Playdate with John Michael!

Cecilia brought John Michael (8 months) over for a fun time with Ella last week. He enjoyed Ella's piano, and she took to his teething toy-she loved making it vibrate. It's funny how babies at this age play more alongside each other than with each other. JM tried out one of Ella's teething biscuits at lunch, but I don't think he cared that much for it. Once he gets several teeth, I think he'll like the harder ones-Ella just loves them. Oh, and just a few days after Cil's visit, we noticed Ella's 1st molar coming in-now she can really chomp down. Hopefully, not on me! :-) It was great swapping mom stories w/Cil; we're planning on doing it again soon.

"Oh, no, John Michael!"
"I think we left our toys in the other room!"

"I'm coming to get you, Mommy!"

I think the kiddos think Cecilia has treats for them!

"Hey, John Michael, stop flirting with my Mommy."

Goodbye, 20's

Well, I celebrated a big milestone last Thursday-turning 30! I was a little sad; I know it's just a number and I'm still young, but still, not as young....oh well. Will made it special w/flowers, a beautiful card and a yummy cake (which Ella greatly enjoyed a piece of!) Sarah, a friend from college whom I haven't seen in awhile, came over to have lunch w/me and we had a wonderful time-she's great w/Ella. Then for my big b-day celebration we went to the lake for the weekend and Ga-ma and Gan-pa kept Ella while Will and I enjoyed our 2nd date night since Ella was born. We enjoyed a movie [Superman Returns-suprisingly really good-I was afraid I'd be sad seeing it w/out Christopher Reeve as Superman, but the new guy did a good job and there was plenty of romance to keep me interested. :-)] and had dinner-delicious salmon! Ella was great for her grandparents-I fed her right before we left, then mom fed her yogurt and a teething biscuit for her 6:00 feeding, and we were back for her next feeding. It was great for us to get away, but we found ourselves missing her at dinner-we kept looking to where her travel seat would have been attached to the table. This was the longest we've been away from her. We're actually trying to work up to a full night out; we'd like to go to a bed and breakfast while Mom and Kenny keep her, but we'll see about that. With me still breastfeeding and Ella not used to taking pumped milk in a bottle anymore, not sure how that one will work. Maybe she'll take it in her sippy cup? That won't be until October at the earliest anyhow-Mom and Kenny leave for their Alaskan cruise Sept. 9! They're so excited-well, Mom is, Kenny's still warming up to the idea, I think! :-) I know he'll enjoy it once they're there though. Well, enjoy the pics-some from b-day weekend and others I just recently took here at home.

The Big 3-0!

"Hey, Miss Sarah, did you know our outfits match?"

"I really like your hat, Gan-pa!"

Our little Clemson Crawler!

"But, Ga-ma, I want to get down!"

"Fine. I'll just lie down then."

"It's almost full, Mommy. Can I get in now?"

"Hello. Anyone there?"

Our Family Vacation!

We just got back from a week-long vacation to Harbor Island, 15 miles from Beaufort and close to Fripp Island. We had a nice, relaxing time. Ella got to swim in a real pool for the 1st time and really loved it. Not as much as her mommy though-oh, how I LOVE to swim in a pool-such good exercise and so much fun. She got to use the float Aunt Cherie got her and it was great for keeping her shaded. Between her canopy, her hat, and her SPF 50 sunblock, she didn't get burned-yay! Ella wasn't as fond of the beach-she didn't like getting sand on her-such a dainty girl-but did go in the ocean a little. She let me dip her legs in but didn't like it when I sat her in the water on my lap close to the shore. My favorite part of the vacation besides swimming at the pool was eating at A Matter of Taste in downtown Beaufort. Not only was the food delicious and the restaurant quaint yet sophisticated, but we had 1 1/2 hours to slowly eat and enjoy our meal and Ella was great during the whole thing; many people commented how good she was and how adorable. After that we tried our first and last time at a drive-in movie w/Ella. Saw Dead Man's Chest but Ella wasn't very cooperative and she kept sweating so much, so we had to run the car most of the time. Not quite the romantic outing I had envisioned! Will's just glad I got it out of my system. We were planning on doing a drive-in movie for my b-day while Mom and Kenny watched Ella-not anymore-I'm cured-and we'll be going to an enclosed air-conditioned movie theatre-thank you very much. :-)
Besides that, the only downside to the vacation was that Ella had a hard time napping-she only took 1 good nap a day, as opposed to her normal 3x a day at home. And she slept w/us some nights-but she's adjusted fine since we got back yesterday. She seemed so relieved to see her room/crib/toys and is recuperating by napping lots today. We're glad we got to experience a different vacation spot, but don't know if we'll go back there again next year. The beach wasn't the best-not so wide and we were on St. Helena Sound more than the actual Atlantic Ocean. Also, the nearest groceries were 20 min. away at Lady's Island-a bummer when you just needed a couple items. However, the low-key setting was great. Oh, and Will enjoyed some fishing off the beach and caught a couple shark (3-4 ft. long), 2 sting rays! and a couple whiting. We also went to Hunting Island State Park and climbed the lighthouse (wow-lots of steps!) and saw a great view. They had a much better beach there but you had to pay $8/day to use it. Will fished off their pier one day but didn't have much luck, though it was fun watching 2 dolphins swim and play nearby. Enjoy the pictures!

P.S. We just found out last night when we got in that Chuck is going to Guam (flew out this mornning) to teach at Harvest Christian Academy for 3 years! He just found out Tuesday he was going himself. From Chuck's testimony about how God worked everything out and how quickly, it's evident this is where God wants him, so we're excited for him but will miss him a lot-we won't be able to see him until he comes home for his summer break next year-by then Ella will be 2!

Lighthouse on Hunting Island State Park-1st built in 1859 but destroyed during the Civil War and rebuilt in 1875. Only lighthouse in SC that's open to the public.

I'm ready to get out of this thing, Daddy!

Our reward for climbing the 132 ft. (167 steps) lighthouse-this beautiful view!.

Yay! I love the pool, Mommy!

Hmm...there's a shovel in here...wonder what that's for?