Happy 17 months, Ella!

Ella is 17 months today! WOW!
Here are a variety of pics I've taken over the last month and haven't shared yet. We had a fashion show one night to let her model some summer clothes before I stored them. These outifts are actually hand-me-downs from my childhood (and thus my sisters' childhood as I inherited their clothes). Love the pose she has in the red dress.

















A couple w/her cute pink headband and a few doing her "Englishman" look as Dad Kannon calls it. For some unknown reason, she prefers at times to walk around w/her hands behind her back.
















One day while I was typing on the computer and Ella was playing in the office, I heard a grunt. I turned around to see Ella stuck in this box. I couldn't resist taking a pic before getting her out.














And the suprised look while reading the book? Well, the next to the last page of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" says "He built a small house, called a coccoon, around himself. He stayed inside for more than two weeks. Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out and...(turn the page) he was a beautiful butterfly!" I always read that last page w/great wonder, so now when she turns to it, she opens her mouth wide!

















This is what Ella does almost every time we play w/her blocks. She puts one in her mouth and then offers me one to place in mine. We make quite the pair.

Quite a scare

We had a scary time on Tuesday. It was around 11am and I was making a dessert for a Ladies' Bible Study that evening and had just wiped Ella up w/a napkin. She wanted to play w/it, so I let her. She loves wiping things! After a few minutes, I thought, "She's being WAY too quiet" and went to check on her. She was sitting on the couch w/her finger up her nose and MOST of the napkin in her lap. "Oh no!" I rushed her to the changing table and looked up her nose-yep! I could see a white piece of napkin way up her right nostril. I tried unsuccessfully to remove it w/a bobby pin. Every time I thought I was making progress, she would sniff it back up. "No, baby! "Blow, don't sniff.!" Didn't work.

Then I called Amy, my Midwife who sees also sees Ella for well visits. She said she could see her @ 1pm or if she was napping then, to bring her in when she awoke. Well, I let Ella nap until 2pm, then Will came home for a quick visit to check it out. By this time, it was even harder to see (only possible w/a flashlight). So I got to Blessed Births around 2:45. Amy was quite busy but managed to fit us in. She got her back there as soon as she could (about 3:15). She could see it w/her special nose/light thing but it was WAY up there. Ella was having lots of runny discharge coming out, and we were afraid that if it didn't get out, she would get a bad infection.

Amy tried a hook scraper thing, bulb syringe, everything for about 15 min. Oh, and the whole time Ella is going nuts. As if she was possessed-seriously. Blowing bubbles out of her mouth, writhing, screaming, crying. I had to end up "sitting" on her (my legs up around her head pinning her arms down, her legs in my lap) to keep her from thrashing so much-of course that just made it worse-she HATES!!! being restrained. It was awful. I had to focus on not crying b/c to see her like that really hurt. I just kept saying "Shhh...it's okay honey." But of course it WASN'T okay. How could she understand we were trying to help her? I asked Amy what would happen if she couldn't get it out. Would we have to go to the hospital? "Probably, and they'll most likely put her to sleep to get it out." No! No! No! How could I bear that?

Finally, Amy and I were both praying out loud for God's help. Then Amy suggested we give Ella a break and try back when she had her next couple coming in. The husband could help us hold Ella better. Well, Ella was traumatized for awhile-kept crying even after she was "released." But after letting her look at all the babies' pictures on the wall (including her own), she was better. Then she nursed, and all was well again. I called Will to let him know what was going on. The next couple came in and Ella got a chance to get to know Ben (the husband) before it was time to go back and try again. Amy came to get her and Ella actually followed her back to the room. We were so glad she wasn't scared of her. However, as soon as Ella saw the dreaded table, she began to howl again. Thankfullly, this session took less than 5 minutes. I sat on her again while Ben held her head completely still so Amy could work. Using her light and a bobby pin contraption (Amy had opened up a bobby pin so it was really long and fashioned a hook on it), the napkin piece was retrieved. Thank you, Lord!

