Summer Fun

We've been having such a fun and busy summer. So busy that I've been neglecting my poor blog! Figured I should write and show my blog some love. Last weekend we (Sarah, Rusty and I) went to a wedding. I just love weddings! I especially loved this one because we knew lots of people at the reception. I hate going to weddings where I don't know anyone. Unfortunately, we had to cut the evening short because Ella was acting up a little and we needed to get home to her. Sarah and I squeezed in one picture before we had to leave...

Last weekend we took Ella to her first county fair! Yeah!! While we aren't fair enthusiasts, like SOME people I know, we do like a good fair. Although I do have to say, I felt like this fair was stinkier than I remember. Hmm. Ella wasn't overly interested in the animals. She really liked the baby goats but I forgot to take a picture of that. Here she is with Rachel, looking at the Llamas. Llama Face!! (2 points to whoever can name that movie!! we will see who our REAL friends are) :)

One good thing about going to the county fair over going to the state fair is that the food is so much cheaper! The ears of corn were only $1.50, what a deal!! It was soooo good.

Last week, my little sis Rachel came for a visit. For some reason, when Ella saw her (they hadn't seen each other since Easter), Ella said "oooh, teacup!" Not sure where that came from, but now we call Rachel Aunt Teacup as a joke :) Rachel, Ella and I went to downtown Noblesville, an artsy/crafty/country/antique-y little town. One of the kids toy/bookstores had a bunny so we had to let Ella take a look. She loved it!

And...here we are at the park. There's this really cool splash park across the street from our house. I can't wait for next summer when Ella can run around in the water. For now, we just put out a blanket in the grass and watch the rest of the kiddos play! I got reconnected with some girls from High School a few weeks ago and have met them several times for playdates. Last week the play date happened to be at this park!

Ella seems to be learning something new daily. She's definitely mobile now. She's not totally crawling but she can get where she wants to go. Its a whole new world! She's also added "baby" and "mama" to her vocabulary (I think). Its still hard to tell exactly what she is actually saying versus just babbling. I can't believe she'll be 10 months old next week! She actually turns 10 months old on our 7 year wedding anniversary! :)

9 months old!

Ella turned 9 months old last week! I'm absolutely loving this age. I'm sure I'll say that at every age milestone until probably middle school :) Ella is just so expressive and responsive to us, its great! Well, great MOST of the time. She definitely lets us know when she's not happy. She has a mind of her own, that is for sure. She knows exactly what she wants and gets pretty mad if she doesn't get her way. Parenting books....here we come! If anyone has any suggestions for "discipline" for a 9 month old, pass it on! We're at the stage where we're not sure exactly how much she understands so we're not sure what level of discipline is appropriate. She's even hit me a few times when she gets really mad. SIGH. She's got a strong will for sure. But I know that God will really be able to use that strong personality for His purpose. Our job is just to help her use it in the right way! Only by God's grace!

Ella had her 9 month check up last week. I felt kinda bad...I'd doped her up on tylenol so that her shots wouldn't bother her only to find out she didn't get shots for her 9 month appointment. Oops! Other than that, her appointment went great! She checked out perfectly healthy. She weighed 17lbs 14oz (31st %), height was 28 3/4 inches (85th %). Here's her 9 month pic. I decided to post this one because you can also see her mischevious look...a look that I see quite often!


This week has been another busy, but great, week for us! One of my dearest friends, Michelle, and her family came to stay with us for a day and night. Michelle and I have been friends since we were in diapers, literally! After college, she moved to Virginia so we don't get to see each other very often. God blessed me by allowing me to be pregnant with her...her with her 2nd baby and me with my 1st! It was so wonderful to have someone to go through my pregnancy with, and especially for it to be her! We ended up delivering our baby girls only 2 days apart! We were so excited for our girls to finally be able to meet...I hope Elizabeth and Ella will be as great of friends as Michelle and I are! Here's a pic of their bath together...we couldn't resist :) Ella wasn't the biggest fan. She's used to sitting in her infant tub so I think the big tub was a little overwhelming for her.

I think this is the best one I got where they are both actually looking towards the camera!

Michelle and I with our girls! Again, nearly impossible to get everyone looking at the camera at the same time! Michelle, I love you and I'm so glad we got to spend some time together!

Our 4th of July was fun although it was a total rain out here! Luckily we had great weather the day before the 4th so Rusty and I got a chance to go this series that the local art museum puts on every Friday night of the Summer. You get to sit outside on these huge grass "steps" (they're big enough to lay blankets out on). You can bring food and games and just hang out. Then once it gets dark, they play a movie on this huge screen. The one we went to see was Goonies :) Classic! We went with my sister Sarah and her BF Chris...they were nice enough to go early and buy our tickets and save us seats since we couldn't get there right when it opened (my Dad came to watch Ella for us, thanks Dad!). It was great! For the 4th, we had a cook-out in the afternoon and then played some Phase 10. Wow is that a long game. On the night of the 4th we went to hang out with our friends Rob & Jenny who just had a BEAUTIFUL baby girl, Kelsey. We ate, played some wii and had some great conversation. All in all, a wonderful week! Here's a pic of Ella and I on her first Independence Day!