It's a BOY!

Mark and I are happy to report that not only am I 13.5 weeks pregnant... but we found out last week that it's going to be a BOY .

We couldn't be more excited... especially Dad! :)

My due date is July 11th but we expect to deliver a bit earlier than that. We have experienced quite a few complications this time around and will be in the “high risk” category for the remainder of the pregnancy. We have been told to count on delivering early, so we just hope we can keep this baby from coming until at least May or June so he has a better chance of being as healthy as possible. Miracles happen every day and we know this little boy will be ours.

We’d appreciate all of you keeping us in your prayers and I will try to post regular updates.

Merry Christmas!

Mark, Ella and I spend Christmas in Florida with both my family and Mark's parents and Grandfather. We had a WONDERFUL vacation and didn't want to come home. Unfortunately I didn't take that many pictures.

But I did get a picture of Ella with "Santa." He made a surprise visit on Christmas day with some toys for Ella. See if you can tell who he is...

Another great picture from the vacation... my brother Tom, my Dad, and my cousin Sean in their new Snuggies (their gifts from our family White Elephant exchange).

Breakfast with Santa

We had breakfast with Santa at the zoo this past weekend. It was fun, even though Ella wouldn't sit on Stanta's lap. :)

After breakfast we hung out for a while visiting the animals and riding the carosel.

Ella had a ton of funny with her good buddy Jack.

Looks like the Dad's had fun too. Check out Mark and David in the background.

Special Delivery

Why do we even buy this child toys?? She has WAY more fun playing with boxes and packing materials! Haha!

Sometimes the best things DO come in bigger packages.

Thanksgiving 2009

We decided to make a loast minute trip to Kansas City for the Thanksgiving holiday... and we are so glad we did. It was wonderful to be with family for Turkey Day.

Unfortunately I didn't take very many pictures!

Here is a picture from Ella's 1st attempt at ice skating. Mark and my brother Tom took her out on the rink. Needless to say, she wasn't a big fan. She lasted about 2 minutes before crying to get off the ice. She did, however, LOVE the ice skates and threw a royal fit that she couldn't wear them the rest of the evening.

And here is a post-ice skating pic of Ella with her GG and Granddaddy.

Ella Dancing

I've been horrible about updating the site lately. This video is from about a month ago.

Ella dancing!!

Ella's First Haircut

Put it down in the baby book! We had a major milestone today! Ella is 21 months old and she had her 1st haircut! We went to the Jack and Jill salon and Ella got to sit up in a blue car AND have a lollipop (thanks Jen for that advice!) while she got her hair cut. She was such a trooper and didn't get upset at all.

The hairdresser put Ella's hair up in a cute little pigtail and sprayed it with a little glitter. So cute! Ella received a special certificate after her cut.

Ella is so proud of her new haircut!

Halloween Pics

Unfortunately our little monkey was sick on Halloween, so we didn't get to go trick-or-treating, but here are a few pictures of Ella in her costume and pumpkin shirt...

Potty Training

Oh the joys of motherhood! We have begun the POTTY TRAINING! Ella's been showing a lot of interest, so we firgued we might as well go with it. We switched from diapers to pull-ups and, to date, Ella has pee'd in the potty 3 times on her own. She gets a treat when she makes it in time. We'll see how this goes...

Happy 4th Anniversary to us!

Today Mark & I celebrate 4 years of marriage! We are so blessed and thankful for all we have, but we are especially thankful for eachother.

To celebrate, last weekend we took a trip to one of our favorite places- FLORIDA! We had a wonderful visit with my parents and Mark's grandfather. And we really enjoyed having free babysitters so we could go out to celebrate at one of our favorite resturants, The Turtle Club.

Here's to many more anniversaries!

Some of our favorite pictures from the trip...