Olive Garden

I have always felt fortunate that Ella is a good eater, and I think we have a rare little 2 year old who generally will eat whatever is fed to her.  It is odd, too, because she can have a great deal of stubborn-ness in her but chooses to save it for other battles. (diaper changes, bed time, picking up toys, etc) :)

Last night was just crazy!!  Derek, Ella and I went to Olive Garden to eat. Ella ate salad the entire time she was there. She ate about 3 plates of lettuce, tomato, cheese and croutons! She didn't care about the entrees Derek and I tried to feed her, she just kept right on eating her salad and a nibble or two off her breadstick. She can be such a little grown up!

Update on Baby

We had our ultrasound yesterday! I am so happy to hear Baby is looking healthy and perfect! Heart rate was 159 and weighing roughly 7 ounces. It was so fun to to take a peek (most likely the last) before it's arrival. Things have sure changed since our last pregnancy.... they sent us home with a CD of 20 pictures and 2 short video clips. Some of my favorites are below:

Watching the 4 chambers of the baby's heart:

Looking at baby's perfectly round little belly:

Baby looks pretty comfy in there with legs crossed!



"Why?"

This conversation literally happened 15 times today:

<insert command from mother to child>
E: "Why?"
H: *silence*
E: "Because, Mom?"
H: "Yes, because."

I plan to ride out this train as long as I can before I have to start thinking of excuses.

Fast Forward 20 Years

My only comfort (or "lovey") when I was little was a set of cloth diapers that I would use as a blankie to carry around and suck on. These things were literally rags by the time I was finished with them. A few months ago, my Mom brought one of them to my house that she was ready to get rid of. Low and behold, it has become one of Ella's favorite dolly blankets!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Our Christmas was absolutely awesome this year, we all really enjoyed the company and Ella loved tearing open presents. In addition to our own gift opening and breakfast, we were able to make it to 4 other Christmases this year. (Half in part to Ella becoming really easy to travel with and half because things just fell together nicely this year.) Christmas always makes me realize how awesome her grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends all are.... all year round.

We have 3 new additions to our family!

"Shaniqua:" This baby dolly eats plastic food! Continuous feeding and no mess, hooray!

 "Abby:" This puppy walks, barks, and wags its tail. Its hilarious chasing Ella with it using its little remote!

"Emmy:" This baby (who Ella wanted to name "Charlotte") likes to eat, drink, and go potty!



Funny Conversations

(In the car on the way home from work/daycare)

Me: *Yawn*

Ella: “You tired, Mom?”

Me: “Yes, Mommy’s tired.”

Ella: “You want Mimi?” (handing her up to the front of the car)

You know you're loved when Ella is willing to lend you Mimi!

------------------------------------------------------------------

Me: “Did you see baby puppies at Jenise’s today?”

Ella: “Yeah!”

Me: “Really? What color were they?”

Ella: “Green!”

"I Want a Kiss!"

Last night, Ella and I were talking on the phone to Derek who has been away deer hunting. Ella listened intently to the call, and actually held the phone up to her ear.  You could tell she really missed her Daddy. After our "love yous," "miss yous," and "Goodnights," we hung up.

Not a minute went by and Ella, seemingly disatisfied with the farewell, shouted "I want a kiss!" while looking at her phone. We dialed Derek back up, and Ella and Derek kissed there phones back and forth several times with another round of "Love You," "Miss You," and "Good Night."
SO CUTE!

Getting Anxious for Santa

An Apology Nearing Supper Time

Derek: "Ella, go tell Mom you're sorry."
Ella: "Sorry Mom...." *hug*
Hether: "Are you sorry for being naughty?"
Ella: "Yeah. I'm sorry. I want chicken."

Updates on All!

Derek has been gearing up for deer hunting season this coming weekend. He is so anxious to get on the road, although he doesn't leave until Thursday night. He's due for a weekend away! We have a few things planned during his absence but will definitely be thinking of him non-stop.

