Ella's first birthday

Last Sat. we had a big ol' birthday bash for Ella at the house. It went pretty well. We had quite a few people over... maybe too many for a one year old to handle, but it was all in good fun. She was a wonderful baby, ate some cake, and got some pretty awesome presents. Even though I am sad at times that she is already one, I am always so excited to see all the new things she will do. For example we started learning baby signs together and so far she has mastered the sign for "more" and "light." So cool. I love that she is communicating with me before she can even talk! I can't wait to experience all the new things that will happen this next year. 

in a blink of an eye watch me grow

Last night I was cleaning out an old box of stuff when I came across a present I had received at a baby shower before Ella was born. It was a picture frame keepsake kit. You make an imprint of your baby's foot and hand and then put a picture between them. So cute.... the thing is I forgot all about it and my baby is almost one already! I was sitting there upset with myself for being too busy this last year to ever get around to doing it when I realized I was really sad. I mean really sad. I pretty much was on the verge of tears. I kept setting there wondering why I was so upset and then it hit me. My baby is growing up. She will be one on the 10th and I can't even believe it. Most of the time I am very happy when I think about her growing up and all the new things she will experience, but last night I hated it. I no longer can lay her down in my arms and rock her to sleep.... she won't let me. I no longer can fall asleep with her on the couch... once again she won't let me. She no longer is trying to crawl towards me, but trying to walk away from me. You might think I am being dramatic or over-exaggerating, and maybe I am, but I can't help it! I gave birth to her and now she is well on her way out of the house. Ok, I know that is a while away, however, is it not my job to get her ready to be on her own? Sigh. I just hope she will always know how much I love her. So, I want to tell everyone that if you just had a baby or when you have a baby cherish EVERY moment while they are little! I know that everyone says that, but honestly it is so true. I do not know where this last year went. I wish I would have taken more pictures and spent more time just enjoying her. So, I have decided that until she no longer lets me I am going to go down stairs after she falls asleep and pick her up and rock her. This is the only time these days that she is still and lets me hold her. I will try to cherish this time until it also ends. I will leave you all with some wonderful pics....

Ella update

It's been forever so I think I need to catch everyone up on all the things my precious baby is doing these days :)

Not only is she a great crawler, she loves to swim and I don't mean in the pool. This is the way she crawls. (it has also been referred to as the worm). It's hard to explain, but for those of you who have seen it you know what I am talking about. 

She also has been standing up for a while now. She loves to stand up ALL the time. She has been starting to cruise around by holding on to stuff, but she is not the best at that. 

About a week ago she stated waving! It's sooo stinkin cute, especially when she waves at herself in the mirror! 

Another cute thing.... whenever she is really excited she makes these grunting noises that sound like a motor trying to start. It's pretty funny. 

Oh and the best thing is that she gives hugs now.  WHEnever we pick her up she grabs you around your neck and hugs so tight. It's the best feeling in the world!

She also is cuter than ever because her front teeth caME in  with the c `ute` st (she's helping me write this as we spe a`k along WITH bitting the comp)`. `;`) ok I was saying, she looks stinkin cute because her front teeth are in and she has the cutest space between them.

I also think she might have red hair..... it's coming in more red all the time.

She also LOVES to laugh especially after she sneezes. :) Her dad is the best at making her laugh. It doesn't take much, all you have to do is shake your head. :)

She also has started saying dada ALL the time. The only problem is she says it to everyone. :) 

She also has her first attachment.... she is in love with this little puppy stuff animal my mom got her. Whenever you give it to her she hugs it so tight. Once again too cute! 

I'm sure there is more, but that is all I can think of at the moment..... we love and miss you all!

things I love

baby hugs

baby kisses

baby bottoms

baby clothes

pretty much anything baby

chocolate chip cookies with milk

lily and james

the fact that kenny always does the dishes 

adventures with kenny

spring flowers

sunny days

calzone jones

friends

watching ella in the bath

family

ella trying to talk to everyone she meets

singing at the top of my lungs in the car

taking ella for walks

reading on the porch

being a stay at home mom

being independent

realizing who i am

as i sit here and think about it the list could go on and on. there are so many things to be thankful for! i am so blessed and so thankful for everyone in my life. all the good and all the bad because it has made me who i am. 

you know you're a mom when....

When I was in labor with Ella I had a pretty good amount of time to think/worry. That might sound weird, but when you have an epidural anything is possible. seriously! I took two pretty awesome naps during labor. So, like I was saying I was in labor and thinking. I was just a few hours away from becoming a mom and everyone wanted to know if I was ready for it. It was hard for me to know if I was ready for many reasons, but one was that I didn't even feel like a mom. I would wonder if it was possible to have a baby and not feel like a mom. When I think of moms I think of my mother and maybe kenny's mom, not me. Moms seem to have it all together. Almost like they have super powers. They can keep an eye on a ton of kids at once, while they are screaming, fighting, making messes and on top of that do all the laundry, pay the bills, clean the house and have dinner ready on the table when Kenny gets home. Well, I was not like that at all not one bit! Sometimes it was hard for me to get all that done before Ella. So, I was nervous. While I am still far from having the kinds of powers were I can some how miraculously get everything done I want to, while watching Ella. I'm telling you all of this because it has taken almost 8 months for me to feel like a true mother and this is what finally did it.....

