I know I'm not the greatest at updating, but this is one time that I HAVE to update you about how awesome Ella is. She walked last weekend! Just 2 days after her 13 month birthday, Ella took 5 consecutive steps. I'll admit it, I bribed her with a tasty banana, but I'll do whatever it takes! Also, just 4 minutes ago, she took 4 consecutive steps toward me. Slowly but surely, she's walking! Yeah Ella Girl!

Ok, so it has been forever since I last updated. I've been so busy! Teaching, going to school, and taking care of a sweet baby girl is hard work!

Let me see, since I last updated so much has happened! Ella had her first birthday - woo hoo!! We had a huge party and everyone had a great time. You can see pics of the party in Ella's gallery. She received so many wonderful gifts, and we are so happy that so many people love her so much! We had about 25 people packed in our tiny house, not including 4 babies! Thanks to everyone who came - I can't say how much we appreciate all of you in Ella's life (and ours, of course).

We also got some family pictures made to commemorate Ella's first birthday. Poor Ella girl was not happy about getting her picture taken by a strange man, she cried most of the time. Luckily we were able to distract her long enough to get a few good pics out of the deal. I'll try to get those online ASAP.

Ella sort of walked for the first time, too! She is getting more and more brave about letting go of things to walk around. She took 1-3 steps on her own so far. After a couple of steps she freaks out, sits down, and usually starts to cry. She is so silly. The funniest thing is when she lets go of whatever she is using for balance, she grabs onto her chest. I don't know why...

Ella also went to the pediatric opthamologist about her right eye. For whatever reason, the pupil of her right eye is larger than that of her left. So, we had it checkd out and so far the doc can't find anything "wrong" with her. I guess no news is good news.

Ella took another trip to Nana and Papaw's Labor Day weekend. She had a great time. She went shopping, rode the lawn mower, played with a cool new toy, and was cute. Here are some highlights:

Ella went to see Nana and Papaw this weekend. She rode on the lawn mower with Papaw and liked it. She liked it so much that she didn't want to leave Papaw and the lawn mower. She also had fun playing patty-cake with her Great-Mamaw.

There is a new baby in town and her name is Bella! Introducing Katy's new baby girl.

Three cute babies got together for some fun and food last weekend. Here are the highlights:

Stella and Ella have a chat about a turtle.

Chuck makes Stella cry.Three cute babies and three cute Daddies.Let's PAR-TAY!

It has been a little over a month since my last update. Everyone is mad at me. They want to see Ella. This girl has a fan club, and they are turning into an angry mob in need of some Ella updates! So, here is the update, now stop tormenting me!

Ella has 7 teeth now - 4 on top, 3 on bottom.

Ella eats big girl food for at least one meal a day now. For example, tonight for dinner she had carrots, mac and cheese, and chicken - all cooked and fed to her by her Daddy. Ella will almost never eat new foods from me, so Chuck has the job of feeding her quite often lately. Her favorite foods are any kind of fruit, string cheese, cheerios, Gerber Puffs, Wagon Wheels, tomatoes, and chicken. Her least favorite foods are any vegetable other than tomatoes (technically not even a veggie!) - especially green ones.

Ella is saying many words now, including: Da, Ma, Ba, Va, Ta, Ticka, La, Na, Ka, Uhhh. These words are said alone or in a string. For example: Dadadadada, Mamamamamama, Bababababa, Tickatickatickaticka, etc. She is saying "Ba!" in the picture.

Regarding mobility, I would say that Ella is mobile even though she isn't technically crawling. She scoots on her butt quite skillfully and can get anywhere she wants to go. She stands well while holding on to things, and she will walk from one thing to another as long as she can keep her hand on something to balance her. We have to keep a close eye on her because she has decided that dog food and water are fun. Luckily she doesn't eat the dog food or drink the water, she just plays in it and makes a big mess.

Ella Girl will be one year old on September 27, and she will have a huge BIRTHDAY BASH on September 30, so mark your calendars. In the mean time, Mommy and Daddy are going back to work and Ella Girl is headed back to her good friend Tracy's.

Check out Ella's awesome new hair-do!

Ella's 9-month check-up and wicked Karma....

