Pics from the last few months...

I was putting together a bookcase for Ella and before I put the final touches on (adding in the shelf) Ella decided to make it a book nook...literally.

The Pooh couch is not just Ella's favorite.

Found this cute little chair at Big Lots and Gramma had to buy it for her. She loves to sit in it.

Was trying to get some cute pics to submit for this baby contest. She used to wrinkle her nose and make this funny face, she hasn't really done it lately though. Guess that's just a 13 month old thing, she's too old for that silliness now.

Love this pic...

The whole gang after the New Kids concert. Posin' in front of the limo.

Here's all the babies at the zoo, in front of the sea lions. Connor, Ella, Lorelei.

Oh oh oh, you're my cover girl, oh oh oh,

oh oh oh

My squishy.

My sister's awesome tattoo!

Me and Ella right before getting in the limo and hittin the road

Jenn and I showin' the love.

Ness and I showin the love...

Ella loves to play at the computer.

Ella in her "Future Astronaut" bib that she got from Great Uncle Dave who works...eh hem...worked, for NASA. (He retired this year!)

Ella outside picking off the dead flowers.

Ain't she cute?

Busy as a...Wasp?

As you have probably already guessed, we have been pretty busy here at the Hanley household.

Unfortunately I can not locate my USB cord for my camera so I can't post any pics tonight. I'm sure Ella has run off with it somewhere, so once I find it I will get some pictures up.

My sister Jennifer and my friend Whitney came out to visit in July. It was for the New Kids on the Block concert and boy did we have fun!!

The concert was a blast and it was so great to have people in town and to spend time with family and friends. It went by so quickly though, and I really miss them.

We have a picture of Lorelei on the fridge and Ella will point to it and say "baby" and get a big smile!

It was right around that time that I applied for the Accounting manager position. And I finally found out on July 31st that I got the job! Yay!!!! They are requiring me to take some Accounting courses (apparently they think my English degree "doesn't count") so it has been a busy month for me learning tons of stuff at work and registering for class.

My class officially starts next week. It is an online course which I am thankful for. I wouldn't want to be away from Ella two nights a week. I feel like I hardly see her as it is!!

About two weeks ago, Peter and I were hearing this weird noise in our bedroom. It sounded like something up in the attic but it was always in the same place. At first I chalked it up to the vents creaking when the dryer was running. But then we realized it was still happening when the dryer was off.

Well, that Saturday I had put Ella down for a nap and had gone to catch some Z's myself, I woke up to about thirty wasps in our bedroom!!! They had eaten a whole in our ceiling and were coming out. I actually opened my eyes when I heard some buzzing and then saw about two or three wasps flying over by the window, so I grabbed Koa and ran out the room, shutting the door behind me. I got Peter and when he went in he saw all the wasps on our window. Later we guessed there were close to a hundred in our room!

We tried to reach a pest control place but they are all closed on the weekend. Can you believe that!!? I was so annoyed. I guess you're not supposed to have pest problems on the weekend! Ugh! So I called my friend Elizabeth and her brother suggested that we make the room as dark as possible to get the wasps to fly back up in their nest and then to spray up in the hole.

Well we kind of did it backwards and Peter sprayed the hole before we made the room dark, so now the wasps were not going to go back to the nest! So he just went in the bedroom and sprayed all of the ones on the window. We could see where they were getting in from the outside so we sprayed there too.

It got rid of most of them, but over the past few days we have seen them flying back into the house and today we could here them up there again. So, we'll (actually Peter) will have to go up in the attic and spray the actual nest. I hope he's okay, cause I ain't going up there!!! I'll keep you posted on the wasp invasion.

Unfortunately, about four weeks ago I started getting a cough. I didn't think it was anything serious because I felt fine otherwise. I waited until the third week (last week) to see a doctor. She diagnosed me with Bronchitis and gave me some antibiotics and an inhaler. They also did a chest x-ray to rule out pneumonia. After a couple of days I thought I was getting better. But over this past weekend I really started to feel sick again. So I went back to the doctor yesterday and they diagnosed me with pneumonia. They have given me steroids and another antibiotic. I stayed home from work one day last week, and today.

This came at an awful time for work. I'm hoping I am feeling better though before class starts.

Blake started the 4th grade in July! I'm excited for him because 4th grade was one of my favorites. You learn the state capitals! I remember my mom used to quiz me over breakfast every morning. He got a bike over the weekend and has already had his first spill. He scrapped his elbow and knee pretty badly, but Boo Boo fixed him up pretty good. It was a good thing I had some bandages and medical tape...I guess I better stay stocked up on that stuff!!

He's really into baseball now and stays up on all of the stats just like Peter. Go Rockies!!

Ella is getting so big! I realized when I was going to update the blog that I really haven't taken that many pictures lately. I have to get better about that. But I do have some cute ones that I need to put up here.

She motors all over the house now. Upstairs, downstairs, she climbs up on the furniture and loves to sit in her little Pooh couch (a hand me down from Madeline and Taylor).

