Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Balancing Act



Hey All,

I am trying to maintain this blog a bit more often. I decided I/we are going to try to post at least once every week or 2 weeks or so. I have also decided that while Ella is 90% of our focus it is important to write about other aspects of life so I am going to try to be a more diverse writer. It is amazing, though, with a child you find yourself getting excited over and doing different activities that you used to. Life outside the child becomes more routine as the child plays the less routine part. Also, right now Vegas is still too hot to do anything exciting so as soon as the weather cools down, we will be hitting the town more often.

New things about Ella: While we assume that we know what our child likes, it is reaffirmed when a non-family member notices. We have had a substitute nanny with us this week and without us telling her anything about these subjects, she noticed that Ella likes elephants and responds with all smiles to "good morning." Whenever we give her an elephant toy, she goes crazy and she did this with the nanny. Also, Fernanda (the nanny) said good morning when Ella woke up from her nap and she got really excited. We have this whole routine in the morning where I start with "Where is she? Where's Ella?" and then say "there she is, good morning." When she sees me she goes crazy. In case anyone wonders what excitement/craziness is with a baby, it is legs kicking, babbling/shrieking (Ella is now shrieking which is weird but cute) and major smiles. She also loves to dance around the room with me. This kid is happiest bouncing up and down and again will hit roller coasters as soon as she makes the height requirement.

I started classes again and am actually liking them, particularly property. Big nerd I am! :) For the many non-laywers reading this, it is a class that helps you figure out who has rights to what. This week I found out that if you find something, as a finder, you have rights that entitle you to the item over other people who claim/find it but not over the true owner. The true owner has ultimate rights. I also found out that if you find something, lose it, and then someone else finds it, the law protects your right as the first finder. The law in finding property protects the true owner but also finders because if pure possession of an item were all you needed, people would be swiping items left and right. I love law that follows public policy. This class makes me want to take dated photos of all my valuables in case I ever lose them. I will then have claim to them.
Ok, enough from me...this is already way too long for the average attention span. Love to all and talk to you soon!

Sunday, August 19, 2007

A new post? Now that is something to drool over!


I know that it has been a really long time since anything has been posted and that is my fault. Life has been moving along and the last thing I want to do at night is sit in front of a computer. Anyway, enough about me, everyone is here for Ella news. She is becoming a very fun little human! She is drooling, babbling, drooling, grabbing things, drooling, smiling a lot, drooling, and blowing raspberries. It is truly amazing how much she has changes every day.

In the past month she has become a very good traveler. First she went to San Diego to visit Grandpa Steve and Grandma Sharon! While I was busy with work, Leslie and Ella loaded up the car and headed to the West coast. Leslie mainly did this so that she could take Ella outside with out the fear of her melting in the Vegas heat. After that we all headed to Seattle for some time with Gran Fran and Pops! Flying out to Seattle was a breeze for me, mainly because Ella and Leslie went 3 days before me. But, the flight back from Seattle was pretty easy. As soon as we took off Ella passed out for the entire flight and did not wake up until we hit baggage claim.

While in Seattle Ella was very insistent being a tourist and seeing where her mommy grew up and seeing all the sights of Leslie's past. Strangely enough all the sites involved getting and drinking coffee. In between getting coffee we saw lots of friends and sites. Ella had a fun day going to the Pike Place Market.

Leslie and I did take advantage of the top notch baby sitting provided by Gran Fran and went to the Inn at Langley on Whidbey Island for a night away to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. We took advantage of the amazing six course meal they offer and Leslie even tried duck (which she liked but will not try again due to her loyalty to Donald and Daffy). We laughed because anniversarie usually entailed activities and being on the go but now it is about catching up on sleep. We took every opportunity to nap.

I know that I have droned on long enough and I know that you are all here to see pictures of Ella and not really hear what I have to say. So, without further ado here is a link to a month's worth of pictures of Ella!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/7822160@N02/sets/72157601562928247/

Cheers
Mike