Life and Times of our Happy Family

Detroit Mommies Lilith Fair Giveaway and discount!!!

2010-05-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

Courtney over at Detroit Mommies has a discount available for Lilith Fair and is giving away two tickets too! Anyone who knows me knows how much I love Sarah McLachlan. Somehow I never managed to make it to Lilith Fair when I was in college. Sarah's music got me through some rough times, and she finally wrote a happy love song right before I got married.

Check out Courtney's blog and the info at:

"Detroit Mommies:Lilith Fair Discount and Giveaway"

Many hats

2010-02-23T21:06:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I never blogged about our diagnosis and Ella's new therapy? It has been such a roller coaster the last couple of months. I will definitely put some thoughts down very soon. This week is so crazy.

We have a houseguest! We brought my niece (Jason and Jenny's little girl), Saoirse, back from Cleveland with us. Saoirse is 5, and she is so very smart. I was worried that Saoirse would be bored because she is getting so big. We have had to find like 20 books every night just to keep her reading long enough to get sleepy. Today we bought her a Star Wars Clone Wars book- she's 5!! She has been just blowing me away these last couple of days. And Ella loves her cousin so much!

I just wanted to share a funny story. Ella's favorite game is to assign new roles to everyone in the house. She will be "mama", I will be "Ella", and Dave will be baby or some other mixup. I think because she knows these words well she likes to drag this game out for as long as the participant(s) will allow. We try really hard to avoid it sometimes. Lately she has been really trying to work it in. Today we were getting really confused as to what to refer to ourselves as because with Saoirse here, we wear many hats- Aunt, mom,Heather, Dave, husband, dad. So we discussed it for a minute and decided I was Aunt Mama and Dave was Uncle Daddy. Dave, Saoirse, and I had a good chuckle about the silliness of our new titles. Ella was really quiet through the discussion and all of a sudden she gets talking really fast...."I'm baby. You're Ella and You're Ella, and Diddy Ella. No, I'm Mama. Mama Ella...."

The power of love or our crazy family- you choose

2010-01-03T18:25:00.000-08:00

Ella has really begun to understand what it means to have aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. and can tell you through yes or no questions who lives where and what they are to her. We had a wonderful Christmas with Dave's family, and Ella loved playing with her Chicago cousins. We heard so much expression and had some really big moments like when she told her cousin (who loves to play teacher) - "No! Three. One, Two, Three." Everyone was in various rooms and got really quiet. I finally said, "Did Ella just count to three?" Ella has known "two" and "three" for awhile but we go through times when everything is "two" or "three" depending which is easier for her to say but its been clear that she knows when she has two things or when she has three. I have heard "one" maybe a handful of times. It was a really big moment!

Then we had a few days recovering at home and we worked with flash cards to keep the momentum. On New Year's Eve we left for Cleveland to celebrate the holidays with my family at my sister's. My family is anything but quiet when we get together. It's loud, crazy, and often dramatic. My daughter fully embraces the insanity and becomes a part of it. She gets so excited about everything that she just blurts words out left and right. We got full sentences and tons of random new words. I heard a lot of "I need...", "I want..." which isn't totally new but to hear it all day long is incredible. She told me she wanted "apple juice" instead of signing it. She talked about "snow", told us there were three dogs, and pointed out every "E" to let us know that "Ella" started with "e". The whole weekend was full of very proud moments. And to see her face, when she said what she wanted and we understood...wow.

New Year, New hopes

2009-12-22T14:01:00.001-08:00

I am really excited and nervous about 2010. Dave and I have made a decision that may end up being expensive but also very helpful. Ella has finished the first half of the year in her new preschool. We have seen a huge increase in confidence and definitely more talking. Unfortunately there hasn't been an increase in vocabulary. Ella is great at letting mom and dad know what she wants or needs. She has her ways. We still occasionally run into those situations where she wants something and I can't figure it out. These sometimes lead to melt downs, but they are also rare.

We have decided it's time to get additional therapy for Ella. Her speech therapist at her school did not offer much encouragement when we suggested it may help. She is really worried Ella will be too shy to respond. I can definitely see that happening, but I also know that Ella is often more withdrawn in large groups and busy places- i.e. a classroom. One on one or in small outgoing groups she will talk and make sounds as long as she feels comfortable. She loves school and we are really excited about her growing confidence and her new skills. She is like any other three old except that she doesn't say much at all.

I have grown increasingly frustrated with things being said to us. One thing that drives me crazy- "She'll talk when she's ready." I know it is always said as encouragement and with the best of intentions, but we know that Ella is more than ready to tell us what she is thinking and we want to do everything we can to help her with that. I started making some calls and got some ideas about where to start. First off- we should be able to recoup some money through insurance but most will probably begin as out of pocket. I was just going to call Beaumont's speech center, but then my good friend Barb reminded me of the Kaufman Children Center. Nancy Kaufman is always referred to in reading about apraxia of speech. This is the disorder I suspect Ella to have. In my research, I have learned that often these kids need more intensive therapy. We have an appt January 11. Nancy Kaufman will be evaluating Ella and already has called to discuss. I am encouraged by the quick response. It may not be right for her but we have to try!

Coming to terms

2009-11-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

I haven't blogged in so long. As many friends have been saying, what is there to blog about when you have Facebook? Well, we may have something to blog about but not sure how open I can be. It still feels like an open wound sometimes that I just don't want to share. Then I have to ask myself, am I ashamed? Never. Could it help me to put it down in words? Maybe. Am I scared to share? Definitely.

It is so hard to come to terms with the fact that something is going on with my daughter. First, I am so grateful and so glad that she is very healthy, very loved, and very happy. What is hard for me is to know that now it may start to really hit her that she is different. I think when she wasn't talking at 2 we really thought she would come around with some therapy. We went to our first few classes and I saw how well the other kids were responding, and I was SO hopeful. When she wasn't progressing as fast as the others in her class, I started to worry slightly, but it was obvious she was also battling extreme shyness. Really she was also doing so much better compared to where she had been 6 months before. She was communicating with us and picking up new words faster than before.

It's almost a year now since we started with Early On. A year ago Ella would barely answer yes or no questions and now she speaks in 3 or 4 word sentences and even though she won't say "yes", she has several affirmatives. She has lots of words but still nowhere near what she should at her age. I am very proud of her and try to let her know as much as possible. Since we hit three, people expect so much from her and when it doesn't happen for her, I hurt with her. I see it on her face. She has something to say and I want so badly to help her find her voice. She is so silly and has a great sense of humor!

Why am I having a harder time now than before? I think it is becoming more obvious to us that Ella isn't just a "late talker" or simply shy. I have done some research and found a book called "The Late Talker: What to Do If Your Child Isn't Talking Yet" Right away things hit me harder than I expected. There was a chart right in the front on the differences between a delay and a disorder. Ella fit right into the disorder column. The wonderful news is that Ella does not have any other conditions that could accompany speech disorders. She is also talking which is better than some kids. Things could be much much worse.

The book at first depressed me. I kept waiting for the good news like she would grow out of it or it would mean speech therapy for a few years but then we would be done. Instead I read that she may always struggle and may have learning disabilities. Then I started to feel empowered a bit. I have been struggling with what to do next and kind of playing the "wait and see" that everyone has suggested. I am not waiting anymore. We are going to get whatever help we can for her now. Her preschool is great but they can only do so much. Now we just have a lot of phone calls and work to do!

Not Me Monday

2009-08-10T19:30:00.000-07:00

So my friend, Barb, always does a wonderful Not Me Monday post and I keep thinking I will do one but I always run out of steam. She got the idea from another blogger whose place I visit from time to time MckMama. The idea is to air your dirty laundry by announcing things that you would never do but actually wished you didn't. It's a lessons learned really :).

Where to start? I did NOT decide to read my book the last two days instead of cleaning up something. I did NOT let me daughter watch 2 hours of Barney on two seperate days. I did NOT punish my husband for playing golf by sitting on my butt last night. I did NOT ignore the baby crying so my husband would get up and get him. I did NOT try to convince him that the baby was just teething and didn't need to eat. I did NOT sleep in until past 8 am even though we were supposed to be getting on the road by 9 am.

And then there was tonight....

I did NOT drag my children out past their bedtime for ice cream. I did NOT decide to carry baby around rather than accept he needed to go home. I did NOT pay $6 for a quart of ice cream. I did NOT forget to let the dog out for awhile and she did NOT pee on the floor. I did NOT forget to change my daughter's pull up yet again. I have NOT been putting my daughter in Pull Ups and then not even attempting to get her to use the potty. That would be ridiculous and a sign of true laziness. I did NOT tuck my daughter in bed 2 hours late. I did NOT just let my baby cry himself to sleep for the first time. Same little boy is NOT still sleeping in the living room because his parents definitely did finish his sister's new bedroom so he would be able to move into her room.

Whew! I do feel better. Feel free to play along!

Checkups!

2009-06-27T07:14:00.001-07:00

Ella had a birthday!!! She turned 3 years old last Saturday. I can't believe my baby is 3. We celebrated with family at Chuck E Cheese, and she had a blast with her cousins. She also got a lot of loot. We are big believers in recycling toys. She got a ton of toys from my sister that used to be my niece's and then a gorgeous baby bed that used to belong to the Chicago cousins. She also got some cool clay that I have yet had the courage to get into. It says it is not messy but I think anything you have to add water to is automatically messy. So we are saving that for a day when Dad is up and can help with baby. Ella's three year check up went great. No shots thankfully but there was a blood draw and an attempt to pee in a cup. She screamed through the little poke in her finger and then was fine. All afternoon she kept trying to tell us about her boo boo that went bye. I think she was trying to explain that it didnt hurt so bad and was barely there. She weighed in at 31 lbs 6 oz and 37 inches tall. She was in the 50th percentile for both which is a huge change from when she was an infant. My girl was a skinny baby and is chunking up. She loves her eggs and cheese. We are back to working on potty training but it is tough with the baby. I think we will be doing good by the end of summer though. Luckily it is perfect weather to run around half naked.

Luke also had an appt for his 8 week check up. He unfortunately did have shots. Poor guy! He did great through the checkup but then we had to wait and by the time the immunizations came, he was really tired. I had given him tynenol before we left so hopefully that helped him deal. He weighed in at exactly 12 lbs and was 22 3/4 in. He is a really happy baby and smiles and coos all the time. I feel bad because I know he is left to entertain himself a lot because of Ella. He loves his bouncy seat and will happily kick his legs for an hour. He has really strong legs now! We are now officially pumping all the time. He gets to nurse 2 or three times a day when time allows. He likes to but often falls asleep and still needs more. I find the bottles allow us more freedom to do stuff.

Wish I had pics to share but the camera got left on by accident after Ella's birthday and we still haven't had a chance to replace the batteries that cost a fortune. Hopefully this weekend!

Feeling blessed

2009-06-01T07:12:00.000-07:00

There seems to be reminders around a lot lately that are telling me that I am very lucky to have healthy family. I need those reminders. I try to focus on them during these really long days and even longer nights as the horrible sucking machine drains the energy out of me. Also remember it when my almost 3 year old looks at me with those sad eyes because I can't read stories to her, and her little baby brother screams because I am taking too long with the bottle after already sorta nursing for 40 minutes. I am blessed. Little Luke is gaining at an amazing rate and is a very happy baby. Ella is talking up a storm around the house. Today we got the word "banana" instead of the sign for the first time. And she is so happy- most of the time :). I keep telling her that soon baby Luke will be bigger and the three of us will go do so much now that mommy isn't working.

The nursing is coming along ok. I have almost given up so many times but then we will hang out with each other for a few and its like he knows that its his last chance the next time around. We had a very nice Le Leche League leader come help us out Saturday. I knew I was doing all I could but I just wanted to hear if there was still hope. She said she definitely understood my frustration as Luke latched on for several minutes and then just stopped and decided to scream at me and my boob until a bottle arrived. It's been very confusing. She told me she really believes there is still a chance. I am going to give it a couple more weeks. The last 24 hours we have had a lot of good nursing and even avoided a bottle or two. It's progress but it's still exhausting.

Baby is stirring so quickly going to post a couple pics. The first are little Luke. The last two were just today and you can see how big he has gotten. The last of Ella is her new obsession with folding our cloth diapers. It keeps her entertained for hours while I care for baby but it makes a big mess!

Never make assumptions

2009-05-12T10:06:00.000-07:00

So I thought this time around, our baby experience would be so much different. What were the chances that we would run into the same issues as with Ella. Ella was jaundiced for at least 3 months for no apparent reason. This led to sleepiness that prevented us from getting the hang of nursing and lots of dr visits. Well, Luke's bilirubin jumped up the second day in the hospital and we have since had serious moments of deja vu. Lots of babies get newborn jaundice but for some reason ours jump the gun and get high really fast. We managed to avoid a night in the hospital this time but did have dr visits every day last week. I was so looking forward to an easier time nursing since I was experienced. Mr. Luke was hard to waken for feedings and lost weight quickly. We supplemented thinking that we would be able to pick up nursing better when he was more alert. He is really loving that bottle though and fighting me every chance he gets. Slowly we are starting to come to terms but its been rough and is a really harsh schedule to follow right now. We have decided we will do it as long as I can stand. I feel slightly cheated but have come to terms with it. Things will be fine. Our baby is healthy and that's all that matters.

I had moments of self pity last week. I couldn't believe we were in the same place again. The jaundice itself was not worrisome but the sleepiness was hard to deal with. Even for bottles, it took a long time to get him awake. He was lethargic and had a weak cry for a day or two, and it was really scary. We beefed him up though. He gained 4 oz in 2 days so dr was happy. I made an appt with a lactation consultant when I noticed he was not doing as well as before. While sitting in waiting area, a little girl started admiring Luke. She told me her baby sister was only 2 lbs and they weren't going to be taking her home. I then noticed the mom and my heart broke for her. She was so tired and sad. I got over my problems then and just appreciated how lucky we are that he is healthy and growing.

