Ella's First Christmas!

Christmas is about my most favorite time of the year. People seem to be nicer (sometimes), the weather is cooler and your house is full of friends and family. This year is a little more special than those in the past because we have Ella to celebrate it with. I could not imagine not having her here and sometimes wonder what we used to do with all of our time before. We had a great Christmas day. We got up and gave her breakfast before we started the fun stuff. Since we knew we were probably going to wear her out we decided to give Ella all of her gifts first. We had to open her stocking from Santa first...

She loves Elmo!

Yes, those are pink, plastic cooking spoons...which she uses to bang on a tin pie pan with! She loves to bang on things and make music!

You know you got some good stuff when the pile of gifts is 10 times bigger than you are! This was just from mommy and daddy!

Loves to rip the paper off of the package. Took her no time at all to figure that fun sound out!

Just had to press the light up nose on her cookie jar shape sorter! We took it out of the box right away since she would not leave it alone.

Checking out every inch of the stuff inside the box.

Trying out her new shopping cart walker! Still working on it...

Just had to get a picture of her in front of the tree in her Christmas jammies and booties! This was after all of the gift opening and ready for a nap!

After a great, long nap and a change of clothes we were back at walking with her cart. We can't keep her away from it! She loves to walk!

After everything calmed down from the morning, the great grandparents, grandparents, and great uncle all came over for some food and fun. We basically all watched Ella play with all of her new toys. She went to bed a little early since it was an exciting day for everyone. I will never forget her little squeals and giggles when she opened her presents and played with her toys. We are so blessed to have our little angel in our lives. She is certainly the "best gift ever"!

A Day with an Old Friend!

On Christmas Eve, Ella and I had a big day planned! While Brian was working, we went and visited one of my oldest friends, Karen. Karen was one of my first friends when I moved here in the 7th/8th grade. Wow, that is a long time! We just recently found each other again after a few years of losing touch! This was the first time that Karen got to meet Ella and she really loved every minute we spent there. She even fell asleep while we were there and on the way home because of all the fun and excitement she had! :) We can't wait for Karen and Ben to move back here from Houston!

After a great lunch at Tin Star, we headed back to Karen's parents house and visited for a few hours. Since there was Ella's favorite music playing (she loves Christmas music), she decided to show Karen a few of her dance moves!

Trying on Mr. Gordon's hat! Too cute!

Having a great time playing and playing with Karen!

Ella, mommy (mom-mom to Ella), Karen and her little girl on the way! She will be having a little girl in March too! We can't wait to meet her!

Ella's first Christmas gift! She loved the paper and chewing on the bag! Thank you Miss Karen for the cute fuzzy outfit, ballerina outfit and tutu! She will have to model it for you sometime! :)

Nine months...

I can't believe it has been so long since I blogged! We did have some technical difficulties...both of our computers went down within a day of each other. The mother board went out in the laptop and the router for the internet was infected for the desktop. My poor dad was over for hours one day to help us fix it. Thanks!! I missed reading about everyone and keeping in touch! Anyway, back to what I am really writing about...Ella! I can't believe that she is 9 and a half months old already! This past month has been a crazy one but so much fun! I want to thank my parents, grandparents and Brian's parents for helping with Ella while I couldn't lift her! That was the hardest part of it all. Now that we are back in our normal routine, Ella has discovered so many more things! She is so curious about EVERYTHING! She turns things over and over until she has examined every inch of what she is playing with. Watch out when she is done though, she will chunk it anywhere! She has a good right arm! I have also discovered things in our cart or in her stroller that I didn't put in there! She loves to grab things she likes. She has started early... loves to go shopping!! Ella also is saying some words! Her favorites are "mom-mom", "baby" (with a southern twang), "hey" and "bob" (not sure what she means by that one). Some of the conversations she has with herself and us are so funny. We have no idea what she is saying but she certainly does. She also knows the word "no"! We will tell her "no" and she will look at us, do whatever she did again, we tell her again, then she will stop and shake her head "no". It makes me laugh every time but I try to hide it so she doesn't think it is okay to do again. She loves to smile...to everyone! I just love it every time I see her. Another fun thing she has started is walking with us. She will hold on to us and walk anywhere. She giggles and squeals the whole time. When we get where she wants to go she smiles up at us and then gets too excited and falls. I think she is bypassing the whole crawling thing. She will be on her hands and knees but then when she wants to go she will flop over and roll. Oh well, I guess she will do what she wants. We can't wait to see what Christmas will bring!

