Oh my...I have 15 more days in my 20's. Is this really a happy new year? I don't know why, but I'm really dreading turning 30. I may just be building it up in my head since many of my friends who have already turned 30 didn't seem to care or have a hard time with it. I'm sure once the day gets here I won't feel any different and nothing bad will happen, but I still don't like it! I have a couple 'crazy' ideas to end my 20's with, but I won't speak of them unless I really go through with it. (There will be a posting if so.)
Instead of looking ahead right now, I'll wrap up 2010 in this post (pretty bow not included). After much complaining of people bringing Christmas to the forefront a little too early for me this past year and then all of a sudden it being here, I finally got into the Christmas spirit once we arrived (safely, thank God - I hate flying) in FL. But, before I knew it, it was over. And it was also 70 on Christmas day; that's just not right. We're now back in MI where I'm still in the Christmas spirit, but everyone is now rushing in Valentine's Day!
Overall, our family had a great Christmas! We enjoyed the sunshine and palm trees in FL and a little reprieve from the MI winter, although FL was unseasonably cold for a few days while we were down there. Ella had a great time with her great-grandma, cousins, paw-paw, and aunts and uncles. I really enjoyed time with my grandma and being in G'ville. And it was REALLY nice to be with my husband for 10 days straight without any work distractions, etc.! The trip went by fast nonetheless. And although we love our family, we are ready and so overdue for a REAL vacation that doesn't involve us trying to see tons of people in a short amount of time. Hopefully we will see that come to fruition in 2011.
I will post pictures of our Christmas trip soon and will post much more of what my 30th year will entail. But before that, I will say that 2010 came with a lot of blessings...more than I can recount, but most of our blessings have to do with our daughters and what God has done in our lives through them and what he has done in their lives. Ella started Kindergarten and is learning how to read and spell at warp speed and is becoming even more independent than I thought possible. And of course, Annie was born and we were blessed with another sweet, calm baby who was sleeping through the night by 8 weeks and is also a VERY good traveler. She was absolutely perfect on every flight we took to and from FL. I am well-aware that even though there are things that are difficult in our lives and struggles that we have at times, things could be so much worse and God is truly with us and blessing us every day. I look forward to seeing what He has in store for us in 2011 even though I'll be 30 while doing so.
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Showing posts with label holidays. Show all posts
Saturday, January 01, 2011
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Already behind in blogging!
Seriously, is it really a week away from Christmas and the last blog I posted I was complaining about people pushing it on me?!?! Geez! These past few weeks have been a whirlwind and it's not getting any better. We are two days away from leaving for FL and I've yet to start packing for four people and preparing the dogs for boarding for 10 days. I don't really know where to start and I hate that feeling. This past week has been so busy with doctor appointments and other errands that I'm a little behind in laundry, but what's new?!
Speaking of doctor appointments, Annie had her 2 month check-up and you would never know she had a slow start in the beginning! She is now 24" long (94th percentile) and 11 lb, 4 oz (60th percentile). Her head circumference was measured at 15 1/2" (75th percentile)!!! So, apparently my girl is long and has a big head!! Once again, I do believe she will slow down dramatically just like Ella did after the first year, so we'll see how these measurements continue. Her next appt. is in February. As for milestones, she has become the most smiley baby in the past couple weeks. Mommy and big sister are able to get more smiles than daddy, but I think she's still figuring out who he is as Stephen has been super-busy this past month! She starting to coo more and more and is getting more interested in her play mat and focusing a lot more on objects. It's fun to see her "grow-up", but it's going w-a-y to fast already.
Ella has also had her share of doctor appointments in the past couple weeks. Last Friday she had another procedure on her lip (this would be the third, but different, procedure). For those of you who don't know, when Ella was about 2 or 3 she had a mucoceil (a salivary gland inside the mouth that was damaged by trauma like biting inside her mouth or a fall that didn't heal properly and made a pocket of fluid) inside her lower lip. We were just watching it for a while, but it continued to get bigger and it started to look like she had chewing tobacco inside her lip all the time. So, between her dentist and her pediatrician, we decided to get it excised because that was the usual treatment to get rid of it. Well, after the first excision scar tissue formed and her lip still looked big. So, in March of this year we had it excised again and what do you know, the same thing happened. We decided to see a plastic surgeon and get a second opinion and Ella ended up getting an MRI because the doc thought this was more than just scar tissue, likely a type of lymphatic malformation which means that excision will most not likely work anyway. So this time around the doctor decided to use a laser and cauterize the area to reduce the malformation. So, after this past Friday Ella had a lot of swelling, but not pain thank the Lord. Her follow-up appointment on Wed. went well and a lot of the swelling had gone down, but we still to give it time and wait to see if the procedure did anything. So, her next follow-up is in February as well and at that time we will decide if something else needs to be done. Prayers would certainly be appreciated as we are really hoping this works and Ella can go on with her life without worrying about how her lip looks and answering everyone's questions about what's wrong with her lip.