I am very proud of Dave and I. We have been trying to be more "green" for a couple years now. We started with recycling, then moved on to getting rid of yucky chemicals, and have been eating organic when we can afford to. So this time around with baby, I decided we should try cloth diapering. Thanks to my brother and wife we had a good start with lots of covers. So with a little investment (less than $100) we have been using the cloth diapers since Friday. It is so much easier than I thought it would be. A little more effort at changing but it is getting faster every time. Everything fits in one load of wash which is also getting to just be routine. I really like the money we will save too!

Baby Luke is 12 days old today!! Check him out sleeping on the Boppy so mom can admire him while she pumps and pumps. (Ella has now added "pump pump" to her vocabulary)

Happy Birthday, baby Luke!!!

2009-05-01T17:12:00.001-07:00

***Actually written Saturday and just now posted :) Terribly boring birth story to follow

I know I have been awful at blogging lately. Just grumpy and impatient for baby to come. It has been one of the longest months ever. Every time I went to the doctor I was making progress, and supposedly baby was down and ready to roll since the middle of the month. He just wasn't ready.

So my due date came and went and it was time to talk about a plan. My doctor knew I really didn't want to do pitocin and would like to try to go without an epidural. I knew I could probably make it if we could avoid the pitocin. So when I went in on Tuesday I was surprised to find I had made no progress and was just sitting at 3.5 cm dilated. He really wanted to break my water on Thursday the 30th. I asked what the chances were that we would go without pitocin and he told me 75% and he didn't want to do something I was uncomfortable with. So instead he had me come in for a non stress test for baby first thing on Thurs. I knew that we would end up in the hospital if I had dilated more. Well it didn't even take that. We didn't pass the non stress test. Then I suggested they check me and I was at 4 cm. So we went in to have my water broken.

It was pretty simple and straight forward. Water broken at 12:18. A lot of waiting impatiently for something to happen. Then finally things started to roll. I am told I was really a champ but honestly it wasn't so bad at first. Then when they did get bad, it was too late to do anything about it so then I had to deal. I went from 8 to wanting to push in about 30 minutes. Dr wasn't even around and almost didn't make it cuz I really didn't want to wait :). One horrible unforgettable push and Luke was here! I really didn't even realize I had a baby until they put him on top of me!
What a wonderful moment!

Counting the days...

2009-04-06T19:30:00.001-07:00

I didn't realize it had been almost a month since my last update! Oops.

We have been adjusting to many changes in our house lately: me being home, Dave's crazy new schedule which just changed again, and then just getting larger and more tired every day. We were really getting stuff done back in March then the last couple of weeks I was at work, I just got really uncomfortable and so tired. It has stayed that way. I have no energy after lunch. Thankfully now Dave is home in the afternoons and I can get some rest which helped immensely getting Ella down tonight.

Miss Ella- wow I can't even find the words about how she has transformed the last month. She is definitely growing up. Her vocabulary is expanding a bit, but mostly we are amazed at her sentences. She says things like "this is mine. This is mama's. This is daddy's." I have told the story more than a few times now but last week at the park she threw a huge fit when we got to the car and kept pointing at the driver side door and fussing. I told her that was mama's seat and she had to sit in her seat. She blurted out "I want drive!" I was so proud of her getting it out but so sad that it was one thing that definitely wasn't going to happen! There is also a lot of "I want more" "I need more". One of her new ones we are just noticing is you tell her something and she says "I know." There is some definite sassiness but considering she was barely communicating last fall, we will take it any way she wants to dish it out.

With Dave's previous schedule, we had some really hard weeks because I always had dinner and bedtime to run by myself. It was really fun some nights. I was so tired but so wanting to get stuff done after bedtime. I would just lay on the couch and try to find one little ounce of energy to get something done. Instead I would just end up falling asleep at 11 or midnight when I should have just given it up at 9.

We are just waiting now for baby to come. I am still needing to wash baby clothes and cloth diaper stuff. We owe my brother and Jenny a huge thank you for letting us use their covers. We have saved so much money! Now we just need to get it rolling. It really isn't as hard as it seems at all. Even Dave is reassured now.

We have some idea now what will happen next year for Ella. We just need to make our decisions. I know which way I am leaning but I need some more info. Probably will be it's own post!

Baby Update 33 weeks

2009-03-13T10:21:00.000-07:00

7 more weeks to go! Ugh. I had my check up today. Everything was fine. Not as perfect as last time. Luke has not been as busy the last few days and I mentioned that to the dr. Since I got to work though, he has decided to bounce around almost nonstop. So no worries though.

This week has been one of the hardest. Thankfully Ella has been behaving really well. Although she hasn't been sleeping well, she is good during the day. The lack of sleep was going to happen anyway cuz I wasn't sleeping either thanks to this horrendous cold I caught. This was the worst cold virus I have ever had. I am finally on the mend (I hope) after I decided to take a day off for once and rest. By day off I mean I didn't work and Ella was at daycare. Now I am feeling better just in time for her to start sniffling. Here's to hoping it won't be as hard on her.

My last day of work is officially the 25th. It is going to be weird for me not to work and not to worry about work. I am really looking forward to it. I really love the company I work for but this pregnancy combined with the endless energy of a toddler is wearing me down. Plus Dave just started a new schedule that is really hard on us. We are hoping that when I do go back to work it will be part time and we will be able to see each other some time.

I hope to have pics to post soon. I keep telling Dave he needs to get a belly pic. I am huge!! I will try to do that soon.

Baby Update week 31.5

2009-02-27T18:32:00.000-08:00

I had a baby checkup today. Everything was great. Actually, Dr used the word "perfect". Baby's heartbeat was strong. My blood pressure was great still, and I measured right on track. I felt relieved because I was worried I had really over done it at work this week. I was really uncomfortable and hurting last night when I got home. This baby is so much more aggressive than Ella. Right now he is kicking me right in the ribs. Ella just used to roll around real casual like. So funny how that is exactly how she is most of the time now...real laid back.

Ella went with me to the doctor for the first time in a really long time. She was so good. I was a little sad because I could tell she had lots of questions she was trying so hard to get out, but all she could really say was "mama" and "baby" the there was a bunch of babble mixed in. And as we left, she kept trying to talk to people but nothing much was coming out. I can't imagine how frustrating it is for her to know the words she wants to come out, but not be able to make them. Most of the time she is ok with it but I can see disappointment on her face when people don't really understand her. Dave and I just get her a lot more. Sometimes she will just say two words but because of the situation and where her eyes go, I can tell what she is trying to tell me. Maybe that is holding us back a bit. She is signing a lot too which means that when we aren't around she doesn't communicate much. She is so sweet though and always smiles and says what she can to everyone she meets. She is going to be a great big sister too!

Ella's New Do

2009-02-27T18:20:00.000-08:00

So Ella has a lot of hair. I always did as a kid too. Still do really. it just grows a lot. We had been taking her to one of those kids' haircut places but the last time Dave took her she flipped out. Now it is closed. Her hair has been crazy and if I am not here to do it in the morning, Dave has to take her out and about with two flimsy barrettes. I don't think he even wants to learn how to do it. As long as Ella is good about brushing it, we will keep it long but I really wanted her to be able to have bangs she can see through! I kept telling Dave we just need to pin her down and chop her bangs, but he hasn't been home when I am and he was scared to try when I did mention it. Today after her much needed nap, I asked her if she would let me cut her hair. She looked doubtful but didn't say no right away. So I told her if she let me cut her hair, I would get out her scissors to practice cutting. She sat down in her booster seat and let me cut her bangs! She was so good and didn't even flinch. It's not perfect but she still looks cute!

Baby update week 29

2009-02-13T09:34:00.000-08:00

I need to get a baby bump picture but whenever Dave is home, I look awful. Maybe this weekend when we are in Cleveland.

I went to get a checkup on baby today. 29 weeks- 11 more to go. ugh. I have gained 23 lbs which I think is better than I was at with Ella at this point. Still kind of high considering I have 11 weeks to go but it's manageable. Baby's heartbeat is really strong and everything with me is good. I go back every two weeks now. I remember with Ella I was so excited to go to the doctor but this time around, I think it's more work to go more often. I know he's good. He's kicking a lot. He really likes sugar. Yeah who doesn't? My glucose screening was very normal and my blookd pressure is really good. I have been pretty uncomfortable especially when trying to sleep but it comes and goes.

Ella is doing marvelous with her speech. She is just trying so hard. We think we may be up to 25-30 words now but it's been awhile since we wrote them down. She had a really rough week because she had a cold that turned into croup. It wasn't as bad as when she had it as an infant. I really got lots of cuddles that normally don't happen so there is a positive to a sick toddler. Lack of sleep wasn't fun though. She finally stayed in her bed all night last night so it looks like we didn't create a monster this week. Last night we went bowling with my coworkers who really hadn't seen her in awhile. Her little friend Rachel was there with her little brother. They ran and ran. Ella really likes the boys too. She is such a flirt. Everyone was getting hugs last night. I also played Ring Around the Rosey with the girls and Ella said "down" every time we fell down. And she even attempted her friend Rachel's name. It's easy to see that she still struggles to get the sounds out but when she is determined she can do it. She is picking up signs like crazy and except when she is really tired, she uses them to express her needs and even "thank you" and "please".

So that's it for us. Hopefully I will get some fun pics this weekend!

Sesame Street Live

2009-02-03T19:09:00.000-08:00

Following our rough weird day on Saturday was a great day on Sunday. We had tickets to go see Elmo Grows Up at the Fox Theatre. Ella looked so cute and pretty even with the lovely scratch on her forehead. Then when we got there we had an uneasy moment when she didn't want to leave the lobby to go find our seats. I am not sure what freaked her out but once we picked her up and talked her through it, she was ok. During the first song, I watched her face carefully. We had gone last year but I knew she wouldn't remember. I wasn't sure about how she felt until the end of the first song when she just burst into applause and had the biggest smile on her face. She loved the whole show and danced as much as the small space would allow her. It was a great time. I didn't get any real good pics because she was moving so much. Even before the show, all I could get is cheesy grins and silliness but they are cute pics. Her scratch is on the right side of her forehead. It looks so much better today.

The rest of the day went great too. Ella was in a wonderful mood. We took care of all the cats we are watching this week and enjoyed watching the Super Bowl on my parents' TV while they were out of town.

Ups and Downs

2009-02-01T18:30:00.000-08:00

So I had so many posts I knew I wanted to make but by the time Ella goes to bed, I am done. I can't keep my eyes open or I just can't get off the couch to get the camera and download pics. This pregnancy is so different for me. I am very hormonal this time around. I am a crabby ass who cries at the drop of a hat.

Ella and I have had a lot of good days and a lot of bad and I swear they seem to alternate - one good for one bad. I will just show highlights from the good days. The bad days have just involved a lot of "no" and even some huge tantrums. Fortunately only one injury.

We made cookies a few weeks ago. It was a great time. Ella was really good at listening and so excited about helping. She is a great helper all the time but when the reward is cookies she is even better.

The pics following the cookie ones were various at play. the first one appears to have caught her in midsentence. Look how hard she concentrates when she plays!

Yesterday was a very disappointing day but ended well. I had a plan in my head but it just didn't work out. We didnt get anywhere in decent time because apparently everyone was running errands yesterday. Then nap time not only didn't happen but ended in injury that I mentioned before. Ella fell off our bed. I put her in there hoping for less distraction and she would get much needed asleep. I heard several loud thumps and everytime I checked she had knocked a book off into floor or had thrown a pillow. I was giving it one last try before I would give up and I heard another loud thump followed by screaming. I found Ella on the floor where she had hit her head on a basket. I couldn't figure out what had happened and with her crying she wasn't really going to be able to tell me. After she calmed down, i was able to get out of her that she did not jump but just fell. I even got a demostration. I was so worried she had decided to jump and the way she landed definitely could have caused internal damage. She has a huge scrape on her forehead now. I guess it could be worse.

The day ended well. We had movie night and Ella really had fun watching Wall-E and eating her popcorn. She even laughed and talked during the movie. It made up for the incredibly long day we had.

Following a really bad day is a really great day, but I don't have the energy to type and need to download more pics :). So stay tuned!

*Edited to add that I have yet again had difficulties getting the spacing right between pics. Ugh. I have tried everything! This morning I thought I would add that Ella is indeed wearing a Home Depot apron. We got it at the parade and she always wants to wear it.

Proud Mommy!

2009-01-20T13:05:00.000-08:00

So I was going to write this post about what today means to me as a mom. I decided instead that this post and day belongs to my girl. We went to class in a great mood. She warmed up so much today and during songs she was so animated and spoke a few times. They do a hello song and she waved to everyone in the class. She was very into the snow throwing song. She spoke for her teachers a few times and signed at snack time. It was just a great class. Everyone kept telling me that she seemed so much more involved.

The last few days have been really good ones. Last night Ella said "puppy" when I was asking about the little dogs. She says "dog" sometimes but has never said "puppy" and I was really impressed she knew they were the little dogs. She also has a couple of times identified sheep as "baa baa".

I am not sure what has changed but we are definitely going to take advantage of it!

