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!!