1. The first time I really felt like a mom is when Ella started to crawl. (It's more like an army crawl, but just as destructive) Nothing will make you feel more like a mom then chasing your daughter around the house all day long saying sentences you never thought you would say..... "No sweetie, we don't pull or eat kitty's tails." "We don't eat kitty food or kitty toys." "Ella no! We do not play with our poopy diapers." "Sigh, Ella people aren't supposed to lick the tv or other people's legs." And finally, "No! It is not ok to bite mommy there!" 

2. The second thing came with a new hobby. (maybe more like an obsession) It has made me feel more like a mom than ever. It's called ebay. Come to find out many moms sell brand new baby clothes on ebay. My favorite baby store is gymboree and there is tons of it on ebay! So for a few days now I have been shopping on ebay for summer clothes for Ella and then it just hit me. I am such a mom. I have been spending hours shopping for Ella and not only that I'm fighting other moms for baby clothes. Seriously I've been getting fired up. I found some very cute things I wanted and had been bidding on them. Well two freaking minutes before the bidding was other these women starting attacking me with higher bids. They are like professionals. I don't see how they could type them in so fast because by the time I could get any bids in they were already way past me and then stole my items! I was so pissed. I actually thought to myself... don't these women have lives? Do they just sit at their computers all day just stealing other people's items at the last minute?! Then it hit me... I am just like them. I have been doing the same thing for most of my day. I have become a stay at home mom who wants to buy their kid cute clothes without having to haul Ella and all her many important things to the mall and then try to shop with all of it. 

So, yeah I'm a mom. I might be a young mom and I might not always do the best "mom" things, and I might not have special powers, but for the first time I feel like an actual mom and I am proud of it! 

that a boy james

i'm sure you all will be pleased to know that kenny and i have started watching lost. we bought the first season a little while ago and decided to give it a chance. we are more than half way done with the season and i'm pretty sure i love it. i'm excited about catching up to the current season. 

the new cat james is doing great. lily and him are finally getting along real well. they wake me up most mornings wrestling, which i fine cute. this morning however, was a different story. my mom called me, which woke me up (wasn't too happy about that), while i was talking to her i walked into the kitchen to get a drink. i noticed that james was real into his toy. around the house we have quite a few cat toys, mostly fake mice. so like i said, i noticed that james was real into his mouse, which looked more real than usual, but i thought it was just because it was all wet. he was liking it like crazy. i didn't think too much of it though. well about five minutes later i walk back into the kitchen and he is ripping the toy into pieces. my first thought was ella is about to start crawling and i don't need little pieces of cat toy everywhere so i yell at him to stop and move him away from the toy. the toy.... more like a real freaking mouse! i could have crapped my pants right there! so instead of being calm i of course start scream, which freaks my mom out. i pretty much just hung up on her so i could figure things out. ok it was not just a dead mouse, it was a dead bleeding everywhere mouse! so all i could bring myself to do is put a broom over it and try to keep james away. (for some reason lily was scared of it). so of course i call kenny and tell him that he has to come home now. actually i called him freaking out and screaming a bit, which now i think was a bad idea because i'm pretty sure he thought ella had died. (but come on i had a dead, bleeding mouse in my kitchen!) ok so he came home and picked up the mouse. we then see that there is blood all over the kitchen floor. i mean everywhere. either the mouse was running around while it was bleeding or james played with it while it was bleeding before he tried to eat it. oh and i forgot to mention that they mouse did not have skin. that's right james had eaten all of his skin. i could see his freaking organs. i'm starting to freak out just thinking about it. SERIOUSLY GROSS! but as gross as it was, i'm glad james killed it. lily has been scared of something under the frig for about a month. i'm sure it was that stupid mouse. so i think i'm going to let james keep his claws. they have definitely come in handy! 

so here it is my second post. i guess i have to write in these things more often than i thought. i just figured i would wait a while and then i might actually have something to write about. 

tonight i had class at the brown county high school. i am currently taking two classes. i am slowly working towards my nursing degree. i actually enjoy  my classes though. before i had ella class was pretty much a dreaded thing. i mean sometimes it was interesting, but i much rather be sleeping or hanging out with friends. now, however, i actually find myself getting excited about going to class. it's like my retreat from being a mom and wife. don't get me wrong i love staying home and taking care of ella.... and kenny, but it's just nice to sit and have intelligent conversation. talking with ella is kinda one sided... at least for now. 

yesterday kenny and i went and got another cat. the main reason for the cat was not that we wanted another pet, but because lily is driving us crazy! she is so attention hungry since we brought ella home. she follows me around all day long and the second i sit down has to be on my lap. so, i decided she needed a playmate. so the new cat's name is james. we named him james because of harry potter's parents "james and lily. lame i know, but we love it all the same. james is really shy and hasn't warmed up to kenny and i yet, but he's getting there. actually he likes me a lot more then kenny right now, but that's just because i am home all day with him. we haven't introduced the cats to each other yet though. as we all know lily can be a bit of a bitch so i think i'm going to wait a while before that happens. 

i guess i should update everyone on ella. on monday she was officially 6 months old! i can't believe half a year is already gone! her tooth is almost all the way in now... too cute! which is good because she is way less fussy now. she still loves to roll over, but just the other day she figured out that if she keeps rolling in a continuous motion she can actually move around the room. today i walked to the bed room and back and she had rolled from one side of the living room to the other in a matter of seconds. it was pretty cute though... she was under the coffee table talking to the cat.  

ok so there it is. hope you enjoy and i miss you all!