Back on track Day 2

2009-01-20T06:15:00.000-08:00

So yesterday was the second day of us sticking to our plan for getting the house organized and cleaned and then staying that way. About a year ago we had a chore list that worked really well for about 2 weeks and then we just let it fall apart again. Last night for an hour we both did our respective chores. It took a little longer than it should because most of those chores hadn't been done in weeks like cleaning off the table. At dinner, we just push everything to the end we don't use. We agreed at 9 pm we would quit. It was 9:15 and I didn't recognize my house :). It felt really good this morning to walk around and not trip over toys. Yesterday was an easy day because we both had a decent schedule. Today will be the real challenge because it's a busy day and Dave has to work 1-10. Just had to share because anyone who knows me knows I hate to clean!

Hoping it keeps rolling

2009-01-19T06:27:00.001-08:00

So with our upcoming addition to our family comes a HUGE problem with our house. It's just not big enough. Right now baby will sleep in our room for his entire life :). Nah we would give him a drawer eventually in Ella's room. JK. We have been making great progress in the house as far as just cleaning and getting organized. We even managed to get rid of some stuff to Salvation Army this weekend. If we do this much every weekend we can, we should be done by the time they go to school.

I have been feeling just ok the last few days. I am so uncomfortable but my energy level is better. I get a rush of adrenaline when I am accomplishing things. I am really trying not to over do it. I have a feeling that my lack of comfort comes from baby deciding to use my organs as a punching bag. Ella was always much more considerate of where she kicked or punched me. She was an active but very laid back baby. Yeah not so much this time around. At first I really thought it was just pains in general until I realized they always came with his movements. My prolapse seems to be causing a lot of discomfort as well which stinks cause I thought it was feeling a lot better. Dr said this could be a problem because baby will take up more and more room as we go along. I am just glad he is obviously growing. I just hope he doesn't get too big.

Speaking of big babies- congratulations to our friends' Barb and Paul!! Little Adam came into the world on Tuesday at 9 lbs 4 oz. Baby and family are all doing great and adjusting to life with a newborn again. Barb was so quick with pics :). He is beautiful!

I always have so much to say when I go too long without posting. Last thing!! Ella went to her first movie at a movie theater yesterday!! We had a good time. I started to worry the night before because she never even makes it through a half hour TV show. We were going with our friends, Rachel and Martha, and I knew Rachel would really be into it. Ella did really good considering the length and complex story line. We went to see Tale of Despereaux. It was very cute and beautiful to look at. I had to go to the restroom and would take Ella with me to stretch her legs and let her run a bit before going back. Once I had to take her out because she wasn't listening at all to me asking her to at least stand in front of her seat. It went fine though. She understands so much for one that expresses so little. She understands when I explain why she is in trouble for not listening. This weekend she had a lot to say but again not much we could understand. At one point though, she looked at me and said "mama, what doing?" And I looked at Dave and asked, "did she just ask me what I was doing?" There was a lot of hugs on that one. She is starting to put words together a little more often. Especially when she talks to Gibby for some reason. I hear "Hi ibby", "Bye ibby", and most fun- "IBBY SIT!!" She says that in a very stern voice. I feel bad cuz I know I yell at the dog a lot but the dog has gotten really bad about listening. Funny the paralells between toddlers and dogs. For both Ella and Gibby, they are both smart enough to know that sometimes it is worth getting in trouble :).

To help remind us of better days

2009-01-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

So I was browsing through my pics folder to find a pic to someday post on my Etsy and I found this pic of Ella in her really cute 4th of July outfit that we forgot to put on her for the fourth, but we did manage to get it on her on a really warm day down the road. She was so cute and still had her baby face which is going away now. I thought I would share on this below zero day. *sigh* to be warm again.

Turning over a new leaf

2009-01-12T06:37:00.001-08:00

Last week was such a series of ups and downs for me. I started the week so worried about the future because the last conversation I had at work suggested I was done at the end of January. On Tuesday when I was working at home, a coworker said my boss wanted to know when I was due exactly. I was baffled. Why would he be asking again? So come back on Wednesday and he lets me know that he found a way for me to stay until the end of March unless I find something else. This was great news because it puts us that much closer to Luke's birth knowing that we at least have this job and benefits. I am going to continue to look but honestly, although they can't say it - who is going to hire a six month pregnant woman? I wouldn't.

Having a date finally for my exit here has really helped us plan. We know what has to be done and are finally starting to chip away. This weekend I got our pantry cleaned out. It wasn't gross really but there were a lot of expired items that I just couldn't believe I missed. We also went and stocked up at Costco which was expensive but we really shouldn't have to do it that often. Our next step has to be getting rid of Stuff. Lots of Stuff. We just don't have the room. We have a decision to make on who will sleep where. I don't want to kick Ella out of her room but I also don't want to paint two rooms. I am thinking of moving her to the room that is the office and painting it all girly and pretty for her. Then they can both use the bigger bedroom as a play room as well as it will be where Luke sleeps. If we keep Ella where she is now- there is blue carpet so we either have to match that or get new floor covering.

Ella has been such a happy, energetic girl lately. We have had our moments but we are learning that Ella just can't be couped up in the house too long. This is hard considering it has been so cold and snowy lately. Example, both Friday and Saturday mornings we had several time outs but once we went out to run errands, she was a happy girl for the rest of the day and napped well on top of it. The talking is going so so. She has days where she is just a chatterbox but most of it is babble. Here and there we get random clear words and even some sentences but she won't repeat it for us. It's very odd. I am just enjoying her extreme silliness and loving every giggle right now. Soon her whole life is going to turn upside down and she has no idea.

Holiday pics finally!

2009-01-03T05:36:00.000-08:00

I must have not taken any at Dave's mom's. I thought I did :(. We were always busy there since we had little time together this year. I did get some great ones of Ella on Christmas morning though. Santa brought Ella a Thomas Train that Mama now can't put back together!! I think we are missing a piece. It's ok though because she puts it together her way and is happy. Also Dave's mom got her a Bitty Baby little girl who looks just like her. My mom got Ella the cutest dollhouse which is a perfect size for our tiny house.

So pics of Cookie making, Ella with the train, the dollhouse, one with Grandma at the piano, and one with Grandpa. My favorite though is a pic taken the other night here at home with Bitty baby and Ella in their matching jammies. I wasn't so sure of this American Girl stuff but I have to admit it is all super adorable. She also got a little potty for the baby. I am hoping it will help start up the potty training again because we haven't had much luck since the first time she successfully went poop and decided it was just too gross to go in the potty. Seriously that was it for her :). Ok enough random rambling.

Our travels

2008-12-29T10:38:00.000-08:00

I am at work so I can't access my pics from Christmas right now but thought I would share some fun stuff about our car trips this weekend.

Ella was an absolute angel both on the way down and the way back. Not that she is usually horrible, but she does sometimes throw fits. Her favorite thing to do is whine using this awful noise she has discovered because she dropped something and we can't get it for her. There was only a few moments of this. And she doesn't always nap well which she did beautifully this time.

So we left for Cleveland on Christmas Eve after spending as much time as possible with Dave's family. We opened some presents at his mom's on Tuesday. She really got into it. On the way to Cleveland, she got bored with her toys and movies so knowing how much she loves to play with napkins and paper towels, I gave her a couple of napkins to play with. I thought for sure she would put them on her head and be silly, but instead she wrapped up her toys and handed them to me. I would say, "For me?" She would nod, and I would unwrap each slowly and then get very surprised and excited. This went on for almost 30 minutes. It was so cute and fun to see her look of delight and hear her giggle every single time like it was the first.

The other fun car activity happened very spontaneously. I got bored the last 1 hour of our trip and asked Ella if I could draw pictures for her on her travel Magna Doodle she got from Grandma. I tried asking her what she wanted me to draw with no luck. Finally I just started drawing and showing her pics. Then I started asking her what the pics were and she answered with either words or signs! Once I drew an elephant just to see what she would do and she would make a zerbert noise like an elephant. She even recognized my rendition of a banana! That one amazed me because I really thought recognition of such things depended on color. So fun. Ella was such a talker through the whole holiday. I heard a lot of "thats", "this", "theres" and "I wants". Some of which weren't always something we could give her but hearing her ask was music to our ears. With her cousin (4 yrs old), there were also a lot of "mines" and "mos". A lot of "Mo!" for Mama too. I hope to get some pics and maybe even a fun video up tonight! In the meantime, I should get back to work.

*Quick edit to add that Baby Luke is starting to dance in my belly. Lots of fancy footwork and he either really hates my family's song selections during jam sessions or really loves them!

The Day After

2008-12-26T09:19:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful safe holiday. The weather I know in Michigan was awful but here in Ohio it was just wet. We had a great day. Ella really got the hang of gift opening and even helped others with theirs. She had a lot more since most of her presents were cheaper. She got from Santa a Thomas the Engine train that she loved. Grandma got her a My First Dollhouse that is just perfect for her age. And it's not too big!!! For the rest of our girls, it was all about Wii. Both my brother and sister's families got a Wii fit. Plus their were a few games. Right now I am blogging from the basement while watching my dad and niece play a game. We watched her hula hoop this morning. That was fun! I, myself, have not felt like playing much.

Other than that we have been chilling and eating. The two little girls are playing very nice. We are just debating when we are coming home since the weather is supposed to get nasty again. Poor Dave had to drive back today to work and in Detroit, it was all icy and slick. So we may be leaving tomorrow when it is just raining. I really don't want to though :(.

Here is the picture from Santa! This one turned out much cuter than the professional ones.

Merry Christmas and baby update!

2008-12-24T05:43:00.000-08:00

Holiday craziness. I won't lie. I love the insanity of this season but I think it is taking it's toll on me this year. In the past I have stayed up almost all night to finish handmade gifts and wrap. This year- I had to make myself give up a lot of ideas because I needed to watch out for baby. First baby update- IT"S A BOY!! His name will be Luke Ernest. Luke was just a name we have liked since we were pregnant before and Ernest was Dave's dad's name. I have also now grown huge. Baby belly suddenly popped and now there is no doubt. Both baby and I are healthy although I am a bit sore from the growth spurt.

Ella made it to see Santa finally on Sunday. It went great! She didn't sit on his lap or even smile but she didn't scream and cry. She sat on my lap as far away as she could get. We forgot our camera but hopefully my mom will share her pics. We had been building up for weeks and she had told us she wanted to see Santa so we knew we had a chance. She looked so pretty in her little dress that my mom and I put her in after stripping her by an emergency exit in the mall. It was so crowded and our place in line was being held- you do what you have to do :).

This holiday season is an especially crazy one for us because poor Dave did not get off of work like we hoped. He has to work today (Christmas Eve) and Friday late. So today we are headed to Cleveland. He will come back Friday morning to work and then hopefully come back to my sister's for the rest of the weekend that he does have off. Silly isn't it? He really wants to be with us though so I let him make the choice. If the weather is yucky though he will stay here and we will ride back with my mom. We spent as much time as we could with his family the last couple of days which didn't leave me much time for last minute plans. I had to let some things go like the baking. I could feel myself getting worn down. We are excited the weather is holding out right now and am just anxiously waiting for word on when Dave will be able to leave work!

We hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday! I owe all my friends out there an apology because Christmas cards and pics also had to be dropped because of the craziness at work last week. We have been getting at least two cards a day and it is so wonderful to hear from everyone. It also a great reminder of what wonderful friends we have even though we may not see everyone is often. You are all always in our thoughts and we are so thankful to have such caring people in our lives!

*Edited to update that Dave got out of work early so I am now sitting here wondering if I am really going to get any work done or if I am just kidding myself!

Where to start

2008-12-19T12:30:00.000-08:00

I was so good for awhile there at blogging but then things just got a little crazy. Some expected, some not so much. The unexpected is all about work. I won't lie. i have no idea what the future holds, but I remember that so many people are in the same boat. I think the only additional stress for me is that I am pregnant and if I have to go job hunting- ugh how do you do that 5 or 6 months pregnant? We are just waiting. I also didn't expect the week from hell the week before Christmas and I am so far behind now in my holiday plans an so very tired. I think it is better now?

This one is all about Ella. First, Ella's speech progress. I have blogged so much about it that I feel bad that I haven't posted. She is talking more. Our classes are going great and she really has fun there. I think the hard part for us is that she is not at the same level as the other kids. Most of them are working on two word combos and Ella doesn't have enough single words yet. We have had a lot of progress getting responses from her and getting her to try a word. So we are setting goals every week on what words we want her to get. I started with "Hi". She has said it for a long time but never consistently and she dropped it for awhile. Now she says it consistently. She got it fast so we just went right to "Bye-bye". That went well too. The biggest problem is switching words. We focus on one so hard she immediately blurts it out when a word is expected of her. If we just give her a sec, she corrects herself. Also we have been doing a lot of reading and having her name stuff. I was surprised last night that she actually could say "green" and "blue". And I have to send a big thank you to Barb for the wonderful flash cards that she gave us because little did we know how much we would need them. She knows a few and seems to get a new one every week. It's a slow process but it's getting much better. She's a smart girl but just has trouble finding her words.

I am going to do a seperate post later about baby. We just got a ton of snow and right now Ella is sleeping after I wore her out outside. She loved it though! I think she is a little snow bunny. My mom taught me well too because that kid was only cold on her face when we came in. I bundled her up well but comfortably. here are some pics from our adventure. She also had her first cocoa when we came in!! Have to add too that she was so tired that after her cocoa and snack were over, she walked right into her room and put herself in bed. No fuss, no playing, right to sleep. Woohoo!

Parade bust!

