Little Swimmer

Here are some pictures of Ella at the pool! It works out nicely because Tom's parent's live right here in town and have a nice in-ground pool for us to take Ella to. She wasn't so sure about it at first, but was really enjoying it by the end. This is the first time she's gone this Summer, and last Summer she was too young to really know what was going on and she only went once because she did not like it AT ALL! Looks like this Summer will bring LOTS of swimming for Ella!

Ready to go swimming. I'm so excited!

Do you like my new swimsuit?

Hmmm...I'm not so sure about this. I'm glad my Daddy is here with me.

Hey, this is fun!

I'm sure there will be many more pool pictures to come this Summer!

Give Life

A few weeks ago, I donated blood at a local blood drive. Now, I'll be the first to admit that 10 years ago, the only reason I would dream of doing this was because it was considered "mandatory" during Homecoming and Greek Week festivities at Mizzou. Unless of course you were one of those lucky jerks that was deferred because you were anemic or didn't make the 110 lb cutoff. My first experience with donating in college was no doubt traumatic. The donation itself was hard enough, but I made it through. Then as I was walking down the hall in my dorm post-donation, out of nowhere, I passed out. Hit the floor right in front of my room. Quite embarassing. Even subsequent attempts to give brought on the same level of anxiety for me. I remember trying to donate several years ago here in town, and after almost 30 minutes of sitting there with the needle in my arm, bag almost full, they decided I had "clotted off." My donation was no good because I couldn't finish off that little pint bag of blood. All my efforts down the toilet. I then decided that I simply was not meant to donate blood. Ever. Then a few months ago, there was a blood drive at church and for some reason I felt inspired to give it another go. And it was a wonderful experience. From start to finish, everything went smooth as silk. And I donated in just a little over 10 minutes. Then, I went again the beginning of this month, again it went smoothly, and I gave in a little over 7 minutes!! As silly as it sounds, I was so proud! However, my point in this long, drawn out story is that despite what bad experiences you might have had donating in the past, give it another try. You could save up to 3 lives with a single donation. Just think if it were your child, your mother, your spouse, father, sister or brother who needed the donation.
So, there's my piece. I'm stepping down from my soap box. Hope this inspires you all to give it a try. :)

 

Happy Birthday!

I just wanted to wish my wonderful husband a VERY Happy Birthday! June is a busy month for us between anniversaries/Father's Day/birthdays. He has been very spoiled lately! But Ella and I don't mind :) Hope you had a great day, babe!!

 

Happy 35 Years, Mom & Dad!

Here's to my wonderful parents, who today have been married 35 years. What an accomplishment. My family is the most important thing to me, and this no doubt comes from the example my parents set that their family was the most important thing to them. Here's to you, Mom and Dad. I couldn't have hand picked two better parents. We love you very much!

6 Wonderful Years

Today Tom and I celebrate 6 wonderful years of marriage. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Each year gets better than the one before. I feel so lucky to share my life with this wonderful man. It's crazy to think that we've been together for almost 12 years, as we started dating in high school. We've seen each other through so many stages in our time together. And the most recent one, seeing each other become parents. We are so very lucky. Happy Anniversary, babe! I can't wait until we're celebrating 50!!

*sorry the quality of the pictures isn't great. i couldn't find my wedding pic CD this morning, so i just took pictures of pictures from our wedding album!*

Ella's Daddy

I am thrilled to celebrate today. To acknowledge the amazing father my husband is. Nothing makes me happier than watching him and Ella. It warms my heart to watch the way he loves this little girl. Watching him hold her hand, walking beside her. Watching his big hands put her small feet into tiny shoes. Watching him sing "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" with everything he's got. Watching him wipe big alligator tears from chubby cheeks. Watching her light up at the very sight of him. We love you, Daddy. We are two incredibly lucky girls. Happy Father's Day to you!

The day Ella was born. Look at that proud Papa.

The two most special people in my life.

This was last Father's Day. My how she has grown!

Breakfast this morning. Ella and I made Daddy peanut butter pancakes. Yum!

For Father's Day, Ella and I got Tom a child carrier for the back of his bike. This afternoon, we all went on a nice long bike ride together. Ella had a BLAST! Her helmet is a little big, so we're probably going to try and find her a better one. But she didn't mind! She laughed and giggled the entire ride!

Ready for the Tour De France!

A Daddy and his best girl :)

More Pictures...

