She's so clever

We have moved Ella's "toy box" aka the pink bin, from her room into the living room so her toys are near her play area. Yesterday, she got bored with the toys we had out for her and crawled over to her toy box. She tried to pull herself up, but the hardwood floors are slippery and she couldnt stay up on her knees, so she pulled the bin over so she could see the toys and get them out herself. She's so clever!









And then she proceeded to spread out all her toys so she was surrounded.



And after all that, she decided she was bored and went back to her original toys, and then mom got to clean up after her!

To cut or not to cut, that is the question

I am having a hard time deciding whether or not I want to cut Ella's hair. It is getting so long and is hanging in her eyes, but I can't bring myself to have it cut. She is only 9 months old, who needs a hair cut at 9 months old???

The sides are not long enough to tuck behind her ears yet, so unless I put barretts in her hair it hangs in her eyes.





The joy of her long hair is that she has the most awesome morning hair!!! She is going to hate me for this one day, but c'mon, how great is her hair in the morning??





So, for now, I am letting it to grow, but I don't know how long I will be able to do that. I can't believe how fast her hair is growing, plus the longer it gets the curlier it gets and those curls are so cute!

Ella's first overnight

Brandon and I had a wedding this weekend, so Ella had her first overnight with Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Terry. She did really good, much better than I did I think! When my parents pulled out of our driveway with her, I cried. It was the first time she was not with one of us overnight, and it was really hard for me to watch her drive away without us. I think I called my parents 3 or 4 times to check in on her, but there was no need. She was just fine! Once I heard that she had gone to bed for the night I found it a bit easier to relax and have fun at the wedding. We have 2 more weddings over the next month, so she will have two more overnights, one with Brandon's parents and one with her god parents. It is so nice to have so many people around who want to spend time with her when we can't!

Here are some pics from out first weekend away.....it was a fun wedding!

We have a crawler.......

Ella crawled last night!! She was playing with her new activity station (thanks Aunt Darcy) and when I moved it over, she got on her hands and knees and crawled to it!! It wasn't very far for her to go, but she crawled! Brandon and I were so excited. She only crawled a little bit today when she was at daycare, so we haven't seen it again yet, but we know it will get more and more frequent. Go Ella!

Bye Bye Aunt Kelli

My sister Kelli moved out of state this weekend, so Ella and I went over to see her and say goodbye. Kelli took Ella to her work to show her off to the office, she is so the proud aunt! Then we took Ella out for dinner, and she was very well behaved! Kelli fed her a bottle and we tried to put her down for bed.....







But, 20 minutes later Ella was still awake and not wanting anything to do with bed time. I think she just wanted more Aunt Kelli time so we got her up and played for another 1/2 hour. Ella had so much fun playing and found the strings on Aunt Kelli's shirt especially entertaining. She sucked/chewed on them for close to the entire 1/2 hour she was awake, so needless to say they were soaked and Aunt Kelli had to change.







On Saturday, my parents came over and helped pack up all the stuff and load it into the Uhaul trailer. Aunt Kelli was able to take a break from packing up to play with Ella before we left. Such an adorable picture of them both!



I am going to miss my sister so much I can't even begin to put it into words, but I am so excited for her new opportunities. We are going to learn how to Skype so she and Ella can still see eachother, and we will make sure we visit as much as we can! Good luck Kell, we love you!

9 months

Nine months......I cannot believe it has been nine months since I had Ella. I am experiencing a mix of emotions about this. I am so excited to watch her learn new things and grow, but I am so sad that she is growing up so fast. I miss my baby girl, but I love this little girl she is becoming.

She has mastered feeding herself finger foods, and is doing good work with the sippy cup. She used the sippy cup as a toy the first few times I gave it to her, but now she is a pro.



She is getting so close to crawling. For the past 3 weeks she has been getting up on her hands and knees, the last 2 weeks she been rocking back and forth, last week she started crawling backwards, but when she moves her hands to go forward she face plants. Gotta give her credit though, she keeps trying! This past weekend she took a few movements forward with her hands and knees before she fell, so we are getting closer by the day!











This is the most recent development, she gets her butt up in the air and walks her feet forward. I love how she is up on those tippy toes!







She is starting to learn so many other things too, like copying mom and dad. She will clap when we do, wave when we do, hit her hand on the table when we do, and when we shake her rattle or bang her rings together she takes it from us and does the same. People don't give babies enough credit, they are so smart! We have her 9 month doctor's appointment next week, and nine month pics as well. Busy week for Miss Ella!!

Ella's first camping trip

Two weekends ago, we took Ella on her first camping trip. My parents bought a new camper and we wanted to try it out. It is actually a house on wheels, it has a bathroom, kitchen with stove and microwave, indoor and outdoor showers, sleeps nine, and has central air. Not really the kind of camping I grew up with, but a great way to ease into camping with an infant. Plus, it was one of the hottest weekends of the summer so the air conditioning was wonderful. Ella had a great time, she loved spending time outside and being with grandma and grandpa. The campground had a pool so she got to go swimming too!

Ella spent a lot of time chillin with grandpa and grandma. She was so content to sit on grandpa or grandma's lap and look around.





Brandon started a fire to cook lunch, and Ella was so mesmorized by the fire that she turned her head wherever we were so she could see the fire. When she first caught sight of it, she was sitting with grandma, and kept peeking around her to see it.



Eventually we moved closer to the fire, even though it was 90 degrees out, and took some pictures by the fire.





Ella hung out with dad and grandpa for most of the afternoon, staring at the fire. It was a nice break for me and gave me a chance to catch up with my mom.



Brandon has been traveling a lot for work the past month, so Ella got some quality daddy time. We got to use the bjorn, for only the second time ever, and took Ella for a walk. Brandon looks pretty excited doesn't he?



The humidty disappeared on Sunday and it was a bit chilly in the morning. It was nice to feel a little chilly though after all the heat and humidty that we had the week before.



And although I think she was sad to be headed home, she sure looked happy in her car seat!



So, Ella's first camping trip was a success! I am hoping we can take her one more time with my parents this year before it gets too cold. Maybe next year Brandon and I will be brave enough to take her tent camping like we did before we had her. We shall see!!