Ella turns 1!

Here is just a quick post to get some picutures of Ella's birthday up. I will post more later but enjoy these. Play close attention as there will be a test. Ready for the question? Guess who was the special guest at Ella's birthday?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/lesandmike/sets/72157604582415833/with/2420414434/

Our Laughing Jumping Bean

Trying to get the most use out of all the baby stuff that has taken over our home, I decided to put Ella in the "Deluxe" Jumperoo. Here's Ella's best impression of popcorn.

As the saying goes "A picture is worth a thousand words." Well, given how much Ella is laughing then I must look really silly. Watching Ella jump, I figured it looked fun and also started jumping up and down. Keep in mind that I was jumping up and down while recording this to capture her reaction.

Holy Cow....Is this a new post?

As you can see Ella has been stressed over the fact that we have not posted anything for awhile! We are very sorry, but Ella is getting bigger everyday and keeping us busy. Well, actually, not as busy as she could be keeping us because Ella has no interest in being mobile. We can sit her on the floor and she will stay put. Sure, we can move toys and other things that she is interested in out of her reach to encourage her to try and crawl, or scoot, or wiggle, or roll, or any type of movement but she has none of that. Rather than try and get at what had her attention, she will just shift her attention to something else. Leslie and I can keep moving everything out of her reach until it is just Ella and the floor. Lets just say that Ella can find a floor very very interesting!
Even though Ella does not have much interest in moving, she has mastered the art of eating. She is a very good eater and loves fruit and really loves blueberries. She has gotten very good at feeding herself and and at using her spiffy front teeth. She will bite down on anything she can, like fingers, to test her chompers.
Enough of me screwing up the English language and making Leslie and my mom cringe, all everyone really wants to see is pictures. I will post more soon but enjoy these for now!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lesandmike/sets/72157603982977983/

Sorry Its Been So Long and Even Sorrier It Will Be a Bit Longer

Hi All,

The saying is that pictures (and videos) are worth a thousand words and we plan on using those "words" since Ella came down with a double ear infection and then she decided to share her cold with her parents. Here is the "quick and dirty" in bullet points because didn't all of our teachers all tell us that you can use bulletpoints to get your message across succinctly? :)

Ella:
*laughs alot
*crinkles her nose
*loves edamame
*hates sippy cups and avocados
*only rolls over for puffs or cell phones
*is absolutely addicted to her puffs (see Gerber advertisement video below)
*loves the feeling of Daddy's goatee when he kisses her face (see video above)
*loves going out for dinner with Mom, Dad, Aunt Jill, Grampa Steve and Gramma Sharon
*enjoyed her visits with Grandma Carole, Grandpa John, and GranFran
*has three teeth out and one more are about to make an appearance

We'll write more when we are out of our NyQuil induced state. Happy Holidays to all! Here are the latest photos... http://www.flickr.com/photos/7822160@N02/

Here's a video of the puff (aka "baby crack") addiction...

Clapping and Rocking Ella

We took this video about a month ago but thought it would be fun to post. She's even changed so much since then but her smile is the same. :) Ella loves to clap even if her parents help her out a bit! Don't mind Mike's narration and we promise we only minimally abuse our child by doing things like this to her... :)




Also, had to add one more of my favorite photos... She's our little rocker chic!

The Cutest Lobster/Vegas Girl in the World (According to Her Parents)

Hey All,

Ok, so my grandiose plan of writing more often lasted maybe a week. Amazing how life keeps you busy. In past little while, we have enjoyed visits from our parents/Ella's grandparents. Ella had wonderful visits from both of her out-of-town grandmas and Pops. I think she got spoiled from all the attention because now she only has one face to wake her up in the morning singing the good morning song, not at least two. Also, a big thank you to both grandmas who allowed Mike and I to sleep in and take some nights on the town. Anyone without children, seriously, enjoy sleeping in as there is no break from it. You cannot put a 6 month old on snooze. :) We had fun dates going out for dinner (later than 6 pm which also is a huge treat) and drinks with friends.

Ella gets more fun by the day and is getting so old. She smiles alot especially at her daddy who she thinks is the funniest person ever. She had been eating solid foods now and seems to like veggies better than fruits, she especially peas and loves green beans and peas (which smell terrible and are really fun to clean off of her:)). She still refuses to roll over. If she wants a toy, she'll reach for it and right before she'll roll over, she decides it isn't worth and rolls back. Parks and walks seem to bore her but the petroleum jelly box we use to moisturize her face gets her extremely excited. Ella is also trying to hold her own bottle and doesn't like it when you move her arms and legs, she wants to move them herself. Finally, she had found a way to watch TV even when we face her away from it (see attached pics).

Here are the latest pics of her from the month... http://www.flickr.com/photos/7822160@N02/sets/72157602395568393/
Check out the lobster costume for Halloween and her styling rocker chick outfits! Gosh, we are the most nauseating parents, totally infatuated with our child...

Ella's and the Rockies First World Series!

She is very excited!