2008-12-08T05:53:00.000-08:00

So the parade going didn't go over so well. It started out SO much fun and I was excited for Ella. We had her bundled up really good and she was excited and making friends. Then we got outside to line up. They kept us out there for a really really long time. It had to be at least an hour before we even got to the parade route. So by then, nap time had come and Ella did get very cold or at least her hands did. I think because she had to keep getting in and out of the wagon (because of the screaming for me to pick her up) she got too cold and wasn't under blanket anymore. We exited the parade right after we got to the route. I then had to pull the poor thing all the way to Dave's mom's office (in hindsight we should have gone back the way we came but I thought this was closer). By the time we got there she was even colder. She was fine but definitely in need of a nap. She passed out as soon as we got in the warmth. I felt like an awful mom but we had to try. I think if she hadn't gotten so tired, she would have had a blast. She did have fun before we got going and here is the one pic I got with my phone before she hit the wall:

Why Moms could bring about world peace

2008-12-05T18:36:00.001-08:00

So I am learning new skills and tactics for dealing with my suddenly head strong 2.5 year old. Moms have to possess an infinite amount of patience for any kid. When your toddler's understanding way surpasses what she can communicate back to you, I think you have to find extra stores somewhere. Ella has suddenly decided to get irrationally upset several times a day and finding out what causes it or what will fix it can be very difficult.

Tonight we had one situation that I handled with such ease that I impressed myself. Ella was really tired because it was after bedtime. We were getting dressed for bed in our room, and after we were done, she pointed to our bed which I knew meant she wanted to go to sleep in our bed. I don't let this happen all the time, but sometimes I let her go to sleep there and move her when I go to bed. I told her that was fine but she had to brush her teeth first. I could see her face crumple and I could tell that we were headed for a meltdown. Right away, in small words and a calm soothing voice, I explained that she was still going to get to go lay down in my bed, but first had to brush her teeth like we do every night. She looked at me for a second, nodded, and then took off for the bathroom making happy noises all the way. Thanks for letting me brag about my negotiation skills.

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

2008-12-05T18:35:00.000-08:00

Dinner Party Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Such a beautiful dress! I think any little girl would look and feel pretty as a princess in this! Go enter!

It's not an alien!!

2008-12-05T10:29:00.001-08:00

Well we found out this morning that our baby is healthy and very busy which I already knew from the small kicks I get several times a day. And we officially have some shopping to do because- WE ARE HAVING A BOY!!!

This is very big news in the Hurley/Sawin families because both sides have beautiful smart girls. This is going to be one spoiled little cousin. So on the Hurley side the score is 4 girls/ 1 boy and the Sawins side 3 girls/1 boy. It will be fun! And it will take some getting used to.

This is quick because right now Ella is supposed to be napping and I hear dishes clinking. Lately we are giving up the naps but for my own sanity I have to try today.

Quick update

2008-12-03T05:46:00.000-08:00

So I meant to get the pics from Thanksgiving off my camera but then realized that I really didn't have any good ones anyway. I will try to look again tonight. We had a great Thanksgiving at Dave's mom's. Baby decided to stop making me ill and instead I am hungry ALL the time now. Ella spent the night over at his mom's house with her cousins on Thursday. We couldn't stay because Dave had to work at 6 am and we were dog sitting so I went home to let the dogs have some time to play. It was nice but we both missed Ella a lot. Friday was so laid back. Saturday we got to go to our friends', Jacob and Sarah, birthday party. Ella really had a great time there. She was a lot more friendly than she usually is with lots of coy smiles and no hesitation about exploring or jumping in to the playing. Our friends, Barb and Paul, are so nice, and they always make us feel comfortable although we don't see them nearly enough.

Overall it was a nice fun weekend especially for Ella. We needed that because this weekend is going to be crazy. Saturday we have swim lessons and have to get the house cleaned up so the Christmas tree can come out. I also have to do a secret shop sometime in the afternoon. Then Sunday we are going to be in the Rochester Christmas Parade!! If you are in the Detroit area, it is televised on Channel 7 from 2-4. I am hoping we make it on TV. Since it will be freezing cold, I am not sure how cute I can make Ella but I am going to try to make her unresistable. She's cute all bundled up too. We are going to be walking with Home Depot so look for orange aprons. I will try to take pics. Then Sunday night we have Dave's holiday party. Oh and the following weekend we leave Thursday night for Chicago for my company's party. I am taking lots of deep breaths. I am going to need some extra stores of energy.

Ella's classes for speech started this week. It is actually a parent/tot class. I liked the format although I am going to have a hard time with the pace. I just want to get going with whatever we can, but two year olds don't really work that way :). Ella was very reserved and didn't say anything really, but she did respond non verbally which is a start. She just needs to warm up. Then I think they are feeling her out as well to see what works best for her. We had circle time where we sing songs and play games together, then the kids go off and play while the parents get a small lesson. Then we all go play together, and last there is snack time where they try to get the kids to ask for their snacks and drinks. This is where I know Ella was holding back because she can say "more", and she was really grabby instead of asking. They did get her to finally nod to their questions,and I think I heard a small "more". I can see that the other kids respond really well, and I know Ella will get there too. It stinks though because there is a huge holiday break and then we may have to warm her up all over again. I am glad we got started now though.

Wow I have to do this more often so they aren't so long!

Test of my abilities

2008-12-02T17:24:00.001-08:00

So due to my lack of time and sudden acquisition of Photoshop Elements, I decided to try my hand at digital scrapbooking. Here is my first attempt.

The paper I made doesn't really match the picture well considering she is wearing a winter hat, but I think it looks ok.

We are not sure what they did...

2008-12-01T06:06:00.001-08:00

But they must be in serious trouble to all have a timeout.

It's amazing what toddlers are busy doing when you are otherwise occupied.

Working on a Thanksgiving post :). Not many great pics. I was lazy with the camera again.

Hormones or just not enough sleep?

2008-11-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

I am having another mentally rough day. Yesterday was so full that I think I am recovering. I am just so cranky.

Yesterday Ella had her evaluation with the school district to see if she qualifies for speech therapy through them. After they left, I was filled with mixed emotions. I was so proud of how well Ella accomplished so many of the tasks they put in front of her. It is becoming very obvious to us and all that are around her enough that she is very bright. I have never really been sure what she knows and doesn't know since she doesn't say much. They do a lot at school and we do a lot at home so I am glad to know it was getting through :). She didn't say a peep the whole time the ladies were there. Based on what I could tell them and their observations, they said that she does qualify and they want to get her started with therapy right away- as soon as the week after Thanksgiving. I am amazed at how fast everything has moved.

I don't know how I managed to get everything done that I did yesterday. I have a polymer clay guild meeting tonight,and I really wanted to participate. Plus I am the treasurer and have been having some hard times trying to get my reports done. So I had to get that done right, and I did except for a few things I had forgotten to do since last month. We are having a gift swap and a potluck. I signed up for a main course. What was I thinking??? So after great debate, I decided on italian beef. I had no beef of course so once Dave was home I rushed out to buy the ingredients. We got Ella to bed.Then I had to make my gift which ended up going in the oven at 11:00 PM. Yeah really late for me. I fell asleep waiting for it. Thankfully it was ok. I woke up this morning and finished the gift and threw the italian beef in the crockpot. Plus I had to get myself ready, pack my lunch, dress Ella, and take her to Dave's mom's. On the way there, I hit a wall. I was tired and cranky. Ella dropped one of her toys and started fussing. I just couldn't get across to her that if Mama got her toy that we would crash into a telephone pole or tree. So now I am here at work and I just want to go home and sleep. *sigh* We are halfway through the day at least.

Baby update

2008-11-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

First off - thanks to my friends for the wonderfully sweet comments. My family has also been so great during this process. Funny thing happened though. That night we took Ella grocery shopping and she was a little chatterbug. Not much we could decipher but she was so happy and cute that my blues just melted away which they often do when I get home. She was singing and laughing and being just generally silly. It turned out to be one of those perfect nights.

I had a OB appt today, and baby is doing great. It was a really easy appt with just listening to the heartbeat and answering some questions. Funny/gross thing happened before hand. It seemed like something out of a sitcom. I went to pee in a cup which you have to everytime. No big deal after so many times of doing it. When I peed in the cup, there wasn't much there and I know I really had to go so I couldn't figure out why. Oh well, no biggie. They had enough. Yeah no big until I went to move the cup and found there was a hole in the bottom!!! Ew ew ew. And then WTH??? So I managed to get the little bit left into a nice new cup with no mess on anything but myself and then washed my hands so I could have nice clean ones when I wrote my name on the cup with a sharpie. When I went to go put the marker down somehow the lid fell into my cup!! Ironic after being so careful to wash before touching the pen. I kept very composed through this whole comedy. I thought about mentioning it but I think it was too embarassing and we will wait to see if they find something weird like ink? I did clean off the cap with soap and water. Hopefully next time the peeing in a cup process will go smoother. Maybe I will double up just in case.

A series of ups and downs

2008-11-10T13:23:00.000-08:00

We had a good weekend. It was pretty laid back for the most part. Ella started her second set of swimming lessons. They went as good as they could go with a bunch of toddlers. It was a lot louder in the pool this time around. A lot of screaming tantrums including some doozies from Ella. She was mad because she wanted to play with the kick boards and the dumb bells they had as tools. I have learned that Ella understands so much more than you would think considering she doesn't talk still. I resorted to threatening to leave every time she started to cry about not using them. I told her it was like listening to her teachers at daycare. Things went a lot smoother once she got the message. She didn't blow bubbles or scoop but there's hope. We know she can blow bubbles but she just started practicing in the tub about a week ago so its still new. Unfortunately we are going to miss at least 2 of the 7 weeks so I am hoping we can squeeze one more session in before our membership expires. They are so expensive though.

I am feeling a little down today. Ella was progressing so well for the last couple of months, but it has all come to a halt of a sudden. It seems to us that she will stop talking as much when she is trying to learn new skills and lately she has been doing some new things like trying to actually color one specific thing on a page. She gets very focused on an activity which is something Dave does too. Very serious. So we aren't getting a lot of words anymore where it seemed she was throwing them out like crazy before. Today a very nice lady from the school district called to set up Ella's evaluation for speech therapy through them, and she asked a ton of questions. Since this whole process has started I have been learning to pay very close attention to what Ella can do and how she goes about things. So now when they ask questions I have an idea of what they are looking for. We have two meetings now, but next Wednesday is the big day when they will evaluate Ella. One new thing I found out is that if Ella does qualify for the school's services then our time with our contact through Early On will end. Everything will be through the school, but we have only heard excellent things about Rochester Schools and even the lady from Early On says it will be best for her. There is a chance they will decide she isn't behind enough, but we really don't think that will happen. If it does, she will continue with Early On.

I am happy things are moving so quickly to help Ella. It just gets hard to go over all the questions again and again and be reminded that your child is so far behind. I have stopped blaming myself , but they are times I wonder if I am doing enough with her at home. I just want to hear what she actually sounds like. I focus on the fact that Ella is so loving and generous and in every other aspect very healthy. Tomorrow I will feel better I am sure. I have to. We have appts up the wazoo this week.

Can you really have a blog and not say anything?

2008-11-06T06:22:00.000-08:00

Maybe it’s the hormones, but I keep getting teary eyed watching all the coverage of this historical election. Tuesday night, I couldn’t stand the suspense and went to bed at 9. I told Dave – “Wake me up if he wins, but if he loses I can wait to deal in the morning.” Thinking it was going to be close, I had already come to terms with the fact that no matter what, things had to change. Whoever we chose would hopefully make strong decisions that would help our country heal.

So Dave woke me up at 11 pm to tell me that our new President Elect was Barack Obama. I was so excited, and it showed I am sure on my sleep face. Actually what Dave probably saw was relief. I just believed Obama had more conviction and the strength to handle the tough times ahead. I like his views on where we need to go as a country and although I don’t believe anyone out there knows what the right answers are at this moment, I am sure he will do his best to make sure we find them and start healing.

I am like so many others so proud to be an American right now. We all as a nation need to work together now to find the answers and make sure no decisions are made hastily. As a semi new parent, I know my concerns like so many others revolve around the question : “What are we going to leave for our children?”

November - already?

2008-11-02T18:20:00.000-08:00

Ugh I really meant to post about Halloween on Saturday but for some reason I was super motivated and cleaned the house. Seriously cleaned it and did a lot of laundry. Then today for some reason I am so tired (which I just typed as Ip gi yired). I am thinking baby is going through a growth spurt. Funny- it seems to be coinciding with Ella's. Girlie has been eating so good and her belly is sticking so far out.

Ella was a ladybug this year. She was super cute. We warmed her up all week with a few different little Halloween things. There was a thing at Borders and then at her daycare. Then we went to my office on Friday. So she was ready to roll on Friday. We went over to her friend, Rachel's house. We all had fun. I think the girls enjoyed having each other's company. Ella really gets trick or treating. She can't say it but a couple of times I heard her try. She also said "Hi" to some people instead. The proudest moment for me is when she signed thank you to at least 6 or 7 people. Yay! Something is finally getting through :). Actually she is signing a lot and saying more words too. I will post seperately on that. Tomorrow hopefully. Here are some pics from pumpkin carving and then our adorable ladybug. She always looks so serious when she is focused. Trust me, she was having fun. She also started stirring the pumpkin guts when daddy was finishing it up:

Kalahari - for little and big kids

2008-10-20T05:52:00.000-07:00

Some time during the summer my mom mentioned that we would all should get away one weekend before winter sets in. We were all game. So she booked us a suite here:

http://kalahariresort.com/oh/

It was our family of three, my mom and dad, my brother's family of three, my sister's family of 4, and a friend of my niece's. I have to say that I think we were all a little hesitant to how it would go. We had two little ones who are always unpredictable and noone knew much about the place. It finally dawned on me last week that I wouldn't be able to do as much since I was expecting so I was a little worried I would be bored.

