Splish Splash

So I realized as I was working on Ella's picture book/baby book for her first year (yes I am 6 months behind but whatever, it's finally done and ordered!  Now just waiting on it) that we had NO pictures of any first baths!  I know bad momma!  We took a video of the first bath we gave her at home, but no pictures of any bathtime fun in all 18 months of her life. 

Lately Ella has been enjoying bath time A LOT and never wants to get out!  She has also tried really hard to get the cat to join her in the bath or at least drink water from her cup she likes to play with while in there.  Knowing all of this I finally decided to break the camera out during bath time.  Unfortunately wanting to keep the photos not showing to much skin I decided not to post the ones of her trying to give the cat water.  I figured Ella would not appreciate the full frontal pictures when she is 18!

 

 

 Gotta love this kid even when you are having to drag her kicking and screaming out of the tub so she doesn't turn into a frozen, wrinkled prune!

It's Spring!

Well it is finally spring around here... though I am not sure if we actually had a winter at all.  I personally don't remember it getting below 30 here but maybe twice in the past 4 months!  I am definitely not complaining about that but I do know that the warm weather we are already having just means that Summer is right around the corner which means 100 degree days!  Oh well we are enjoying the gorgeous spring days while we can - well minus the torential down poors we had earlier this week!

Daddy wasn't home to man the BBQ starter, so Ella made sure to look after it.  I hope Keith checks it before the next time he uses it or who knows what else we would be having with our dinner!

While most women complain about the humidity, it sure does wonders for EK's hair!

Someone was in there own world almost the whole time we were out there!

It makes me laugh how long a water bottle can occupy an 18 month old... Just look at the concentration in her face!

 

 

I sure hope that we have more of these 75 degree days in our future so that we can continue to enjoy the outside.  Especially before the mosquitos start coming...



The New Chair

This past weekend Ella Kate received her belated Christmas present from her Nanny.  Unfortunately Nanny wasn't the only one in the world who wanted to order an Anywhere Chair from  Pottery Barn Kids for their kids for Christmas so the chair was backordered for almost 3 months.  We were definitely anticipating it's arrival and were so excited when it the UPS guy delivered it on Saturday.

As soon as Ella got up from her nap and saw it set up she plopped herself right into it (obviously she has been watching her parents sit in their chairs a little to much!).

Mom, I am eating my snack!  Stop taking pictures of me!

She took right to that chair and got herself super comfortable 

 

Almost a smile...

 Now there's that smile!

Now we just have to start working on her sitting like a lady!

The Rest of Our Weekend

While we were in Houston the weather was absolutely disgusting so we had to plan most of our activities for indoors.  One of our favorite places to go there is The Children's Museum.  Austin had never been before so Papi went off with him while us and Granny went to the Tot Spot to follow the little miss around.

 

Ella's favorite part of the Tot Spot this time was walking on the bridge.  When we went in November she still wasn't too steady on her feet so the bridge was a little hard with all of the different terrains.  This time though, she mastered it and must have gone back and forth about 100 times!

 

 

Of course we couldn't get out of there without EK driving the cars for a little while.  Unfortunately anytime another kid tried to get in there with her she was not impressed.  Girl is not very good and sharing just yet, but we are working on it.

We also decided to spend a little time at the Galleria so that the kiddos could go to the Disney Store.  I was so glad we made this pit stop cause I needed to visit a Gap like nothing else to buy some Khaki pants since the ones I have are officially too big to even hold up with a belt (major plus of the EK diet as I like to call it).

Ella had a blast watching the figure skaters while we took a little break and I think she was hoping we would put some skates on her and let her loose!  Maybe next time.

 

Of course you know a visit to Houston would not be complete if we didn't eat as much food as possible while we were there!  Our stops this time included Star Pizza, Rainforest Cafe, Cafe Adobe, and Cane's.  I am pretty sure I am going to have to not eat for the next month to reverse the damage from this weekend.  Oh well it was delicious!

It was a great weekend with family and I sure hope it isn't another 6 months before we all get together again!

Houston Rodeo

This past weekend my brother, SIL, and Austin flew into Houston to spend some time with my parents so of course we had to drive down there to crash their visit.  This was the first time I had driven to Houston by myself with Ella in probably a year and luckily it was an extremely smooth trip both there and back. 

On Saturday we decided to brave the disgusting weather and go to the Houston Rodeo to see the livestock and exhibits.  

 

Our first stop of was the petting zoo while Miss Animal Lover adored!  Her and her daddy checked it out before we actually went in.

 

I was the lucky one who got to wade through the goat poop and actually take Ella Kate in while daddy stayed outside in the Poop Free zone and took pictures.  Can you see the smile on that face, she just loved those stinky goats!

 

Austin even decided to get in on the action once Ella gave him a brush to do a little grooming of the goats with.  Isn't he cute in his little cowboy gear... there was even a big belt buckle involved!

Of course so visit to a Rodeo/fair would be complete without checking out the wonderful food selection...

 

And boy did my little eater love it all!  Here she is double fisting a corn dog and a chicken quesadilla!  Her meal might have also included... french fries, nachos, funnel cake, and of course a Fried Oreo!  That last one might have been purchased cause of momma :)

My mom had gotten a great deal on tickets to the fair portion of the Rodeo and once the weather had finally cleared up we decided to go and use those tickets and play some games.

 

Ella and her daddy worked really hard to play the fishing game and even snagged themselves a fish which in turn won them a turtle!