After this busy week I was able to get some pampering in and got my hair cut. That always makes me feel better. It's almost as good as a massage to me. It will give me the extra boost I need to finish everything that lays ahead of me...not only packing for four people, but wrapping gifts for a little Christmas that we'll have here Monday so we don't have to lug everything to FL! So...Stephen is on-call today and I will be officially starting to pack! Or will I?! Maybe I'll wait until tomorrow...
Speaking of doctor appointments, Annie had her 2 month check-up and you would never know she had a slow start in the beginning! She is now 24" long (94th percentile) and 11 lb, 4 oz (60th percentile). Her head circumference was measured at 15 1/2" (75th percentile)!!! So, apparently my girl is long and has a big head!! Once again, I do believe she will slow down dramatically just like Ella did after the first year, so we'll see how these measurements continue. Her next appt. is in February. As for milestones, she has become the most smiley baby in the past couple weeks. Mommy and big sister are able to get more smiles than daddy, but I think she's still figuring out who he is as Stephen has been super-busy this past month! She starting to coo more and more and is getting more interested in her play mat and focusing a lot more on objects. It's fun to see her "grow-up", but it's going w-a-y to fast already.
Ella has also had her share of doctor appointments in the past couple weeks. Last Friday she had another procedure on her lip (this would be the third, but different, procedure). For those of you who don't know, when Ella was about 2 or 3 she had a mucoceil (a salivary gland inside the mouth that was damaged by trauma like biting inside her mouth or a fall that didn't heal properly and made a pocket of fluid) inside her lower lip. We were just watching it for a while, but it continued to get bigger and it started to look like she had chewing tobacco inside her lip all the time. So, between her dentist and her pediatrician, we decided to get it excised because that was the usual treatment to get rid of it. Well, after the first excision scar tissue formed and her lip still looked big. So, in March of this year we had it excised again and what do you know, the same thing happened. We decided to see a plastic surgeon and get a second opinion and Ella ended up getting an MRI because the doc thought this was more than just scar tissue, likely a type of lymphatic malformation which means that excision will most not likely work anyway. So this time around the doctor decided to use a laser and cauterize the area to reduce the malformation. So, after this past Friday Ella had a lot of swelling, but not pain thank the Lord. Her follow-up appointment on Wed. went well and a lot of the swelling had gone down, but we still to give it time and wait to see if the procedure did anything. So, her next follow-up is in February as well and at that time we will decide if something else needs to be done. Prayers would certainly be appreciated as we are really hoping this works and Ella can go on with her life without worrying about how her lip looks and answering everyone's questions about what's wrong with her lip.
After this busy week I was able to get some pampering in and got my hair cut. That always makes me feel better. It's almost as good as a massage to me. It will give me the extra boost I need to finish everything that lays ahead of me...not only packing for four people, but wrapping gifts for a little Christmas that we'll have here Monday so we don't have to lug everything to FL! So...Stephen is on-call today and I will be officially starting to pack! Or will I?! Maybe I'll wait until tomorrow...
Monday, November 22, 2010
Did I miss Thanksgiving?!?!
I'm sorry, but I have to vent. I'm not ready for Christmas yet people! Why do we jump from ghouls and goblins to Santa and reindeer?!?! I know Christmas is everyone's favorite holiday and I'm excited to decorate and start singing Christmas carols, but I also don't like to cheapen it or give my child(ren) an excuse to already start asking when she gets to open presents, etc.
Thanksgiving didn't use to be a big deal to me when I was younger, but as I've gotten older I really do look forward to it, not just for the delicious food, but because it really is a great time to think about all we have to be thankful for and to spend it with family and/or friends. Stephen and I have not been able to spend very many Thanksgivings with our families in FL these past several years, so we've either had a really small dinner with just the three of us (which will now be 4) or we've had great feasts with friends which have ended up being super-special and a lot of crazy fun! This holiday has great traditions as well, so why are we skipping over Thanksgiving?!?!
Now, I don't want to tick people off who have family traditions and put their decorations up by Thanksgiving. To be honest, I don't care what you do in your own house, but please, if you must put the Christmas lights up outside right after Halloween, please don't turn them on until Thanksgiving night! Trust me, I'm waiting with bated breath to decorate and turn on the musak if not the evening of Thanksgiving, then first thing the next morning (on my way to do some Black Friday shopping - which is when the Christmas season officially begins)!
Thanksgiving didn't use to be a big deal to me when I was younger, but as I've gotten older I really do look forward to it, not just for the delicious food, but because it really is a great time to think about all we have to be thankful for and to spend it with family and/or friends. Stephen and I have not been able to spend very many Thanksgivings with our families in FL these past several years, so we've either had a really small dinner with just the three of us (which will now be 4) or we've had great feasts with friends which have ended up being super-special and a lot of crazy fun! This holiday has great traditions as well, so why are we skipping over Thanksgiving?!?!