No reason at all to be concerned! We all had such a great time. This place was huge with so much to do. Ella never stopped smiling. She loves the water and became a pro on the water slides. They had the cutest little kid section, and her and I were able to do the Lazy River together. I felt bad though cuz she got nailed a couple of times by waterfalls. She did great though and most of them made her laugh. There were a couple of times I caught the "what are you doing to me, Mom?" after she got a face full of water. I pretty much was with Ella the whole time so Dad could go catch some grownup slides. The big "kids" all seemed to really enjoy those. They also had a pretty good arcade and a huge playspace for kids. It was a huge structure that you could climb around end with lots of obstacles and then in the middle they had a ball area where people could shoot balls at each other or just play. They had this chute type thing that would shoot a bunch of balls at one time in the air. Ella loved that! She kept piling them in there and then hitting the button. She'd laugh so hard everytime they went up and came down. Here is a picture of the ball area.

So because it was wet and crowded, we didn't get any pictures. I could have gone back to get the camera but we were all having so much fun and it was hard to track everyone down that I didn't bother. I did get one I will have to add later of Ella and her cheesy picture smile. She has started making this really strange face whenever a camera is pointed at her. It's hilarious. If you ever get a chance to check this place out, it is so much fun!

Dirty Little Secrets

2008-10-13T06:46:00.000-07:00

My dear friend, Barb, tagged me for a little game :). She said her sister found a book called Dirty Little Secrets from Otherwise Perfect Moms by Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile. This one is kind of hard for me because I really share too much about myself to friends and family so I am not sure anything is really secret, but I am going to try.

1) I am probably one of the laziest people you will ever meet. Seriously. The only thing that has ever kept me from being called this at work is my desire to stay out of trouble and an inherited work ethic. Sad, but true. Ask my husband how much I actually move. My poor mother thought I was seriously ill as a child because I would always say something hurt to get out of housework. I am trying really REALLY hard not to use my pregnancy as an excuse to lay around so much.

2) Probably directly related to the laziness- I am a HUGE slob. I really don't see when things are dirty. I would much rather play and create than clean the house. My poor husband was the exact opposite of me when we moved in together. Now he kinda of bends. He lets me do as I please until it starts affecting our daily routine. Like not having any clothes at all to wear to work. Then he does usually do a lot of it himself. To be fair- when I finally really see how bad it is, I obsessively clean. That happens more now with Ella.

3)I listen to the kids XM station after I have dropped Ella off at daycare. And I have been know to listen to her CDs too when she has not even been in the car. There is just something so sweet and innocent about children's music. And Raffi is catching.

4)My daughter eats PBJs for dinner a lot. I don't enjoy cooking. I enjoy eating what I cook but not actually making it. When I want to, I can do a decent job of it too. So sad.

5)I can't get rid of anything. Especially books. Not sure why. Even if I never plan on reading it again. I just can't let it go. I feel some sort of weird attachment to them.

Ok so that's the best I can do right now. :) That was kind of fun. It's good to be honest with yourself. I hope I can provide some hope to other lazy slobs out there that it really doesn't matter if you can't cook and clean. You can still find a great man.

Our weekend

2008-10-07T06:04:00.000-07:00

So I forgot to post about our weekend yesterday. I really just needed to catch up on the big things first :). I feel great today. Could be the extra half cup of coffee that I let myself have this morning.

This weekend was my niece's 4th birthday! She's such a big girl now. We went down for the party my brother and Jenny were having. It went really great! The kids all had fun especially the birthday girl. I wish I had pics but sadly I didn't remember. Seems to be a theme lately. This is the second weekend in a few months that Ella and I have headed down to just spend the weekend with them. We usually all gather at my sister's and it's fun but always crazy and we always leave feeling like it just wasn't enough time together. I need to do this kind of weekend with my sister's family too because it was so relaxing. And my brother is the sweetest guy. He is so great with kids and without his energy I think the party would have fizzled. Ella just adores him. She would actually walk up and tell him things randomly. Not always really clear but enough came through that you could get the gist. Part of me was so excited that she wanted to communicate and another part was jealous because it wasn't with me. But she's trying! And he made sure I ate well :). After the girls finally crashed, we played a game. Ever played Risk? We played the Godstorm version. It was fun but complicated and very long! We only made it through 4 rounds but I am happy to say that at the end of that round I was winning! Not a common thing for me. To be fair, my brother and Jenny were drinking wine and very tired.

Wow I am on a role this week with posts :). We'll see how it goes. One more note- poor Dave has a bum knee. It has been bothering him for a couple of weeks now. Last night he finally admitted he had to go to urgent care. I thought 1) we'd be out in an hour. 2) they'd give him some muscle relaxers and send him on his way because he just pulled a muscle. 2 hours with a very energetic 2 year old in a urgent care full of germs was just too much. We stayed in there for maybe 30 or 40 minutes and then headed to the car for some entertainment. Thank goodness for portable DVD players. When he came out, I was so tired. So so tired. And the smell of our leftovers from dinner was killing me. After getting settled back in the car, I looked at him very annoyed and said "Well what did they say?" Now looking back I guess that wasn't very sensitive of me. They think it is something with his ligaments or his cartilage, and they referred him to an orthopedic surgeon. Ugh. So we will see what happens. Wow I had a lot to say this morning. :)

No more Starbucks for me

2008-10-06T13:06:00.000-07:00

Two posts in one day! Someone mark this day in the calendar.

I am not drinking Starbucks anymore! I know I just announced that I am pregnant and have cut down on my caffeine intake, but that is not why. I still drink it as a treat once in awhile. I can't believe what I read and I will not be drinking Starbucks until they come up with a better solution.

Check this out

6 million gallons! WTF!!! I feel bad when I indulge in a long shower or forget to turn the water off when I am brushing. This is just ridiculous. I understand having to maintain cleanliness, but all restaurants have to battle the same problems and I don't hear of them wasting so much water. Seriously. Ugh.

Exciting news!

2008-10-06T07:05:00.001-07:00

I am sure many of you can guess what's coming next! We are expecting! I am 11 weeks pregnant this week. Due date right now is around April 27. It was a HUGE shock to us! We weren't going to try until next year once we figured out what was going on job wise. We are very excited though. It has been a little stressful thinking about the future. My job here ends soon. There was a possibility of moving to Texas, but I found out last week that it isn't going to happen and honestly that relieved so much stress for me! With the iffy economy, finding a job may be tough. I have never had a problem before though, and this time we may try to get something part time with less hours. IF we can make the money work. Big IF for anyone. We are trying to prepare for it while my job still lasts though.

Physically, I have been feeling so yuck. Last week I finally started to get some of my energy back, and I haven't been as nauseous. For about 2 weeks though I felt so horrible and so tired. I feel like poor Ella is the one really suffering though. After work I would just lay on the couch. I would play and talk to her while resting though. I tried anyway. My girl is making some progress. She is saying about 5 more words clearly, and really trying to talk a lot more. Daycare even said she has started trying to communicate with them which makes me SO happy. We have our first actual session at the end of the month. We met to set goals. We set two major ones for her by age 3. The first is just to get her try start communicating her needs and wants with us. Second, to speak 150 words clearly. Hopefully she will have so many more but we want at least 150 articulate words. Right now we haven't started speech therapy, but I suspect it will happen. We agreed that we should give her a chance to get started on her own for a couple of months to see if it's mostly her personality holding her back. She is so bright though. She amazes us everyday of what she does comprehend. And her nonverbal communication is expanding too. She is picking up some signs. Also when you tell her "I love you", she blows you a kiss. She also blows a kiss to say thank you.

Such a long post- maybe if I did this more often it wouldn't be so long. Oh well, I will leave you with a couple of pics. Ella with her sporty braids and one of her playing in her play house before it got cold.

Fall is on its way!

2008-09-22T08:22:00.000-07:00

I love fall but I have to admit to being really annoyed this past week with the weather. We start out so chilly and then by the afternoon its 80! I have the dressing of Ella for the day down. Long cotton pants, tshirt and jacket. Poor Dave though. I went to pick her up last week from daycare and she was wearing a turtleneck and corduroys and when I got out of the car, the temp said 81!! She seemed ok and the bldg has AC. Still funny though.

So I haven't posted in awhile. There has been so much going on around here but I am not sure what to say about it. First off, there are hints my job may be wanting to send me to San Antonio. We are so torn about it. Right now I don't have to decide anything because really there hasn't been an offer but if there is one, I don't know what to say. I really love being so close to family. Noone is more than 5 hrs away. Plus our house- not sure what we would do with it. I just don't know.

We also had Ella's evaluation with Early On on 9/10. It went really well. We found out she is at least 11 months behind in communication and language. She falls in the 11-15 month range according to their evaluation. I knew she was delayed, but I was very shocked to find out how far behind she has fallen. I am really glad we called and had them come out. I haven't been concerned just by the fact that she doesn't speak, but more by her lack of trying to communicate with us at all. The lady who came out and I did discuss the possibility that it could all be due to Ella's very laid back personality. She has never been in a hurry to do anything and maybe we just need to find her motivation. We aren't concerned about hearing, but it would be nice to do a hearing test on her just to make sure. Unfortunately Ella was so terrified of the machine that Dave and I declined for right now.

Ever since we had Ella's evaluation, she has been surprising us with some things. This weekend, her cousin Saoirse was visiting, and Ella really tried to talk a lot. I caught her saying "apple" and later on when I asked what she wanted to drink milk or apple juice- she clearly said "apple juice". And lots of times I caught portions of sentences that made sense. So it's there. I am going to try to write things down as I hear her say them. One thing I have noticed is that Ella speaks very softly. I wonder if she has tried to speak more and maybe it went unnoticed. She would never say "hi" or "bye" to people before. She would wave but always after they couldn't see her. When she did start saying it, I noticed it was very quiet and often people figured she didn't say it because she doesn't say much. So now when I hear her say it, and the person she is speaking to does not hear her, I stop them and let them know she said "hi" or "bye" so that she begins to understand that people will respond to you and that communicating can be useful. She is SO shy, and anyone who knows Dave and I well knows that it's genetic. I can remember feeling ignored a lot as a little girl and I am sure it was because I was so quiet and so reluctant to share my thoughts. I don't want to push Ella too hard, but I don't want her to feel the same.

So we meet again this Wednesday to discuss our plan for Ella. I am excited that we may finally get to hear what Ella really sounds like :). If you have read this far, thanks :). I know it was a lot to take in.

My baby is growing up so fast!

2008-08-27T18:10:00.001-07:00

So our Miss Ella has decided to start taking leaps and bounds in becoming a true toddler. She talks a lot more but unfortunately we are still not understanding her much but she is talking. We went ahead and scheduled an appointment with Early On thanks to our friend Barb's experiences and recommendation. Her evaluation is on Sept 10. I am sure they will just be telling us she is a late talker but if not at least we know we are getting her some help so she can communicate with us better.

Two down sides to this sudden growing up- her attitude and the end of the crib. First the attitude- oh my lord. She is so sassy and stubborn without saying a word! She has started defying me while looking me straight in the eye. Like when I say- "Ella please don't put your toy in the dog's water"- she will look right at me and do it anyway!!! So we are going to have to implement time outs. ugh. I have nothing against time outs. I am just lazy. So there is that hurdle.

The crib. We have never had any problems with Ella and her crib. She has never tried to climb out. Until today. I was just about ready to give up on nap and get her out to play for a few when we heard Ella start screaming and it sounded really close to the baby monitor. Dave went to get her and found her on the floor. So out came the toddler bed today. We were planning on doing it after the holiday weekend since we are travelling to Illinois, but it looks like Ella wants to start earlier. So as I type this, Ella is sound asleep. She didn't even try to get up and play. We will see what happens at 2 or 3 when she always wakes up for a few.

Wish us luck!!

We're back!!!

2008-08-18T10:06:00.000-07:00

After a very long drive, we have returned from Cape Cod. On the way back we stopped in Niagra Falls, and I have to say it was much more than I expected. So beautiful!! If you ever get a chance to go, I definitely recommend it. I wouldn't plan on more than a day to see everything though because besides the falls there isn't much else to do (unless you love casinos- that was a nice one too- don't worry Dave and I only blew 20 bucks each!)

Dave and I haven't been out to Cape Cod since before we were married. His aunt and uncle rent out a house there and we have a standing invite to come out after the season is over. This year they had a week that wasn't rented and we got to go out earlier. It was much warmer than we were used to and a bit more crowded. It lived up to its reputation as one of my favorite places to be.

When we got there, we took a quick walk to the beach and Ella got to see the ocean for the first time. Bad mom that I am I forgot to bring my camera anywhere so all pics were taken on my phone. Ella wasn't sure about walking in the sand the first day but by Friday she was walking right into the ocean with the sand washing out from under her feet. That's my girl!

I never got to blog about my horrible food poisoning a few weeks ago. It was the night before Dave's dad's memorial and I must have had some bad fish because I got violently ill and missed the memorial. I felt like a horrible wife and I really wanted to be there for closure as well. So this week in Cape Cod we let go balloons with messages on them for him. It was very sweet and beautiful. Ella cried when we let them go but then I whispered in her ear and pointed out how beautiful they were. She was ok then.

I know this is brief but I am at work and busy :). So here are some pics! Also I will get more as family emails them to me.

Ella at the hotel on the way to the Cape

first time in the sand

cousins in their tent

Sailor Ella- she loved Uncle Paul's boat!

Sunset on the water- another boat ride

She takes after mom

2008-07-09T21:08:00.000-07:00

So Ella got a gift card for her bday- (Thanks Anthony family!!) I knew exactly what to get her. Ella loves Playdoh. I got her the stupid Fun factory but it is too hard for her to use and I hate cleaning it out. I saw this set at Target that was like Mr.Potato Head with Playdoh. I was still getting the pieces out of the box. I had experimented in making some playdoh feet. I turned away for a sec and here is what my daughter came up with:

I only made the feet and balled up some playdoh for her :). I am so proud.

