Pedicures!

 Trust me when I say that getting a new crawler to sit still long enough to take a picture of her toes is difficult! Ellasen got a really cute little pedicure with the girls on Saturday and even though it has chipped some I thought I would try to post a picture of it anyway. There is a little flower on both big toes! Thanks Aunt Di!

Crawling!!!!!!!





It is official! Ella is crawling! She wasn't yesterday, and she is today! Amazing! I guess I really have to baby proof now huh!?! I am so proud of her!  

The Splits

New Dress

My mom brought Ella the cutest little blue and yellow dress last weekend from a craft sale! It is just precious and really brings out her eyes. Everyone knows how hard it is to get an 8 month old to sit for a picture so forgive me that these are a little blurry! Thanks for the dress mom - it looks great!

Gifts Galore









Ella playing with the first "car" of the train!
Of course Aunt Di and Grandma brought gifts for Ella! She had fun opening them, but the real prizes lay inside! Aunt Di brought her a baby doll (which is now named Lucy) which she just loves. It is the perfect size for her to hold in her hands. Aunt Di also made her the most beautiful, soft blanket! It is pink and brown and reversible. There is a large one for Ella and a smaller one for her baby doll! How cute is that! Grandma gave her a super cute animal train. The front of it is an elephant and it moves! Ella has so much fun playing with that. Thanks ladies, for such thoughtful gifts! We are so lucky to have you!

Ella and Grandma's Glasses


Ella is kind of obsessed with glasses right now. She loved to get finger prints all over Grandma's and even tried to take them off! Cute!

Special Visitors = A Lovely Weekend



My Mom and my Aunt Di came to visit this past weekend and we had the best time! We went to the farmers' market on Saturday and got pedicures...even Ella! (more pictures of that in another post). They even babysat so Tim and I could go out on a date! We had the most wonderful dinner at Pescara and didn't have to pay a babysitter - what a treat! They also took the baby monitor and got up with Ella on Sunday morning and took her to breakfast so Tim and I could sleep in a little and have a breakfast to ourselves! It was wonderful. We did a lot of cooking and deck sitting and drinking of vodka tonics (the official drink of summer) and overall just had a wonderful time! I am so thankful for such wonderful women in my life who pile in the car after a long week of work and drive 10 hours to visit us! We all had a great time!

Pretty Proud

 Those of you that know me know that I have a brown thumb...maybe even a black thumb. I cannot for the life of me seem to keep a plant alive -  any plant. So I have to say I am pretty proud of this one. I must admit that this too was on the last leg of life when my mom nursed it back to health, but since then I have been able to keep it alive! We are having 90 weather with a lot of humidity today though, and I definitely didn't water it this morning so we will see what kind of state it is in when I get home! Until then I plan on being pretty proud of my thumb.

Cuteness...trying to get an 8 Month Photo

8 Months

Well, as hard as it is I guess I will spare you from the "I can't believe she is X months old" line that seems to enter each of these monthly posts, and if you want to skip the sentiment all together I totally understand.  Rest assured I am still feeling as though each and every month is a particularly wonderful, emotional, spiritual, restless, awe inspiring dichotomy. Before you have children your well intentioned, already parenting friends really try to pound it into your head to enjoy every minute, and while you nod and smile and think you understand you simply do not. There is no all consuming joy, reaching, grasping fear, or glowing pride such as that of being a parent. They tell you time flies...how right they are! We are so blessed. And now on with it.....

At 8 Months Ella

*Can sit up easily on her own
*Can go from sitting to laying (intentionally)
*Can raise up on all 4's and rock back and forth
*Has 1 tooth (bottom, front, left)
*Sleeps about 12 hours a night with two naps during the day
*Eats pretty much anything that is soft enough for her to gum and 4 bottles a day
*Wears size 2-3 diapers (3's overnight)
*Wears size 6-9 month clothing

Loves
*Books
*Smiling & laughing
*Putting her hands in her mouth
*Giving "kisses" (open mouthed slobbers)
*Playing on the floor
*Swimming while Mommy or Daddy is holding her
*Trying to crawl
*Making noise of any kind (shrieking, grunting, yelling, banging, etc)

Not much more has really changed since the last monthly post, but I swear this girl gets more and more fun each day! I also have a feeling a ton is going to change this month as we are quickly approaching crawling...lookout world! Gotta start that baby proofing!

Pool Pics


We joined the RAC (a local health club) and they have a great pool. Ella would have spent all day in the pool. I will post a video of her "swimming" with Tim tomorrow. For now here are a couple of snapshots! I promise to get more as we get further into summer.