New house paint

We had the exterior of the house painted this week and it looks great! We are so excited about the new green color!

Here is a picture from last year:

And here is the new house pic:

Georgetown Half Marathon

I did my first post-baby Half Marathon today and it felt pretty good. I have to say that I'm pretty proud of myself!!






Thanks to Bill, Bonnie, Rachel, Mark and Ella for the awesome cheering section.

Ella: 6 months old

Doc appt was great this morning! Ella is in the 97% for weight (19lbs 11oz), height (27.5inches) and head circumference (17.75in). He said that she is a perfectly proportioned, beautiful, BIG girl. Ha!

He gave us the go ahead to move to more veggies and fruits (she's already had green beans and sweet peas!) and eventually some finger foods in about a month. Wow!

Mark and I are anticipating a big purchase in the near future. Our car seat is only recommended for infants up to 22 lbs, which Ella is approching fast! Our little (I mean, BIG) girl is growing up fast!

Ella's 6 month pictures

Lindsay was back again today to take Ella's 6 month old pics. Look how much she has changed!!



See the pics Lindsay took at:
http://lindsaybphoto.blogspot.com/2008/07/ella-6-months.html

Trip to Phoenix

All these trips are fun, but EXHAUSTING! This weekend we visited Aunt Patti & Uncle Chopper in their hometown, Phoenix. We were there for Patti's bachelorette party.



What a coincidence!!! We ran into Uncle Eric at the Phoenix airport. Ella was so excited to meet her Uncle!

Patti's St. Louis Couples Shower

This week, Ella and I were in St. Louis for a few days with GG visting family and friends. In Smithton, we hung out by the pool with the Hogan family and were able to see Colleeen Walsh and her twin girls, Ella & Nora.





The big event of the weekend was Patti & Chopper's couples shower in St. Louis. Chopper was initiated into the craziness that is the Ruzicka family... and so was Ella!!!


GG shows off Ella to her brother Len and his 1st grandson, Alex.


Thanks to Chris & Diane for lettingus stay at their house! Ella had a blast with her 2nd cousins, Karly, Bridget and David.

Happy Fourth of July!

We had a great visit from Jennifer Bailey, one of my longtime friends, this past week. Ella really enjoyed getting to know her and hanging out with the girls.



Ella celebrated her 1st Fourth of July! The three of us ran in our 1st 5k race as a family, and did pretty well, if I do say so myself.





Then we enjoyed a fun day at the pool and fireworks at Valley Country Club with our neighbors. After I got used to the noise, I really enjoyed the pretty fireworks. I sat on Mackenzie Pedrie's lap for the show- it was great!



Hope everyone had a great 4th!

Ella: 5 months old

Time flies! Ella has started with solid foods... we have her trying cereal first and soon she will move to veggies and then fruits.

Ella is really enjoying the pool this summer and looking forward to celebrating her first 4th of July. She seems to be OK with watching fireworks... so far!

We expect that Ella will be sitting up on her own by the end of her 5th month. She's almost there and can balance against things with Mom's help. Dad and Mom are also helping Ella get used to bearig weight on her legs so she'll be ready when it's time to learn how to walk (oh no!).

We're really looking forward to a visit with the entire Ruzicka clan at the beginning of July and then a visit to Aunt Patti & Uncle Chopper's house in Scottsdale at the end of July.

Ella: 4 months old

Happy 4 month birthday to Ella!!! Time flies! We've hit so many milestones recently. Ella is grasping for objects, laughing, moving more than ever and she's recently taken a big interest in the dogs. One of Ella's favorite activities is going to the pool...

Today we made a trip to the doctor for her 4 month check-up and a few shots (eww). Ella is 15lbs 13oz (90%) and 25.25in (85%). Everything is looking great and we should be starting solid foods in 2 months (or sooner)! Wow! Ella is still a great sleeper (thank goodness!) and sleeps from about 11p-7a.

We are starting to try and teach baby signing. Ella probably won't be able to sign for a few months, but we are trying to sign simple words like "eat" and "more" so she will eventually be able to imitate us.

Ella has recently learned how to hold the bottle (although she doesn't totally have it down yet) and we are also starting to let her have a sippy cup... she'd rather chew on it than drink the milk, but its a start!

Ayesha comes for a visit

Time flies!! I went back to work for just 4 weeks before I decided that I couldn't stay away from Ella. Now I'm officially a stay at home Mom. You would think that would make things a little less chaotic, but no- we are still as busy as ever.




Ella had a visit from both her GG (Becky's Mom) and her Nanny (Mark's Mom) while I was finishing up my last few weeks of work. It was such a hugh help and so much fun to have both of them here.

Auntie Ayesha also came in town to meet Ella for the first time and take he our for her 1st cinco de mayo margaraita! Starting her early!