Now, I don't want to tick people off who have family traditions and put their decorations up by Thanksgiving. To be honest, I don't care what you do in your own house, but please, if you must put the Christmas lights up outside right after Halloween, please don't turn them on until Thanksgiving night! Trust me, I'm waiting with bated breath to decorate and turn on the musak if not the evening of Thanksgiving, then first thing the next morning (on my way to do some Black Friday shopping - which is when the Christmas season officially begins)!
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
It's That Time of Year!
Ho, Ho, Ho! Happy Holidays everyone. I can't believe I haven't blogged since August. I feel like I've been bored more in the past few months than I have been my whole life, yet I didn't use any of that bored time to blog. Anywho, we're getting ready to embark on Ella's 3rd Christmas. I can't believe she's 2 1/2 already and it's amazing the difference between this Christmas and last and even between now and 6 months ago at her 2nd birthday. She is soooo into presents. We have a few under the tree already and every morning she asks if she can open them. So, we're counting down the days until our early Christmas arrives. We are leaving for a short trip to FL on the evening of the 23rd, so that morning we're going to have our own Christmas here. So, Ella will be visited by Santa twice and hopefully that won't be too confusing for her. She will be getting some of the gifts that she asked Santa for here and in FL. :)
As for other things, I've been trying to get on the ball with studying for the GRE so I can go get a Masters degree by next Fall. But, it's slow going, especially after taking the diagnostic test and feeling like an idiot for all the things I didn't remember (or didn't know in the first place). I've also been thinking about starting Ella in preschool in Jan. instead of waiting until next Fall. I really think she's ready besides the fact that she's not potty trained yet. But, the place that I have in mind doesn't require that, so maybe they can actually help with it! Anyway, I really think Ella thrives on being around other kids and getting attention from other adults. Since the cold weather has set in Ella and I have been getting on each other's nerves day in and day out and even though we loves each other to death, I think both of us need a change of scenery and I don't think it's going to get better once it gets warmer because she'll be older! :)
As for Stephen, he's on his worst rotation yet, which we weren't thinking would happen. He's on his pediatric cardiology and genetics rotation. And like I said before, it sucks. He's on-call again every 4th night and when he's not on-call, he doesn't get home until 6:30pm or so. So, here's hoping that the 23rd gets here fast and that his Hem/Onc rotation won't be THIS bad when we get back from Christmas break!
Well...more complaining from me. I'm going to try and blog more and hopefully things will brighten up in 2008!
As for other things, I've been trying to get on the ball with studying for the GRE so I can go get a Masters degree by next Fall. But, it's slow going, especially after taking the diagnostic test and feeling like an idiot for all the things I didn't remember (or didn't know in the first place). I've also been thinking about starting Ella in preschool in Jan. instead of waiting until next Fall. I really think she's ready besides the fact that she's not potty trained yet. But, the place that I have in mind doesn't require that, so maybe they can actually help with it! Anyway, I really think Ella thrives on being around other kids and getting attention from other adults. Since the cold weather has set in Ella and I have been getting on each other's nerves day in and day out and even though we loves each other to death, I think both of us need a change of scenery and I don't think it's going to get better once it gets warmer because she'll be older! :)
As for Stephen, he's on his worst rotation yet, which we weren't thinking would happen. He's on his pediatric cardiology and genetics rotation. And like I said before, it sucks. He's on-call again every 4th night and when he's not on-call, he doesn't get home until 6:30pm or so. So, here's hoping that the 23rd gets here fast and that his Hem/Onc rotation won't be THIS bad when we get back from Christmas break!
Well...more complaining from me. I'm going to try and blog more and hopefully things will brighten up in 2008!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Ella's 19 Month Update
What whirlwind this past month has been! It's been very chaotic and we've barely been home at all. Christmas has come and gone and it was bittersweet this year as we spent our last Christmas with Stephen's mom. Sadly, she lost her battle with breast cancer on January 1st. We've all been going through and array of emotions as we are glad that mom isn't suffering anymore and is home with her Lord, but of course we're also sad because of the obvious reasons. Stephen has lost his mom, Ella has lost her Nana, and I've lost my second mom...again, to cancer. We returned home from WV where mom was buried and Stephen has since then been busy with interviews. It seems like life will never be 'normal'.
Thankfully through all of this Ella faired pretty well. She traveled pretty good and slept better than she usually does when we're not at home. She enjoyed her Christmas' with Nana and Papa and with her Great-Grandma in Gainesville. She got some really great gifts from cute outfits to books to a Dora the Explorer Power Wheels Jeep!!! She really enjoys riding around and surprisingly caught on very quickly when it came to pushing the pedal to go.