And Ella was immediately better-not only b/c it was over, but I think her nose felt so much better after being unclogged! Will arrived just after it was over and said he'd been praying all the way from his job (in Clemson). He was glad Ben was there to help-he didn't think he'd be able to stand listening to her cry like that. I didn't realize how much it had drained me until it was over. Ella and I were both tired. She went right to sleep when we got home (around 5:30) and we hated to wake her up later that night to change her into her PJs (she had a short-sleeved shirt on and we were afraid she'd get cold). She was changed, nursed, and went straight back to bed until 9am the next morning.

I did make it to Ladies' Bible Study but only b/c I had the dessert. But, it was a blessing-haven't had a girls' night in forever.

So, the moral is, no napkins until Ella is...at least 10 years old. :-)

Every Day Is Sweet

I haven't written yet about the sweetest thing Ella does. She started doing it a few weeks ago. While I'm busy cooking or cleaning in the kitchen, she'll walk up to me and and give my leg a little hug, sometimes resting her head on it. Can anything make you feel as good? I don't think so. At that moment, everything in the world seems okay.

Truly every day w/her is a blessing. She's learning something new all the time. She always eager to learn new signs. I think she knows 20 now. Today she watched me intently as I did fish lips for fish.

We had a wonderful weekend w/Will's parents. Ella's favorite thing was the stairs at Ma-Ma's. She went up and down, up and down. When Will told his mom, "I bet you're getting tired of helping her do this," she replied, "No, I could do this all day." :-)

On Sunday, we went to Abbie's surprise 30th b-day party-it was lots of fun. And Ella finally got to "play" w/Sam. He is a big boy (and quite handsome), but it wasn't as big of a difference in the two as I thought it'd be. Abbie looked radiant of course-she already has the pregnancy glow. And Liz did a super job w/the party-food and games were terrific.

Fun in the Country!

We went to Aiken for a brief but wonderful visit. Saw Gran Gran, Papa George, and Grandpa for lunch and then headed out to Mema's and Aunt Cherie's. Ella didn't nap the entire ride down (3 hours), and only had an hour nap during the day, so she was wiped out come bedtime. I think that's why she slept all the way through the night (she usually wakes up at least once during the night when she's away from home.) But she was up bright and early Sunday morning (6:30am!) and didn't stop until about 8pm that night. She was too excited about being w/her Mema and Aunt Cherie to sleep-who can blame her? Greatly enjoyed seeing everyone at church Sunday and that afternoon Ella had a ball in Aunt Cherie's garden and then later drawing pictures w/her in the sand. Roaming free in the country, that's the good life.

The Cutest Pumpkin!

Ella had a good time on Halloween. We went to our church's Harvest Festival first and then to a couple of houses in our neighborhood. At the festival they had a place set up just for preschoolers where they could go from room to room playing simple games and earning candy. Ella was too young for most of the games but that didn't stop her from breaking free from us, cutting in line, and going in any order she chose to see what was happening. Curious George! Of course, we caught her and explained she had to wait her turn-yeah, right. So, we just skipped ahead to the last rooms where no one was at yet and let her "play games," get some candy, and then we moved on. We later returned so Ella could get a balloon-she was so excited about that!

Outside they had bounces set up-yay! They had ones where you bounce and then have to go down a slide to exit-those were her favorite. She always started laughing when we were about to slide down. Then, of course, there was the big slide, and we did that one several times-I think she could have stayed on it all night! They also had yummy chili dogs, chips, and tea for supper which we all enjoyed.

By the time we got home it was 8:30 and Ella was tired, so we just stopped at 2 houses in our neighborhood. One had asked us to come by so they could see Ella dressed up, and Ella was thrilled at another chance to see Okie (their dog). Then we stopped by some good friends of ours and hung out for a little bit. Ella had a blast going through their huge basket of candy and picking out pieces to put in her pumpkin basket. Unfortunately for me, she didn't pick any Nestle Crunch bars, but Daddy was happy she chose some bite-sized Twizzlers.

Hope you enjoy the pics!

Being a pumpkin is fun!
  

And look! I have the coolest shoes, too!
  

I'm ready to go!
  

Hmmm...what should I do next?
  

Daddy, I want this one!
  

We loves slides!
  

What's inside here?
  

Oh boy, yummy treats! What? I'm supposed to take the wrapper off first? Oh well!
  

Ready for bed.