Pigtails

I have been waiting month after month for Ella to have long and thick enough hair for pigtails. Month after month I've been disappointed. She must have gotten her thin, slow growing hair from me.

We have gotten the semblance of pigtails using barrettes. Someday we can use real pigtail holders. :P

I guess until then, we'll have to enjoy Momma's headbands!

Daylight Savings Time Rears its Ugly Head

As most of you know, I think Daylight Savings Time is quite possibly one of the most aggravating and useless vestiges of the 20th century.  I won't argue that it never did any good -- in fact, I won't make any more statements about my opinion of it at all.  I'll share how Ella reacted to it.

Sunday morning she actually slept in -- the calm before the storm.  She hadn't yet realized that Daylight Savings hit, but she figured it out pretty quick.  She was unusually grumpy and much, MUCH more determined that her mother should not leave her sight.  I think it all came to a head when her usual nap time fell right on top of the beginning of church (as opposed to part way through church).  All of the children were grumpy and there was much more pushing and crying than usual at nursery.  If you were to ask Ella how she felt about the change, I'm pretty sure you'd get an incredulous look like this one.

Dates

This month the local library did a "blind date with a book" activity. (Don't worry, Daniel said it was okay)

I picked up my blind date with an open mind, but was soon looking for a reason sneak out of the date early. The book definitely didn't know what it was looking for!

On the bright side, my handsome, "eternal date" took me to the symphony. This date was significantly more successful. The soloist was a very talented pianist. The songs selected were Russian, and the were full of movement and interest. We had a really great time getting out and enjoying the music.

P.S. My book date was:

(in case you wanted to know)

Ella Vignettes

Wheels in the Bus:
Ella has started to play wheels on the bus. You know she really wants to play when she climbs into a laundry basket and starts doing the motions. Sometimes Daddy will push her around the room while we sing the song.

Dress up:
We got some dress up clothes from the cousins in Utah. Sometimes a girl just wants to be a princess!

Teddy Blanket
Ella loves teddy bears. She loves her teddy PJ's (She'll point to the bear whenever anyone is looking). She really loves this teddy blanket she got from Grandma. She asked to sit in her crib when I put it over the sheets.

Vacation Week 2

This last week, we got to visit with my mom (Daniel is writing even though the author says Elissa) and a bunch of people from my family as well.  It was really good for Ella to get a chance to see everyone.  We kept busy trying to get in as much visiting with my family and friends there and the time went by in a hurry.  I'll mention a few of the things that stand out (though I'm not going to mention everything fun we did because that would take too long).

All the family in the area came over to my mom's house for dinner (and to visit) on Sunday.  It was pretty crazy how many people were there but it was fun to see them all.

We played several rounds of Settlers of Catan with my mom, and even invented an alternate version where apparently the robber is a cow that just moves around and grazes in random places (or gives your settlements dirty looks).  I'm not quite sure how that one happened.

Ella loved the back yard.  She was wary at first, but then she realized that the roller coaster was safe and fun, and she even decided to become a pirate (ok, I'm probably embellishing here, but you can see how she's breathing in the salty air, right?).

I got to show off VirtualBench (the super-secret product that I may or may not have remembered to tell people about on this blog), which was fun.

I think we had way too much chocolate and too much tasty food (but I think Elissa would assure me that we couldn't possibly do those things).

All in all, it was an awesome trip, and I wish it wasn't so hard to get out to Utah more often.

Vacation Week 1

We went to visit family on vacation. The flight there went pretty well. We had a whole three seat row to ourselves and Ella did pretty well on the plane. We did have a one member of our party go MIA in security. We will miss you Monkey.

Daniel was busy doing recruiting the first weekend, so Ella and I went up to Idaho! I got a haircut because there was no one to stop me :P (Actually my mom set up an appointment for me.) I must have been combing my hair more than usual because Ella decided to brush her hair too.

We saw cousins, and Great Grandma Call while we were up visiting as well as Grandma and Grandpa

These faces are what sitting in the car too much feels like, according to Ella. (After the plane ride, was three hours to Idaho, and at least an hour in the car every other day in Idaho and four hours back to Utah). But, we had lots of fun seeing everyone and having fun adventures.

Ella's Spot

Ella has decided that she has a spot in the play room. I find her here all the time! She loves to color here, or just stand and giggle with her toys. It is kind of like a standing desk. Even though it is just a file cabinet and a safe box for standing, she loves to play here.

We need to make her a real Ella sized desk up there or something. Hopefully she'll adjust to a new spot when we get around to it.