Friday morning, Ella had her 9-month check-up at the pediatrician. We have such a great pediatrician, and she said Ella was just "perfect" (as if we didn't know). She weighed 21lbs 9oz and was 28.5in long. That is the 90th percentile and 85th percentile, respectively. So, she is still a big girl. Oh well, big is beautiful. We talked to the pediatrician about her eating habits and told her about Ella's refusal to eat veggies. She suggested sneaking some veggies in with meat....something I'm not crazy about. Chuck is insistent that Ella be an omnivore, but I hate the thought. But, I think he will win and we'll give Ella some chicken or something soon. We also told the pediatrician that Ella is doing very well at eating "solid" things like cheerios and chunks of fruit. I believe I said, "She hasn't choked on anything at all." This is where the wicked Karma kicks in...

Saturday evening, Chuck, Ella, and I went to a get-together at Chuck's friend Becki's house. There were several of Chuck's teacher friends there with a couple of kiddos and Becki's new baby. We were having fun, chatting and snacking on the fruit tray. I gave Ella some small chunks of honeydew, as I have done before, and she ate it right up. Then, every mother's worst nightmare came true - Ella choked. There she was, first coughing, then silent and struggling to breathe. I yelled, "She's choking, she's choking!!!" Well, after waiting about 1/2 a second for Chuck to do something (he was holding her), I snatched her up and my super mommy instincts kicked in. I started doing what I remembered from reading something about helping a choking baby. I grabbed Ella and held her face up with her body and head angled down. I then started beating on her chest to try to force the piece of fruit out. I remember yelling, "She's turning blue!" And someone else started yelling for someone there who happened to be knowledgeable about EMS stuff. After what seemed like forever (probably 5-10 seconds), she started coughing. HALLELUJAH!! I knew if she was coughing, she was breathing. I raised her up and checked her out to make sure she was okay. Everything was fine and she wasn't even upset or crying. I think that was probably the scariest 30 seconds of my life! The EMS guy finally came into the house and checked Ella out - of course she was fine.

I just want to insist that everyone who has a baby or child or knows anyone with a baby or child NEEDS to know how to help them if they are choking. Thank goodness my super mommy instincts kicked in and I remembered a little about what to do. Just take a minute and read this webpage about helping a choking baby. It may save someone's life.

MAMA!!!

Out of sheer frustration, Ella finally said "Mama!" She was on the floor, whining because she backed herself in the corner again, and I just sat and watched. No, I'm not a cruel Mommy, but I do want this child to be mobile, so I wanted her to figure out the forward motion on her own. So she whined and whined, then finally she said, "MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!! Mmmama!" She loves me!

Ella walked! Ok, so it was like 5 steps and she hung on to me for dear life, but she put one foot in front of the other and walked all by herself! This girl will never crawl...she is going to just get up and run off one of these days.

Ella's most favorite thing to do in the whole world is to ROCK OUT playing her drum!

Gratuitous cuteness...

Quick! Get the vicious Doberman away from the baby!!!

Oh, No! Now the cat has her!


Watch out! The cat is taking her breath away as she sleeps!!

Ella got her fourth tooth on June 1! So, now she has her top two and her bottom two teeth - now that makes for a cute smile! She also has a new way to smile. Instead of opening her mouth wide and smiling, she just kind of turns in her lips and grins really big - very cute. Her tongue sticks out quite a bit - especially when she is concentrating, and her bottom lip is often tucked in when she is content or playing.

Ella and Chuck seem to be hitting it off this summer because they spend so much time together while I go to class. The house is usually a wreck when I come home because it is nearly impossible for Chuck (or any man, I assume) to multi-task while watching a baby. But, Ella is always happy, well-fed, and has a dry diaper. I guess I can't ask for much more.

Ella loves to give kisses. Let me tell you, she gives the sweetest, slopiest, most violent, ear-ring removing kisses you've ever experienced! She grab your face (and sometimes ears) as hard as she can and pulls you vigorously toward her wide-open mouth. She then either slobbers all over your face or slobbers all over your face while also biting you. Both types of kisses are very sweet, but I prefer the non-biting version.