Ella on her 9 month b-day with her great grandparents! She was so excited to them again! Chewing on a tub instead of playing with toys...

Drooling everywhere (more teeth are coming)! Loves to play, play, play...

Not liking the picture taking thing...

Okay now that she has something to play with!

Finally got one of her smiling at me after 20 pictures!

1st Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone! Sorry it's taken a while for us to post a new blog. Well, as most of you know by now, we had a very interesting first Thanksgiving with Ella. Devon was scheduled to have some surgery on 12/12, but the Monday before Thanksgiving things changed slightly. Long story short, she had to get it done a little earlier than we were anticipating. But, everything happens for a reason. First and foremost, she's fine now... which is the main thing. She's getting better everyday. Second, we still wanted to make sure Ella's first Thanksgiving was a good one. (A special thanks to all of Devon's family for helping us out during this time. We definitely needed it. And also for everyone who showed so much concern for Devon. It means the world to us.) Well, my Mom and Alan came down to help us out with the little one. We have been going up to Mena, AR (where they live) for the past few years, so it was nice to have them come down. My Mom and I got to cook and get the typical Thanksgiving feast prepared while trying desperately to keep Devon out of the kitchen and off her feet. We had a great meal and got to spend a nice, long weekend with family. I know Devon was a little more sore and tired than she would have liked, but it all worked out in the end. Ella even got to have her own turkey day meal. Turkey and veggies baby food with green bean casserole as well. Even though it didn't taste anything like the real thing! We had a nice Thanksgiving. Most importantly to us, we got to spend it with family, friends, and Ella. Couldn't ask for anything more.

A sleepy Ella with Mommy... must be all the turkey!

Figuring out this standing up thing with Grandma Dawn... Ella even had turkey (baby food) herself!

Not the best family picture in the world, but Ella's pout is too cute!

30th birthday fun!

Believe it or not, the day finally came... I turned 30. Not necessarily something I was looking forward to, but Devon changed my mind about that. She planned a get together at Celebration Park in Allen last weekend to celebrate with several of our friends and family members. We ordered BBQ from Dickeys and everyone brought a side dish with them. We ate way too much! Couldn't help it. The food was SO good. It was a great time seeing friends, spending time with some family we don't get to see very often, and getting a few of the kiddos together. Here are some of my favorite pics from the event. Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of the UT napkin incident... let's just say I spread my Texas pride all over Celebration park! :) I really appreciated Devon putting it together for me... love you, honey!

Ella saying hello to Jackson!

Laela and Ella checking each other out. Too cute! With Grandpa John...

My Mom visiting with the Hoaks and Duffys

The grandparents, hanging out...

8 Months!!!

Another month has gone by, and I can't believe it! There are so many new things that she is doing each day! There are way too many to list but here are a few. She has been shaking her head no! It started last month but now it is more consistent and even seems like she answers you when you ask her a question! It is too funny! She has started clapping her hands when she is excited and happy! She has the biggest grin on her face when she claps. She is also starting to get the motions of crawling down but still out of reach. She still is rolling everywhere! I think she knows that it is faster just to roll rather than really trying to crawl. Doesn't matter to me how she gets around. One huge thing that has started is stranger anxiety! She will smile at all of the strangers as long as she is strapped in her stroller but in my arms she will usually start to whimper. We have come a long way though. This past Sunday was the first time in a long time that she did not cry when we left her. I was so proud that she was being such a big girl. She also has figured out about the whole object permanence thing. She will look around things and try to get what she is looking for. I can't wait to see what this next month brings!