Ella has really started making me laugh this week. Our roles have swapped as parent vs child. She has started to get a really condescending tone to some of the things she'll say. Like immediately after Derek accidentally burned his hand on a hot plate, she patronized him with "Dont touch...."  Or as she was slurping from my glass of water for 5 minutes, she must have sensed I was growing impatient with her shenanigans. She looked at me matter-of-factly and said "Last time...." Or when I tell her she has 5 minutes until bedtime, she likes to remind me "5 minutes...." until the countdown is over. I'm just waiting for her to start wagging her finger at us like a teacher!

I had another OB appointment this week! Things are looking great, and we are a few short weeks away from (hopefully) finding out the gender. I am really starting to brainstorm nursery ideas! Other than a few headaches and backaches here and there, I have no complaints! This week has another milestone: I've been able to feel someone inside there. :)

Christmas Party

This weekend included a holiday party with several of our closest friends! It is an annual tradition to get together, have a big holiday meal, do a white-elephant gift exchange, and have a contest on who can find/wear the craziest Christmas sweater! Here are a couple pictures from the event:

 Derek was the winner of the Christmas Sweater contest (2nd year in a row)! He won a big basket of prizes.

Buried Treasures

This week's baby progrss includes a lot of time digging through all of our baby totes, mainly looking for maternity clothes, pregnancy books, and gender neutral baby items (burp clothes, pacifiers, bottles, blankets, etc). Ella thinks Christmas has come early!

She has been entertained by a box of bottles and pacifiers for 4 days now, trying to find lids that fit the bottles and walking around with a pacifier in her mouth laughing. It is SO cute seeing her use her old bibs and blankets on her dollies. Big sister in training!

This One's for Gma Kathy

Ella: "I want apple juice."
Me: "No, drink your water"
Ella: "Why?"
Me: "Because you just asked for water so I that's what it's filled with."
Ella: "Why?"
Me: "Because."
Ella: "Why? (pause) Why? (pause) Why?"

Making Progress

Up until this week, I wasn't sure if Ella would ever understand the "new baby" concept. But now, I think things are finally clicking!

• She stopped looking under Daddy's shirt to find his baby.
• 2 nights ago, she and I were rocking in the chair. After talking about the baby for a couple minutes, we returned back to the TV. Randomly, she leaned down and kissed my belly, and returned back to our show!
• Tonight, at supper, Ella randomly pointed at me and said "Baby in there?" She had not forgotten since our last conversation!

Ella's Pals!

We had several friends over Saturday night to watch a movie and play cards! This is always fun because there are many little girls running around and Ella gets so excited. In one instance, the little ones all happened to be awake and in good moods so we piled them onto the couch for a picture!! This is the best picture I could get in 6 1/2 seconds. LOL

L to R: Alee, Evelyn, Ella, Charlotte, Mackenzie

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree!

Helping Daddy put up the tree!



Thanksgiving

We had such a fun (and LONG) Thanksgiving this year!

Part I: Thankgiving day was spent at our house with the Cozarts! We had a nice crowd.  Derek was most excited to fry his turkey this year for the first time. It was definitely a success!

Part II: Thanksgiving night we celebrated in Jesup with some fantastic lasagna! We enjoyed the meal with Derek's parents, and our friends Brian and Steph. Ella had a special treat that night getting to stay overnight with Gma and Gpa!

Part III: Black Friday shopping! This was my first time ever doing it. Technically, we started the night at 10:30 pm and finally got home around 12:30 that afternoon. There were several times I couldn't help but think, "Are we crazy?" Derek and I would both agree that the highlight of the trip was picking out two recliners for our living room. One is labeled his "football chair." The other is my "baby rocking chair." :)

Part IV: Getting our Christmas tree! We met up with Ella and Gma and Gpa to find our perfect Christmas tree. We then enjoyed a quick meal laughing about Ella's shenanigans in Jesup, and then happily went to bed for the next 12 hours. 

All in all, it was a lot of fun and worth the memories.

