Happy Memorial Day!

As we approach the last waking hour of our 3-day weekend, I smile thinking it was spent washing the dirt off of Ella's feet and scraping away at a mountain of dirty laundry. We spent the entire weekend outside, with the exception of nap times. We had three grillouts, 2 bonfires, 1 successful fishing trip, and a lawnmower race. The three of us had playdates with Jada, Kenzie, both sets of grandparents, and several adult friends. :) What more could we ask for?!



Bye Bye!

I have always enjoyed reading articles on infant/toddler development since E was born. They help me stay up-to-date with what children Ella's age should be doing and ideas on how to further their learning. And ideas for games, songs, and recipes are nice too. :)

One of the more interesting articles recently told me to start saying "Bye Bye" to different things around the house when you leave. So I started that this week on our way out the door at 7am.

"Bye bye kitchen! Bye bye table! Bye bye kittie! Bye Bye House! Bye Bye Car!" I would say as we left. The list went on and on. Ellie would smile at me (like i was crazy) and frantically wave at everything.

This morning (Day 5), I barely started putting on her coat when she started her goodbyes without me. "Bye bye kitty! Bye bye tup! (cup) Bye bye people! Bye bye beetza! (pizza)*"

And she shouted it all the way to the babysitters. So cute.

*Note: We did not have pizza for breakfast. I'm not sure where she thought she was seeing pizza. :)

E-I-E-I-O

I am so proud of my little sweetie pie. Tonight she learned how to sing E-I-E-I-O. She sang it over and over, even in the bath. It is so stinkin cute (and in tune!).

Singing is one of my favorite things to do with her. She can do hand motions to "The Wheels on the Bus" and "The Itsy Bitsy Spider." I can also get her to sing "A,B,C,D"  but nothing beyond those letters. "E-I-E-I-O" is my favorite performance of Ella's so far!

Sidenote: Let it be known I won a little bet with Derek about who was going to win American Idol. Derek is on cat box duty!!! Victory is sweet.

Looking Forward to a 3-day weekend!

We are looking forward to the upcoming 3-day weekend! There are a few things we have planned, but we cannot neglect the following:

1. Wash Mimi. Good Lord. I'm sick of people guessing what animal it is supposed to be.
2. Go fishing. Ella and I have not done it yet this year!

Organizer

With all of the recent storms we've been getting, our little firecracker has been staying busy reorganizing Mommy and Daddy's movie collection. And if there is a Melmo DVD, she will find it.

What It Takes To Be Ella's Grandpa

1. You have to give her treats. The good stuff. And lots of them.
2. You have to listen to her intently, and do everything she says.

3. You have to play with her, and only on her terms....which might mean
watching "Melmo" in a chair with her, Mimi, and two babies.

Rough Night

"Terrible Twos" + Teething Irritability = A warm seat on our time-out stool tonight.

Bad Habit

I have started a very bad habit teaching Ella to stick her finger in the peanut butter while we wait for our toast in the morning. Where is the undo button?

Mommy in the Making

Ella got to play "Mommy" ALL weekend. First, we hit the jackpot when we found a cradle for her dollies at a garage sale. She spends several minutes rearranging the bed until it is perfect. She is very finicky about how she makes their bed! She then tucks her babies in..........over and over and over again. She also shouts "Ni-night! Baby Ni-night!" at them to tell them its bedtime. It is so stinkin cute. She just loves playing Mommy with her babies.

 We also had a four-legged guest this weekend......Hank! Hank is a puggle who needs a little TLC when his own mommy is away. He gets pretty home-sick without her. Luckily Ella was very willing to take care of him. She is the dictator of all when he is around. She followed him around shouting "Stop!" and trying to make him eat his bone.
Ella doesn't quite know his size yet. She still tries to pick him up (see below). When I handed her Hank's leash this morning, Hank began walking briskly. Ella was bobbing behind him at full pace trying to keep up and unable to stop.. She is not quite big enough to walk him yet!

Suckers

This weekend, we were able to catch a few garage sales in Denver. At one particular garage sale, Ella found a swing and drug it around the garage. Everyone thought she was so funny which she enjoyed being the attention of. Every time we took it away or tried to redirect her attention, she refused to give up her swing. She wouldn't take "no" for an answer. We were firm and held our ground......adament we were not coming home with a swing.

