Thanks Aunt Jess!

Dear Aunt Jess,
I got this awesome package in the mail from you today! Thank you for thinking of me! This popper thing is so cool. When I push it around, it makes all sorts of fun noises, and has lots of different colors for me to look at. My Mommy and Daddy taught me how to use it. I am such a big girl walking around with it. I told my Mommy to please take my picture so you could see how much I enjoyed it. Thank you so much!
I love you!
Love,
Ella

Catch up

Well, since I have been so behind on blogging, I thought I would just post some random pictures from the past few weeks. I have lots of fun pictures, mostly of Ella, that I don't know how to make an entire post subject about because they're so scattered! So here they are, in totally random order. Hope you enjoy them!

Face of an angel :)

Ha, ha, ha!

Ok, I know it's blurry. But it is so precious, I had to post it.

Again, blurry. But look at those curls!

Ella loves to look out the front door window. She is usually here either watching the kitty, or waiting for Daddy to get home :)

Oh, hi Cooper!
Woman on a mission!
This walking stuff is so fun!

Do you like my hat guys?
Mmmmm....I love Mom's macaroni and cheese!
This is so random, but I had to take a picture. It struck me funny the other night when we grilled hot dogs for dinner. Not so much about what we were eating, but about what we were drinking with it. See picture below.
It was funny to me that we were having grilled hot dogs and wine. Not steak, not pasta or something fancy. But hot dogs. What can I say? We enjoy trying different wines! This one is a Riesling that we thoroughly enjoyed.
My niece and nephew, Emma and Ethan. So precious.
My mom took Emma, Ethan and Ella out for ice cream the other day and shot some cute pictures.
This is hilarious. Emma and Ethan are smiling at the camera, Ella is trying to figure out how she is going to get her hands on that ice cream cone!
Em and Ethan again. They are so precious to me and SO much fun to be with.
Emma had her dance recital last weekend. She did AMAZING. You should have seen her during her hip-hop routine! That girl can DANCE! Here she is with her Mama :)
Me and my girl, just hanging out. Yikes, no makeup April :{
Cooper dog!!! What a pretty smile, buddy.
Did I do something wrong?
Ella trying to help Cooper escape from his kennel. Sometimes I think he likes being in there, though. It saves him from the fur grabbing toddler!

One of these days, I will get a picture when she climbs in here. We have to leave the door closed most of the time because she loves getting into Cooper's kennel!
Here I am again, looking cute as ever!!

Ok, so I think I'm finally almost caught up. I have a few more things to post, but this should do for now! Hope you all have a great weekend. It is supposed to be beautiful here in Missouri!

Birthday Weekend

I celebrated my 28th birthday 2 weekends ago. I must say it was the best yet!! I got to spend some great time with my family and was lucky enough to get some AWESOME birthday gifts!
Tom's parents were generous enough to buy me a new LAPTOP!!! I've never had one of my own, Tom and I have always shared one. Since I've been working on the computer a lot more lately, I was really wanting one to call my own. And here it is!! Tom and I built it online ourselves. It's a Dell Inspiron 1520. Lots of fun bells and whistles, I won't bore you all with computer talk (not that I even know much)....let's just say it is so much fun and I LOVE it! Isn't it pretty? :) Thanks to my wonderful in-laws!

Here is the new camera Tom got me for my birthday/Mother's Day. A Nikon Coolpix. I love it. It takes gorgeous pictures and I desperately needed a new point and shoot camera so I could easily put it in my purse and go!

Here are some more pictures from the weekend celebration.

Tom, Ella and I went out for drinks and appetizers with my parents on Saturday night. SO good!! My favorite was this Greek appetizer....I can't even remember what it was called, but it was some kind of crisp dough stuffed with Spinach and Feta cheese. Yummy!
Of course, Ella got her usual. Chicken fingers and fries. Here she is getting into the dipping of the ketchup!

The next day, Tom, Ella, Cooper and I participated in the March of Dimes walk with his co-workers. It was a beautiful day and a great walk for a great cause.

Me and my girl before hand. I love this picture because first off, she's looking at the camera like we're crazy. Second, I love the hat. Looks like she should be going fishing or something. And lastly, LOVE the big belly in this picture. She sure is chunking up!
My handsome husband before the walk.

Later that day, my wonderful family put together a Mexican feast for my birthday dinner! Anyone who knows me knows that I LOVE Mexcian food. It was so good. Everything from guacamole (my Mom makes the best!), rotel (a staple in Mexican Cuisine), yummy appetizers that Summer made stuffed with chicken and peppers and then fried (wow), and my Mom even made homeade white cheese sauce for Nachos. Yum. Yum. Yum. And those were just the starters! We then feasted on the best fajitas I have ever had. Yummy steak that Hannon grilled with bell peppers and onions. And of course, what Mexican feast is complete without Margaritas to wash it all down with. Oh my word, was it good. Needless to say, I ate til I was almost sick, but it was worth it!

The Mexican fixin's.
Aren't these the cutest? My sister got me these for my birthday. Neat Summertime plates, cups, chip/dip tray, pitcher and ice bucket. So cute! And my wonderful parents gave me much appreciated birthday money :)
Daddy and Ella just hanging out.
Me and my baby girl.
Outside on the deck, enjoying margaritas before dinner (and after all the appetizers!).
How do my sunglasses look, Dad?
Tom and I.

The next day, which was my actual birthday, I was surprised with these flowers that Tom sent to me. Aren't they gorgeous? I love all the colors.

That evening, Tom, Ella and I went to dinner and enjoyed some yummy Imo's pizza. It was a perfect birthday weekend celebration. It seems each year my birthday gets better and better. So far, 28 is great!!!

Ella and Mommy

This is how we celebrated Mother's Day. Is there anything better?
Tom and Ella let me sleep in that morning, they got me my favorite breakfast.....everything bagel and veggie cream cheese from Panera, made me a fresh pot of Starbucks coffee, and brought me flowers. We spent the day together and just relaxed. I still need to post pictures, but my wonderful husband also got me an awesome new camera for my birthday/Mother's Day. It is so cute!
Here's to the incredible baby girl that allows me to celebrate this wonderful holiday. Hope you all had a great one, too!

SHE WALKED!!!

Ella took her first steps on Friday!! This video is actually the second time....of course when she first took off I wasn't expecting it and didn't have the video camera ready...I just stared and yelled and cheered in disbelief! She is walking more and more every day, now...it's unbelievable! This video makes me laugh and tear up all at the same time :) It's a little lengthy, but she walks several different times in it. The best one is at about 1:50 second mark. Hope you enjoy it as much as we do!