So, with 2007 already upon us Ella is continuing her race to independence. It is so amazing at how INDEPENDENT she is when I don't want her to be and how DEPENDENT she is when I don't want her to be. She loves to feed herself and unfortunately I probably don't let her do it as much as I should because I never feel like cleaning up messes! :) She also loves to UNDRESS herself. She's getting a little better at brushing her teeth but more often than not I have to intervene and she HATES that! She's still a great eater and will not eat Gerber Graduates anymore. I don't know if she finally realized that they taste bad or what, but she only wants what we eat.
On the annoying side, I'm trying to grow her bangs out so they're the same length as the rest of her hair and she does not like keeping barrettes in her hair, so they're ALWAYS in her eyes and it drives me nuts! She also like to come ito the kitchen while I'm cooking and open all the drawers and just leave...so I'm banging my hips against the corners (and quietly cursing) while I cook.
We're also getting ready to venture into potty training. My only problem is that Ella still doesn't know 'yes'. She can say it when I tell her to say it, but she still just say 'no' to everything. I hear that's not good when it comes to potty training because she won't tell me that she has to go or what not. So, I guess we'll be starting slowly. :)
The next month, Lord willing, will be a little more normal and a little more fun. Ella will be starting gymnastics at our YMCA and hopefully Stephen and I will be able to play racquetball a little more since they offer free child-care!! The weather is nice and I'm hoping to be outside a lot more and be more active. That's my New Year's Resolution(s). I'm hoping since I have a kid now that those will be easier to stick to since Ella always wants to be active!
Wishing y'all a great 2007!
Thankfully through all of this Ella faired pretty well. She traveled pretty good and slept better than she usually does when we're not at home. She enjoyed her Christmas' with Nana and Papa and with her Great-Grandma in Gainesville. She got some really great gifts from cute outfits to books to a Dora the Explorer Power Wheels Jeep!!! She really enjoys riding around and surprisingly caught on very quickly when it came to pushing the pedal to go.
So, with 2007 already upon us Ella is continuing her race to independence. It is so amazing at how INDEPENDENT she is when I don't want her to be and how DEPENDENT she is when I don't want her to be. She loves to feed herself and unfortunately I probably don't let her do it as much as I should because I never feel like cleaning up messes! :) She also loves to UNDRESS herself. She's getting a little better at brushing her teeth but more often than not I have to intervene and she HATES that! She's still a great eater and will not eat Gerber Graduates anymore. I don't know if she finally realized that they taste bad or what, but she only wants what we eat.
On the annoying side, I'm trying to grow her bangs out so they're the same length as the rest of her hair and she does not like keeping barrettes in her hair, so they're ALWAYS in her eyes and it drives me nuts! She also like to come ito the kitchen while I'm cooking and open all the drawers and just leave...so I'm banging my hips against the corners (and quietly cursing) while I cook.
We're also getting ready to venture into potty training. My only problem is that Ella still doesn't know 'yes'. She can say it when I tell her to say it, but she still just say 'no' to everything. I hear that's not good when it comes to potty training because she won't tell me that she has to go or what not. So, I guess we'll be starting slowly. :)
The next month, Lord willing, will be a little more normal and a little more fun. Ella will be starting gymnastics at our YMCA and hopefully Stephen and I will be able to play racquetball a little more since they offer free child-care!! The weather is nice and I'm hoping to be outside a lot more and be more active. That's my New Year's Resolution(s). I'm hoping since I have a kid now that those will be easier to stick to since Ella always wants to be active!
Wishing y'all a great 2007!
Monday, December 11, 2006
Ella's 18 Month Update
Christmas is but two weeks away and yet it seems like I haven't had time to enjoy the season. We've been very busy these first 11 days of December. We just got back from a trip to NC where Stephen had an interview at UNC - Chapel Hill. Thankfully he loved it because that's where I really want to go. But, other than that, the trip was very stressful and exhausting. We left with our daughter on Thurs. and yet a few hours into the trip she was replaced by someone else's daughter. That's the only way I can explain what we put up with for 3 days. I have NEVER seen Ella be so high-maintenance and so demanding. She literally screamed for three days straight no matter what her mood and no matter what she needed or wanted. Somehow she forgot that she could talk and refused to used her words to tell us what was wrong. But, most of the time nothing was wrong, she just wanted to be difficult. I say this not to complain or to be mean to my child, but I seriously think she's already starting 'the terrible twos'! I remember reading something before Ella was born saying that this period could start as early as 18 months but didn't think about it because hey, she wasn't here yet and I was going to have the perfect kid, right?!?! I will say that she's been traveling so much lately and I know sitting in your carseat for 9 hours can't be fun even though we stopped and let her run around as much as we thought she needed to. And I will say that as soon as we got back home (early Sunday morning) she was back to her 'normal' self. But, the screaming has got to stop! I don't understand why she won't use her words since she knows how to communicate most things to us.
