Milestones for Ms. Ella

Going through pics to post for this post and found this little gem of our fam from January that was hiding. Thought I'd throw it out here before I talk about what's been going on with my little munchkin!


Big things have happened in our house this week with Baby Ella!!!

1) We are no longer in our swaddle at night...or at least most of the night! She was so tired one night this week...how pathetic I can't remember which one ;), so I gave her her lovey in bed and went to go get a paci and by the time I got back, she was practically asleep so I left her this way and she slept all night without her swaddle. Woohoo!! She's been sleeping at night without her swaddle except for maybe in the early morning when I want her to sleep more so she gets wrapped back up. Naps were extremely unsuccessful not swaddled, so we'll work on those again soon! Baby steps here!

2) The past 2 nights we have skipped Ella's "dream" feed and let her sleep all the way through the night after her 7:30-8:00 bottle. She's only been taking a few ounces at her dream feed so we thought why the hell not! Woohoo for Ella!! Now, why Tim and I aren't taking advantage of being able to go to sleep at a decent hour instead of 11:30/12:00 I still can't comprehend but we'll get there!

3) Sitting by herself for a small, okay, miniscule amount of time is another big step for Ella. Rolling from back to front and back again is becoming a fav thing of hers. And, starting to slowly get the hang of this cereal thing.

Hope you all have a great weekend!!

Giggles, Giggles, Giggles

ella is really starting to giggle and laugh. she kept laughing at me sneezing earlier today so i got her going this evening while playing with her in the laundry basket.

i'll get more soon! enjoy :)

Valentine's Day

I figure as long as I post pics of a holiday within the same month of that holiday I'm good. I still have X-Mas so hopefully I can get those up before it rolls around this year!

On one of our surprise snow days, we (meaning me) decided to do a Valentine's Day craft. I found this cute idea online and went to work with Avery. Using red and pink paints and her handprints, we made these sweet hearts and did the same with Ella's feet. I tried Ella's hands but it was hard to get her to open them up and stay put!! These cards went out to our family for Valentine's Day! It's about as crafty as I can get :)

work in progress:

the final product!

Nana had the girls, Molly, Cissy, My Mom, Avery, Ella & I, over for a Valentine's lunch and we had so much fun and ate such yummy food!

This is Cissy and Avery's table...


Nana w/Ella

Nana and Avery...her face is not "dirty" she was playing make-up before we left and I tried to get as much off as I could

Me & My Sweethearts inthe shirts/bibs that Nana made for us

avery had to bring valentine's to school for all her classmates so Tim and her went to the store to pick them out. she couldn't decide so lucky girl got 4 different boxes to choose from. we had to put them all together right when they got home

v-Day picks of ella & avery

avery asked to have her pic taken by herself :)

ella did too! which bow do you like??

her stash from all her friends at school

trying to get a pic of me and her together...one day we will both look at the camera :)

when tim got home from work, he took all of his girls out for dinner and a surprise at watters creek. i am so lucky to have his as my husband and the girls are so lucky to have such a great daddy!

we went to avery's favorite pizza place, grimaldi's - yummy!!

we had avery take this shot of us...really good shot considering she had to look through the viewfinder because my screen is cracked.

waiting for her pizza!!!

ella will one day join us for food at dinner

the gorgeous sunset that evening

playing on the green with daddy

hugs for mommy

our surprise...my favorite!! chocolate covered strawberries in every flavor :) i'm in heaven! he took us to sublime, a cute little chocolate store and avery had some yummy white chocolate ice cream and we tried some of their other handmade chocolates. the best was something they make called sipping chocolate - you have to try it if you are ever over there!

ella woke up just in time!

Happy Valentine's Day!

What's Been Happening in Our House

Busy, Busy, Busy...found these pics from the past few weeks and thought I'd put them all in one post:

how cute is this....avery reading books to ella. ella loves to look at books and sometimes even smiles/giggles at them. amazing to me!


ella & tim...best buddies :) she is so in love with her daddy!






big sister joining them

check out avery's diva pose:

hanging out and having a snack

another snow day, more mickey yahtzee

wearing the art smock that i used to wear when i was little

my little monkey

music is in her future

uncle brian and his new niece - smile you two!

wearing her cute shirt from aunt mollye & uncle brian. she was so excited to get it she had to wear it the next day

pippi-longstocking

dancing to just dance with cissy

i can't believe she's starting to actually write her name and the alphabet.

showing off her outfit she put together. i got some true smiles here!

My Workout Partner this Morning

Check out my workout partner this morning. She was trying to use my weights but they were a little too heavy so we got out the trusty soup cans. Perfect size! It was so much fun to workout with her today...made the time go by much faster.

Curls:





Writing down her reps...she'll do more next time :)


Not sure what she's doing here...maybe push-ups with alternating lunges


Thanks Avery for making my workout so fun and funny this morning!