Here are a few more pictures of Ella from our visit to Colorado. Jess took some cute ones, although it was difficult because she is always on the move!

Ella's crazy face. Love it.

Hmmm....do you think Sarge would mind if I had a taste of his food?

Ella sometimes makes this blowing kind of sound through her lips....I can just hear her doing it when I look at this sweet picture. What a serious face!

Big blue eyes and a big smile. That's my girl.

Sitting on the step like a big girl. You could tell she thought she was hot stuff here ;)

Anyway, those are our pics from Colorado. It was such a fun time. I know there will be another photo shoot when Jess visits next month, so stay tuned!!

SURPRISE!

This past Saturday, Ella and I flew to Colorado for a surprise visit to Jess! It was so much fun to surprise her and to see her reaction when we walked into the coffee shop. She thought she was meeting Kate there for coffee (her sis in-law) and instead it was us! Mike has been helping me plan this for Jess since the first part of April, so I was so excited it was finally time to go! Thanks, Mike! And a huge thank-you to Kate who was sweet enough to take care of everything the day we arrived, from picking us up at the airport, going to a pretend "interview" (our cover story for Jess!), and getting the Pack-n-Play for Ella to sleep in (thanks, Sarah!). Here are some pictures of the surprise reunion:

Our first surprise hug. Tears were shed, of COURSE! But they were happy ones ;)

Jess talking to Ella. She hadn't seen her since January so I was super excited for her to see how much she has grown.

All of us girls laughing. I LOVE this picture.

A huge bonus of visiting Jess: getting to hang out with her precious dog, Sarge. He is the loviest (is that a word?) little thing. Such a gentle dog. I love him like my own pup!

Ella, just hanging out at Aunt Jess's house!

Turning the kitchen into a wave pool. She was almost too big for the sink, but it actually worked out quite well! Nothing like measuring cups and spoons to play with during bathtime. Notice that the actual "toys" (the green and blue rings) weren't being played with...just the kitchen utensils!

Getting Ella ready for bed, post bathtime all wrapped up in her towel.

Shopping in Old Town. They have the cutest little shops and boutiques. You could literally find a gift for anyone there.

Outside after lunch on Sunday.

We had such a wonderful time. Jess is the kind of friend you can talk to for hours at a time (which we did!) and never run out of things to talk about. We shopped, played with Ella, ate with friends (she has some great ones there in CO!), drank wine, and chatted until we couldn't hold our eyes open anymore. It was a perfect trip. We love you, Jess. Thanks for a great weekend :)


p.s. this was Ella's first trip on an airplane. I was so nervous about it and she did wonderful! I will post more pictures of her because there are some really good ones from the trip! There are just too many to choose from! More later.......

Play

The Summer weather has had us outside playing a lot lately. Ella loves to be outside, and we love watching her discover and explore new things. These pictures are from the last 2 weeks or so. We've been very busy because we recently put our house on the market, so a lot of focus and energy (cleaning!) has shifted to that. But we've been sure to have lots of fun with Ella and of course, take LOTS of pictures. Here they are!

Having fun playing outside :)

Daddy holding her up to the trees, this is one of her favorite things to do.

Stop it, stop it! You're cracking me up! ( I think she was laughing at the cat here).

I'm so innocent :)

Smelling the flowers....or in this case, the clovers ;)

This is Ella most of the time. Happy and laughing :)

I just liked this picture, how it shows her little profile and sweet face.

She loves to pet the kitty.

Oh, kitty. You are so FUNNY!

Another sweet picture.

Turning around, looking for Daddy. I like the way the sun shines in her hair in this picture.

This is my favorite. Snuggling with my girl.

We sure do have fun!

Ladies and Gentleman, meet Minnie Mouse.

Hmmm....I forgot what I was going to say!

The crazy face. This causes a lot of laughter at our house!

Having fun playing in the grass.

She had a little trouble staying on her feet sometimes because the grass is uneven. She didn't mind though! She would just laugh every time she tipped over.

Oh, I'm glad Mama is here to help me up!

Playing ball.

On the move.
Here I come!
Don't know what this face was for, but it was funny!
Daddy and Ella.
Love this. How does a face like that not make your day?


Takin' a break!
I got it!
Ah, man. I'm getting tired.
I think I have some grass in my mouth.....

We hope you guys liked all of the pictures. I'll try to be better about posting. Like I said, things are busy having your house on the market. I'll post more about that soon enough...

Hope everyone has a great week!!