 

 

Ella and her daddy were so proud of their accomplishment!  (unfortunately Mr. Turtle did not make it back from the fair... he committeed suicide and jumped into a muddy puddle while we were waiting on those fried oreos mentioned above... guess he knew that stuffed animals get zero playing time at this house)

Austin is very into Pirates right now and they had a ride that was perfect for him!  I have to say I am even more impressed with my camera right now saying this picture was taken as the ride was going full speed... look how clear!

 

 

Ella Kate even got in on riding a ride... she was extremely apprehensive at first but once that Merry Go Round started moving that girl was in HEAVEN!  The excitement on her face just makes my heart melt!

 

Austin wasn't impressed he had to wait until the next go round to ride, but I was amazed that I snapped this shot just as Ella was flying by in the background!

The rest of the family went to the actual Rodeo that afternoon but we decided EK would not be able to sit still the whole time so instead Laine paid us a visit before their big move to Scotland!  You can also thank Laine for all the recent blog updates... she got on me for not keeping up so she could see pictures of EK growing!

Fun with the Gyro Ball

As I stated in my last post the point of our trip to Houston was to exchange Christmas gifts with Ella's Nanny and her boys.  I of course didn't get any pictures of the kids opening their gifts, but it was a beautiful day so I got lost of pics of the kids playing outside.

 

This little guy is getting so big!  I still can't believe him and EK are only 3 months apart... 

 

I swear my child never smiles for pictures.  As soon as the camera comes out it is just a blank stare!

The boys got a Gyro Ball for Christmas from their aunt so while we were their (and after about an hour of blowing the thing up) the kids decided it was time to check it out.

 

Rowan was the first in and let me tell you that kid thought it was the neatest thing!  He smiled and laughed the entire time he was in there!

 

EK decided to join in on the fun next... she wasn't sure about it at first but eventually she got a kick out of it!

 

Easton joined in last (even though really it is his toy) and as soon as he jumped in those kids thought it was a party!  Look at the smiles all around.  These three have so much fun together!  Sure can't wait for the beach this summer.

 

All that rolling around sure did wear this girl out!  She even decided it was a good idea to lay down for a bit!

Williams Tower

I am super  behind on posting but I have an excuse... the day after we came home from our last trip to Houston over Martin Luther King weekend I came down with the Flu (positive flu test and all) and have just been trying to play catch up.  I missed almost an entire week of work and things have just been crazy since!  So bare with me as I update...

Over MLK weekend, we went down to my parents to spend some time with them and also do a gift exchange with Ella Kate's Nanny and her boys.  Our first stop over the weekend - which ended up being a little chilly was Williams Tower.  Williams Tower is an office building that has this gorgeous waterfall.  We knew how much EK loves water so we figured we would take her by it...

 

 

We were right, she loved it!  The look on her face when she stood next to it was just priceless!  Unfortunately the rushing water and the winds got us all a little wet, but it was worth it just to see how much she was enjoying it!

While we were in Houston, so was half of the country it seemed!  It was not only the weekend of the Houston Marathon, but also the weekend of the USA Track and Field Maraton tryouts.  I have never seen so many runners in all my life!  After our trip to Williams Tower, we thought it would be neat to go by Discovery Green and see all of the Team USA hype!

 

Granny found Ella an American flag and she had a blast riding in her stroller and waving it.  Notice how my child doesn't have any shoes on???  We finally had to take them off after she kept losing them during our walk.  Luckily we noticed they were missing quickly so we didn't have to back-track too much.

 

It was really neat to see all of the Team USA stuff around Houston.  They even had a Nike tent set up where you could take pictures of you pretending to cross the finish line.  Everyone needs to pretend they are an athelete every once in awhile.

 

We of course had to let Ella play a little bit in the neat water fountains they had at Discovery Green.  She just loved touching the water and I can imagine what a great place this would be to bring your child to cool off during those hot Houston summer days!

 

Ella Kate 18 months

I seriously can't believe that EK is already 18 months old!  This second year has really been flying by and she has changed so much in just the past 6 month.  She amazes me every day.

So EK what have you been up to? (please ignore the horrible quality of pictures... IPhone had the most recent pics)

 

You wear size 2T clothes - moving in to 3T especially for tops and size 5 shoes

You are around 33 inches tall and wear about 26 1/2 pounds (you have definitely grown since 15 months but haven't gained any weight)

You are in a size 5 diaper 

 

You are super talkative and seem to learn a new word everyday!  Some of your words right now are Momma, Daddy, Buddy, Ball, Hi, Bye, Shoes, Butt (for Buttons), Cheese, Up, Cup, and many more but these you say ALL THE TIME.

You love animals and get really excited when you are near any - well except for Buddy, you are kind of indifferent to him now.

You love to eat - well that hasn't changed since day 1!  You love cheese, bread of any sort, strawberries, bananas, yogurt, eggs, and so much more.  You have definitely become a little pickier as you grow older but we are trying to put an end to that.

You are starting to interact more with your little friends both at school and at church.  If we say we are going to go to church or school you get excited and yell at us to Go Go Go!

We bought you some flashcards recently and if I say lets do your cards you sit down on the ground and wait for me to pull them out.  You love to find the card for the words I say and you get better at them everytime we do them.

You are still an amazing sleeper both at night and for naps.  You sleep from 7:30 until we get you up for school and sometimes 8:45 or 9 on the weekends.

You are a much better traveler than you used to be.  You will just sit in your seat and watch show after show until you decide its time for a nap.  You love Backyardigans, The Fresh Beat Band, and Yo Gabba Gabba.  If the show has singing and dancing you are all for it!

We love you little monkey and can't wait to see what these next 6 months have in store for us!