Anyway, now that we're back we are getting ready to go see Santa sometime this week. I've been trying very hard to get her to recognize Santa so she won't be afraid when I pass her off to him. She seems to know who he is and can say 'santa', but we'll see how it goes when she sees the 'real' thing. She'll also be getting her hair cut again. It's growing like weeds and it needs shaping really bad and then we'll go get her 18 month/Christmas pics taken Friday afternoon. So, y'all should be getting some updated pics real soon.
As far as new things she's doing...these updates are starting to get monotonous in the fact that now that she's getting older she doesn't have as many 'firsts' and is really just building upon things. I will say that she has an afinity for jumping. She loves to show us how high she can jump and she loves landing on her butt and saying 'uh-oh'! In fact, she says 'uh-oh' so much I never really know if something is really wrong! She's also playing with the dogs more and in a rougher way. Most of the time they just lay there and take it, but I truly think she thinks Gator is her oversized stuffed animal.
Another thing with Ella is that she's getting way more independent and wants to do everything herself which makes certain situations difficult because I don't necessarily WANT her to do it herself at that time. But, overall, she's feeding herself with utensils pretty well and helps me dress her. She also loves brushing her hair - if only I could get her to like brushing her teeth!!
Until next month, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and we hope that we'll be seeing you soon, too!
Anyway, now that we're back we are getting ready to go see Santa sometime this week. I've been trying very hard to get her to recognize Santa so she won't be afraid when I pass her off to him. She seems to know who he is and can say 'santa', but we'll see how it goes when she sees the 'real' thing. She'll also be getting her hair cut again. It's growing like weeds and it needs shaping really bad and then we'll go get her 18 month/Christmas pics taken Friday afternoon. So, y'all should be getting some updated pics real soon.
As far as new things she's doing...these updates are starting to get monotonous in the fact that now that she's getting older she doesn't have as many 'firsts' and is really just building upon things. I will say that she has an afinity for jumping. She loves to show us how high she can jump and she loves landing on her butt and saying 'uh-oh'! In fact, she says 'uh-oh' so much I never really know if something is really wrong! She's also playing with the dogs more and in a rougher way. Most of the time they just lay there and take it, but I truly think she thinks Gator is her oversized stuffed animal.
Another thing with Ella is that she's getting way more independent and wants to do everything herself which makes certain situations difficult because I don't necessarily WANT her to do it herself at that time. But, overall, she's feeding herself with utensils pretty well and helps me dress her. She also loves brushing her hair - if only I could get her to like brushing her teeth!!
Until next month, I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and we hope that we'll be seeing you soon, too!
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Ella's 10 Month Update
Another month has flown by! I can't believe we're going to be back in FL in 6 weeks. I am thrilled to get Ella down there for good so she can start wearing less clothes and we can start doing more things outside, like swimming! Ella is still infatuated with water, probably even more now than ever before. She loves taking baths and she loves crawling into the bathroom and pulling herself up on the tub to see if there's any water in it. We definitely have to be very careful with her! Thankfully we're going to have a brand new YMCA in our development in Tallahassee and I plan on getting her into swimming lessons ASAP.
As for other things, I'm sure she is officially over the 20 lb mark by now. She is eating well and enjoying trying new solids. I've been letting her try more and more kinds of foods since she has 5 teeth now, but some of her favorites are still the kinds of food that she doesn't need to chew on. As I was saying earlier, she is cruising around the place like she owns it and would love to just crawl around all day long if I let her. I will be very happy when we have a bigger area at our next house for her to be adventurous in, but I'm sure she'll be walking by then. She is getting so steady on her feet and loves to pull herself up on things and then let go to see how long she can stand up by herself. Thankfully she mastered the proper way to fall on her butt.
Her hair has gotten long and it looks like I can actually start doing things with it now, but every time I put a barrett in it falls out or she pulls it out and tries to eat it. So, nevermind. But, I'm thinking about getting her hair cut soon. It needs some shaping.
As for words, she's still saying 'mama' and 'dada', but she's started saying 'da' when she sees dogs. I purposely stopped saying our dogs names to her so she would learn that they're dogs first, so now she says 'da' whenever she sees any dog, so apparently it worked.
Ella is also enjoying meeting other kids. She's been like this for the longest time, but now that she has been around them more, she is just so tickled to be able to watch them or touch them, or 'talk' to them. She has a friend at the gym who she gets to play with in the nursery and it helps a lot because she doesn't realize I'm not there.
She is about to celebrate her first Easter and I'm looking forward to when she's old enough to dye eggs with me and have Easter egg hunts. But, for now, she has baby Easter gifts to enjoy that are overflowing in a cute Easter basket. Until next time, we hope all of you have a wonderful Easter, too.
