Looking back on Ella's 1st year

It's hard to believe that Ella is already 13 months old. I spent some time tonight looking back and I thought I would share some of my photo memories...

More Gymboree Fun with Emery

We had another fun day at Gymboree with Emery and her mom Jackie! Ella (and Mom) look forward to our time with them every week! Thanks Ladies!

Trip to the Zoo

Ella made her 1st trip to the zoo today with friends Kendall, Cooper, Reece and Taylor. Thanks to the Mom's- Kristie and Stacy for joining us (I especially enjoyed the company)! What fun!

Winter Park- snow and sledding

Thanks to our friends Cory and Melanie Seitz who invited us up to their beautiful vacation home up in Winter Park, CO. We had a wonderful weekend hanging out... and Ella enjoyed playing in the snow and sledding.

This was her first time in her new snowsuit! I purchased a size 2T snowsuit in an end of season sale for her to wear next year... looks like that won't happen since it ALREADY fits! Who knew!?

Ella really seemed to enjoy playing in the snow, although she wanted to eat the snowballs!

And thanks to GG and Granddaddy Godsey for the cool boots. They were purchased when I was still pregnant... so I'm so glad that we finally got some use out of them.

After playing a bit, it was time to go in. Mom & Dad were FREEZING... Ella was the only one properly dressed (as you can see from Dad's T-shirt!).

On Sunday morning, we headed out to do some sledding. It was HUGE fun for Ella and Dad. Ella enjoyed riding down the hill much more than she enjoyed being pulled back up. Almost every time, she wouldn't be able to stay sitting up and would be lying in the sled on her back, crying for someone to sit her back up! So sad!

Gymboree!!

Ella & I started taking Gymboree classes with Emery (10 mos) & Jackie Callahan a few weeks ago. Today was our 3rd class. It's a good time for the babies, and also for the mommies!! We look forward to hanging with the Callahan girls every Wednesday afternoon.

Ella HEARTS Doggies!

Ella's favorite word is definitly "Doggie"! She says it when she wakes up, when she hears the dog's tags jingling and when she see's ANY animal. I'm constantly correcting her. "No Ella, that's not a doggie, it's a cat." (Or a horse, or a cow, or a mouse, or a fish!)

Needless to say, she loves HER doggies- Henry and Kya. While Kya doesn't really want anything to do with her, Henry is her best bud. He is so patient with her, and is really forgiving when she pulls his fur (ouch) or when her soft pats get a little too hard.


Ella has started crawling into the dog bed to hang with Henry, and we got a couple pics of it this week.

Happy Valentines Day!

Wishing everyone a Happy Valentines Day from our favorite lovebug!

My Uncle the Pilot

My Uncle Eric is so cool. He is a pilot for US Air and he gets to fly all over the place. Unfortunately this also means that I hardly ever get to see him. He is so important and busy. I was lucky enough to meet him for the 1st time when my Mom and I ran into him in the Phoenix airport. I was only 6 months old.

I think I was most excited to play with his cool airport badge!

Today Uncle Eric flew an airplane into Denver. This was a special occasion since he hardly ever flies here. Mom and I went downtown to meet him for dinner and we hung out.



I'm much older now, so it was cool to see him again and show him how much I have grown. He let me eat french fries and we talked about stuff....



And we took a LOT of pictures. Sometimes I get sick of smiling for the camera...


Thanks Uncle Eric for hanging out with me!!!!

Mom knows best...

Just as Mom suspected... I have a milk allergy! It doesn't really make sense since I eat yogurt and cheese all the time with no problems (and love it!). But I am back on formula after a couple of bad days... and I'm feeling like my old self again.

We're waiting to get the word from the doc (who is off today and tomorrow- go figure!), but we assume that we will transition to something else for a bit and then try milk again when my stomach may be more ready to handle it.

1 year checkup

Went to the doctor on Thursday for Ella's 1 year checkup.

Here are her stats:

Weight- 26lbs, 10oz (>97%)
Height- 31 1/4 inches (97%)
Head Circumference- 18 3/4 inches (97%)

Doc seems happy with Ella's development. Nothing to worry about at all. He gave us the go ahead to add any foods into her diet that we were previously avoiding (peanut butter, chocolate, etc). He also told us to start weening her off the bottle and to go ahead and make the transition from formula to whole milk. We are going to watch the milk carefully since I had a milk alergy as a child.

Everything else is business as usual. We are recovering from a few months of traveling and looking forward to staying home sweet home... at least for a little while.

Ella started Gymboree classes this week with her friend Emery Callahan (10 mos) and we are planning to continue those every Wednesday for the next little while.

Until next time...