These Boots Were Made for Walkin'...

About three weeks before her birthday Ella was starting to try to walk without holding on to anything. I figured by the time she turned one she would be a pro. But she took just a tad longer. The day after her birthday Peter and I noticed that she was doing really well keeping her balance when she was trying to turn around or manuever around toys. And since then she's changed so much! Hopefully we will have a video camera soon so I can capture her in action.

Here are some still shots though:

These were taken after she took a bath so her hair is really curly! And those pajamas glow in the dark!

Heather and Connor came over a few weeks ago and Ella and "Tank" played together. Heather wouldn' let Connor ride Ella's princess car because it "is too pink". Luckily I have another one that was acceptable! Heather wanted me to capture these moments so that we can have a slideshow at their wedding. Ha! Who says prearranged marriages are inappropriate??

See, he's already trying to check out her ring size...

That same night, Ella woke up at about midnight and I went in to check on her. I picked her up and she threw up. For the next hour and a half she continuted to throw up. (It was so gross!!) At one point I just started to cry. I had no idea what was wrong with her and...it was so gross!! I was waiting for her head to start spinning around!!
Anyway, she had had a runny nose for the past week or so and I was thinking that it might have been all the mucous that had drained into her stomach and just made her feel crummy.
Anyway, in the middle of the morning I gathered up some blankets and slept on the floor of her room with her. This is picture of her the next morning.

We discovered a bird's nest outside on my parents' porch. The robin built it right on top of a wreath that is hanging on the storm door. It blends in really well with the wreath so we never even noticed it until a friend came over to install a new light fixture and he pointed it out! Of course Dad was just tickled pink. He was tall enough to take a peak inside the nest and saw one blue egg! Now when they have vistors they try to have them come and go through the garage so they don't disturb the mama.

This shot was taken through the window so there was no chance of me getting my eyes pecked out!

Here's some other random shots:

Blake and Ella in the backyard. Wanna duel??

Blueberries and Chex-Breakfast of Champions

I met up with some girlfriends at Mama Alvino's, a yummy Italian joint. They were slow that day so the kids decided to sit on the floor and roll the soccer ball back and forth with Ella. She's really good at that game! At the top of the photo going clockwise that's Celeste, Jessica, Ella, and Hannah.


Papa helping Ella with her shoes.

Birthday Bash

When I went to pick up this cake, they handed me one that was decorated with characters from Bolt. I kinda freaked and was like, "Um, this is not right..... It's supposed to be Strawberry Shortcake...." Thank god I went early enough to pick it up that they had plenty of time to make a new one!! And boy was it yummy!

It looks like Ella's saying, "Uh, Blake, where are you taking me??"

This was Miss Ella while everyone sang Happy Birthday...shy face/pouty lip.

So, Ella didn't want to sit in her high chair and eat cake. I had to hold her. But she did take a few bites.

This is Ella and Dakota. Dakota is the grand daughter of one of my friends from work. She was so excited to come to Ella's party.

It turned out to be a nice day (no rain) so we were able to move the party outside for a little bit.

Busy momma

I call this photo "Wrong Moms" Venessa and Heather decided to switch kids to gauge how different in size they are. Connor is huge!!! And little Izzy is as light as a feather.

It was a great day! Thank you to everyone who came. It was great to see everyone and we really appreciate all of the gifts, Ella will enjoy them for some time.

Happy Birthday Punky!

Well I'm not that great at scanning photos I guess, cause this looks kinda cheesy. But anyway, this is her portrait for first birthday!! Yay!! I have some more that I'll post next time. I just wanted to get this one up now because I'm sure I won't have time in the next few days.

At the age of one Ella can:

Give kisses
Point out your nose
Point out her shoes
Wave bye bye
Point for what she wants
Take up to five or six steps without holding on to anything
Talk your ear off....baby jibba jabba of course


Here's a couple other pics.

It's just a coincidence that she is in the same outfit as her year pic. This was actually a few weeks ago.

She likes to eat grapes.



Reading her favorite book after bath time.