A Week of Chaos!

Well, we had a very busy, chaotic week and a half! First, we had my grandparents (Steinagel's)come visit for a few days. They have never met Ella until now so it was good to catch up and hang out for awhile. We had a great time and Ella did too! She got a whole new summer wardrobe from them and will be the cutest baby this summer! :) Near the end of the visit, Ella started to feel a little under the weather with a runny nose and just not herself. By the time she got better we were ripping the house apart to get ready for the new floors to be installed. We were replacing the carpet in the living room, master bedroom and both hallways with woods floors. This meant that we had to remove EVERYTHING from those areas. We didn't realize that we have accumulated so much stuff since we moved here until we had to move it all! All of the living room furniture was moved to the garage and I tried to get all of our bedroom stuff into the master bath, then all of the baby stuff was crammed into the office along with the dogs and whoever was there with the installers. We even had the TV in the kitchen in front of the stove! So no dinner at home for a couple of days! Anyway, they delivered the floors on Tuesday so we got to work getting the house ready. On Thursday they were here ripping our nasty carpet out! They had the bedroom carpet out in less than 10 minutes! It took a lot longer since our house was not level (go figure), they had to use leveler to make sure the furniture wouldn't slide. Anyway, they were back on Friday to finish the job. I want to thank my Grandpa for staying with the workers while Ella and I went to spend some time at my parent's house away from the noise and dust. Ella was great through the whole thing. She slept well at night and still is even though the dogs are a little noisier. So far we love it!

BEFORE

Brian sitting where the couch used to be...can you tell where we walked???

The hallway...notice the nasty dark spots??

DURING

All of the dark grey is were they had to put leveler down. All of the faint white spots are dust in the air. Our allergies are now getting a little better.

AFTER

Look how pretty!!! Yes, there is still dust in the air!!

The dogs checking everything out. They thought it was fun sliding around the corners. :)

Valentine's Day Fun!

Valentine's Day with our little girl was really fun. We wanted to make it special since it was her first. Unfortunately, Brian had to work all day. We did get the chance to meet him for lunch and have some time together during the day. We ran over and had a quick lunch at Mi Cocina. She was quick to flirt, smile, and wave at the table of 6 guys next to us! After Brian got off, he came home and was able to feed Ella dinner and get her ready for bed. She really enjoyed opening up her presents. Our little angel LOVES books with a passion. She was SO excited about getting some new ones for Valentine's Day. She was smiling, giggling, and waving her arms. Too cute. Today, she got to spend some time at Grandpa Rod and G-ma Dawn's house while Brian took me to dinner for an early birthday present. (Benihana's... yummy!) Anyway, Ella got to sit in a "big girl chair" and learn how to rock. It was so cute to watch her play. She impresses us more and more everyday!

Checking out her new Princess books...

Posing with Mommy... right before bed time.

Getting one more story in...

Big girl sitting in a rocking chair!

Rolling around... just having fun.

11-month fun!!!

It's time for Dad to write again.... I can't believe it, but our little girl is 11-months old today! Just seems like yesterday that I was holding that little newborn in my arms. She's growing SO fast. Sometimes I wish I could slow it down, but it's also exciting to see all the new things she's doing. We finally got her to wear (and tolerate) bows in her hair. She looks so cute... and she's getting more hair.. finally! Well, bath time has gone from a nice relaxing time playing with toys to a trip to the water park... for me anyways. She loves to fling her arms through the water and splash her Dad as much as possible. It's very cute... I'll try to get a picture of it. She's also turning all the lights on and off by herself. Definiately a good helper when our hands are full. Ella also is standing much better on her own. She's walking extremely well while holding our onto our fingers. I really expect her to let go and start running! She'll even lead us around the house, depending on what time it is. Time to eat? She'll hold onto our fingers and head to her highchair. Time to sleep? She'll lead you right to her bedroom. She's SO smart. Also, she's been impressing us a lot lately with her newest tricks. You ask her... "Who's Ella?" She automatically points to herself!!! You ask her... "Ella, where's your head?" She puts her hands on top of her little head!!! Too cute. You have to see it. Anyway.. as you can see below, she's getting so big. Loves to watch fun TV shows (Wheel of Fortune is a favorite) and loves her new big girl bike. Devon's uncle and grandparents found the bike Devon rode as a little girl and made it up for Ella! New paint, new tires... even with a Texas license plate with her name on it! Too cute. She loved trying it out today! More pictures of that to come. Well, I'm sure there are many things I'm missing, but I have to stop somewhere. We're very proud of our little princess... and we love her more and more everyday!

She just loves watching "The Price is Right"

Figuring out the big girl bike....

We're working on turning... :)

Our little princess is already 11-months old!

"There's teeth in there!" (7 so far!)