Picture overload!

Today I finally got around to taking all the pics off my camera and onto my computer. There were 109...yikes! That's a lot for me! I tried to go through and post my favorites. I messed up uploading these in the right order yet again...I'll figure it out some day! I think these actually ended up in reverse order of when they happened!

This weekend we had a lot of family time which was so nice! I realized that a lot of weekends get so filled up with projects and errands that sometimes we go an entire weekend without spending much time with all 3 of us! Rusty watches her while I go to the store...I watch her while he mows the yard...you know how it goes. So Saturday we decided NO PROJECTS! We took advantage of the nice weather (74 and sunny!! in august!!) and headed downtown. Didn't realize there was a big motorcycle race this weekend so there were bikes (and bikers) everywhere! I was afraid Ella would be scared of all the noise the bikes made but she didn't seem to mind at all! It was actually pretty funny to see these big brawny biker men pass us and look at Ella and smile at her. Buncha softies! We walked to Borders and looked at books with Ella. That was fun for about 5 minutes. She's at the age where she'd much rather be down on the ground than in our arms. After Borders, we walked to the canal and just walked down to the river and back, enjoying the nice weather. Here's some pics from our walk!

After we walked the canal, we ended up just heading back to the car. We seriously named off about 20 places downtown where we could eat and couldn't decide on any of them so we just left. We ended up stopping at Logan's Roadhouse for dinner on the way home...go figure :)

Last weekend we got the chance to go visit my little sis Rachel in Evansville! She moved into a new apartment this year and we wanted to see it and just hang out with her before classes started. We don't get a chance to see her super often because its about a 4 hour drive. Ella did so well in the car! Didn't cry once! But, she was off her routine for like 3 days because she didn't get her normal naps and went to bed about 2 hours late. I couldn't believe it affected (effected?? i always forget) her that much. Unfortunately, I didn't get ANY pics with Rachel, but here's one of Rusty, Ella and I in front of the Ohio River

I have so much fun with Ella during the week on my days off work (Wed-Fri). Usually I will plan a play date 2 days and then 1 day we'll just hang out at home, take walks, etc. A few times, I've been really ambitious and walked with her to the Goodwill that's close(ish) to our house. I'd say its a good 1.5 miles each way. I could be totally wrong on that...I'm a horrible judge of distance. It feels like 5 miles but I'm sure its not. So last week on a cooler day, we walked there. By the time we got there, I really wasn't sure I'd be able to make it back. It suddenly felt like about 90 degrees! Even after being in the cool store for about an hour, I still wasn't sure I'd make it! I actually contemplated hitching a ride home with the Hamilton Express minibus thing that was parked in the parking lot. But...I sucked it up and made it home! Ella and I celebrated making it home by having a creamsicle. Ella loved it.

Probably the funniest thing Ella has started doing lately is getting really into the Disney Channel show Little Einsteins. She still has a very short attention span with watching TV, but she will always stop whatever she is doing if I turn on the intro music. We listen to the intro of Little Einsteins probably 4 times a day. That song is in my head all the time!! She'll crawl over to the TV, sit in front of it and wave her arm in the air. Its so funny!

Here's a few random pictures from the past month or so. Here we are at the State Fair. Please ignore Rusty's blue teeth he got by eating a blue raspberry slushy. Thank you.

A few weeks ago, Ella and I went for a play day with my friend Lindsay and her little boy Hudson. They played so well together! It was the first time I'd seen her really play with any other kid. They got along really well!

And...a couple of pics of my sweet girl. She's so happy! What a joy she is to us!

This picture isn't all that exciting except that the shirt she's wearing was one I wore when I was a baby! A few months ago my mom told me she'd found some of my baby clothes and wanted to know if I wanted them for Ella. I was honestly a little nervous. I didn't want to hurt her feelings and say no, but I was a little worried about what they looked like! To my relief, they were actually pretty cute! I guess baby clothes in the '80's are back in style!

Its hard to belive that in less than 1 month, Ella will be a year old! This thursday, we leave for Philly to visit our good friends Brandon & Anya! They moved to Philly 2 years ago and we have yet to visit them. Any tips on how to survive a 10 hour car drive with an 11 month old would be greatly appreciated!

Quite a week

Ella has had quite the week. Here are just a few highlights:

Monday: Ella was at Rusty's moms. She likes to touch the air vents that are in the floor, especially when the air is coming out. She was playing and then Rusty's grandma walked by and Ella made a mad dash to catch her. (funny in itself. Rusty's grandma is no spring chicken). So anyways, Ella goes to catch Granny, Ella's finger stays behind. Poor girl! She's got a pretty nasty gash on her finger!

Wednesday: I put Ella down for a nap only to have her wake up screaming about 20 minutes later. I go in to see what is wrong and she's got a gash on her cheek that's bleeding. Hmm. Later on, we're in the kitchen and I see her sitting in the corner, munching happily on something. 10 minutes later when I finally pry it out of her mouth, I find that its a huge piece of mulch. Gross! We also went to Kinkos to look for her bday invitations and she managed to knock a ton of envelopes all over the floor.

