Some More Cuteness

Easter Egg Scramble at Church

Easter 2010 (shortly before the plague of death hit!)

I do love my daddy!

Blue Eyes

No. I'm NOT a boy!

Too Cute!

Pot Belly!

Outdoor fun!

I like to be IN things!

Video Onslaught!

Ella is 16 months old. Time is flying! We went through a bit of a SCREAMING phase where she screamed at EVERYTHING! (not getting what she wanted, being offered food she didn't want, a toy not doing what she intended, not being picked up on demant etc. etc.) With some ignoring and some coaching on how to use her words we seem to be coming out of that phase rather quickly. Praise the Lord!

She's is cruising right along. She's learned to climb up onto things. She's picking up many new words per day. She loves to read and is becoming more of a snuggle bug each day! Her favorite thing to do is be OUTSIDE!

It's so neat to watch her take things that we do for her and do them with her toys. For instance. she'll take a baby doll and feed it a bottle and rock her. Then she'll put the doll in a crib, tuck a blanket in around it and give it a stuffed animal. So cute! Also, she gives her Big Bear a ride on her toy.

She recently got some new (to her) toys from our friends. They were a hit!

She's a little mocking bird. Oftem when I've had many a phone call to make in a day, she'll pick up a phone and put it up to her ear and just babble. A natural already!

Well, Whatdayaknow!?

She survived! Imagine that. We returned home from our Family Life Weekend to Remember to find that Ella did absolutely fabulous with my mom.

Of course, I did leave 5 pages of directions which included the poison control number, directions/phone number/and hours of the nearest walk-in care, and two local families to call if she needed anything...and I called once a day.

I was a tad worried that she would cling to my mom and not want to come to us when we got home (as she's accustomed to doing with whomever has been taking care of her for a length of time). Nope. I came into sight, she cracked a HUGE smile and came waddling on over as fast as she could, arms wide open saying, "mommy, mommy, mommy". Daddy? Not so much.

As sweet as it was to have her dive in for a big hug and as much as, "mommy, mommy, mommy" was music to my ears, it CAN get a little old. You see, she has been EXTRA, SUPER-DUPER clingy every since we arrived home Sun afternoon. "Mommy, mommy, mommy" is being said with intense repetition and frequency that it's losing it's cuteness. And the whining that ensues when I dare act as if I might put her down for a split second is beginning to grate on the nerves. I pray she settles back into our routine soon and understands that Mommy is not going anywhere...and if she does...she'll be back! :)

Although it's trying my patience a wee bit, I am counting my blessings in this sweet little girl that loves her mommy SOOO much!

PS: If you'd love to go to a Weekend to Remember, Jason and I are going to be group coordinators. If you register under our group you'll recieve $40 off per person! Think on it. Pray about it. It's an investment in your marriage, your family, your future. We'll keep you posted. We'll also be starting a small group next fall using FamilyLife HomeBuilders material. Maybe you wanna be part of that!?

A Weekend To Remember

I am SOOOO excited. This weekend we are going away to THE best marriage conference EVER. Family Life puts it on. It's phenomenal! Seriously. I cannot say enough about it.

The last time we went, we had been married 8 months. We said we wanted to go back every year or at least every other year. But we let ministry and life get in the way and haven't been back....until now!

And by the way...I am extatic to have a weekend to ourselves. I can't even wrap my head around not having to be responsible for a toddler for a whole weekend! No, I don't feel one bit guilty about how happy I am about this! What will it be like to just have to think about my needs? What will it be like to get to focus on one another with no interuptions!? What will it be like to get to sleep in WITH my husband!? Oh glorious day! Of course I'll miss her. Of course I'm nervous about how she'll do as it's the first time we've left her overnight. But she's in fabulous hands and this is LONG overdue!

To anyone thinking...."Why are you going to a marriage conference? Is your marriage in trouble?" The answer is surely no. Think of marriage like a car. If you never changed your oil or got a tune up, your car would run poorly, break down and be in the shop. Because we want to keep our marriage running smoothly, we go for a "tune-up" so we don't end up broke down in a shop :)

It's so great. They cover ALL topics that need to be talked about in marriage. You get ample opportunity to take stock of your relationship, communicate, learn more about one another, and grow together. You also stay in a fabulous hotel, get lots of time together and a whole evening set aside for a special date night. And if you don't go home thinking it was worth every penny, they'll give you a full refund! It's THAT good!

I am BEYOND excited. BEYOND! I recommend EVERYONE go, whether you've been married 1 day or 50+ years! CHECK IT OUT!

So How Was Your Easter?

This Easter as we celebrated Christ's ressurection, I felt like I would soon be headed to my grave. We had Jason's family here and minutes after eating Easter dinner Jason and I were simultaneously hit with the nastiest stomach bug I've ever encountered.

From the way Jason tells it, he was no longer expelling all bodily fluids by the time 4 or 5pm rolled around but he was still completely wiped and had all he could do to watch Ella until bedtime. Praise the Lord she goes to bed at 6:30 every night!

You see, I have no idea what was going on. I was holed up in our bedroom, throwing up every 15 minutes or so. That continued so long and so frequently that I couldn't even keep water down, my muscles and joints hurt so bad that if I stopped rocking back and forth I felt like they were on fire, and I felt faint whenever I wasn't laying down. Jason called the doctor by 7:30pm and by 8pm he'd dropped Ella off with friends and taken me to the ER. They gave me all sorts of stuff through IV that made me feel like living again and we were home by 12:30am. Joy.

Monday Jason stayed home. I slept. Tuesday I slept during Ella's nap and had him come home an hour early. Wednesday I slept during Ella's nap and survived. Thursday I had my first real (yet bland) food for dinner. And today I feel like I might be a human being again.

Many of my mommy friends have had this and their kiddos have had it too. It seems to hit everybody with a varying degree of intensity and duration but I know of at least one kiddo that's had to go to the ER also. It's been going on for weeks!

I feel SOOO behind on everything now! But first things first...I cleaned every bathroom and the kitchen...sanitized every doorknob and lightswitch (there are a lot in this house!)...washed every stitch of clothing and bedding and boiled the toothbrushes. I'm keeping Ella out of nursery/child gatherings for a bit and continuing to pray fervently that she does not get this. It scares me to think what it could do to her little body! Now if I can get through work tonight!

However, before the craziness of Easter hit, we did manage to get the kitchen rearranged! Yay. Not finished and painted...but all major things rearranged. Take a look!

Lookin' Good!

I feel awesome! The sun shone today and I got some much needed Vit. D! Ella and I spent 4 hours outside, played with many friends and visited two playgrounds! Also, I feel creative and inspired again!

It has been SO fun to paint this mural! It only took me 4 nights and one naptime to get to this point. I put the room back together so Ella can enjoy it a bit & Easter company can walk through the halls without tripping on displaced toys. The trees and critters will be added when I have another burst of time and energy!

Playroom Mural

By the end of this post 3 things should be abundantly clear:

#1) My vision for the playroom mural

#2) My computer talent is EXPLODING at a SCARY fast rate!

#3) I have WAY too much time on my hands (It's 9:06 on a Thurs Morning and Ella is STILL asleep!)

Here's the play room before (a lovely green):

Here's the play room now:
Here's what I hope the playroom will look like when I'm done (clouds, grass, trees....one of them being a family tree with pictures of all our family, and maybe some little critters painted in here and there if I feel so inclined)