Ella's First Thanksgiving

This was Ella's first Thanksgiving. We drove up to Dallas and celebrated with Tasheena and James, her parents and brother. (Along with baby Owen!)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oerMO0yfsbM1d5N0dUNmtrSGM/edit?usp=sharing

They made a really great meal and we had a really good time.
This was Ella's first sleepover party! ( At least her first stay over at a friend's house)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oerMO0yfsbY3l6UzJOelAtYU0/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oerMO0yfsbUi0wQmtpZTZzRXM/edit?usp=sharing


This was Ella's first time feeding the ducks!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oerMO0yfsbTnFlNDE4WVJpRjQ/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oerMO0yfsbRFNScXdhbldtTUU/edit?usp=sharing

This was also Ella's first car trip of more than a half hour. She did really well on the way there but not so well coming back.

I am Ella. Hear Me Coo!

"I am Ella.  Hear me Coo!  Bow before my cuteness!"

Elissa thought that was a pretty awesome quote from me, so we decided it should start off this next blog post.  As you probably gather from the beginning -- yes, Ella has started to coo.  It's really cute when she's practicing noises just for you.  I believe she's made a phone call to both grandmas to say "I love you" in cooing.

Because Elissa threw her vote in with the 'Both' crowd, I barely won on the lookalike contest.  However, in reality the vote "she looks like both of you" was by far the winner.  And honestly, she does have features from both of us.  We think she got eye features from me and her nose from mom.  Mommy says she's jealous of her long, luscious eyelashes.

Not too much else has been happening this week, but just so you don't feel like we made a lame post, here's some Ella pictures!

Ella ready to go out.

I do kind of wish she'd keep those hands out of her mouth... "ughhh, slobber ..."

Elissa wanted me to post this.  "I look away for a second, and . . . "

Play time.

In her swing.  Look how well she grips now!

Who Do I Look Like?

Baby Ella would like to know who you think she looks like!

Daddy is on the left, Ella is in the middle and Mommy is on the right.

You can vote on Facebook, or by email. We'll post the results on our next blog post! (We don't have comments enabled on our blog, so that won't work if you want us to know your vote!)

Ella's Gratitude Post

I figure with all the gratitude posts on social media, how can we not give Ella a chance to tell us all the things she's grateful for this Thanksgiving season!  Here's her top 10:

10.  She's grateful for her friends Crush, Nemo, Dori, and lil' Dude.  She's never seen the movie, but she loves to see them on the cover for floor time.

9.  Ella is glad she can say "I love you" by smiling since she can't talk yet.

8.  She's glad that even though she's been growing a lot, she can still wear a lot of her favorite outfits (she's also glad Mommy's buying her some new ones soon).

7.  Ella has been working really hard to hold up her head and roll over.  She's really grateful for the muscles she has to do it.

6.  Ella's glad to be able to grab things with her hands. (Though she doesn't like to grab a whole lot of things yet).

5.  She loves her stuffed friends, Rufus and Bear.

4.  Ella was really excited to get this fancy cross-stitch from Aunt Sandi.  (She is also grateful for all of her aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents).

3.  Ella is grateful for Mommy avoiding that 'evil' cow's milk which makes her tummy hurt.  Mommy even made sure to get everyone their own milk this last week.

2.  Ella's grateful that Daddy spends time with her.

1.  She loves Mommy who holds her, feeds her, and loves her every day. Mommy even picks out cute clothes for her.

Ella at Three Months

Ella at three months:
I have found my hands and like to slobber on them.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9pB_v2W7aXcSGlBOXltLTRJRW8/edit?usp=sharing

I'm starting to sleep longer at night.

I'm learning to like lying on my back --with or without the nursing pillow.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oerMO0yfsbaHVYRmtEN3AxWDQ/edit?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9pB_v2W7aXcNmszWDdBbHZUM0k/edit?usp=sharing

I don't hate tummy time either!
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_oerMO0yfsbeUJhcFBhQmt1WXM/edit?usp=sharing

I just surprised Mommy and Daddy by rolling over! (11/3)

I make cute noises sometimes.

I even wore my first 3-6 month outfit to church on Sunday because I'm getting big.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9pB_v2W7aXcaGVBaTZRVG9Ua3c/edit?usp=sharing

The Party, the Quartet, and the Smiling

This last week we haven't done a whole lot that is eventful.  We did, however, go to our first party as a family, which was fun.  We got to see a bunch of people we haven't seen in a while and I even got to run around playing catch with frisbees and rugby balls.  It was a bring-your-own treat event so I got to try a bunch of tasty treats (unfortunately, most people didn't think to leave dairy out of their treats so Elissa only got to eat what we brought).  She and Ella hung out most of the time with some other moms (Ella was feeling clingy).

Another interesting thing is that a few of the men in our ward decided to set up a quartet piece, which they invited me to join in to perform.  We just did our first practice and it seems like it should be fun and sound good.  It's a paraphrasing of some of Nephi's writings, grieving over his weaknesses in following the Lord and pleading for grace to strengthen him, set to the tune of "Be Still My Soul" (called "I Love the Lord").  I'll let you know how it goes when we perform it (which may be after Christmas, so don't hold your breath).

Ella has started smiling more for me and Mommy lately.  She really likes to give us a big grin right after we just cleaned up a dirty diaper (which makes the dirty diaper infinitely less bad).  She's still fussy sometimes and doesn't always want to sleep, but it's nice to know life isn't all bad for this Ella, which means we must be doing an okay job.

Dairy Free

So, for the last few weeks I've been going dairy free for Ella, as you may know from Daniel's last post. I started trying to be positive -- thinking about things that I COULD eat. In fact, there are plenty of things I can eat without dairy, and even more if I get the fancy substitutes that have been made! Did you know they have dairy free margarine (unsalted Fleischmann's), cake mix (Duncan Hines) and chocolate chips (Ghirardelli semi sweet) along with the basic milk substitutes?

I am also grateful for the internet and all the bloggers out there who post about brands and recipes that are dairy free. It is much easier when you know what brand to look for so you don't spend an hour trying to find a margarine substitute or figure out a meal that doesn't take dairy and that isn't spaghetti!