Birthday Party & a Trip to Visit Papa

Saturday morning we went a birthday party for our friend Noah Yanta at the park. Ella had a great time swinging and running and going up to strange women and asking to be picked up and carried around. Yes, I thought it a bit odd too, but who am I to judge. Her favorite part of course was the cupcake, as evidenced by the chocolate stains that are now on the sweater she wore that morning. Before heading back to Austin on Sunday we took a trip with Gus, Ethan, Aunt Jennifer and Uncle David to see the fire trucks at Papa's station. It was all fun and games until she was sitting in the front seat with Gus and Papa decided to blow the horn. She wanted NOTHING to do with those trucks after that. Too loud and scary! She had fun running in circles around the trucks with a super pregnant Aunt Jennifer in tow. What a good sport Aunt Jen!

Thanksgiving Holidays

Another year of whirlwind travel, but fun! We left for San Antonio on Tuesday afternoon and a trip that should've taken a little over an hour ended up taking about 2 and half. Great way to start the holiday week. Ella was stellar in the car up until about the last 30 minutes and then she wanted O-U-T! Granny and Popo had dinner waiting and lots of hugs and kisses, so it was all worth it once we arrived :) Ella had a great time playing with Aunt Michelle and cousin Parker, who she adores, and being loved on and followed around for 2 days! On Thanksgiving day we headed over to Houston, which was also a fun trip since deciding to trust my phone's GPS was a really stupid idea and it took about 45 more minutes to get there than usual :) Once again Miss Ella had a blast with all of her cousins and then having a sleep over in cousin Alex's room that night. More of the same the next couple of nights with family and food and getting to bed too late! (And yes she's the girl, in the midst of the boy cousins, with her shirt off. Isn't it great to be 2?!)

Jumping Away...

So the gross motor skills aren't completely developed yet, but she's gettin' there. I just love to ask her to jump over and over and over...

Cupcake Fiend

Yes, this is true. She is a total cupcake fiend these days. However she really only wants the icing, so it's fun to watch and double the fun to clean up! What can I say, the girl love her some sugar. SO WHAT IF SHE GETS IT FROM ME, KEVIN!!!

Hangin' with Mama

Just random time laying on the floor with the girl... My favorite pastime in the world :) She LOVES, LOVES, LOVES to sing these days. She knows most of the tunes and when she doesn't know the words she just mumbles her way through. It's pretty much my favorite thing to hear! It's just amazing how much she absorbs and retains. Every week she's got a new song to sing and her vocabulary is out of this world! Every age is my fav and this is no exception :) Kevin and I just seriously crack up when we start singing with her and she wants nothing to do with us joining in. She furrows that brow and points her finger and shakes her head and demands "NO SINGIN'!" (as demonstrated in the videos!).

Auntie Brandy's Shower

I was helping to hostess a shower for Auntie Brandy and the up and coming twins she's got in her belly so Ella and I packed up all the food and party accessories and went to Dana's house Sunday afternoon. I think the no sleep theme is becoming more prevalent in Ella's life, but we left right in the middle of when her naptime usually is, so no nap today! She had a ball running around with Noah and Vivian before and during the shower. I'm pretty sure that she ate and drank her weight in sugar that afternoon since she kept swiping people's random punch glasses and chugging them on the spot, followed by cookie and cupcake chasers. Needless to say after the shower was over and all was packed it took her all of 1.4 seconds to fall asleep in the car on the way home. Papa came and scooped her out of her seat, threw her pj's on and straight to bed she went without so much as a whimper of protest. She and Noah are becoming fast friends! In the video they decide it's EVER so funny to yell "BOO!" at Anne for what seems like an exhausting few minutes...

1st Airplane Ride!

Ella went on her first flight on Friday! Aunt Mary was having an art show/opening in Houston Friday night so we jumped on a plane Friday, late afternoon, so we could be a part of the festivities with the family. She did SO well it was almost too good to be true. The plane was packed so I didn't get my wish of having the whole back of the plane to ourselves, she actually did have to sit on my lap. She was a champ! She was so excited to look out the window and see the clouds and sky. Fortunately it was a super short flight and was over pretty quickly, but I give her an A+ for her very first venture into the air :) Later that evening we had a fabulous time with cousins at the art show and then at Gram and Papa's afterwards. Another very late night for the diva, but just like the Energizer bunny she kept going and going and going... until finally about 10:30pm I had to force her to call it quits and go down. We woke up very early Saturday morning and drove home with Papa once he got off work.

Hangin' in Houston

Papa, Ella and I drove to Houston on Saturday to attend Auntie Deanna and Uncle Jason's baby shower for the up and coming Elyse. Ella had a ball "helping" to open gifts and being the social butterfly that she is. When she finally went to bed around 10pm she was a walking zombie! On Sunday before heading back home we hung out with cousins Gus and Ethan for a few hours for breakfast. They had such a grand time kicking the soccer ball, playing in the wagon and digging in the dirt after a yummy waffle feast.

Singing to her Kitty

It was the cutest thing, while I was cooking dinner and listening to Ella sing I turned around and she was carrying the kitty, Kitty, around and singing Rock-a-by-baby to him. I grabbed the camera and tried to capture it in it's entirety, but didn't quite get everything... Here's enough to get the idea!

Ellamonster!

We had fun this evening babysitting Vivian for a couple of hours. I snapped a few shots of them following eachother all over the house. I just have to say that Ella ended up looking like some sort of crazed baby in the first one... scary but still cute!

Super Tuesday, YES WE CAN!! And DID!!!!!

Yes, I am shameless. Let me begin this post by saying that I do not plan to push my political views onto my daughter in the future. I would hope that as she gets older she can listen to her parents' opinions about everything, including politics, and then, after researching and hearing a variety of view points, decide what she supports and doesn't support, believes in and doesn't believe in; HOWEVER, until she actually cares what she wears I am not opposed to using her as a vehicle for advertisement. HA! That all being said, I decided that she really needed a shirt that showed my support!! So, I set about buying the necessary tools to create it and she sported the finished product on Super Tuesday, of course (after wearing it to the Race for the Cure as well!)! I think it may have helped the cause - What a hugely historic night!! I was SO EXTREMELY excited after watching the results pour in and sharing a bottle of wine with Sarah, that I thought it would be a great idea to decorate the back window of my car at midnight. Yep, when I got out there this morning I thought to myself, "you're pretty much a dork" and yes, this may be true, but a dork with a GRAND NEW PRESIDENT come January!!! YES WE CAN!!!! Man, history in the making!! Isn't it all so exciting?!?!

Race for the Cure & Another Birthday Party

Ella's first 5k. She did great! Sitting in the stroller that is. Actually, what ended up happening was Mama took off running and Ella enjoyed the ride while Dena pushed her the whole way! Yup, that's right, I pawned the kid and the stroller off on an unsuspecting friend and then met them at the finish line! Worked out pretty good for me... Dena said she enjoyed herself watching all the passersby and scenery. Her passive career in 5k's is off to a good start! After eating a late breakfast with some race buddies we headed over to Brooke's birthday party. Since we got there so late we only stayed for a little while since nap time was long overdue!

Birthday Party

One of Ella's lifelong friends, Kayla, turned 2 so we went to San Antonio to help celebrate. Ella had so much fun at Dynamoze that she threw a fit when we had to leave. That's always super fun to be the parents with the screaming, kicking child being forced to leave the locale. I suppose since she had a good time it was all worth it... right? Hmmmm.... do I believe this or am I trying to convince myself? At any rate, the evening was spent watching a nail biter and ultimately disappointing football game. Go Horns...