HAPPY FIRST BIRTHDAY, ELLA!

Today was a big day for our little Ella. She turned 1 year old-we can't believe it! Has it been that long since we first held our little angel in our arms? It truly has flown by. We've enjoyed watching her grow and learn new things every day. She's been such a blessing-I don't know how we survived without her. Thank you, God, for such a treasure.
Gama, Ganpa, MeMa, Aunt Cherie, and Candace came up today to celebrate with us. (We're going to see Will's folks tomorrow at the 4th picnic at Dinkins Mill in Sumter.) We had hamburgers, corn on the cob, chips, cupcakes, and icecream. Ella tried some corn-I picked pieces off for her-and seemed to like it okay. Later, after eating her 1st cupcake, she had her 2nd bath of the day. We got her a new inflatable tub-much bigger than the tub she had before. She can play and splash lots and greatly enjoys it. After her bath, she opened some wonderful gifts. One I was soooo thankful for was the Baby Spring Canopy Float-I'd been looking all over for that-I desperately wanted her to have shade in the pool as she burns so easily. Babies-R-Us advertises it but they never have it in stock. So, yay! now we're ready for our vacation. Thank you, Aunt Cherie and Candace. She got a Clemson bib and PJ's from MeMa, and a LeapFrog Piano, Clemson outfit, Strawberry Shortcake ball (just the right size for her), and money from Gama and Ganpa. She's enjoyed banging on the piano a lot tonight! Mommy and Daddy got her clothes and a corn popper. She's also going to get a swing put up in the back yard soon. She didn't know what to do with all the gifts-we tried to let her open them-but she would just pull the bow offs and then throw them aside-figuring that was the prize, I guess. She was also tired, so that didn't help anything. In fact, she was so tired while we were eating (normally her nap time)-that she kept rubbing her eyes-that's how she got so dirty in that last cupcake picture. It got in her hair and everything-fun, fun! I don't think she liked to be dirty though, she kept looking at her fingers like she was thinking, "Something isn't right here." Well, she finally got to take her normal 2:00 nap at 5:30 and slept for 2.5 hours before waking up. She ended her birthday on a great note by watching a deer video with Daddy. Oh, and she got her teeth brushed for the first time tonight (w/flouride-free toothpaste and her very own tiny brush). Previously, I had just been cleaning her teeth w/ a wet washcloth-after all she's not eating much solids besides crackers. Anywho...considering that she'll be eating more solids now, she already has 8 teeth, and she did eat lots of chocolate today, I figured it was time. Well, surprise, surprise-she loved it! She just laughed and laughed-hopefully, that will last! More pictures of the birthday girl to come. By the way, here's the rhyme that was on her invite:
From 7 lbs. 11.5 ounces
To our 20 lb. girl who always bounces.
Miss Ella Grace has really grown up,
And now can drink from a sippy cup.
Please join us for a time of fun,
As we celebrate turning ONE!

Oh, I can't look...there are so many candles...am I really that old???

Okay, now what am I supposed to do with this thing?

Let's count and see how many fingers I have chocolate on...

Mmm...this is pretty good.

I think I'll get some more!

I look cute with a goatee, huh?

A chocolate kissie-kiss for Mommy!

Okay, I'm ready for my bath now!

I Love Doggies!

I just had to write today to share what cute thing Ella did this morning. As you know, Ella loves dogs-she's even adopted one in the neighborhood whom we call "B.B." because it looks so much like my old dog, Brittany. Whenever we take her for a walk in her stroller and she gets on B.B.'s street, she'll pull herself up and start looking around for her. So....this morning, I was watching the Today Show while eating my breakfast, and Ella was crawling around the den. They had a short segment on "Bring your dog to work day" and had 3 adorable dogs up for adoption. Well, Ella first heard the dogs barking and then looked up at the T.V. and saw them. She immediately crawled over to the set, pulled herself up and started touching the screen. She did this for about a minute before getting disinterested, presumably b/c they weren't licking her fingers. Isn't that just too cute?

Yard Sale!