Mythbusters

Ella has had a cold for the last week. Fortunately, she is past the point where she needs any kind of medicine and she is in much better spirits.  However, the last two nights she has not been able to fall asleep without a continous cough. I decided to try a suggestion I had heard somewhere: Vick's vapor rub on her feet! I applied it gently so that I didn't stir her and, of course, put her socks back on because she likes warm feet at night. :) Literally, 2 minutes later she was as quiet as a mouse for the rest of the night! Victory is sweet.

The Secret is Out!

Perhaps by now, youve heard the news: we're expecting baby #2! The due date is May 28th and we are so excited. Here are some highlights of my first trimester:

• I had a healthy dose of nausea and exhaustion for several weeks, similar to what I had with Ella. It also started to pass at 11 weeks, also similar to last time!
• 1 very brief food craving: bacon
• Food aversion: broccoli 
• A nice heart-rate and ultrasound at the last appointment
• The differences from my last pregnancy all involve Ella's partcipation. I now have a companion when I want to:
• take a nap
• eat a graham cracker/peanut butter snack after work
• go to the bathroom every 2 hours

Noone's Birthday

This weekend, Ella sang "Happy Birthday" literally 60 times. (And fairly in tune!) We have no idea where this came from, nor did we celebrate any birthdays this weekend. 

It started with her serenading the vaccuum salesperson that was at my Mom's house this weekend. Then she sang it to Grandma. Others include Brian, Lindsay, and Charlotte. Such a random, hilarious choice if you're going to burst into song!

Dads Deer

This is Derek.  I am no longer a blog virgin, please bear with me as I attempt to type.  The pics are of dads deer he shot in the same stand I shot my buck this year.  Here's the breakdown:  He was hunting on my friend Brians Dad's ground on a river close to where we live.  He hit the deer around 4:45pm on Sunday Nov13.  Dad called me in a frenzied panic saying he had hit the biggest buck he had ever shot at.  Brian and Steph happened to be at our house so I employed Brian to go with me to help track.  We met Trista and Jeff there with dad and began the long search.  We tracked for 3 hrs last night until we jumped the deer from its bed and ran off.  We backed out and Dad and I both took today off to go looking this morning again.  We searched for another 2 hrs today and when we almost lost all hope, I stumbled upon him bedded down in some tall grass.  He was already expired, and I soon realized he was well worth the 5 hrs of tracking it took to find him.  This is Dad's 2nd ever bow buck, first bow deer in over 26 years.  Needless to say, he will look good on the wall.  I would like to thank Ella and mommy for the good luck with the pink camo jammies last night!  Grandpa was very grateful.

"Mom! Mom!! MOM!!!!"

"Mom. Mom! Mom! Mom. Mom! Mom! MOM! MOM!!!"

"What?"

"I want a kiss."

Once in a while, kids know how to say just the right thing at the right time! Even if its right in the middle of hanging Christmas lights on the roof. lol

Counting

I never get tired of listening to Ella count to ten. She does it several times a day, and today she blasted it through the aisles of Menards:

One!
Two!
Three!
Five!
Six!
Steppin! :)
Eight!
Nine!
Ten!

Note: she always leaves out the number 4.

Pop Rocks

The other night, Ella was looking for a little treat before bed time. Normally a cup of milk will do it. This particular night, I found a bag full of goodies from a birthday party we recently attended and rummaged through the toys and treats! When i saw a little bag of pop rocks, I instantly smiled and opened them up.

Have you ever had pop rocks? They're those little particles of sugar that make noise when you put them on your tongue, and they feel like they're jumping all around your mouth. Watching Ella try it was HILARIOUS! She had her hands over her mouth and a sour look on her face as she squinted her eyes and smiled. Then of course she had to share it with her Daddy. So funny!

Sleeping Buck

Derek brought home a buck tonight from bow-hunting season! Him, Mike, Jeff, and Brian all helped get it here. If Ella asks, the deer is sleeping."Shh, quiet!"

