. :-)

Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts Playdate

We had a playdate yeseterday with some of the girls from our Sunday School class. We went to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts and then feed the ducks at the Shakespeare Festival and ate a picnic lunch. Even though Ella is young to appreciate the kids section of the museum, she still had a good time playing with the other babies there that are her age. The had a big bucket of foam shapes that they all had a great time mouthing. Very sanitary I'm sure! :-) Anyways, I'm excited to take her back when she's older because that place is very cool for kids. I had to leave my big camera in the car because I didn't have enough hands to hold everything so I made due with my "diaper bag" camera.

Just call me One Sock Ella

My child loses a sock like it's her job! As my mom says, she is such a little ragamuffin sometimes. It's so cute to me how kids lose articles of clothing and it doesn't both them a bit..."so much easier to crawl around Mom!"


We are having a spell of warm weather in Alabama (I know, big surprise!) and Ella and I took advantage today by spending some time outside in the grass. (I know the top of her head is cut out of the pictures, but I just loved the expressions!) While we were out there playing I happened to snap a picture of her "stick-up" toe. We get tickled because the 2nd toe of her feet "sticks up" and lays over the big toe and 3rd toe. Just one of her precious peculiarities. :-)





Finally, Keith wanted me to spread the word that he has officially started his own blog now. You can visit it at http://www.kdub567.blogspot.com/. Or you can click on "Keith's blog" to the right under "favorite places."

8 Months Today!

Can't believe it...pretty soon she'll be going off to college. Haha. :-) I guess Ella sitting still for her monthly pictures is a thing of the past. I'll take whatever pose I can get these days!

New Year's Eve

I finally got around to going through our New Year's Eve pictures. You know you're not a kid anymore when you spend New Year's Eve with your parents and grandmother playing board games...haha! :-) We really did have a good time and actually stayed up until 12:15am. Very late by our standards. We got into a competitive game of Monopoly, so much so that we purchased too many houses and had to use M&Ms as stand-ins. Mom and I ran out of money pretty quickly, but Dad and Keith hung in there and eventually had to call a draw.