As for other things, I'm sure she is officially over the 20 lb mark by now. She is eating well and enjoying trying new solids. I've been letting her try more and more kinds of foods since she has 5 teeth now, but some of her favorites are still the kinds of food that she doesn't need to chew on. As I was saying earlier, she is cruising around the place like she owns it and would love to just crawl around all day long if I let her. I will be very happy when we have a bigger area at our next house for her to be adventurous in, but I'm sure she'll be walking by then. She is getting so steady on her feet and loves to pull herself up on things and then let go to see how long she can stand up by herself. Thankfully she mastered the proper way to fall on her butt.
Her hair has gotten long and it looks like I can actually start doing things with it now, but every time I put a barrett in it falls out or she pulls it out and tries to eat it. So, nevermind. But, I'm thinking about getting her hair cut soon. It needs some shaping.
As for words, she's still saying 'mama' and 'dada', but she's started saying 'da' when she sees dogs. I purposely stopped saying our dogs names to her so she would learn that they're dogs first, so now she says 'da' whenever she sees any dog, so apparently it worked.
Ella is also enjoying meeting other kids. She's been like this for the longest time, but now that she has been around them more, she is just so tickled to be able to watch them or touch them, or 'talk' to them. She has a friend at the gym who she gets to play with in the nursery and it helps a lot because she doesn't realize I'm not there.
She is about to celebrate her first Easter and I'm looking forward to when she's old enough to dye eggs with me and have Easter egg hunts. But, for now, she has baby Easter gifts to enjoy that are overflowing in a cute Easter basket. Until next time, we hope all of you have a wonderful Easter, too.
Monday, February 13, 2006
All Ella Wants for Christmas is Her Two Front Teeth
Originally posted on December 29, 2005.
Ella has reached a new milestone in her race for toddler-hood. She has three teeth that have popped out (two on the bottom and one on top). We're happy t see that they're finally coming in because it seems like she's been teething for months; granted the crankiness that comes with teething just started in the past week or so. Thank heavens for Baby Orajel! But, Ella did have a better Christmas than just getting her first few teeth and the pain associated with them.
Stephen and I decided to have our Christmas before we left for FL so we wouldn't have to drag more stuff than we needed to. So, we had our Christmas a week early so Ella could enjyo the things we got her before we elft town. So, we got her a dragon-thiny from Fischer Price that you can put balls in that come out of the dragons mouth, etc. It's really cute. We also got her a Leap Pad for Infants with a cuople cute bks that go a long with them. I'm sure we'll be getting some more when we get back...but it's like buying Nintendo games for it...they're $12 a piece. She also got a lot of bath toys because bath time is one of her favorite times and so we thouight that shoudl we love to have toys to play with, so she gt some cute frogs that can shoot water out of their mouths and some stacking cups from Pottery Barn Kids. She also got a big inflatable duck for her to sit in in the bathtub. That should be a lot less dangerous should she fall ver while sitting up...granted I will be there with her the whole time, but sometimes you just can't catch those little boogers fast enough!
Now, at Nana and Papa's she got a some really cute outfits from Gymboree and a collection of Veggie Tales DVD's. She's also got her own cell phone which she loves, and a bus that you can put blocks in or when she gets older, she can pull it around. She also got some books, which we are s excited about. We love getting new bokos to fill her library with.
She also got a$100 gift card from my former sister-in-law and got $75 from my grandfather's daugher-in-law. This kid definitely made out really well and we had a blast watching her have more with the boxes and the wrapping paper then anything else! This time next year she'll be 18 months old and should have even more fun. We can't wait!
Ella has reached a new milestone in her race for toddler-hood. She has three teeth that have popped out (two on the bottom and one on top). We're happy t see that they're finally coming in because it seems like she's been teething for months; granted the crankiness that comes with teething just started in the past week or so. Thank heavens for Baby Orajel! But, Ella did have a better Christmas than just getting her first few teeth and the pain associated with them.
Stephen and I decided to have our Christmas before we left for FL so we wouldn't have to drag more stuff than we needed to. So, we had our Christmas a week early so Ella could enjyo the things we got her before we elft town. So, we got her a dragon-thiny from Fischer Price that you can put balls in that come out of the dragons mouth, etc. It's really cute. We also got her a Leap Pad for Infants with a cuople cute bks that go a long with them. I'm sure we'll be getting some more when we get back...but it's like buying Nintendo games for it...they're $12 a piece. She also got a lot of bath toys because bath time is one of her favorite times and so we thouight that shoudl we love to have toys to play with, so she gt some cute frogs that can shoot water out of their mouths and some stacking cups from Pottery Barn Kids. She also got a big inflatable duck for her to sit in in the bathtub. That should be a lot less dangerous should she fall ver while sitting up...granted I will be there with her the whole time, but sometimes you just can't catch those little boogers fast enough!
Now, at Nana and Papa's she got a some really cute outfits from Gymboree and a collection of Veggie Tales DVD's. She's also got her own cell phone which she loves, and a bus that you can put blocks in or when she gets older, she can pull it around. She also got some books, which we are s excited about. We love getting new bokos to fill her library with.
