Playing catch up

Whew! Its been a busy couple of weeks. I feel like I'm still playing catch up from Ella's bday party weekend. We had a great birthday weekend though. Although things didn't go totally as planned with Ella's schedule on either day, we still had a great time and everyone was very understanding. Ella got so much stuff and we are so grateful to everyone! Ella was definitely getting bored of most of her toys and books and loves all her new stuff (and so do I!). Here's some party pics!

My mom & I reading Ella one of her new books

Ella riding her new 4-wheeler from Opa!

Opening presents with mommy (she did so great with sitting still during this!)

Ella and her friend Hudson-they were super cute together!

Ella playing with her new baby-this baby never leaves her side!

This past weekend was my first time to be away from Ella overnight. My church had a women's retreat from Friday-Saturday. I dropped Ella off at my MIL's on Friday around 11am and didn't see her again until Saturday night around 6 (Rusty picked her up after work and kept her until I got home). I actually did ok with it. I missed her and thought about her a lot, but I didn't cry or feel overwhelmed or anything. Ella didn't do quite as well. She was pretty good for Rusty while I was gone, but when I got back she started showing some signs that maybe she didn't handle it that well. She was really clingy to me and would almost seem upset if Rusty came in the room (like she thought I would leave again??), she also started waking up around 4:45am and wouldn't go back to sleep along with waking up several times during the night. This was also 2 days after she had her 1 yr. shots, plus I was in the process of weaning her. I didn't intend all these things to happen at the same time, that's just how it worked out! So, we cut back on the weaning and I tried to really cuddle and love on her a lot and she seems to be doing a little better. Naps are still a challenge right now-she normally takes great naps but this week has been rough. It took me an hour and a half to get her down this morning and then she only slept for 30 minutes! Rusty and I were saying the other day how it seems that as soon as one thing is going smoothly, something that used to be going smoothly suddenly isn't, or something else becomes challenging. I guess this is just a small preview of what to expect the next 18 years right? But, even on the most challenging of days, Ella will crawl (nope, she's not walking yet) over to me and randomly just lay her head on my shoulder and give me a hug. How can I be upset after that?

Here's a cute little video of Ella watching her favorite show. Hopefully you can hear it ok!