We had a neighborhood yard sale Saturday and did fairly well. We made $275 and got rid of lots of dust-collecting items around the house. Yay! Now maybe Ella won't sneeze quite so much. When Ella finally woke up around 10 a.m. (we're so shocked we didn't wake her rummaging through things and setting up at 7 a.m.), I fed her and then she came outside and hung out with Daddy under the shade tree. She enjoyed seeing all the different people come by and and had lots of fun with our next door neighbors' kids, Anna Leigh and Katie Beth, who unfortunately will be moving soon.
A not so good thing about the yard sale-Ella got her first sunburn-not too bad-just pink cheeks and forehead-at least we know now to slather her with lotion, even if she is under the shade. Poor baby-she takes after her fair-skinned Mommy, who got burned worse than she did, as I was out in the sun the whole time.

"Happy times in the shade!"

"Ella, could you move over some? You're blocking my view."

"Oh! I just realized you were there. Hello, Katie Beth!"

Mommy went crazy....

with taking pictures recently. I couldn't help it-Ella kept doing one cute thing after another. I know if you look at the posting times, you're thinking, "What in the world?" Well, I stayed up late to do SAT grading and drank some coffee to keep me going, and boy did it! Won't do that again-now I'll be useless for tomorrow's grading, or should I say today's grading. Anywho, I also got frustrated w/Picasa trying to post these pics right and in the correct order-I think sheer determination to get this thing right kept me up even after the coffee wore off (I only had 1 cup!). I'll blame my Granny for this one -I got my sheer stubborness from her!
:-) Good night!

Ella's infamous "Aaaaaa"' sound, which is always accompanied by pumping her fists wildly into the air-she's the loudest baby when she does this! On this day, she adopted her pj's as her security "blanket" and carried them all around the room. Her security blanket changes daily; whatever article of clothing happens to be w/in her reach is her new best friend.

"Peek-a-boo!" "Where's Ella?"

"Here I am!"

"Ready, Mommy?" Ella and I have a new game-every time she pulls the bee down, it bounces back up and I yell, "Woo-hoo!" She loves it!

Ready....

Set...

Stand!

"Oops-I fell down. That was funny, wasn't it, Mommy?"

"Hmm...I spy something interesting."

"Maybe if I reach really far back, I can get it."

"Got it!"

"And now I'm going to eat it!"

Ella's latest trick-she learned how to pull the nursing stool down and uses that to climb on top of the ottoman!

All tired out from a hard day's play!

Father's Day

We had a wonderful day today. Boosie and I got Daddy a reference Bible for his gift and he loved it. He's been needing a new one forever. Boosie also "made" him a card which thanked him for crawling w/her all over the house, putting ice in her sippy cup because it feels good on her gums, and of course for working so hard so Mommy can stay at home with her. I am so thankful that Will is an involved father-he's changed his fair share of diapers and helped soothe Ella many times. He's also great about taking Ella for walks around the neighborhood (which she loves), even when I can't go with them. Below are some cute pics taken today-the first one after eating a little bit of Da-Da's banana-what a face! and the last of the two hunters on our soon-to-be finished screened porch. Since camouflage is Will's favorite color, I thought Ella should wear hers on his special day. And can you believe that even with the lace details, she still got mistaken for a boy several times at church?...of course you can-we all know she looks just like her Daddy, so wearing camo certainly doesn't help bring out her feminine features. :-) Oh well-I'm sure the mistaken identity will get better as her hair grows more and more...speaking of hair, we've noticed some red tints in it-interesting, huh? Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

Changes

I finally figured out how to get my pictures to post beneath my writing, and I got around to updating my profile picture. Also, I'm trying to write with capitals now-very hard to get used to doing again. Not sure how long it will last; it takes twice as long to type this way! I also figured out how to change my font size, so it's easier to read now. Yay! Now, about Ella-here are some of her latest favorite activities to do:

1. Get down from any location (i.e. back down from a chair, couch, bed). She gets the happiest look on her face when she does it.

2. Take all Mommy's clean clothes out of the laundry basket one at a time and scatter them on the floor. Choose one that she likes the best (tank tops are a favorite) and drag it across the kitchen floor.

