this weekend....

...we puckered up to kiss our baby....

...and admired ella's gorgeous blue eyes....

...we played in mommy's shower....

...going in....and coming out....over and over again.....

...we sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather....

...and enjoyed the feel of grass between our toes....

....we pointed at lots of airplanes....

...we played with leaves....

...and ate just a few....

....we are looking forward to next weekend and more sunny days....

quick trip to Austin...

This weekend Ella and I made a quick trip to Austin to celebrate both my mom and my brother-in-law's birthdays! We had fun but my hands were full pretty much all weekend so I didn't get many pictures. Ella was stuck to me like glue! Seriously!!

She liked Bailey and Hutson's little rocking chair! She fit perfectly.

Up WAY too late at the BBQ. She didn't want to miss the party so she was a trooper and stayed up late with the rest of us!

Curls, curls, and more curls! Maybe its the weather, but Ella's hair has been really curly all weekend. We slept with the humidifier last night and she woke up with gorgeous curls this morning!

10 months!

It's hard to believe another month has passed us by, but this weekend my baby ella turned 10 months old! She woke up on her 10-month birthday very moody and not a happy girl. She is getting over a double ear-infection, so maybe her ears were bothering her or maybe her teeth, who knows. I wanted to get a cute picture of her, but in order for her not to cry, she needed her paci in her mouth, and her brushes in each hand. Needless to say, I put the camera away for the rest of the day...she was not having it! Today, however, she woke up as her normal happy self and we had a great day!

Just a few fun things about ella right now....


1. She's so TALL! I can tell she is growing and growing because it seems that every day she is able to reach something else up on the counter or the shelf or whatever it may be. She is into everything, and although I believe in keeping my house as is and letting her learn her boundaries, I've had to make a few changes over the weekend. It has been exhausting because it feels like in every room of my house there is at least ONE thing that I don't want her to get into. And of course, that is her FAVORITE thing in the entire room! So...if I want to get something done other than standing in her way, moving her away from it, etc. I needed to make some changes. In the picture below, one of the changes was clearing out ALL of the paperwork on the shelf in my office. Now its empty and I don't mind if she plays there all day long!

2. she is SO loving! Below is her favorite baby doll and she gives her kisses all the time. It often looks like CPR, but really, its kisses...and LOTS of them! And she gives mommy kisses all the time too and they are the yummiest kisses. Sometimes when daddy asks for a kiss she crawls over to mommy and gives me a kiss instead! :)
3. ella loves to play at the top of the stairs! Of course we put a baby gate at the top, but once again, that is her favorite place to play. The worst thing is that she loves to stand at the top and shake the gate as hard as she can. I feel like I need a gate to keep her away from the gate...

4. ella loves music and is perfecting her own little way of dancing. As soon as I turn the music on, her body starts moving... Early on she would just rock back and forth, but within the past week she has started twising from side to side. It's a little hard to tell in the pictures but I caught her in action below!

5. she's doing great with finger food! Tonight she had green beans and mango and didn't stop eating until every single bite was gone! I still have some homemade baby food that I'm trying to finish up, but otherwise ella is 100% on finger food. Kiwi is one of her new favorites! (She has 3 teeth...2 top and 1 bottom)

6. she is a mama's girl! "mama" is really the only word we hear (besides lots of babbling), but I hear it all the time and mostly when she's upset, tired, or hungry! She wants to be with me all the time or at least know where I am and stay very close. But, she does great with Michael too, and even better if I'm not around. This weekend the two of them got to spend some quality time together while I went to a wedding with a girlfriend.
7. she's starting to throw little fits. In our living room, once again, her favorite thing to play with are the glass doors on our TV stand. She wants to sit there in front of them banging them open and closed, then pulling up on them, etc. This is the first thing we are really trying to tell her "no" for and trying to keep her away. This weekend she has started getting mad, arching her back, etc. when I take something from her and/or tell her no and then move her away. Or, she just laughs and acts silly when I say "no". Stinker! She's very strong-willed and stubborn too....it's just more personality shining through! I do love her determination! :)

8. on the opposite spectrum of throwing fits, ella has a cute little laugh that she has started doing quite often. It sounds like a fake laugh but she does it when she gets excited and/or when she hears others laugh. She'll join right in on the conversation. You can hear it on the most recent video I posted!

I can't say enough how much fun we are having! We're blessed with a happy girl who is full of smiles, laughs, and kisses and she brings that to us every single day!

It's tax season, so we're learning how to balance it all but so far so good. We're already in March, and April 15 is right around the corner!

Laundry basket fun!

check out a new video of Ella that Michael took this weekend while he was home with her. You can hear the sweet laugh that she's been doing a lot of lately!

www.youtube.com/perkinsmegan

Thank you Aunt Doris and family!

Ella was home sick today (and yesterday), so it was such a fun surprise to get a package in the mail! Ella loves her Easter book!

Thank you so much! We miss you guys!

Top teeth and big smiles!

A picture update!

I LOVE being the mommy of a 9 month old (almost 10)! Life is busy but OH SO WONDERFUL! I just look at Ella and can't even believe the love I have for her. She is such a perfect little girl. Today her and I went to a baby shower and so many people commented on how good she is and asked if she is always that good. The answer is YES! We are so blessed. Tax season is in full swing so Michael has been really busy which means lots of mommy/daughter time for me and Ella. We've missed having daddy home more often, but we have managed to keep ourselves very busy as well!

We've had lots of playdates...Ella and Addie are getting big and interact so well together. They are used to playing together at daycare and I think they remember each other when we get together outside of school.









We've had lots of fun trips to the park and even managed to steal daddy away from the office for one of our park playdates!





I love this picture below...look how dirty her knees are! These pants are ruined after that one trip to the park! But what can you do!?!





Ella's favorite toy is her walker...she loves it and I definitely think she'll be walking before her 1st birthday! It's so cute to watch this little person push it all over the place!




We had a surprise visit from Papa on Friday night...Ella and Jake were looking out the front door waiting for his arrival.







Tonight we got to see the Moreno's and it was so funny because any time Michael or I were holding Sofia, Ella would come right over to either me or Michael and wouldn't leave our side until Sofia was given back to her mommy. A little jealousy maybe?? :)

This picture below cracks me up the way Ella is sitting next to Michael with her hand on his leg...it looks like she is "claiming" her daddy.

And, some fun times with mommy....

Yummy kisses! She kept grabbing my face with both hands and just coming right at me with her mouth wide open!