10 months old

Ella turned 10 months old in Phoenix over the Thanksgiving Holiday. And she has changed so much in just a month! We can't believe it.

Since starting to crawl just a month ago, she is moving FAST! Too fast for me in fact... I turn around and she is gone! She amuses herself by doing laps around the couch and coffee table in the family room. This has resulted in a few too many head bumps, but I think she's starting to lean how to DUCK! Ha!

A BIG milestone while in Phoenix, Ella is starting to walk while holding our hands. Maybe not a big deal to everyone, but until the day we arrived in Phoenix, Ella wasn't showing any interest in walking... now I think it won't be long until she is running! It must be Aunt Patti! (She rolled for one of the 1st times with Patti too!)

And by the time we left, she was holding on to furniture and trying to cruise around.

Happy Thanksgiving

Ella's 1st Thanksgiving was great! We spend the long weekend in Phoenix with Aunt Patti & Uncle Chopper at their beautiful new home. We enjoyed the company and the food- espcially Patti's cornbread stuffing! MMM MMM Good!!!

Our trip included lots of rain, some hail, golf for the boys, pedicures for the girls (except Ella!) and a family trip to Ikea! Ha! Ella enjoyed riding on the Ikea rocking horse!

Thanks Patti & Chopper for having us! Looking forward to seeing you again soon!

MIZ-ZOU

I FINALLY returned to my alma mater, the University of Missouri, for a football game. Mark and I traveled to Kansas City and left Ella with my parents for the evening so we could see Mizzou kick butt against K-State! Go Tigers.

It was great fun to take Mark back to Mizzou and so neat to see the Pi Phi house again with all my pledge sisters. Yes, WE were the annoying alumni visiting the house! Ha!

It didn't hurt that the Tigers played great! And we REALLY enjoyed hanging out at Shiloh after the game... maybe a little too much!

Happy Halloween!!!

9 Months Old Doctors Appt

Another good doctors visit!



Ella is still in the 97% for weight (23lbs 10oz), but she dropped to the 90% for height (28.75in) and up above the 97% for head circumference (18.5in). While height and weight are looking great... we need to watch that head size a little. They really don't like the kiddos above 97%. If it still seems a little high at her 1 year visit, then we will talk about a CT scan to make sure everything is growing ok in Ella's HUGE head. :) But nothing major to worry about!

Doc is super happy with Ella's development and also gave us the go ahead with any new foods we are ready for her to try. She can pretty much eat what we eat now... with the exception of shellfish, honey, corn, nuts, chocolate and berries.

Compare Ella to her last 2 doc visits:
Oct 10th: http://herbfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2008/10/doctors-visit.html
August 1st: http://herbfamilyblog.blogspot.com/2008/08/ella-6-months-old.html

Anniversary and 9 months old

Today Ella is 9 months old and Mark and I are celebrating our 3rd wedding anniversary. But we have even bigger news:

ELLA IS CRAWLING!

We were so afraid it would happen while we were in DC, but Ella timed it perfectly! Back in the safety (and all the baby proofing!) of our own home... she's moving around like crazy!

Video to follow!!

Our 9 month old doctors appt is tomorrow so I will report back with new measurements soon!

Washington DC Visit

Thanks to our hosts Sean & Tonya and Tom & Susan for making our trip to DC so amazing. It was Mark's 1st visit to our nations capitol and we all had a blast. Because of the marathon, we weren't able to do as much family sightseeing as we would have liked... but I'm sure we'll be back for another visit.

Marine Corps Marathon

I completed my 2nd marathon on Sunday with a time of 6:08:20. While it wasn't quite the time I hoped for, nothing can compare to the experience of crossing the finish line with one of my best friends, Jen Bailey. Jen was running through major knee injuries to finish her 1st marathon.

We had the best cheering section anyone could ask for... Tom & Susan Bailey, Andy Paul, Jen & Eli Veenendaal, Tonya & Sean Lawson, and (of course!) Mark & Ella!

Thanks to all of you who sent us support in the form of phone calls, text messages, and thoughts and prayers. It meant a lot to know that we had our own private cheering section all over the US!! :)

Ella visits the Pumpkin Patch

We made our 1st Annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch this afternoon! Not only was this Ella's 1st trip, but Mark tells me that this was also his 1st ever visit to a REAL pumpkin patch (I have a feeling that his Mom will disagree).

I don't know who enjoyed it most! None of us had ever seen so many pumpkins in the same place!

Mom and Ella think they've found the perfect pumpkin!

Ella and Dad pose for a quick pic before we leave.

More Photos From Patti's Wedding

To check out more pics from my sister's wedding, go to
http://www.paulvphotoevents.com/pickpic/gallery/splash.php?gallery_id=308
Password: Walker