So speaking of creativity, I have lots of new stuff at my etsy store. I am really happy with the direction of my creative flow lately. I stopped trying to imitate and am now just doing my thing. It's fun. Check it out by clicking the button on the right!

Just another day

2008-07-08T11:16:00.000-07:00

We had a great holiday! I hope everyone else had a fun one. We headed to Cleveland on Thursday night and hung out with my bro, Jason, and family. Many ppl know that my brother happened to marry my best friend, Jenny. Well, Jenny wanted us to hang out so for the first time in a really long time, we went out by ourselves. It was such a great evening. First we went to an outdoor mall where all the stores were closed because it was the Fourth of July. We still got to do some window browsing and hear some fun live music. More than anything we got to talk. We never get to do that without kids and the rest of the family around. Then we went to the Cheesecake Factory and had drinks and appetizers and dessert. God, did we do it good! It was a great time.

During our window browsing, Jenny had told me about this store I had to see. Check it out:

Just think for a mere $3.00 you can get Heather's Butt Rub too. I know I am a weirdo, but how fun is that? We also got Dave a shirt that says "I got the best butt rub at Heather's". First thing my ultra conservative husband says, "Wow, I can wear that everywhere." Inject sarcasm in that please.

We really just relaxed all weekend and got to spend some quality time with them. My niece is three and just so much fun. I think its hard on her though. She has very high expectations with Ella and my little girl just doesn't keep up yet. I think it would be better if she talked more. She is getting there though. We hear a lot more from Ella.

Speaking of...Ella had her two year a couple of weeks ago and I forgot to post.. She was right at the 50th percentile for all except her head which was 55th percentile. I was happy with that. He said that he wasn't super concerned yet with the talking. He said he wanted us to get intervention at 2.5 years. I was thinking about still going earlier but she is making progress right now. Everything was fine on the motor control front. He basically had her just walk to me which you think she would have done right away seeing how we put her on the other side of the room with the doctor, but she just stood there. Then he offered her a hand and she took it and walked with him. That was cool. It means she was comfortable with him. Basically our dr appts aren't too bad once we get past the nurse. Sometimes the eyes and ears are rough but she didn't fight nearly as hard as she did at 18 months. And she has smiles for him now. Really so far, two is so much fun. The tantrums can get old but she rarely has them. I know how lucky we are. Ella is happy 99.9% of the time. The other .1% usually comes around food. She is such a picky eater all of a sudden.

Here are some of Ella's two year pics to end on :)The last one isn't one we got but it was on the CD and I thought it was cute and kinda represented the age.

What a long month

2008-07-01T11:15:00.000-07:00

Those pics make me want to be a kid again. While watching Ella play in the fountains, I felt like I wanted to jump in too. These are the pics I promised from the mall with the cool fountains. Ella has so much fun there.

The last two weeks have been so insane at work. I am behind now but at least feel a little less pressure. One of my coworkers got married and while she was gone I tried really hard to step up. I did a good job but the effort left me brain dead.

We have had a lot of things going on. Ella turned 2 on June 20. Yay Ella!! We had a great birthday party with lots of friends and family. I have zippo pics from the party right now except what my friend Barb was nice enough to send me. Thanks, Barb!!

I do have pics of the family party later that night to celebrate both my niece Sydney's 9th birthday and Ella's. Ella got the cutest doll from my mom and some yoga videos from my brother and fam. Sydney got a huge Star Wars lego set from us and my folks. And then she got the guitar from my brother and Jenny. Our Syd is such a character :). The last pic is the birthday hat Syd made for her

Ella and her cuz Saoirse

Ella and her cake

Sorry about all the funky spacing. Still can't figure out what I am doing wrong!

It finally happened

2008-06-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Ok I will later post pics of playing in the cool fountains at the mall. We went back yesterday with my parents and we had a great time! It was so very hot. We had a great day overall. I survived my first bachelorette party in a long time without too much of a hangover. We then went to hang out with my mom and dad after Dave mowed the lawn and Ella got her nap so everyone was happy. After the mall, as we headed home we saw the horrible black clouds that were sitting west of us and heading our way fast. I told Dave that we should get to my Mom's apt and wait it out. Very good decision! The wind was so strong and while we were on our way the sirens started going off. I was so scared! We made it safely and after it was all over, we decided to stay and play Wii Fit for a little while. It was so much fun and I have to brag that I kicked everyone's butt. So then we headed home.

We thought we were ok from the storm because we really didn't see much damage on our way home. Then we got about a block away and it was awful. Where before we saw twigs and small branches, now there were whole trees on the ground and the street lights were out. As we drove down the street, I had this sinking feeling. This is what we saw when we got home:

The last one is not our pool- we wish we had a pool. That was the neighbor's pool that OUR tree decided to take out. The fence isn't ours either. So we had no actual property damage. The front does not look that bad in that pic but it was pretty messy. The back was much worst. Amazingly enough, we just have a lot of clean up to do right now. We already got the front done. If you look at the top of the trees you can see the pretty sizable limbs stuck up there waiting to fall. We are nervous about those. The tree service guys were out tonight. They got started. Guess what? None of the tree removal is covered. It stinks! I am just glad everyone was ok especially our neighbors who were swimming moments before the storm hit.

So now, a lot of money later, we have words of wisdom for people with old big trees- trim them regularly. If the ppl who had the house before us had started, and we kept it up, we would be ok probably. I knew this would happen someday but the idea of getting up there was so daunting. We are hoping that they will grow back in and we can maintain them regularly. Right now we still have no power, and it is storming again. Dave is at the house :(. We miss him. We are chilling at my moms which makes for more driving but at least we are comfortable. Anyways thankfully we are all safe and so is our house!!

Drama on the block

2008-06-05T07:14:00.000-07:00

So last night I am trying to cram in all my Wed night shows that I DVR. There are quite a few and I never get them all in. So it is about 10:40 or so and all of sudden there was this huge bang! The only thing I could think of was that it sounded like a shotgun. My first thought- crap the neighbors are shooting each other. And I am alone with Ella. So I run and check that the doors are locked, then go sit on the couch and try to figure out what to do. My first instinct was to grab Ella and hide in our room and wait for sirens. Now that was an extreme reaction. I grabbed my phone and waited. Then I heard some pops that were definitely fireworks. Why the heck are there fireworks going off?

Then it hit me- THE RED WINGS WON THE STANLEY CUP!!!

I know I am a moron. Maybe Dave and I need to stop watching the Sopranos every day.

I've been tagged!

2008-06-04T12:29:00.001-07:00

So my sweetest friend,Barb, tagged me to do something called a meme. I had seen a few on the random blogs I read thanks to Barb's links :).

Here is what she posted:

The Meme originated over an idea that was prompted by the book written by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser, Not Quite What I was Planning: Six Word Memoirs by Writers Famous and Obscure. It's a compilation based on the story that Hemingway once bet ten dollars that he could sum up his life in six words.
His words were- For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.

Here are the rules:
1. Write your own six word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like.
3. Link to the person that tagged you in your post and to this original post if possible so we can track it as it travels across the blogosphere.
4 .Tag five more blogs with links.
5. And don’t forget to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play!

I really tried to think of something very cool and original but the same words kept forming in my mind so here is mine:

In her smile, I find peace.

Things are weird right now. I don't know if anyone else feels the same or not, but I find myself tense a lot for no real reason. I think I am sensitive to other people's tension and stress and everywhere you go anymore, people are not happy. Except for my girl. She is just joy personified. I look at her, and everything is ok. It doesn't matter what is going on around us. I am happy with her. Still to this day, I can't wait to get home to be with her.

Ok I tag:
1. This Blog Sucks- Ok nevermind Christine got her :)
2. Franklin, Fronda, and Peanut
3. the Karras
4. Julie
5. Ok I have no more. I read a lot but I feel weird because I don't know them that well :)

Perfect day

2008-05-31T18:33:00.000-07:00

I really thought today was going to be ordinary. I felt like we should do something special, but I wasn't sure what with Dave working and stuff needing to be done. Well I got a lot of laundry done and some stuff around the house cleaned up. Ella took her nap, and afterward, I planned on going with her to feed my mom's cat. There is a nice new outdoor mall by her apartment so I thought we would stop and walk a bit there.

Well things started out a little hairy. We forgot the stroller so Ella had to walk which only was an issue when we got in stores. Ella loves to touch EVERYTHING. Well we only stopped in three stores thankfully. We hit the playground for a few, and then we found the fountains. They have these cool fountains that are on timers. Ella had a blast! Of course this was not planned so she was drenched and I had no change of clothes and certainly no towel. :) So we went to Parisian where they just happened to have some cute patriotic shirts and shorts on sale for 50% off. I was going to get her an outfit for the fourth anyways. We then headed off to get dinner, but on the way we stopped to listen to the live music playing :). They were singing oldies songs and Ella loves music. We went to Taco Bell for a quick bite, grabbed a cookie, and went back to the music. Ella was a dancing fool. For an almost two year old, she has some moves. She really gets into the footwork especially.

It was just a great day. We are both tired but it was worth it. Here is some pics from this morning after I got her dressed in her really cute dress.

Ella gets this cheesy smile now everytime the camera points her way!

That's better!

Miss Hollywood

Mom, you're cramping my style!

Biting my nails...

2008-05-30T21:20:00.001-07:00

So anyone who knows me knows I am addicted to polymer clay. I found this medium back when my sis was in college and broke it out again about 5 years ago and didn't stop claying until Ella was born. I took a break for a long while, but at our retreat in March I found that I had missed it so much! I am back to clay at least 3 nights a week. I am very happy with my recent works and have decided to try my hand at selling some of my stuff on Etsy. I can get lost in this site for hours. This is a very tough thing for me to do. I like my stuff, Dave likes my stuff, but who is to say anyone else will. I did give some jewelry as gifts this year and they were big hits. I used to mostly make vases and bigger pieces, but with limited time, I find pendants much quicker and more challenging so more fun.

Heathlove's Etsy

Here is my Etsy store if you would like to check it out. I have several more pieces that I want to get up there but haven't managed to get pics for them yet.

How do you punish your monkey?

2008-05-27T08:59:00.001-07:00

Monday disguised as Tuesday Part 2

2008-05-27T08:32:00.000-07:00

So this morning was fun. Ella woke up last night around 4 and came to lay down with us. She started coughing and just couldn't stop for almost an hour. I eventually got up with her and sat on the couch so she was upright. It helped and we both passed out. When Dave woke me up at 5:30 to tell me to put her in her crib, I made the unwise decision to go back to bed. I didn't get up until 6:30- so much for showing off my new do. I did ok getting myself ready- showered, dressed, and made coffee before Ella got up. Once she was up it went ok too. Until we went to get shoes and jacket on. Ella's shoes tend to end up in different rooms now. I can only assume Ella is picking them up and carrying the around. So it took me 10 minutes to find her 2nd sneaker. Then I went to get my keys to leave- I bet you can see where this is going- and they were nowhere to be found. I knew exactly where they were and I freaked. They were in the diaper bag which I knew was in the car! So I mentally start going over the conversation I will have to have with my boss while I head out to the car to see if they are there. Miraculously the car was unlocked! Of course that was a very irresponsible, unsafe situation but somehow it happened at the right time. Of course now we are very late and I couldn't even get myself to enjoy Ella's cuteness. She was a very happy girl through it all. I was 10-15 minutes late but ok with just getting here safely. Now I just want to go home and it is only lunch time.

Happy Belated Memorial Day- Monday disguised as Tuesday Part 1

2008-05-27T06:28:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful weekend! We really had a great one. Unfortunately we didn't see Dave much. He had Friday off but got called in around 4. Of course I was getting my first haircut in 6 months when he got the call. I got home and he was getting ready to leave. It sucked. Cool thing though- my hair looks great! I just hate that when they style it at the salon it looks so much better than I could ever do. I should have taken a picture. They used a flat iron on my hair (at my request) to see what would happen. I looked at least 5 years younger! Dave even said it was the best hairdo I had ever. So I was all excited and went out to purchase a flat iron. Apparentally that was a once in a lifetime do. I can keep practicing but since I don't have four arms and they are not 6 feet long, I don't think the magic will happen again.

So that was Friday- I don't really remember the rest of the night. I know Ella and I went somewhere, but it must not have been terribly exciting. Saturday morning- I had a plan. We headed off to the Farmer's Market to pick up some vegetable plants in case mine started from seeds don't pan out (so far so good though!). Then I wanted to rush back and pack a lunch to take to the zoo. The ideal outcome would be to arrive at the zoo no later than 11 so it wasn't as crowded. We arrived back from the market at 9:30. I rush in to make sandwiches....ummmm no bread. Guess we are eating there. So I grab some snacks and start packing Ella's bag. Can't find the sunscreen. Oh and there's stuff that HAS to go in the mail. So quick trip to Target and then the post office and then on to 75 to goto zoo. At the post office,it hits me- I don't have my house keys. Which ordinarily wouldn't worry me too much because I can just get Dave's and if they are lost, it will be a hassle but fixable. The problem this time was my mom's apt key was on there, and we are taking care of her cat. I really didn't want to kill Nell. She's a good kitty. My mind and heart start racing. Where did I throw them? Why didn't I put them back with my car keys? So I trace back and I remember locking the house, but I don't remember having them at Target. So best case scenario- they are at the house in the yard. Worst case- somewhere in Target, Target's parking lot, or in someone else's pocket. I try not to drive 80 back to our house or think of the huge crowd that will be at the zoo by the time we finally figure this out. So we get to the house and I don't even have to pull in before I see my keys shining brightly in the driveway. I take a deep breath and finally head off to the zoo. On the way, Ella falls asleep. I handled the bumps well I think. I went through the Burger King drive thru and got lunch for us. Took the long way to the zoo and when we got there, Ella was well rested and it was only 12:30. Of course, everyone and their brother arrived at the same time, but Ella ate her lunch while we waited in line. I found that just mommy and daughter at the zoo goes well. We manuever much faster than most. So we pretty much hit everythin

Sunday we went to a coworker's house for a BBQ. Ella wore herself out playing outside. No nap! We had a lot of fun. She looked so pretty in her little dress. We really had a nice relaxing day. Ella didn't want to leave, and with no nap, we had quite a meltdown. She passed out in the car and really never woke up even through getting her pjs on. Poor girl was exhausted.

