A Bad Report

I will consider this weekend a success if Ella does not go to the babysitter's yelling "stinkbomb" everytime she has something to report in her diaper. Thanks Derek.

Weekend Update

On Saturday, Ella and I celebrated Nana's birthday with our family from 12:30-5pm. She then slept on my shoulder during our entire trip to Menards before leaving Waterloo. As soon as we got home, we celebrated our neighbor Carter's 2nd birthday from about 7-11pm. We were not surprised at all when 10am arrived the next morning and she was still snoozing away. She partied hard and slept even harder! Crossing our fingers for a normal bedtime tonight.

Condiment Queen

If you give Ella any type of condiment with her meal, you will surely win over her heart! She LOVES having something to dip her food in.  Ketchup, salsa, barbecue sauce..... tonight she had her fingers dipped in sour cream!

Mowing Buddies!

Tonight, our whole family was out mowing. This is a huge feat because Ella HATES loud noises (mowers, trucks, vaccuums, sirens, you name it!). Daddy had the big mower, Mommy had the trimmer, and Ella had the little mower.

 HI DADDY!!



Its. Hot.

Spontaneous Weekend Project:

Adding landscape blocks around the raspberry bushes! Our friends were getting rid of a bunch so we took advantage of their freebies! Grow, little berries!

 Derek's garden is out of control. His tomato plants are 6 feet tall!

 Our pumpkins have taken over our garden and our lawn!



A Sweet Little Tune

"Kinkle Kinkle Kinkle Kinkle" sung to the tune of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

Staying Cool

We've spent the last few days in air conditioning because of the extreme heat. Spending so much time inside, we've learned a few things about our little family:

1. We all get very ornery when its summer and we are stuck inside.
2. Ella learned how to walk like a little old lady in front of Grandma and Grandpa G. She hunches over her back, bends her knees and waddles across the room. I have NO clue where she came up with this one. It is hilarious though.
3. Mommy learned that she can paint 10 little toe nails in under a minute flat. Momentary lapse in judgement when I started this without her secured in the high chair!
4. Daddy learned Ella can and WILL tattle on him every time he "passes wind." "YOU TOOP!" she yells across the house.
5. In the amount of time it takes Mommy to clean the kitchen, Ella can make our living room, dining room, toy room and deck look like Toys R Us exploded.

Business in the Front, Party in the Back!

Time for our first haircut! We visited our favorite beautician (Lindsay) tonight to give E a little trim. She didn't go for the booster seat OR the cape, but she did sit like an angel enjoying her sucker! She also waited patiently for Mommy's haircut by spinning Daddy around in the nearby barber chair. Goodbye baby curls!!

Sweet, Sweet Summertime

We spent most of our night outside, including dining on the deck! What a nice night we had....... perfect weather to stop and smell the roses! Or our neighbor's daffodils.

Playing with my camera. This flower is about the size of a quarter!

Tomato, Tomoto.

An actual conversation in our kitchen yesterday:

Mommy: “Ella, out. Don’t play with the dog food.”

Ella: “Kitty!”

Daddy (laughing): “Did you hear that? She just corrected you! It IS cat food!”

22 months seems a little too young to be correcting her mother... :)

Houdini

Recently, traveling in a car has become a challenge. I strap Ella into her car seat, hair done and shoes on. In only a matter of minutes, she displays a head of untamed hair (& missing ponytail), her shoes are thrown across the car, and she has undone a clasp of her car seat and wiggled one arm out. Quite the little Houdini back there!

Fun Day Friday!

With our sitter being out on vacation, Ella has been home all week! Trista was kind enough to watch her for a couple days, but I reserved Friday for a "Fun Day with Mommy!" We had a great time at Jada's softball game and then enjoyed an afternoon in the pool!

Wrinkly Feet!!!

No More Shenanigans

I was spoiled with good sleep on vacation. And I took advantage of it. Just in time, too, because Ella has begun another short phase of bad nights. Sleep deprivation isn't just when you have a newborn. It also happens with a teething infant. As soon as you're done with the teething, toddler nightmares arrive. On top of that, we've been letting her stay up AND sleep in (why not, she's on vacation until next Monday!).

But now that we're back to work:

• It's not as easy spending 30 minutes getting her to bed, mostly spent with her arms wrapped around me pleading that I stay with her.
• I'm too tired to find amusement in waking up at midnight only to find her standing with her eyes open sticking her toungue out at me.
• I yawn just thinking about having to lay awake listening to her yell "Mama!" in her sleep as she tosses and turns during a nightmare.
• Yesterday, she woke me up wailing--I ran into the room in a panic only to find her leg stuck through the crib bar all the way up to her thigh. With a lot of wiggling, I finally got her out without calling Daddy to come home from Menards.
• Two nights ago, Derek and I put in a movie. We had to pause it 5 times trying to get her to bed. Finally, we both accidentally fell asleep upstairs (him on E's bedroom floor) with all of the house lights on and the movie still paused. We literally only got through 20 minutes of that movie!

With that said, "Ni-night" from the Gus's!

Vacation Continued

Our vacation has not stopped since we arrived back at home! This time Ella gets to join in on the fun  Some highlights include a trip to the Phelps Youth Pavilion, swimming with our buddy Mackenzie, sparklers, fishing, boating, and meeting the newest Cozart..... Tucker (who is fluffy and weighs in at 102 pounds........absolutely huge!)

Happy 4th of July from our little firecracker!!