She also got a$100 gift card from my former sister-in-law and got $75 from my grandfather's daugher-in-law. This kid definitely made out really well and we had a blast watching her have more with the boxes and the wrapping paper then anything else! This time next year she'll be 18 months old and should have even more fun. We can't wait!
Weekend in Review
Originally posted on November 28, 2005.
I hope this finds that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with a lot of delicious food. Stephen, Ella, and I stayed in Boston for Thanksgiving and I was planning on cooking my firts Thanksgiving feast all by myself, but one of Stephen's classmates and his wife invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner and we accepted, thinking that we would probably be a little bored with ourselves if we sat around the house all day. So, I made Angel Food Cake and brownies and we had a great time hanging out with friends.
Our football watching also started Thanksgiving Day. Although I didn't really care about the teams that were playing, it is a family tradition to watch football. We caught some of the LSU/Alambama game on Fri. (again, didn't care about those teams), and then the big game was Sat. at 3:30pm....FSU vs. UF. Now, I was giving the Crimi-noles the benefit of the doubt and really thought the game would be close, because both teams haven't been playing their best this season. I soon found out what I knew all along...the 'Noles suck!! We totally dominated that game and we should've shut them out, but unfortunately they scored a touchdown late in the game. That's the only thing that ruined the game. FINAL SCORE: 34-7. WooHoo! And finally, Da' Bears played the Bucs yesterday and thankfully we walked away with our 7th win in a row! We didn't play as well as we have been; thankfully, our defense carried us through.
Now for an Ella update, she is still growing like a weed. She's already in 6+ mo. clothes and she absolutely loves her new flavored cereal - oatmeal! I guess she just wasn't a fan of the rice cereal. So, tomorrow I'm going to start her on sweet potatoes. She also had a little nibble of mashed up banana at the Cheesecake Factory yesterday. I don't want her to have too many fruits so she won't be liking the yummy, sugary stuff before she's gotten used to the vegetables, but she actually didn't seem to enjoy it all that much. Maybe she'll be a health-nut and not like sugar! (Yeah, right!!)
So, we're officially decorated for Christmas. I'm very excited about this Christmas since Ella is around. Granted, I'm always excited about Christmas. I think I was Mrs. Claus in another lifetime...anyway, I'm already thinking of next Christmas when Ella will be more into it, but for now you can tell that she's enjoying all the lights on the Christmas tree and the new colorful things to look at. And I'm happy to say that I'm almost done with my shopping, too! I haven't started shopping for Ella yet, but we already know everything that we're going to get her. As for the family, all the neices and nephews are taken care of and the 'rents are almost done. I need to get one more thing for my G'ma and a couple more things for Stephen. And most of my shopping has been online, too. I have no wanted to brave the traffic on the streets or in the malls since being in a big city. It's crazy! And after seeing all those fights that happened on Black Friday, I have no interest in being part of one...especially since I would probably be the person to tackle someone who was cutting in line, etc.
I hope this finds that all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with a lot of delicious food. Stephen, Ella, and I stayed in Boston for Thanksgiving and I was planning on cooking my firts Thanksgiving feast all by myself, but one of Stephen's classmates and his wife invited us over for Thanksgiving dinner and we accepted, thinking that we would probably be a little bored with ourselves if we sat around the house all day. So, I made Angel Food Cake and brownies and we had a great time hanging out with friends.
Our football watching also started Thanksgiving Day. Although I didn't really care about the teams that were playing, it is a family tradition to watch football. We caught some of the LSU/Alambama game on Fri. (again, didn't care about those teams), and then the big game was Sat. at 3:30pm....FSU vs. UF. Now, I was giving the Crimi-noles the benefit of the doubt and really thought the game would be close, because both teams haven't been playing their best this season. I soon found out what I knew all along...the 'Noles suck!! We totally dominated that game and we should've shut them out, but unfortunately they scored a touchdown late in the game. That's the only thing that ruined the game. FINAL SCORE: 34-7. WooHoo! And finally, Da' Bears played the Bucs yesterday and thankfully we walked away with our 7th win in a row! We didn't play as well as we have been; thankfully, our defense carried us through.
Now for an Ella update, she is still growing like a weed. She's already in 6+ mo. clothes and she absolutely loves her new flavored cereal - oatmeal! I guess she just wasn't a fan of the rice cereal. So, tomorrow I'm going to start her on sweet potatoes. She also had a little nibble of mashed up banana at the Cheesecake Factory yesterday. I don't want her to have too many fruits so she won't be liking the yummy, sugary stuff before she's gotten used to the vegetables, but she actually didn't seem to enjoy it all that much. Maybe she'll be a health-nut and not like sugar! (Yeah, right!!)