Yesterday was beautiful. I thought it was going to rain so I had planned on getting the house spotless, but since it was so nice, we spent the afternoon outside. Ella got to hang out in her little pool. That was fun. She is such a laid back kid. She just sat and played with her tub toys like it was bath time. We had dinner out with Dave and that was it.

Oh quick update- Ella talked a lot this weekend! I am still concerned that she is mostly babbling but at least she is making sounds now. We have a dr appt tomorrow and I plan on talking about her hearing. Also my friend, Barb, pointed us in the direction of an early intervention service that we can check into.

Ok today is a two poster because I wanted to cover the weekend and today seperately.
Here are some pics from Sunday. The second is Ella and her pal, Rachel.

"Thinking: the talking of the soul with itself"- Plato

2008-05-20T11:11:00.000-07:00

I found this quote and thought it was very approriate for my post. I am having some severe mommy concerns. My little girl STILL isn't talking. She turned 23 months old today and right now she only says "More", "shoe", "tanks", and "mama". We have no concerns about how bright she is. She comprehends everything we say. Dave pointed out too that she never has been one to blow away the milestones like crawling, walking either. Pretty much just about the time I would get all worked up with worrying, she would decide it was time. I am thinking this will be no different. The last couple of weeks she does talk in sentences. We do not understand what she is saying at all but she is definitely trying to tell us something. This is different than before when she was just silent. So I am going to definitely have them test her hearing and anything else they think might be holding her back. I am ok if she needs some speech therapy. I just worry it's something big. I keep telling myself she's fine but its hard not to consider the worst.

On the things she does get, her comprehension astounds me. We can't have conversations with her unless we really mean what we are saying. I even mention the word "outside" and her little butt is at the door attempting to put her shoes on and then at the closet getting her jacket. The other day a friend watched her and Ella kept going to the door and to discourage her from wanting to go outside, she told Ella it was too cold."Brrr" she said. So Ella goes to the coat closet. Oh and I have to keep the back door locked. She doesn't try to escape without me - yet- but if the dog wants in, she is nice enough to open the door for her. The other day I forgot to lock it, walked into the kitchen,and all of a sudden I heard the door opening and then crying. She pinched her fingers closing it. And Ella is also a great "helper". She now thinks it is her job to empty the dishwasher and thinks anything is fair game. She goes first for the knives and plates. She is so sweet all the time. That is what I focus on when I am worried. No matter what she is the best thing to ever come into my life!

The games we will play!

2008-05-14T17:37:00.001-07:00

I thought this was going to be just a blah post. Things are gray here. I have been a little worried about Ella and her lack of words. I plan on talking to her doctor at her 2 yr appt. I haven't felt the need to rush her in because the last week she has been saying more. They moved her to the next room at daycare and I really think it's helping her come out of her shell. Her teachers seem to think she is just shy. That is what I believe too. I am ok if she needs some help. I just want to make sure we start it as soon as possible if it is needed. Who knows what our future holds after my job is over. We also attempted some potty training today. Yeah- she's not ready. We would sit on her potty fine for about 5-10 minutes, and I would ask her if she was done. She would pull her pull up up and head back out to play. Nothing in the potty. I kept her pants off to make it easier to go often. Well three times today, she went 5 minutes after we tried. It was so frustrating to find that her little flowers had disappeared. I think I am going to wait until she is talking more.

So after a very slow day, our evening picked up. Ella has learned to play hide and seek! She goes in her bedroom and closes the door, and I go hide. Then she opens it back up and comes looking for me. We had a lot of fun. About half the times she found me with no help. Other times I had to give her a little hint. We had a lot of fun.

I had a redneck, white trash moment tonight. I took my almost two year old to the liquor store on the corner. I had food stains and all. Before I left the house, I almost put her in her jammies, but I realized then it would be obvious I left the house with her just to go buy beer. Why did that make a difference? I DID leave the house just to buy beer. Dave and I have taken to having one in the evening a few nights a week to relax. We have decided to try different kinds. Tonight I got Bell's Hopslam. Should be interesting.

Happy Mother's Day!!

2008-05-11T20:58:00.000-07:00

I just want to wish all our wonderful mom friends a almost belated Happy Mother's Day (11:59 PM)!! I hope everyone one had a nice day with family.

We started our celebration last night with Dave's mom. We had a very nice dinner together. Ella was a little antsy but nothing a couple of walks around the restaurant didn't cure.

Our day today had its ups and downs, but it started and ended on the perfect note. I got to sleep in until 8:30- WOW! Dave and Ella were going to get me coffee but I got up too fast for them. I got some fun cards including one Ella made at daycare that was super cute. Also Dave gave me a gift certificate for the salon up the street. I am excited to go get beautified very soon. I am thinking highlights but not sure. I may opt for the manicure instead. It was very wet and yucky today but we went out and had lunch and walked the mall. I have to fess up that the low today was my grouchiness. I haven't been feeling well at all and it definitely caught up with me. I got over it a little by the evening and Dave gave me some time to scrapbook which was fun. It was so neat looking at some pics of Ella when she was just a tiny baby. I will have to take some pics of what I got done when I am not so tired.

Snack attack hit which is why I am up so late! Off to bed now!

If I could freeze time....

2008-05-05T07:30:00.000-07:00

We went to Cleveland this weekend for a long overdue visit. It was such a wonderful, fun weekend packed with music, laughter, and lots of love. We hadn't seen my sister and brother and their families since February. Sometimes it can be a bit overwhelming when we all go so long without seeing each other because you feel you have to pack everything in. This time was we were all relaxed and let ourselves just be. We got together to celebrate Jason's birthday (Apr 23), Parents anniversary (Apr 25), and Mother's day. There were a lot of presents going on and they were all very cool. I got some tunes, much needed car washes (very cool gift!), and some yummy smelling body butter. Seriously yummy. I can't wait to put it on! Oh and a few weeks ago, my mom got me some coconut holders. Figure that out on your own!

I am always curious about how Ella will respond when we go down there. Every time we go it has been a couple of months and she is doing new stuff and will have new experiences. This time though- wow. She was much more interested in playing with her cousin who is 3. I know they all try really hard to win her over, but I think she remembered everyone this time and had smiles for all. The magic moment came on Saturday night though. My whole family just loves music and most of us were blessed with some talent (yeah not me). Almost every time we get together, impromptu jam sessions happen. This time, my little girl got to finally see what our family is about. The music started, and I would have sworn something possessed Ella. She was so into the music. She was dancing like a mad woman. Every so often she would just look around and you could see the joy and love on her face. She laughed and danced so enthusiastically. There really are no words to describe. And her spirit was contagious and I think we all put more into it because of her. I know I got teary eyed a couple of times. I am really lucky to have such a special family.

I am trying really hard today to relive a little bit of that jam session. We are definitely back to the grind today and to start off my morning, I rear ended someone! *sigh* There was only a little mark on his bumper and he didnt seem concerned. I really don't think it was even from me, but I bumped him pretty good. I have to call the insurance company and mention it but I am sure it will be ok. Hopefully I didn't just jinx myself. Well, the day can only get better from here.

Oh and Ella is moving up to the big girl room today. Toddler 2!! I just can't believe that my baby is growing up so fast. She really has lost all her baby look in her face.

Finally - some new pics!

2008-04-29T06:31:00.000-07:00

Wow, way too long since I updated. We are doing good. Ella is getting to be such a big girl now. Still not saying much but she definitely comprehends so I am trying not to worry. The weather WAS beautiful so we have been spending so much time outside. Ella loves the outdoors. She doesn't have but a few toys, but she likes to walk around and pick up sticks. We found a simple slide for $5 on craigslist. Ella loves it. The only downside to going outside is that we can't get her back in without a fight. Her tantrums have gotten so bad. Fortunately they don't happen too often. I am learning the best way is to just not give in.

I am very bummed- I made a prototype of Ella's 2nd birthday invites. It turned out so cute! I worked so hard on it too. Then last night I went to put away the stamps I had cleaned and I couldn't find the number 2. They are clear stamps so hard to see against the white paper towel where they were drying. I scoured the floor and even stuck my hand in the garbage disposal with food in it! Ew. I think it is lost :(. I am going to try to find a similar sized 2 but it will mean having to buy a whole set of numbers. Dave is so sweet though. He was telling me to just buy a new set of the birthday stamps ($15!!). Just not worth it. If I have to do the "2", I could just draw it in. More work though. I could just have no 2 also. I just hate when things walk away like that! So frustrating.

Ok here are some pics from the last couple of months. I am trying to organize our photo site so I can email family and friends pics. So maybe by the time she's three I can send updates. Loved ones, don't hold your breath!

Ella's tea party

Ella and her friend Rachel

kissing babies

post fall at daycare- thank goodness it wasn't her eye!

the perfect snow angel

Ella loves hats!

Cool shades!

Mommy and her girl- We love Sarah McLachlan!!

Taking a break

2008-04-09T09:23:00.000-07:00

So I am taking a break from working at home today. While trying to figure out what to eat next (seriously having a hard time with the food lately), I decided to google myself for the first time in a long time. Now I didn't use my married name because well I haven't had it long enough really. So I googled Heather Hurley...
Check this out.

http://www.amazon.com/Heaven-High-Gear-Joan-Brady/dp/0671007734

This is my life story. I am not sure which part rings truer- the career as a successful stripper or that I hang out with a guy named Joe, who is really God and has a prosthetic leg. After reading the synopsis, I think I would be asleep before the 2nd paragraph ends. I do like the stripper part. Lots of green to be made there. hmmm....ok, maybe in the next life. Now I have to get back to typing reports.

Sad news

2008-04-07T08:20:00.000-07:00

Dave's dad, Ernie, passed away at 2:30 AM on April 4. Dave's mom, Dave, and his brother, John, were all there when he went peacefully. It has been a rough year for all of them. Dave and his dad were really close and were always doing things together. His dad wasn't able to do as much these last couple of years, but Dave still went to spend time with him as much as possible. Unfortunately, I only got to know his dad for a couple of years before he started to get sick. I do have memories though. Dave is a lot like his dad and that was very easy to see right away. His dad was a gentle, intelligent man. He seemed to love history and geography and was always telling me stories from the places they had been and showing us maps to help us plan our trips. He also seemed to throw out jokes at the most unexpected times and have us all cracking up. He will be so missed by his family and friends.

SO excited

2008-03-25T05:33:00.000-07:00

Ok, anyone who knows me knows about my previous clay addiction. I used to breathe, sleep, and probably eat polymer clay. I have been leary about doing anything with it with Ella around. I like to use powders and paints and other various messy mediums. It was just too much work to get it out and put it away even if she was sleeping. In the meantime I got to scrapbook some, but I always looked at my clay longingly. With money so tight, I have felt guilty about going to my retreat this year. I even thought about not going. Then I went to our guild meetings the last couple of weeks and I realized that I REALLY miss my clay. So I broke it out and started getting organized. I finally got to the point where I just whip out my toolbox and get to work. Then when I am done, I hide my work surface in the storage cabinet with the chemicals (has a lock). I have decided that because of the fumes I will bake in the laundry room or on the back porch. Anyways, retreat is this weekend and I just can't wait. I have stirred up the creative juices again. My one goal this year though is to come home with finished products and not just parts to things.

Just for fun here are some links to polymer artists:
Carol Blackburn
Donna Kato
Elise Winters
Kathleen Dustin

When I get back, maybe I can get some pics up of what I did. Of course, you have heard that before right?

Ella found HER holiday

2008-03-24T10:15:00.000-07:00

Ella loves Easter egg hunts! She got the concept SO fast. Dave and I were shocked. We practiced once at home because I really just wanted a bit of Easter there. Then we went to Dave's parents' house where the Easter Bunny hid 75 eggs! That is a lot of eggs. Fortunately Ella, Kate, and Allie were all very quick at finding them. Ella's cousins are so good and patient with her. They even gave her some of their eggs. Trust me though- she picked up a ton on her own.

I wish we had pics. Dave and I decided to video the festivities, but we should have grabbed the digital camera too because the camcorder was dead. Hopefully Dave's brother will get us some pics soon. Also no pretty Easter dress for Ella. Just no time. Maybe next year! I promise to catch up on some pictures when everything settles down.

Not much else new here. Just wanted to share how fun Ella found hunting for eggs.

Happy St. Patty's Day

2008-03-17T07:40:00.000-07:00

Ok being of Irish descent you would think I would celebrate this fun holiday more, but for some reason, I have never managed to really get my Irish on. Something always comes up. Even in college, I don't remember much green beer drinking going on. I have a chance to today but now I have been asked to dinner by my sister in law and that would be fun too. Plus I think I have what Ella had - (I washed my hands like twenty times a day but then Ella would be sleeping on me and I swear she purposefully turned her head around just to cough on me). Everyone at work is ditching early to go to the bar. What do I do? On one hand, I could really use some time out, but on the other, I should be with family. Decisions, decisions.