Today: Lets see...grabbed her the second before she dove down the stairs (from the very top! Her had was litterally on its way down the first step). Was making dinner, went to check on her and she'd figured out how to crawl up to the 2nd step and right as I was about to get to her, she lost balance and fell backwards and hit her head on the floor. She learned how to gag herself-nice. She did it all day long today. All the way through Target. I've heard of kids doing this before, I don't get it. It can't feel good! And if I hold down her hands so she can't do it, she'll just make the noise like she's gagging and then just start laughing hysterically! Also today, she found the power button on the TV and turns the TV off and on continually. She also found the one outlet I forgot to put a cover in and stuck her finger in it.

Even with the "active" week we've had, its been great. I love her spunk :) She's gonna keep me on my toes, that's for sure!

What's Up with that?

Has anyone else noticed an increasing (and disturbing) trend of people not wearing shoes in stores? I was in CVS the other day and the girl in front of me was wearing shorts, a t-shirt and...that was it. No shoes! No socks! Just bare feet!
Then today, I was in Kroger and this man walks by me. He's probably about 50, a little scruffy but pretty normal looking. As he walks by, I notice he's wearing jeans, a t-shirt, and yep, NO SHOES! Bare feet, at Kroger! Gross! What ever happened to No Shirt No Shoes No Service? Ok, that's it. Just had to get that off my chest.

Being a Mother

I ran across a poem the other day that made me think about my priorities. Sometimes I try to be Wonder Woman. I feel like my day is a success if Ella is happy, I've had my devotions, my dishes are done, dinner is in the oven, the laundry is all washed and put away, my bed is made, I've gone to the gym. So of course, I count very few of my days as a complete success. When I remember this week a year from now...will I remember a memory I made with Ella this week or will I remember that I made my bed every day this week? For me, sometimes (ok, a lot of times), its very easy to lose focus of what's really important. When Ella remembers her childhood, will she remember a Mom who always kept a clean house or will she remember a Mom who wanted to spend time with her above anything else? Will she remember a Mom who cooked a 3 course meal every night, or will she remember how I played hide and seek with her or made her laugh until her belly hurt? I know there is a fine balance here but I'll admit, I've yet to find it. I'm trying to find the balance. I'm totally type-A personality. I have a VERY hard time looking the other way when there's dishes in the sink. I develop a little tick if I can't sweep my kitchen floor at least once a day. Where do I find the balance between "this is who I am" and "I want to be more laid back?"

These are just some of the thoughts that have been rattling around in my type-A brain lately! I actually made a list about how I can be more laid back. O dear. I think I need serious help people! :)

Here's this poem that got me thinking. I so want to be this kind of Mom!

Mother, O Mother, come shake out your cloth,
Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,
Hang out the washing, make up the bed,
Sew on a button and butter the bread.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?
She's up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I've grown as shiftless as Little Boy Blue,
Lullabye, rockabye, lullabye loo.
Dishes are waiting and bills are past due
Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo

The shopping's not done and there's nothing for stew
And out in the yard there's a hullabaloo
But I'm playing Kanga and this is my Roo
Look! Aren't his eyes the most wonderful hue?
Lullabye, rockaby lullabye loo.

The cleaning and scrubbing can wait till tomorrow
But children grow up as I've learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down cobwebs; Dust go to sleep!
I'm rocking my baby and babies don't keep.

Ella 10 months belated!

I'm so behind with my pictures and blogging! I didn't even take Ella's 10 month pic until today (even though I put her actual 10 month date on the paper). Ella is such a character. She is such a fun loving little girl. I took so many pics today, trying to get a good one of her for her 10 month pose but didn't have much luck. Here's a couple...

Ella is now officially mobile! Wow, I thought I had a hard time getting things done before! She did an army crawl for a few weeks before she finally figured out the coordination to actually crawl. But now she seems to be getting faster by the minute. About a week ago, she pulled herself up to a standing position for the first time. Now she does it pretty often. Yesterday she figured out she could do it in her crib-not good. I was really hoping she would figure that out-who was I kidding? She also figured out a few days ago that the stairs might be a fun place to climb. Guess we'll be going to Babies R Us this weekend for some gates!

On the same day Ella turned 10 months (7/27), Rusty and I celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary! Yay for 7 years :) Coincidentally, I was talking to a friend the day of our 7 year anniversary but she didn't realize it was our anniversary. She was telling me how the 7th year of marriage is known for being the hardest and worst year. I'm not sure if that is true but I hope not! I'm hoping our toughest years are behind us! For our anniversary we went to Weber Grill. We had a really sweet couple sitting behind us that were celebrating their 25 year anniversary!

Here's a pretty cute video of Ella. She's just so vocal right now. You can hear her saying "mama", "baby" and "duck duck", and you get to see some of her mad crawling :)

One thing I'm struggling with right now is nursing. I really wanted to nurse for an entire year but now that Ella's 2 front top teeth have come in...kinda rethinking that whole thing! Uhm, ouch. Any of you mom's out there who have nursed have any tips? She doesn't bite but I can feel her her top teeth and she's broken the skin. I have a feeling she just isn't latching quite right and at this point maybe its too late to re-train her. Thoughts??

I'm also starting to think of her first birthday party! I can't believe its NEXT MONTH already! How can that be?? I'm thinking about just doing a green/pink polka-dot theme party since her nursery colors were green & pink and my baby shower theme was polka-dot and I have a lot of the dots :) Any cute 1 year bday party ideas you've heard of?