She talks a ton and is really good at letting us know what she wants. She says baby, ball, balloon, blankie, doggie, shoes, milk, Koa and Blake. Mommy and Daddy are an iffy thing. We can never tell if she is just making sounds or if she understands that we are Mommy and Daddy. If anything, she gets Daddy more than Mommy. If you tell her to take something to Daddy she will go to Peter, not so much with the Mommy....eventually I'm sure she'll be driving me crazy though, so I won't complain!!!

Anyway as soon as I find the cord I will put up some pics.

Just wanted to get an update on here....finally!

!!Happy 4th of July!!

I forgot my camera today so I don't have any pictures. Ugh! But we spent the day at Grandma's going through old photo albums and watching tributes to Michael Jackson on CNN. It was kind of drizzly outside so we didn't do many fireworks. We did some sparklers and Ella liked those!

I have a lot of pictures from Texas that I wanted to put on here. They are totally out of order and I don't feel like rearranging them so bear with me.

This pic I took the other day from our bedroom window so there is a screen in front of me, but I thought it was cute. Peter and Ella out weeding...


One of the days in Texas, Peter, Ella, Blake, Paul, Lisa, and I drove to South Padre Island. On the way we stopped at this lighthouse. They were charging $3.00 to go to the top so just Blake and I went. It was pretty cool to see the view, but it was windy...and hot.



Here's Blake going up the last few steps...

And here's us at the top!! Yay!!


Another day, Kathy, Peter, Blake, and I went to Mexico. We parked on the US side of the border and just walked over. If anyone is wondering, it's just a $.60 toll. Going there was pretty easy. Just walked right in. Coming back there was a bit more security! Checked our passports, asked Peter and I whether Ella was our daughter, whether Kathy was Blake's grandmother....weird. But it was an interesting experience. We walked around in what seemed to be the Mexican version of 16th St. Mall. It was very very hot. We ate at a restaraunt that our shuttle driver recommened. It was pretty good. Definitely different than what we are used to though. Two things I noticed. 1. No one had a stoller except Peter and I. Everyone was carrying their kids. The sidewalks were pretty run down so you couldn't really push a stroller very well, but man...it was way too hot to be carrying around those little heat generators!! 2. At the restaraunt there was another little boy and he was just walking around and playing. We let Ella get down and play with him. The boy would go over by the cooks as well. This made me nervous, because here people freak out and want you to "control your kid", but there the cooks would play with the boy and say hi and the waiters seemed fine with Ella and the boy walking around. Peter's brother made the observation that Mexico has much more of a "it takes a village" mentality than the US. Just from that one experience, I'd have to agree. And I have to say that it was a bit refreshing to not be so worried about what other people thought about your kid when really they're just doing stuff that kids do.....walk around and explore.
But that stroller thing totally bothered me!!! I'm thinking...business opportunity anyone?! hehe

One morning Blake and Peter went out on kayaks that the neighbors had so graciously offered to us. Peter and I went out when they were done. It was really fun. Blake and Peter just stayed in the harbor. At first when Blake got in he was a little nervous...I was nervous just watching him. But once he steadied himself, he was great. He figured out how to steer pretty quickly and then he and Peter were off! Peter and I went out to the ocean, we sat for awhile and just took in the view, but when I turned around and realized we had drifted pretty far, I freaked and headed back to the harbor!!

I finally got to meet Blake's and Ella's cousins, Colin and Ciara. How cute they are!! They are the sweetest kids. Colin is so smart and kind. And Ciara is so sweet and funny.
Here's Ella and Colin playing together.

Here's the whole gang.

And of course we had to go the beach. Ella and I only went once. I can't stand all the sand that gets everywhere! But Peter went back a few times with his brother and Blake.

This is a good shot of everyone just hanging out and playing in the sand.

Blake riding some waves.

Ella was very bold. She would just run right out into the water! Kinda scary. And you'd think as much as she dislikes bath time she would have nothing to do with the pool or ocean, but she loved both. Within the first ten minutes of being in the pool Peter had taught her how to put her face in the water!! Crazy kid.

We had a great time in Texas. It was so good to spend time with the whole family. I hope we can all do it again soon.

We had a busy month in June with the trip to Texas and a lot of birthdays. July will be even busier.

While we started off the month on a sad note (a co-worker and friend of Peter's was killed two weeks ago and we attended her funeral last Thursday) we are looking forward to Blake returning from Texas next week!! More birthdays (Venessa, Anna, and Peter), and my sister and Whitney coming in from out of town for the New Kids on the Block concert!!!

Ella was officially 14 months old yesterday. Yay! She is so much fun. She says hi and bye. She kind of says bottle and blankie, but they both sounds the same, it is just whatever she is pointing at. She can also give high fives, and claps when she is excited or if the Rockies are on. She loves to chase us or play hide and seek. She is still not a huge fan of bathtime, or getting her hair combed. She now has seven teeth! All of a sudden three came in at the same time. She wasn't very happy about that, and neither was I! But she's trooper, it was only about two or three days that we would notice that she was unusually fussy. She is still a huge fan of any kind of fruit, except cantaloupe and will pretty much try anything we give her.

She has another check up at 15 months, and that's just right around the corner! Crazy!!

Hope everyone is having a great summer!!

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.