So, we're officially decorated for Christmas. I'm very excited about this Christmas since Ella is around. Granted, I'm always excited about Christmas. I think I was Mrs. Claus in another lifetime...anyway, I'm already thinking of next Christmas when Ella will be more into it, but for now you can tell that she's enjoying all the lights on the Christmas tree and the new colorful things to look at. And I'm happy to say that I'm almost done with my shopping, too! I haven't started shopping for Ella yet, but we already know everything that we're going to get her. As for the family, all the neices and nephews are taken care of and the 'rents are almost done. I need to get one more thing for my G'ma and a couple more things for Stephen. And most of my shopping has been online, too. I have no wanted to brave the traffic on the streets or in the malls since being in a big city. It's crazy! And after seeing all those fights that happened on Black Friday, I have no interest in being part of one...especially since I would probably be the person to tackle someone who was cutting in line, etc.
Holiday season is starting!
Originally posted on September 30, 2005.
Yeah! Tomorrow is October 1st and I can officially start decorating for Halloween. I refuse to bring out the decorations as early as stores do these days! It's ridiculous. But, now the holiday season is here. As you can tell I'm really giddy. I'm like a little kid when it comes to decorating and wanting to celebrate every holiday. This year is a little more special since Ella is here. We got a her a really cute Halloween outfit. I won't tell you what it is, but I'll definitely post pictures when we get them taken. But, I am a little disappointed this year only because we're in a new area and I don't know if there will be a lot of kids going tick-or-treating or in our neighborhood, so I'm not sure how much I should be prepared. But, I definitely want to get my pumpkins and carve them like I usually do. And we have one of those walk ways that you have to walk up steps to get to our door, so I can put them out on the steps leading up to our front door. We live on a main road too, so all the traffic can see them as they drive by and people walking by can enjoy them, too. (I know, I sounds like Martha Stewart!) Anyway, we also have two big windows in our master bedroom that are at the front of the house that face the main road. So, I have to think of a cool way to decorate the windows. Any ideas?
As for Thanksgiving, Stephen and I are staying up here in Boston by ourselves. It will be our first big holiday by ourselves, but we're really looking forward to it. I don't know if I'm going to try and make it a traditional Thanskgiving or what, but we'll see. I don't want to have these grand plans and then be disappointed if something doesn't work out. We really wanted to go down to NY and see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but we figured Ella is probably a little too young for that and it would be a long time out in the cold for her. So, I guess we'll be watching it on TV and then watching football all day. Sounds nice to me!
For Christmas we are planning on driving down to FL. That will be an adventure in itself! ROAD TRIP!! I'm looking forward to it, but it'll be slow-going with the three dogs and Ella. But, we're thinking that Stephen is going to have about a month off for winter, so that will fun. We'll be in FL while Boston is going through the worst part of winter. So, we'll get our fill of snow before hand and then get a nice break.
Well, there are our plans for the next few months. Sorry for boring you, but I'm getting really excited!
Yeah! Tomorrow is October 1st and I can officially start decorating for Halloween. I refuse to bring out the decorations as early as stores do these days! It's ridiculous. But, now the holiday season is here. As you can tell I'm really giddy. I'm like a little kid when it comes to decorating and wanting to celebrate every holiday. This year is a little more special since Ella is here. We got a her a really cute Halloween outfit. I won't tell you what it is, but I'll definitely post pictures when we get them taken. But, I am a little disappointed this year only because we're in a new area and I don't know if there will be a lot of kids going tick-or-treating or in our neighborhood, so I'm not sure how much I should be prepared. But, I definitely want to get my pumpkins and carve them like I usually do. And we have one of those walk ways that you have to walk up steps to get to our door, so I can put them out on the steps leading up to our front door. We live on a main road too, so all the traffic can see them as they drive by and people walking by can enjoy them, too. (I know, I sounds like Martha Stewart!) Anyway, we also have two big windows in our master bedroom that are at the front of the house that face the main road. So, I have to think of a cool way to decorate the windows. Any ideas?
As for Thanksgiving, Stephen and I are staying up here in Boston by ourselves. It will be our first big holiday by ourselves, but we're really looking forward to it. I don't know if I'm going to try and make it a traditional Thanskgiving or what, but we'll see. I don't want to have these grand plans and then be disappointed if something doesn't work out. We really wanted to go down to NY and see the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but we figured Ella is probably a little too young for that and it would be a long time out in the cold for her. So, I guess we'll be watching it on TV and then watching football all day. Sounds nice to me!
For Christmas we are planning on driving down to FL. That will be an adventure in itself! ROAD TRIP!! I'm looking forward to it, but it'll be slow-going with the three dogs and Ella. But, we're thinking that Stephen is going to have about a month off for winter, so that will fun. We'll be in FL while Boston is going through the worst part of winter. So, we'll get our fill of snow before hand and then get a nice break.
Well, there are our plans for the next few months. Sorry for boring you, but I'm getting really excited!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)