Butt

Ella took a shower with Daddy this morning and was looking pretty cute. I'm trying to become a good amateur photorapher so of course I tried to get some shots. Because I'm sure Mitch doesn't want a picture of himself in the shower on world wide web... here is the only one I can post.

What do you think?? (Of the picture, I mean!) I got the Johnson's baby wash in the photo and Mitch's hand is moving so I got a blur... but I'm OK with the blur. If I could afford PhotoShop, I'd take out the baby wash, but I think that's it.

Monkey

I came around the corner heading to the kitchen a few minutes ago and saw this...

The Girls

Make your own | Click to play

Storytime with Daddy

Nine Month Stats

Ella had her 9 month check-up with Dr. Noah yesterday. Still long and skinny! She is 18 pounds, 8 ounces and is 29 inches long.

We had Ella's 9 month pictues taken on Saturday and we LOVE the one of her standing! Her smile and expression is exactly what she gives us all the time!

1st Baseball Game: Las Vegas 51's

Tonight was not only Ella' first baseball game, but also Keola and Bruce's first live game (and they did have a good time regardless of the very "I'm a cool teenager" looks on their faces)! We had a filling meal of Carl's Junior before the game, got a free 51's hat and an ice cream sandwich at the ballpark. Much fun was had by all!

Jen, Cam, Ella, Michelle, & Abby


Jose & Darla; Ryan, Amy (peeking behind Ryan), & Ethan (being bashful with his hands over his face!)

Happy 9 Months, Ella!

Ella is 9 months old today! It seems like she has learned so many new things in just the past few weeks. Ella isn't crawling on her hands and knees, she is still scooting around on her tummy. But now she can go from her crawl position to sitting up (Mommy's favorite thing to watch!). She can then pull herself up to standing on mostly anything (a chair, the couch, your leg) and will cruise around if she can. She still hasn't figured out how to get "down", though! She loves to walk around house holding on to anyone's hands. This is especially useful when chasing cats.

Ella is also very vocal. She chatters constantly and likes to giggle at her kitties. Her favorite word is "La La". :-) If you say "la la" back to her she will laugh and laugh.

Ella has really taken to Bruce and Keola. The other when we got home from grocery shopping (Ella, Daddy and Mommy), Ella just about leaped out of Mommy's arms to get to Bruce!

We can't believe it's already been 9 months. One year is just down the road....

Friends

Ella really, really loves to be around people, especially other kids. Unfortunately, we don't get out during the day too much for playgroups and such because we have to hoof it everywhere. Ella's dearest friend is Alison Keyser. Ella LOVES Ali. Ali is more interested in her toys than Ella, but Ella will be happy to just sit and watch Alison play.

The other day Alison came over while her mommy went to play tennis and Ella was just enthralled (we normally go over to Ali's to play). Can't you see the adoring look Ella is giving Alison in the pictures?? It's too funny. As you can see, Alison just wants to play with the toy!

Penne

There is a first for everything and Ella had her first pasta experience a few days ago. Daddy hates messes so we had penne for lunch and had it all cleaned up before he even knew about it! Ella loved eating this stuff (it was fun to hold on to) even if it did make a mess!

Standing tall

Ella has really started standing. She's pulling herself up from both a sitting and a tummy position using the couch as leverage. She'll then cruise (slowly) up and down the length of the couch. She gets VERY excited if you help her "walk". She absolutely loves this toy. It plays music and has a ball that rolls around some tracks and then back out again. The cats love that one as well! Tonight she was on her tummy with the ball and she managed to push herself backwards in to a sitting position! First time for that trick!

We are discussing going to the Clark County Fair and Rodeo this weekend...cowboy boots and hats, here we come!

First Holidays

All of Ella's first holidays are officially done... unless we count Cinco de Mayo and the 4th of July, but I doubt Babies R Us has onesies for those. Here are all her cute outfits! I'm hoping to make a blanket or pillow quilt out of them.

1st Halloween as a lobster


1st Thanksgivng at the Ranney's house


1st Christmas at Babcia and Dzia Dzia's in Michigan


1st Valentine's Day at home


1st St. Patty's Day -- it was 80 degrees and this long-sleeved onesie was too hot!


1st Easter with Easter basket outside in Las Vegas

Happy Easter!

We took Ella outside to take some Easter pictures in the morning light. As you can see, she was interested in everything (the birds, the trees, daddy) BUT me and the camera!

First Swing!

We took Ella to the park yesterday afternoon and she had her very first swing ride. She loved it especially because she could lean over and put the swing in her mouth. Thankfully, mommy has Purell on her keychain!

Ella also graduated to her big girl car seat on Thursday. She took it pretty well once we got everything adjusted for her!

And she stands!

Wow... we're having quite the week! This evening while waiting for dinner to cook (brats on the grill -- YUM!), Ella and I were sitting on the floor going through some papers (I was shredding them and she was helping by chewing on them). I was sitting indian-style and Ella was on my lap. In the midst of reading something, I suddenly felt her lift herself up off of my lap...and sure enough, she had grabbed a hold of the chair in front of her and puller herself up to stand! It was SO COOL!! Here's a pic taken from the phone -- it was the only thing close enough to get before she let go and toppled backwards. I wasn't really dressed for having my picture taken, but there I am!

A Visit to the Easter Bunny

We took Ella to the mall to see the Easter Bunny today. Who knew the line to see the Easter Bunny would be ten times longer than the line to see Santa?? Not us! Ella was in a great mood when we got there (thanks to a three hour nap earlier), but 30 minutes of waiting around will try anyone's patience. All the other littler kiddos were fussy and crying and reaching out for mommy when they were put on the Easter Bunny's lap... and fussy Ella... well, turns out she LOVES the Easter Bunny! We had trouble getting her to look at the camera and not the bunny! She cried when we took her away from him! We weren't planning to buy any pictures, but it turned out so cute that we had to get one.

Play Ball!

Are you watching, Aunt Michelle?? Today while you were out at the White Sox opening day game I picked up my first softball bat! I was at my friend Alison's house and she got a softball game for her birthday and I loved that bat! Sorry you missed it, but mommy got some pictures just for you.

Happy Passover!

Today was a truly gorgeous day in Las Vegas! We went outside this morning to take some photos in the beautiful sunshine....



Ella in her Easter outfit from Babcia and Dzia Dzia.

Today was also the beginning of Passover and we hosted a seder for 15 adults and 4 kids in our two bedroom apartment...just kidding! Our friends were kind enough to lend us their dining room. While we were getting ready, Ella was scooting around the living room and discovered her reflection... who is that pretty girl??


And finally... I snapped this picture this morning while we were outside. I was fooling around with the lighting and the zoom and Ella looked at me at the exact right moment -- cool, huh??