3. Throw items out of her crib to get our attention.

4. Take a big girl bath! She's been reclined in a "newborn sling thing" in her baby bath tub until now-just a few days ago, I decided to take it off and let her try sitting up in her bath tub. She loved it-splashed around, played w/her water toys. Mommy got soaked of course, but we had fun!

5. Get to a standing position all by herself (w/out pulling up on anything) and remain there for as long as 30 seconds before falling down. I'm sure steps are coming soon...

Here's a pic of Ella taken at the park-it was her first time in a swing and she loved it!

YAY for Aunt Emily and Uncle Jeff!

i'm ashamed to admit it, but yesterday was my first time ever planting flowers! the owners before us planted lots of lilies, but we haven't done anything until now. emily and jeff came over and brought lots of garden soil and plants with them. we planted annuals, wildflowers, sweet williams, and a rose bush! it was soooo thoughtful of them to do that for us. em and i planted some near sammie's spot, some by the deck, and the rose bush in front of the screen porch. jeff helped will tremendously by getting the groundwork done for screening the porch and even got one panel done before they had to leave. will did 2 more panels last night, so it's on its way. our goal is to have it finished by ella's b-day which is june 30-keep your fingers crossed! ella greatly enjoyed aunt emily's music and wanted to try to make some of her own, as you can see from these pics. we're so sad they're moving to atlanta (lawrenceville actually) but at least it's not that far away, and as a bonus for will, it's also home to bass pro shop!

Visit w/ Aunt Cherie and Me-Ma

last weekend we went to aiken for my step-sister sally's wedding. it was beautiful; unfortunately i forgot to take my camera to the wedding, so i don't have any pics of that to share. we were doing good just to get there on time-we already had to circle back to aunt cherie's to pick up the gift; then when we arrived i realized ugh! no camera. it's amazing how much more you have to pack and think about w/ just 1 baby! anywho, we had fun staying w/aunt cherie who lives right up the path from granny's (me-ma). ella was fascinated w/ aunt cherie's new dog zoe and also enjoyed the porch swing. me-ma had fun making her laugh w/the "i'm going to walk the cat to catch the mouse" game, and ella loved her new teething toy-mema's walking cane. candace (cousin) enjoyed bouncing ella on aunt cherie's exercise ball; that thing works great for abs-i need to get one. oh, this was ella's first time sleeping in her portacrib and she did great! much better than in her playpen. we're so relieved b/c the portacrib is what we're taking on our vacation to harbor island in july.

Ella's Playdate!

on thursday, ella (who just turned 11 months tuesday!) enjoyed a playdate w/kurtis (who will be 14 months june 4). first tammi (a longtime friend from college) and i met at atlanta bread company where i managed to eat more than she did, even though she is 5 months pregnant w/her 2nd boy! then we went back to her house so the kids could "play." ella enjoyed biting and chewing on all of kurtis' toys-she even managed to bite a number off of a toy phone and almost swallowed it-luckily i caught it in time-crazy child; she bites everything! kurtis, on the other hand, doesn't have this extreme teething problem-he actually plays more w/the toys and is even walking now! it's soooo cute to watch! i can't wait until ella can walk. she cruises more now and even stands alone for about 5-10 seconds at a time but hasn't made the big leap yet. kurtis was very good with ella-at one point he handed her a car she had dropped, and he didn't even fuss when she tried to grab a toy out of his hands. i think kurtis was even sad to see her go, though they were both ready for their naps. boosie, in fact, slept most of the way home, woke briefly for a feeding, and then slept several more hours. i guess all that "playing" wore her out. i can't wait until they can get together again. it will be exciting to see ella actually play more the older she gets.

Chuck's Visit

chuck spent last friday and saturday w/us, and as you can tell from these pics, ella greatly enjoyed him! he was her new buddie-she loved having someone sit on the other side of her at meal times and gave chuck many smiles and laughs; she even made her cute noises for him. chuck and will enjoyed going fishing at lake hartwell early sat. morning while ella and i slept in. they got their naps in later on that day. after will took chuck back (b/c his car-yay! he finally got a car-had a flat tire), will and i watched narnia-wonderful movie-if any of you haven't seen it yet, you need to.