Long Time Gone

It has been the lo-ngest time since we have blogged. Our computer completely crashed! So, our computer time is very limited with only Mike's work computer on hand. Here are a few pictures that I've been saving...other than Ella's first Christmas and visiting my mom and sisters the BIGGEST news is that Ella started CRAWLING on December 22nd while I was eating lunch with my friend Cori. She went after my cell phone & a box of See's chocolates...she's definitely my daughter :) Enjoy the pics, scroll all the way down & feel free to comment...I'm glad you stopped by our blog after our missing in action over the past few weeks. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas...and soon New Year!

Merry 1st Christmas!

We drove up to Northern California to Monterey County to celebrate Ella's first Christmas. We loved seeing my family and having them spend time with Ella ~ especially now that she's so active & crawling. They loved seeing how happy she always is & her never-ending smile :) Ella loved Christmas morning, opening her present and trying to eat the wrapping paper was her delight. Thank you mom, Melissa, & Lizzie for our time at home, all the delicious food, fun presents, and most of all time with all of you. I love you!

Ella's first Cabbage Patch ~ Thank you Grammy!

Finding Nemo!!! Grammy spoiled me!

Our new throw blanket from Lizzie

Ella is CRAWLING!

Little Ella starting crawling last Monday, December 22nd. She has alwasys loved mommy's cell phone and finally just went after it. She has been crawling backwards for several weeks and getting herself into the sitting position. I set a box of See's chocolates and my cell phone on our floor and she took off. It was so exciting and I think she knew just how cute she was as you can see in the last pic. Now, life for me has completely changed, as my daughter is literally moving non-stop ALL day long! She's even pulling herself into the standing position, but has no concept of what she's doing. Keeps me on my toes!

butt shot ~ she's not going to love this pic later in life! hi guys! i got mommy's phone!

Caston Christmas Party

The Caston's are the BEST party planners! They are always thinking of ways to make life more fun...and they definitely succeed. We went over to their new place, Meygan's mom's house, and celebrated Christmas with them and several other couples too. We had a fun gift exchange and a white elephant one too. We frosted cookies and just all hung out with our baby girls. Patty & Ella making people laugh with her "dolphin kick"

the "girls" just hanging out

Mike's new favorite pic, his girls

It's a Small World

We took Ella to Disneyland several weekends ago to see it all decorated for Christmas. We were also surprised by the reopening of "It's a Small World", which had been closed for renovation. As she gets older she loves the "Big D" (thanks Heath's for the coined term) more and more...and so do we!

Our Christmas Motto

This year Mike and I decided to adopt this napkin phrase as our Christmas motto! In our home, we are learning to laugh more, and let the little things go...especially at this time of year.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Friday night, Mike, Ella and I set out to find our Christmas tree. We have been going to the same lot for the past couple years, and they seem to have the freshest trees and best prices around (even better than Target trees). It's our goal to find the smallest, most "Charlie Brown" looking tree. We found this year's tabletop tree really fast...Ella loved it too! We had fun bringing it home and decorating it while watching "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" & making sugar cookies.

Picnic with Mommy

Earlier this week, Ella and I had a fun day at the park. We walked over around noon, ate lunch ~ pb & j for me, blended pears for her ~ and then spent some time on the swings. She always loves the swings. In this pic, she just looks like she's chillin', as Mike says :) It was good "mommy & me" time. Oh yah, and her "kitty" got to come too. She is SO attached to this little kitty that my mom gave her. I think because she can actually get her hands on this kitty, unlike our two cats who run away & dodge her.

Pretty Girl

I dressed Ella up today in overalls for the first time. She was in a very good mood after taking a 2 hour morning nap, so I took a few pics...just for fun. I love my little girl ~ her smile just melts me & simply lights up my day.

Morning Nap

Ever since Ella was a newborn, I have been putting her in her stroller (love my Phil & Ted's) for her morning nap. It's a good little system she & I have. I get a good walk or run, she get's a good sleep. Mike was able to join us because of the long Thanksgiving weekend. Instead of the normal Mile Square Park, we went down to Huntington Beach. We grabbed a Starbucks and headed into a good 4 mile walk down the coast. It was so fun to watch all the surfers and just reconnect and hang out together. Ella was fast asleep within the first 10 minutes. When she woke up an hour later, she was ready to eat. We stopped at a bench, she ate & we got to see dolphins jumping in the ocean. One of my all time favorite things to see at the beach.

Ella & Daddy Sleeping Beauty

The view along our walk