Our New House

This is the front view! I cut off the garage in the picture. I couldn't back up enough with out being on my neighbors doorstep. The yard needs love but that will have to wait until spring. It's too hot right now for new grass.

Living room

Living room again

Family room (there is another sofa on the right)

Dining area (with my poor, old, scarred up table)

My beautiful, spacious, wonderful kitchen. It is my favorite room in the house. It has a huge pantry and lots of cupboards that have pull out drawers! I love it soooo much. So much space it brings tears to my eyes. Anyone who has ever had a crappy, rental kitchen with ONE cupboard understands!

Ella's bathroom

We are waiting to paint the whole thing on Brent's vacation week. I picked out a neutral, tannish-gold color. It's pretty! Ella's room will be green to match her "ladies". We are so excited!!

4th of July

Brent, Ella and I all went out to the lake with the Wheeler family for 4th of July. We found the most beautiful little cove! It was more like the ocean than the muddy lake usually is. All the kids had so much fun. Ella LOVES the water. She splashed and splashed and then tried to swim. I thought she nearly drowned but she came up sputtering and laughing. This was her life jacket. It was kind of bulky and it looked like it was choking her!

This was our pretty cove. The rocks were sandstone and created a nice shallow pool, perfect for babies!

Ella liked being bobbed up and down in the deeper water. Brent would throw her in the air and let her splash down into the water. We had so much fun!!

Happy Birthday.... to ME!!

I turned 25 on Sunday June 28th. I am officially 1/4 of a century old and my brother tells me, nearing the end of my life. Thanks. We had a good evening eating food and hanging out.
Ella is laughing and lunging for me in the picture. She loves hugs! She scales me like a monkey on a daily basis.

Grandpa is not doing a very good job keeping Jara out of trouble! That is Grandma's purse she's rifling through.

Mommy and Ella! You can kind of see her little pony tails. (They are actually her devil horns, I quit trimming them. jk)

Family Photo! Not very flattering to any of us!

Jack Jack and hid daddy. He is so mellow... it is NOT fair.

We moved in to our house this weekend. YAY!!! When all the boxes are unpacked and put the place together a little, I will show off some pictures. We love it so much. It has so much room and so many perks only a real home can have. i.e: Big shower, jacuzzi tub, garage and huge back yard.

What I Hate Today

1. Catching a summer cold. How is it possible to catch a cold when it is 105 degrees outside?
2. The heat. It only gets worse from here
3. Peppermint tea. By far the most foul, awful crap I have ever ingested. But it does help the sore throat.
4. My daughters decision that only way to be happy is clinging to me and / or climbing me at all times of the day.
5. The inability to sleep, even when I am so tired I could cry.
6. Packing
7. The prospect of moving
8. My crappy attitude today

I am in a bad mood due to my cold. Have patience and be forgiving.

Happy Father's Day

(Slightly Premature)

Happy Father's Day!! Brent is a wonderful father, who is completely wrapped around the tiny finger of our daughter. He leaves before she wakes up and she is asleep when he gets home. So after Ella goes to sleep Monday night, he doesn't see her until Saturday morning. He plays with her all day Saturday and gives her what ever she wants and snuggles with her. He spoils her rotten. She likes it too much! On Friday night he always tells me how much he misses her and he is excited to see her. Ella sleeps really light so after she goes to sleep, I won't even walk past her door except on my tip toes! But I caught him in there, just looking at her. So I sneaked up behind him and took this picture.

When Daddy's In Charge

The weather was beautiful this weekend. Ella sat at the screen door for almost a full hour, carrying on a conversation with our yucky cat. It rubbed on the screen and she would babble and laugh at it. We also taught her a new trick. If you ask her where Daddy is, she points at him and smiles! We tried it a few times and she gets it every time.

Brent has had to be the primary care giver this weekend. I have been confined to my recliner for personal reasons and this is what happened to my house. I make sure everything is neat and tidy before I go to bed each night. Brent also cleaned up after Ella fell asleep but this HUGE MESS occupied my living room for the most of the day!!! This little 11 month old girl did this all by herself!

She is so naughty! She gets into all sorts of things she's not supposed to!!

The Mobile Menace

I think Ella finally grew tired of me complaining about how she couldn't crawl. I have stated before that she is all or nothing and sure enough..... Friday morning she woke up and decided to crawl. She went from not be able to do it at all, not even trying to be on her hands and knees to crawling. She also decided that day to go from her belly to a sitting position. So now she is everywhere, in everything and the happiest she has been in a while!! She was frustrated with her lack of options. She has just enough, few little hairs to pull of a very small pony tail too. Her hair is so blond and her eyes are so blue... and her skin is so dark!! It doesn't really match but it makes her pretty. At least I think so. : )