We are a couple of suckers. Here is a picture of Ella in her new swing.

Ella the Worm-inator

Yesterday, we did a little digging in the dirt because our neighbor offered some flowers to us. We took a little intermission to discover and feel a worm for the first time!

And this is not gross. It's nature. :)

Unwanted Guest

4 Signs there is a raccoon living under your deck:

1. You hear loud squeals coming from underneath you while hanging out on the deck.

2. Your neighbor lady tells you something has been snooping in her garbage.

3. Something ate your lattice.

4. Something left a furball on your lattice.

And Then.....It Happened

By far, the most embarrassing Mommy moment to date:

It is generally a common occurance taking Ella into a public restroom with me. I change her first, then she waits patiently for me and away we go. A little over a week ago, we found ourselves in this situation. There we were in the bathroom stall. I was completely occupied as Ella began peeking under the neighboring stall. I whispered "No!" and she giggled and stood back up. "How embarrassing...." I thought to myself.

And then it happened.

Ella figured out how to open the stall door.

Mother's Day Weekend

After an amazing (and busy!) weekend, this Mama couldn't be happier.  I was smothered in kisses, swarmed with hugs, and smitten with “Lub you’s” from my little love. ♥ We also enjoyed time with our own Moms! I am one lucky Mama (and daughter and granddaughter and wife). Happy Mother's Day!!!

Stinkbomb

Ella is definitely getting into the phase where she will repeat after you about 60% of the time. Now would be a good time to watch what you say around her. Exhibit A:

Today, I asked Derek to give Ellie a bath while I cleaned upstairs.
When they were finished, she BURST into our bedroom in a towel yelling "Stinkbomb!" repeatedly until I took note of her new vocabulary word.

Thaaaaaat's great.

Weekly Update

On top of our sore throats, coughs, runny noses, and sneezes, I think we've finally confirmed there are more molars coming in for Ellie, which is what has been bringing bad diapers, fiery diaper rash, low-grade fevers, and severe crankiness for the last 6 days. I'm crossing my fingers this is all over by the weekend.

Amidst the sicknesses, here are the highlights:

• We now know that 30 feet of unused toilet paper can fit into the toilet and be flushed without a major clog.
• Our neighbor gave E a nice yellow tulip to make her feel better.
• Derek is taking on a different position at John Deere. His title is about 10 words long but it has something to do with "delivery improvement."
• Grandma and Grandpa G came over to play with Ellie on Tuesday while Derek and I enjoyed a sponteneous evening out. This was literally our first date in probably 6 months.
• Grandpa Tom stopped by tonight to help us learn how to blow bubbles. Some day we'll get it!
• Pajamas and a hunting license were saved because Derek took note of the contents of our trash. Time to put the garbage can up!

Sleeping Beauty

Ella has always been very easy on us when it comes to sleeping (teething and sicknesses aside). There has never been much of a struggle to get her to go down for a nap or down for bed.  We've never had to actually look at a clock to decide when to begin nap time. Sometimes, she will start getting crabby or naughty, and that is our sign that it's time for a nap. Lately, she has taken it upon herself to crawl up on Mommy or Daddy, lay her head on our shoulder, and fall asleep. When we lay her in her bed, she will turn her head away from us and drift off. I read a lot of parenting articles that address bed time routines, sleep habits, etc. and always feel fortunate that Ella just apparently likes her sleep.

However, the grass is not necessarily greener on this side of the fence! She is an ornery little squirt when she wakes up. :) She's been like that since the day she was born. Most kids seem to wake up refreshed, energetic, and happy. Ella likes to take it slow. She doesn't like to talk a lot, she doesn't like people to be in her face, and she is not in the mood to play until she decides she is ready. In fact, the majority of her time-outs occur within an hour after she wakes up, because let me tell you.....she is a ball of sunshine!

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say she gets that from the Cozart side!

Under the Weather

For the very short time we were outside today, I got to take a peek at our flowers and sneak in a picture. They seem to be the only living thing holding up right now at our house. The rest of us are battling a cold that is taking every ounce of energy we have. And kleenexes.