playing hooky...

Today my mom, my sister, Bailey, Hutson, Ella and myself ALL played hooky and went to the ZOO! We had so much fun and the weather was perfect. Ella's favorites were watching the baby monkey swing from the ropes and watching the hippos and fish in the water!

this is the only view we could get of the hippos....

words.

Ella is definitely learning some words and it's so fun! Last week I was working SO hard with her to say "mama" and she would never even make the "m" sound. But, she sort of started saying "baba" (ie. baby) and so then I switched modes and started really working on baby and no longer saying mama as much. Well, now this morning, she started crawling towards me saying "mama", "mom", and "mamama". SO sweet! She loves me and knows my name! :)

She's also cutting her first tooth and was not very happy about it yesterday. She wouldn't let me put her down...tears would start immediately, but would stop the second I picked her up. You can see the tooth coming through the gums...I guess she decided to say my name right now when she really needs my comfort. ;)

9 months!

Ella checked out great at the doctor today! She is growing...right on track!

Weight: 20 pounds, 6 ounces (75th percentile)

Height: 30 inches (>95th percentile)

The doctor told us that around 9 months, babies develop an attitude! Yes, we have noticed. But what a sweet little girl she is! So loving, so sweet, and so happy. We are so very blessed and the days just keep getting better!

Her 9 month birthday fell on Valentine's day so we had fun with her home photo shoot. She absolutely will not sit still, so trying to get a "planned and somewhat posed" photo is impossible. Oh well...it's fun to try! :)

I couldn't resist posting this picture of her pruney bathtub feet! :)

Happy 9-months baby girl! we love you! Yeah, I can't believe you're already 9-months, but what I REALLY can't believe is that your 1st BIRTHDAY is just 3 months away!!!

first word?!?

This morning Ella was LOVING playing with two of her baby dolls. She was laughing with them, kissing them, and carrying them around with her. I kept repeating "baby", trying to get her to say it, and she said it after me 2-3 times! I'm counting this as her first word! I have some of it on video tape, but its too long to post...

She always says da da da da and ba ba ba ba, but she hasn't repeated a word so clearly for me before. I've really been working with her to say "ma ma", but instead she always repeats "da da". :) She knows her baby, because whenever I say "kiss your baby" she does.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hugs & Kisses from Ella Pearl...........

Best friends and twinkies!

Ella and Addie....just chillin' at daycare. They love seeing each other every day and wearing matching outfits. (Well....they love it ALMOST as much as their moms do!) ;)

This is the smile you get after 13 hours of uninterrupted sleep, 4 nights in a row!!!

Check out my new hair-do...a single pony tail!

A regular occurence.

• 5:00 dinner at El Mirasol with The Brown's...


• salsa, chips and margaritas...


• good food...


• great conversation...


• cute kids...


• lots of laughs...


• pennies in the fountain...


• can't wait for next time!

Bathtime fun with the alphabet!

For Christmas, Ella got a whole package of bathtime letters to play with. She loves to chew on them during her bath and makes sure she has one in her mouth at all times while she continues playing with other things. It must feel good on her teethless gums! Look at those waves!

Fun with friends

With it being the winter time and having four little kids, it's been hard for us to all be healthy enough to hang out together, but tonight we finally got to spend some time with the Boerckel's and the Brown's. The kiddos were so cute as always and loved hanging out on the swings.

Swinging in sync with Drew...

The higher you push, the more she laughs! (This picture scares me just a bit though. Of course, Daddy was pushing her!)

Next was dinner time....chicken, asparagus, and mango for Ella. Peas and cereal for Addie. Yummy!!

And now bathtime! Ella had her very first bubble bath! And her first bath with friends! She wasn't so sure of it but I think she would have warmed up to it if it wasn't also for the fact that she was exhausted! Carter, however, was SUCH a good boy! Megan asked him to be very careful since he was taking a bath with two babies, and I've never seen a 2-year old sit so still! Thank you Carter for taking it easy on Ella!

After bathtime Ella got to try out Addie's walker...she enjoyed it and sort of got the hang of moving her feet, but Addie is a star and can walk all over the house in it!

The traditional picture with our little girls!

Silly sleeper...

When Ella started sleeping on her tummy, she also started sitting up in her crib ALL the time! She sits up but then doesn't know what to do in order to lay herself back down, no matter how tired she is! If she fusses a little, we'll go in her room to lay her down, but if she doesn't fuss, we leave her alone to see if she will fall asleep on her own. Usually she'll play with her paci's for 5-10 minutes and then let us know she's ready to go to sleep and we'll go lay her back down. This weekend, however, she was very content in her crib, so we left her alone and watched her on the video monitor while she would fall asleep in some pretty awkard positions! :)

This one isn't too bad...she seems fairly comfortable...notice the pacifier in each hand and in her mouth!


I know babies are flexible, but this can't be comforable! She has a thing with putting her head in the very corner of her bed. She does it every night. When she slept in the bassinet, she would rub her face against the side and get as close as she could. I guess it gives her comfort to be snuggled up against something. I love that about her.