Ready to Go!

Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture?

Ella, let me be more clear. Get your OWN shoes on. :)

Knock him out!

This is what I heard at 6:30 this morning in response to a little scrape on Ella's cheek that she received from a boy at daycare:

Derek: "Next time he touches you, knock him out!"
Ella: "Knock him out!" (as she throws her hand in the air)

I couldn't help but laugh. :)

It's a Celebration

Fact: It took exactly 791 days for Ella to FINALLY get over the vaccuum. I was finally able to accomplish this feat without tears, Derek holding her, or making her go upstairs. Hip hip, hooray!

Finally, an update!

We hope everyone enjoyed Halloween as much as our house did! Ella was Abby Cadabby (the fairy from Sesame Street). She was loaded up with goodies from her grandparents, families, neighbors, friends, day care buddies, and everywhere else we visited! We celebrated both Sunday and Monday. E was in heaven! I have to admit that making her costume this year was well worth the time so that she could be one of her favorite characters.

Other updates:

• E has been working hard on her numbers and letters! Ella loves singing the alphabet and does pretty good with it!
• We had a slumber party with Jada this past Saturday night! The highlights included a dinner out, a spontaneous purchase from Daddy/Uncle Derek to buy 2 more fish for our tank, a wild bath with finger paint and tub crayon art all over the walls, and of course dressing up to trick or treat!
• I came home with a speed warning and Derek came home with a speeding ticket, both in the same night!
• The wait is over--we FINALLY have a ceiling fan in our room upstairs! Yay for being able to open my closet door all the way without a standing fan in front of it!!

Pumpkins!!

More pumpkin carving! Our house isn't big enough for 6 adults, 3 kids, 2 crazy dogs and a cat!

 Heide's pumpkin free-handed!

Timber!

We have one less tree in our yard after this weekend!  Derek was not a fan of our oriental cherry tree, and he also thought there was something wrong with it. Derek and his dad spent Saturday cutting it down and clearing out the area! (And Grandma and Ella spent the day going for wagon rides and picking raspberries!)  It looks so different without a tree there, but there are plans to replant in the spring.

Changes at the Dinner Table

We always have a routine getting ready for supper. Just as we start dishing up the food, Ella's job is to go find her cup and climb into her high chair and wait for us to bring her plate.

Tonight, she had a surprise for us! I walked into the dining room and found her waiting in Daddy's chair grinning ear to ear. I stopped in my tracks when I looked to her left; Minnie Mouse occupied the high chair She was perfectly set in there just like a little person! Ella was so proud!

Pumpkins!

Our walk tonight got rained out unexpectedly as we were walking out the door! Instead, we decided to carve up our pumpkins.

Seat Stealer!!!

It never fails, she will always take your seat!!

Funny Little Parrot

Ella has been so funny lately repeating word-for-word what someone says to her. Sometimes, it sounds so goofy when she is saying it to someone else. Some of those instances include:

"Bye bye pumpkin!" (to her Grandpa)
"Ni-night tootie!" (to her Daddy)
"Nice pizza!" (saying "Nice to meet ya")

Countdown

Ella: "One...Two...Three...Five!"

These are the words you'll hear from Ella just as she's about to jump off something. Luckily, she isn't much of a daredevil yet so it's usually either her footstool or one step from the floor. Either way, I come running in panic when I hear that countdown!

Goodbye, Summer!

We enjoyed one last spontaneous vacation day to take advantage of great weather and pretty leaves! First, we made a lunch date with Grandma Betty!

Next, we went to the Gays Mills apple orchard for apples, cider slush, and pumpkins. Our next stop took us back to Pike's Peak for a hike.

We grabbed a famous "Tumit Burger" (I'm sure I spelled that wrong!) and then we made the long jaunt back home!!

