A great Sunday!

Today was a great day for our family of 3! None of us left the house, none of us worked....we didn't do anything expect spend time together and play with our gorgeous daughter! I cherish days like this. Ella is so full of personality, she is learning and taking in so much and I love it when we have a full day to devote 100% of our attention to her.

This morning Ella woke up early to eat, but after eating and playing for about half an hour, we all went back to sleep and slept until 9:15am! It was great!

Three of us started our our day by spending the morning in Ella's room playing with some new "older aged" toys. We started with the music table. She's not quite big enough for it but its the perfect thing for her to use so she can learn to pull up on things. She loved it and could balance herself long enough to play a little.

She also loved some new blocks that we pulled out. After Daddy stacked them big and tall, she was hesitant at first to knock them over.

After it cooled down, we took our blanket and spent some time outside watching Jake run around. Ella loves to be outside and there are so many things to stimulate her senses! I just love this picture with her big smile!

She kept running her fingers over the grass and making funny faces...

Time for some more cereal! This time Daddy got to feed her and again, she did really well.

We pulled out Ella's bouncer today because lately she loves to use her exersaucer as a bouncer. She thinks its so funny!

Bathtime and Bedtime!

Cereal!

Friday night was Ella's first time to try cereal! She has been ready for a while now, but I have been holding off as long as I could. Michael and I were both very excited and I think Ella knew she was getting food as soon as I got the cereal box out. She was very interested! For the last few weeks she has been in awe staring at us while we eat. She drools and moves her tongue around as she watches us very intently. It was getting to the point where I felt bad having her at the table with us while we ate dinner! :) So last night we gave her a first taste and it went well. She was pretty good with the spoon. I learned that it worked best to hold the spoon in front of her mouth and let her open her mouth for it...otherwise, she didn't know what to do with her tongue and she kept pushing the spoon and of course all the cereal right back out. It was a mess and lots of fun! We have a couple of weeks to learn with cereal and then at 6 months I'll start giving her some new tastes...fruits and vegetables! If you have any tips on making your own baby food I'd love to hear!

After the first bite, she immediately reached both her hands out towards the bowl as if she was asking for more.

She always wanted to hold the spoon and try to feed herself. Its really fun to see her hand eye coordination. She's been practicing putting the pacifier back in her mouth and she's doing pretty good.

Open wide!

I love the messy face! Of course, the cereal wasn't too bad...just wait until its carrots, and sweet potatoes, etc. with all the bright colors!
She loves to tighten and curl her toes..

Loving on daddy. She was happy that we let her try cereal.

Now its bathtime!! She likes playing with her "rubber duckie" collection from Aunt Kim. At one of my baby showers, Kim gave her something to represent each holiday. Here she is playing with the witch duckie for halloween!

pumpkins!!!

BEAT OU!!!

All geared up and ready for the game! GO longhorns!!!

Trip to Austin

Michael was in Kerrville on Friday night, so Ella and I decided to head to Austin! We timed it perfectly to miss traffic! Well, let's get real, on I-35 between San Antonio and Austin, is there any such thing as no traffic? After sitting in one spot on I-35 completely stopped for 1 hour and 15 minutes because of a wreck ahead, we FINALLY made it to my sisters house! (Ella would have slept the whole way, but after about 45 minutes of no movement, she woke up hungry! I ended up turning my car off, hopping in the backseat, and nursing her on I-35. It was quite stressful at the time, but we made it!)

It was worth the drive because we had a great time with my sister and her family. Seeing Ella interact with Hutson (2) and Bailey (10), it reminded me why I want a big family and little siblings for Ella. They are precious. Just the fact that Ella can sit up now next to Hutson was the cutest thing. They both just stare at each other and study what the other is doing. Hutson would touch and point to all her different body parts..."hair", "toes", "eyes".....he is most intrigued with her hair, but who isn't?!? He loved "reading" to her.....and pushing her on the swing!

More girly-ness....

Now that we have discovered a new hairstyle for Ella, she often wears it that way to daycare and all her teachers think she looks so cute! I love how it spikes on top!

Make-up anyone? Ella will get into anything that is within reach! Now when I put her on the bathroom cabinet, I have to move everything out of the way, otherwise, it ends up in the sink or on the floor. She saw me digging into my makeup bag the other morning so she wanted some for herself! One day she'll learn that mascara goes on the eyes, not in the mouth!