We have had an extremely eventful weekend! First, our power went out on Thursday night around 8:00pm. Katy, Ella, and I arrived back at our house to find the neighbor's tree laying in our yard with our power, phone, and cable lines beneath it. I was upset that we didn't have power, but relieved because Chuck assured me that we still had hot water for showers/bottles thanks to our trusty gas-powered water-heater.

Friday, still no power. Luckily, Chuck called the electrician and things were under way to get us hooked back up. Nana, Mamaw, Ella, and I had plans to go to the zoo, so we went. No use sitting around all day just because there is no power. Chuck stayed home to supervise the situation and wait for the electrician.

After the zoo, Ella went home with Nana, Chuck went out with the boys, and I went out with the girls (and Travis). We all had a great time.

Saturday, still no power. We were all set to have LG&E to come hook us up, but we were lucky enough to be one of the last 100 customers to get power back after the storm. So, since we had nothing else to do, we went to our friend Chris's house and began what is going to be a HUGE renovation project. Hey, at least we were in the A/C!

Saturday night around 11pm, LG&E finally came and hooked us up! Woo!! The poor dogs were sweltering in the house all day and night, and Chuck and I weren't much better. Unfortunately, we had to throw out all of our food in the fridge and freezer.

Sunday morning, I had to clean. We hadn't been able to clean since Thursday because it was so hot in the house during the day and so dark at night. The house really was a mess. Chuck went to Chris's house again. I cleaned as quickly as possible, then got ready and went to Nana's to pick up my baby girl! I hadn't seen her for 2 days and I missed her! I spent the rest of the day at Ella's Nana and Papaw's.

Monday, Chuck, Ella, and I went swimming with Aunt Katy and Uncle Adam. Ella wasn't sure what to think of the cold water at first, but then she decided it was pretty awesome. We had a great time.

I hope we don't have a weekend quite so eventful in a long time...

Ella is getting really great at standing. I don't know if she will ever crawl, but standing is something she likes. She also likes jumping. Her Nana got her a jumpy-thing (technical term) and after a few minutes of confusion, she figured out what to do to have some serious fun.

Ella thinks everything is funny. Last night, Chuck rubbed his beard on her face - something she never liked before - and she cracked up! She thought it was the funniest thing she had ever experienced. I just don't understand that girl. She is just plain silly.

In other news, my last day at my current job is next Wednesday. I am both excited and reluctant to leave. To be honest, I've never really been stimulated by my current job - by any job really - so I will not miss my position in that respect. However, I will greatly miss all of the wonderful people I have met in the past three years. These people will move from the "coworker" category of my life to the "friend" category, which I think this is an apt change. If any of those people are reading this: thanks for everything - you are all great!

My last day of work also means the last day of babysitting for the summer for Ella's friend Tracy. In some ways, I'm sure the break from Ms. Ella will be welcome. However, in some ways, I know the break will be hard. You see, Ella girl is about the best thing that has happened to many of us in awhile. She makes you smile no matter how you feel, and she always has enough love to go around. She is addictive. Once you know and love her, it isn't an easy task to spend even a few days away from her. I hope Ella's friend Tracy knows that this isn't the last she will see of Ms. Ella!

Ella finally got her 3rd tooth yesterday! It is her top, middle, left tooth. Yeah!

Also, over on Natalie's blog, you can see a picture of three cute babies with their cute mommies.

Well, again it has been over a week since my last update. Seriously, I am too busy for my own good. Luckily, classes are over for the semester and I have a couple of more weeks before I begin my summer classes. I also got the best news last Tuesday afternoon - I will be teaching next year at Presentation Academy! I cannot tell you how excited I am about this job! I have waited for two long years to begin teaching and now it is only a few months away. I am still working on my MAT and I plan to begin my MA in English this fall or spring. I guess I am just a glutton for punishment - or a workaholic...

As for Ms. Ella, she is wonderful (of course)! She hates any food that is green - green beans, peas, asparagus, and avacado have all been tried and summarily rejected. On the other hand, she loves carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, yogurt, and any fruit - even lemon! She still has just two teeth, and I have no idea when she will get more. Her new favorite activities are standing with support, giving kisses and hugs (too sweet!), touching her plastic easter eggs to anything else, and hanging upside-down. She is one silly little girl. She knows her name, but we hardly ever use it. Mostly, I call her Little Sweetie, The Girl, and Silly.