Ella's Very First Interview

Me: "Ella, what did you do today? Did you play?"
Ella: "Mmmm....no!"
Me: "Did you eat lunch?"
Ella: "Mmmm...no!"
Me: "Did you rock your babies?"
Ella; "Mmmm...no!"
Me: "Did you see Ev and Charlotte?"
Ella: "Mmmm...no!"

Vocabulary Update

A few of my favorite words right now:

"I want diss" - I want a kiss!
"Rid it" - Ribbit
"Gocker" - Oscar
"Peas" - Please
"Dozie!" - Come do "Ring around the Rosie" with me!

Redemption

This morning's church service was one for the memory books. We spent the entire service in the balcony trying to keep Ella quiet. She was pretty well behaved, but quite chatty....lots of things to talk about. At one point, I handed Ella a book. She gasped loudly and shrieked "COOKIE!" (at the Cookie Monster cover). Another time, Derek whispered "Let's be quiet," and Ella yelled back "You be quiet!" Both times, Derek and I were doing everything we could to stop giggling and try to regain composure.
We breathed a sigh of relief as we got to the end of service. The pastor and all of our congregation said the final worlds in unison: "Thanks be to God." An abrupt moment of silence filled the room as Ella yelled, "Thank you God!" The entire balcony turned around in awe that she just said that, and instantly fell in love with her. Many followed us out to tell us what a precious moment that was.

Ella, my dear, thank you for redeeming yourself.

Garden Enhancements

We got a very generous upgrade to our garden this past week. Grandma Kathy gave us 5 nice plants to add to our sad little garden! It looks 1000 times better already. We are hoping for a nice blooming garden next year!!

Future Career Path

The mechanics at Everett's Service better watch out! Ellie is already working on her mechanic skills.

A Bug's Life

We had an unwelcome visitor tonight in our yard, a praying mantis! He was in our driveway and I covered him with a vase so Ella could get close. Gross!!

Happy Girl

Ella was out of control tonight. I have never seen anyone happier than she was. I'm not sure if she was sugared up, or goofy-tired, but she was SO darn playful and full of laughs tonight as we were trying to wind down for bed. I couldn't get her to take anything serious. We had a lot of laughs watching her literally falling over from giggling so hard.

Potato Hunt

Is there anything cuter than watching two little toddlers celebrating the discovery of potatoes? Ella and her sweet little neighbor, Carter, had a BLAST hunting for potatoes while Derek dug them up. They were yelling "tato!" and "bucket!" as they were gathering their crop. So, so cute. Who says you can't have an easter egg hunt in the fall! :)

Ode to Motherhood

If you see any mothers walking around with a mouth shaped peanut butter smudge on the shoulder of their shirt, please give her a break. :)

Vocabulary Update

We are getting a kick out of Ella as she tries new words and phrases. She's getting so good with her talking but everything ends with a "t."

"I want downt!"
"Get upt!"
"Runt!"
"Grovert"
"Here's your chint!"
"Tonguet!"
"Stopt!"

Harvest

We are enjoying our home grown harvest! Although our tomatoes are slowing down, we have a pile of potatoes ready to be cooked and had our first sweet potato squash tonight with supper. Yum!

Dr. Ella

Lately, Ella has taken a very active interest in owies. Any time she sees the littlest owie on someone (cut, hangnail, pimple....) she grabs it with both hands, gives it a thorough inspection and says "what haaaapened?" Then she tilts her head, says "ooooowie" and gives it a big ole smooch.

Maybe we have a future doctor or nurse on our hands!

Mini-Mom & Mini-Dad

Some of the best moments of parenting involve watching your own traits come out in the wonderful little person you're raising.

It is comical to see Ella eat her favorite fruit at the speed of 1 raspberry/second. Definitely Derek's baby!

It is so sweet to see her get out of the bathtub, get in her fleece pajamas, ask to have her towel wrapped around her, and another fleece blanket on top of that while she lays on top of me. Her and her mom can never be too warm!

Abort the Icee

Mark my words.... I will never give Ella the last of my Icee again!