Trying to reach for the camera...she wants everything you have in your hands. I also put her in clothes that she normally wears...jeans, a cute shirt and matching shoes.

Her silly little grin!

Standing like a big girl with her new toy! I still have to steady her a bit.

Using a big girl sippy cup with no handles!

Having fun playing with Dolly! You can see her two little teeth!

One of her new goofy grins!

Our little poser!

Happy Halloween and Daddy's Birthday!

With it being Halloween and Brian's 30th Birthday we had a packed, fun-filled day! Brian took that day off so he could celebrate with Ella and I. We had a big day of plans since it was such a beautiful day. So, we got up and did our normal morning routine of eating a bottle and getting ready for the day. But before we went anywhere we wanted to give daddy a happy birthday present. I got up and took care of Ella and made sure that he stayed in bed for a little longer. Then Ella greeted daddy with a birthday card that she helped write (I put the pen in her hand and helped write a little note from her)! He loved it, of course! And then off we went...

Happy Birthday Daddy! Our tree has started changing colors so we thought it would be nice to get a birthday picture of them. Too bad we got the ugly truck too and not much of the tree! Our first stop of the day was the doctor's office. Ella had to get a second shot of the flu vaccine. She was not a happy about that at all! The nurse said she is getting a complex from Ella because the minute Ella sees her she starts to pucker up and cries. Poor Nurse Sally! Playing with the paper...and seconds before she peed all over it! She is now 17 pounds and 1 ounce and 28 inches tall! That is just under a pound and an inch in just 4 weeks! She is getting so big and the doctor says she is back on track. Way to go Ella! Dr. Aaron and Ella having a conversation... She is starting to really like him and smiles and giggles every time she sees him. All dressed up in her Halloween outfit with a pumpkin hat and booties. She certainly is "Our Little Pumpkin"! Her shirt says "Daddy's under my Spell!" and has sequins all over it. That is certainly true too! He is wrapped around her little finger and she knows it! She loves her daddy! :)

After the doctor's appointment, some lunch at Cheesecake Factory, a walk around Stonebriar Mall, and a little nap in the car, we decided to take her to the Owens Pumpkin Patch. We walked around and saw all of the animals. She got to see some big horses, donkeys, chickens (she couldn't take her eyes off of them), and goats. She wasn't sure of the goats...they did smell a little funny! We didn't go on the hay rides because I thought she is just a little to young for that but maybe next year!

Daddy showing Ella a pumpkin...she still goes for those stems!

Sitting on the bales of hay. She was fascinated with it and was throwing it everywhere!

Those stems again!!!!

Our little Sweet Pea as a Pea in a Pod!! Too cute! She did so well with all of the pictures we were taking! I think we took 97 that day!

Another stem! She is so intent...

Finally out of the costume and ready to go! She loves to fly through the air! On the way back home we made a couple of more stops...we went to visit grandma Dawn at work since she was working close, but Ella fell asleep on the way. Since it took a little longer to get there, mommy and daddy decided to have a Starbucks treat! Yum! After that, we went to the store so mommy could make daddy his birthday dinner. Steak and sweet potatoes is always one of his favorites!

Our little Sweet Pea! We've been calling her that since before she was born! And, about ready to go trick or treating the Donnell's!

Our pea with the pumpkins...

After a very long and exhausting day we wanted to stop by a friends house in the neighborhood so she could Trick or Treat somebody. She was all laughs and squeals all of the way there! She loved seeing all of the other kids dressed up and running around. We finally got a picture of all three of us for the day! Thanks Dena and Kelly! It was so good to see you and Ella loved seeing you too! Too bad we missed Hudson! :( We then went home, fed her dinner and she went straight to bed. Sweetie girl was pooped! She did so well all day, she never complained once! She was a perfect angel and made it the best Halloween ever and a great 30th for Brian! She is getting to be such a big girl! Love you, little Sweet Pea!