I gave her the bottom of my drink as we were grocery shopping. After the sugar settled in, she wanted out of the cart. I was literally running down the aisle after her----she was out of control. She was sprinting in the other direction, hair blowing, cheeks jiggling, shreaking like a pterodactyl all the while carrying a big can of sweet potatoes and giggling hysterically. She was running so fast she couldn't even stop.  There should be a warning label on Icee drinks.

Sparkly Sparkly Sparkly

Ella: "Woooooooow! Pretty!" (as she watches me put on my sparkly flats for work)

I'd like to think Ella has really good taste in shoes.... not that I wear shoes that belong in the children's department.

"Mom! Mom!! MOM!!!!"

"Mom! Mom!!! MOM!!!!" I heard as I was doing the dishes. I dashed across the house to discover my little cliffhanger in need of a rescue.

Three's Company

Something we have NEVER done is let Ella sleep in our bed. This is purely to Derek's credit, because I've tried getting away with it when E is sick or when a thunderstorm is coming because I don't mind the company. =)

To my surprise, Derek let Ella stay in bed with us at the hotel......... we were all one big happy family that night sleeping comfortably in a huge king bed. This is a picture of us starting off sleeping soundly.

It only lasted until about 1am. Derek described the sleeping situation similar to below:



I was very sad to see her go in the pack and play, but I couldn't really blame him (although I think he might've been exhaggerating a little bit).

Please don't be jealous of my Paint skills.

A Trip to the Zoo

We enjoyed a brief little getaway to Minnesota this past weekend. Besides some shopping and hotel swimming, the highlight was the zoo! We had a great time, wonderful weather, and had a lot of furry visitors against the window saying hello!

This was the wolf Ella was calling Tucker (confusing him with a massive family labradoodle)

 Ella was yelling "WOW!" and gasping constantly during the dolphin show.

 Funny ole bear

 Another window visitor!

 One of Ella's favorites - the monkeys!

Camels!

Seahorses!



CoOkIe FaIrY

2 nights ago, we let Ella take a bowl holding her half-eaten cookie bar upstairs to bed. Not a very frequent occurrance but she's gotten away with a lot the week of her birthday! She dozed off to sleep, and the next morning we went in to wake her up. Before she even opened her eyes, she whispered "coooookie...." She turned on her stomach and lifted up her pillow on a misson. There sat the bowl and half-eaten cookie bar. LOL! ....she is very possessive of her leftovers.

"Open!!"

Ella was so funny the night of her birthday party. As Derek and I were trying to clean up the house a little, she was going through every single gift she received. She would pick it up, sprint across the house to find one of us (hair blowing, cheeks jiggling) screaming "Opeeeeeeennnnnnnn!!!!" and wait patiently as we took it out of its wrapper or container.

A Very Happy Birthday

Ellie had a BLAST with her family and friends on Sunday! Thank you to everyone who came to "Elmoland" to celebrate her special day. Below is a picture of her with three of her best friends. :) We really couldn't ask for better families and friends.

Showing off our new umbrella and boots!



Rub a Dub Dub!

Rub a Dub Dub, we love playing with Jada in the tub!!

First Slumberparty

Tonight is Ella's first official slumber party....... with Jada! They have been chasing each other and screaming like little girls all night. We pretty much let them have the back yard, toy room, and upstairs all to themselves. They love the air matress on Ella's bedroom floor, too.  I remember having hundreds of slumber parties in the Boevers house growing up.... lots of fun childhood memories!!

Party Preparations

As we approach Ella's 2nd birthday party, we are starting to create one big "birthday" pile in a corner. Of all of the things strewn about.... presents, Elmo decorations, groceries, etc..... Ella could not keep her hands off of one item.  She knows exactly what is inside this box. Haha.

Growing Up Too Fast

I can't believe Ella will be 2 next week! I am amazed every day at how fast she is growing up.

She is already stealing her mama's shoes!

 She is already stealing money from Dad! (Note: cute baby courtesy of the Conners)

 She is already drafting her own fantasy football team!