On being sick, I feel kind of bad for Dave. He really is such a great, patient man. When Ella started feeling better, Dave tried to say he was sick and I just shot him down and told him I didn't want to hear it. Basically I told him to suck it up. So Friday I started to feel icky and pretty much whined every night this weekend. Dave was so sweet about it. He got me things and said he hoped I would feel better soon. Not once did he mention the fact that I was totally unsympathetic when he felt sick. I love you, Dave! You put up with so much.

After spending a week with Ella when she is sick, I am reminded of how happy Ella truly is all the time. I missed her smile so much when she was ill, and this weekend it was so much fun having her back to her old self again. She was cute, giggly, and full of hugs.

Thanks to everyone for the well wishes. Dave's dad is still with us. I will probably email everyone any news.

Attempt #10

2008-03-02T17:54:00.000-08:00

So I started a post a week or so ago and kept trying to finish it, but I just had to start over. I kept holding off because I wanted to post pics but our computer is being so cranky and slow.

Ella is being such a big girl lately. She is finally starting to repeat some words back to us, but we usually only get them out of her once. I think she is going to start spewing words one of these days and floor us all. We have been struggling with naps lately. She used to go down right after lunch without a fight and now we have to wait until she is just exhausted which doesn't usually happen til 3. I am always almost tempted to just go without but then she just gets irrational. I feel like we spend half the day just trying to get a nap. It is cute to listen to her when you try to lay her down and she isn't ready. She sings :). I think she is practicing for American Idol. She is a big fan of Chekeezie. Ella is also the sweetest girl. She is SO into hugging. Tonight we were saying goodbye to Dave's brother and his family. They have two girls who are so sweet and adore Ella. Well the little one got her hug,then another, and then her sister got one, then Aunt Grace, then Dave's mom, then Uncle John, then back to her cousins, etc. Everyone got 4 hugs except for the lil Kate who got at least 6. The amazing part was this was mostly all her own. A couple gentle nudges towards the right people at first but then it was just all Ella. That's how she is too. She just brings sunshine wherever she goes.

Our family has been going through a rough patch, and it is something I hesitated on posting about because I am not sure how to explain. Dave's father has a disease called Lewy Body Dementia. It is in the same family as Alzheimers, but it is also similar to Parkinson's, but it seems to be much more progressive than either. So although he has had symptoms for awhile now, the worst has definitely been the last year. He has really gone downhill since last summer when he lost the ability to swallow. He has been such a fighter, but it progressed very quickly. It is looking like he may finally end his battle with the disease soon. So please keep Dave's mom and his family in your thoughts over the next few weeks.

Too tired to make up creative titles...

2008-02-10T19:09:00.000-08:00

My mom and dad drove Ella and I to Cleveland this weekend. We felt we hadn't seen our family down there in so long. I missed them so much and couldn't wait to see them! We had a great time and the trip was so much easier because of my parents. I know it was harder for them and sometimes we make the trip three times longer but not this time. Ella was a doll the whole way down and back.

Update on the shower head fear: We have worked out that the shower head is ok in Ella's book, but now she won't sit down willingly in the bathtub. Go figure! I managed to get her sitting the other day but had to bathe quickly because the peace didn't last long. Saturday night in Cleveland Ella's cousin, Saoirse wanted to take a bath with Ella. I thought for sure Ella wouldn't even fuss because she would have a buddy, but we were wrong. Complete breakdown! She would stand up but not sit down at all. I finally coaxed her down with a new tub toy from Grandma. Then cute Saoirse decided she was having so much fun dumping water over her head that Ella should get some too. OMG! Jason and I just waited for the melt down. Ella started cracking up!!! She had a great time after that with her cousin. One of those moments where I look back now and think " where was my camera??"

Oh well- here are some pics from the last month or so...

Ella in pigtails

Ella with Daddy having fun at Sesame Street Live

2nd time in the snow- she loves it!

the most patient dog in the world

And to close- a rare portrait of mother and daughter

Scary monster or shower head?

2008-01-29T21:06:00.000-08:00

We don't know what happened or when exactly, but over the weekend Ella suddenly got terrified of the shower head. She remembers now too so she won't take a bath unless Mama gets in with her. Not very convenient or fun. She used to not care for baths but we had found how to show her they were fun. Now we are in worse shape because she screams and won't let go of me. The only thing I can remember is that Dave was cleaning the shower a day or so before and Ella was watching, but she had no reaction then. I do admit that from Ella's POV the shower head is kind of creepy. I am going to try showing her what the shower does since it is a hand held one. Wish us luck. I was just thinking around the holidays how lucky we were that Ella had no real fears or phobias. Jinxed myself maybe?

Elmo Rocks!

2008-01-28T06:43:00.000-08:00

What a busy,fun week! I took Monday off because my boss told me to. It was nice not to even think about the place. It was really cold though. After being couped up all weekend, Ella and I decided to head to the mall and play on the giant food. Well, I forgot it was also a holiday and that kids were out of school. OMG! What a nightmare! First, it was a great reminder of what a good mom I am for several reasons. The best one being that I didnt send her out on her own (seriously there was a baby about a year old just toddling around by herself). I was about a foot behind Ella the whole time, and she still almost got plowed. Insane. Secondly, it was like watching a miniature Lord of the Flies. There was definitely a caste system in place and everyone had their role.
The rest of my week was trying to catch up from having one day off! Sad isn't it? Friday we went to dinner with my parents. That was great- especially because I found a new friend named Mochatini (at Applebee's). We will not seeing each other again until I reach my goal weight (9 lbs to go!). Saturday I did a great job of cleaning house. Of course I noticed last night that it only takes a day for Ella to destroy the whole house again so why bother?
Sunday (yesterday) was a fabulous day!! Ella had been cranky on Saturday so I was glad to see she was in a better mood especially because we had big plans for that night. Last night we went to see Sesame Street Live:Elmo Makes Music at the Fox Theatre in Detroit. We had no idea how Ella would react. It was our first big event with her. It started out with a bang. Lots of lights and loud music, and Ella's eyes got huge. No smiles but no crying either. About 5 minutes later she got this little smile on her face and after that it was all fun! She watched the whole thing. Ella has never paid attention to anything that long. Dave and I enjoyed it a lot too! It was very cute and very lively. We also paid way too much for an Elmo balloon that was actually totally worth it after we saw Ella play with it at home. I totally recommend this for anyone with toddlers or preschoolers.
After so much fun last night, I was sad to leave Ella today, but at least my boss is gone so its quiet. Hope everyone has a great week!

Belated Happy New Year

2008-01-16T17:25:00.000-08:00

Happy 2008 way late!! We had a wonderful holiday with both families, and we wrapped it up with a heck of a party in Chicago for my company. The new year has replaced my baby with a full blown toddler. Ella just doesn't look like a baby anymore and she is starting to "get it". Still not talking much. The other day I knew she might need a change so I asked her "Ella, are you poopie?" She looked at me, put her toy down, and went to lay down on the floor. My mouth dropped, and I told her "OK stay right there. I need to get a diaper." So with that, I decided to move her potty into the bathroom because she is obviously aware of things now. We took it out today and cleaned it up and she watched me put it in the bathroom. She lifted the lid a few times, and she sat on it for a second. Later I decided to give it a try. I told her we were going potty, took her to it, and got her disrobed. She was very content. Not freaked out at all. Nothing happened. Still there was promise. After her nap, I figured she may have to go so we tried again. This time she did it!! So maybe it was a fluke except... she did it again right before bed!! Yay Ella!! I was not really expecting us to get to this step for a little while but hey maybe this is the time. These events prompted a trip to buy pull ups. If she is ready, it will happen. Wish us luck!!! Ella has just been so much fun since the holidays. She is always happy and smiling. We are loving every minute of it! Here are a couple of pictures from the last couple of months.

Ella loves Olive Garden. Too much perhaps. Her look here definately suggests she might be a little full.

Whew

2007-12-01T18:03:00.000-08:00

These last few weeks have just been so insane. Thanksgiving went great. Dave's mom, my parents, and my sister's family all joined us for dinner. I was in charge of the bird. It was a hit with everyone but Ella. Not a big meat eater right now. She just chewed on it for about 20 seconds and spit it out. I will try not to take that one personally. My nieces and I went to see Enchanted last Friday. Such a great movie!! We had a great time and laughed a lot. It was fun because I don't get to spend that kind of time with them much anymore. Things seem busier sometimes because Dave and I don't see each other much and one of us is exhausted from chasing Ella Bella. Even my mom and sister said she is a very busy little girl. It's no wonder she is so skinny and eats as much as I do.

Ella is picking up stuff so fast now. She's still not saying many words. I think it may be becuase I talk too fast. Apparently there are two "ma"s in our house. Dave is ma too. He used to be "da" but lately she calls us both ma. We are working on calling him daddy every couple of seconds and were rewarded today with a "da". She says "more" a lot. I think that is her favorite. She will repeat things we say too but doesn't seem to remember what they meant. She has mastered both the spoon and fork now, but often resorts to hands when things just aren't going fast enough. She also climbed onto the couch for the first time today. Apparentally food is a big motivator for Ella because she came up onto the couch and sat herself in my lap to mooch my oatmeal. After that big accomplishment, I really couldn't say no. It seems like everyday now she does something that we are just shocked - "where did she learn to do that?" is often said.

Tonight Dave was working. We had a great girls' night. It was just one of those perfect fun nights with lots of laughs and cuddles. I really wished Dave could have been home to see and even document. There were sippie cups on heads and horsie rides and lots of climbing on Gibby (she's such a patient dog). Ella showed true appreciation for her first real glimpse of snow. I can't wait to take her out in it soon.

Ok enough catching up- I will post some really cute pics once I find batteries so I can upload pictures.

Things I learned from my toddler today

2007-11-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

1. Gibby really needs to have her ears cleaned
2. Forks require constant supervision
3. There is more than one way to drink your milk

What a wonderful Halloween!!

2007-11-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

Last year Ella was too small and was very cranky for Halloween. I barely made it home in time to even get her in her costume and then she didn't want to do anything but go to bed. This year was totally different. It was a perfect day! I got a lot of work done the night before and early so when Dave left for work it was just me and my girl. We played outside before dinner. After dinner we played on the porch until trick or treaters came for candy! We even hit a few houses ourselves. So much fun. Ella was a pony this year, and if I do say so myself- the cutest darn pony ever! Her favorite part of Halloween was definitely the pumpkins. She liked her costume too but she loved on the pumpkins. They were her buddies. Here are our pics to share (lots of them- it was so hard to choose)!! And thank you to everyone for all their adorable pictures of their own pumpkins!

Bet you have never seen a horse in a boat before

And here's the back

Halloween already?

2007-10-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

*Edited to update on back- my back is fine. Dr. said I probably had a spasm due to a slightly herniated disc. He said they usually fix themselves with some anti-inflammatory drugs. It still bothers me when I decide to be a human airplane or a horse for the day but other than that I am good.

I just have no concept of time anymore. Halloween is almost upon us. What is everyone going to be? Ella is going to her first Halloween party and her friends, Annabel and Sophie's house. We are all very excited. We were going to be a monkey- see below. But I decided that I have no time to make a monkey and the ones i found were super expensive. So we went to Walmart (to maybe find parts to a monkey) and found a horsie costume. It is pretty cute but how much you want to bet that the hood will not be acceptable? She won't even wear a hat so how am I going to get her to wear a horse's head? This year has flown so quickly. I have been really bad at this blogging thing again. All I can say is the last few weeks, work was hell and not worth talking about. On a great positive note, I am working from home a couple days a week and loving it!! It has been going really well. My boss is ok with it as well so far. Ella seems to be really taking off now. She is walking almost running more, and she seems to be saying more now too. Her official repertoire includes "mama", "dada", "oosh" (shoe), "more", and lots of baby language that I think we need a translator for. Oh and she makes monkey noises. It was a total fluke. I started being a monkey - "ooh ooh ahh ahh" and next thing I knew, Ella was going "ahh ahh ahh". So she does it all the time now. To make up for my lack of posting. I am finally adding pics and video to show. Hope you enjoy!!!

I think there should be a law that no parent is allowed to throw away appliance boxes without first letting their child play for at least a day. Ours lasted 2.5 days before Ella stopped paying attention to it and it just took up space.

What kid doesn't love spaghetti? Ella gets really serious about hers. Now there are sometimes pics of your kids that you are not sure you want to share and the one below definately falls into that category....this is not my child. I am thinking of getting an exorcist or the TAPS team out to my house.

Here is a cute video of Ella. It is a demonstration of her extreme intelligence

We're walking!

2007-09-24T06:01:00.000-07:00

Ella is finally taking off. She has gained some confidence now. Last week she was just going between point A and B, and as of this weekend, she just takes off with no known destination. She is so proud of herself, and we are too!

Ella and I went to Illinois to see my dear friend Jennifer and her family over Labor Day. Ella was loved on by all. She even made a new friend! My good friend Lisa has a little boy who is only a couple months older than Ella. They got along pretty good! Ella was cranky though off and on which is odd for her. We thought maybe she was teething. Well when we got back, we took her to the doctor and sure enough she had an ear infection. She felt much better in a couple of days. She had her 15 month appt last Thursday and although she hated it and screamed, she was declared healthy and had actually put on a good deal of weight and jumped to 30th percentile from 5th percentile. That was great news! It was also confirmed that she was teething pretty good again and had some hemorraging in her gums. That doesnt sound fun. Of course right on cue, this weekend Ella got cranky again. Of course there were other factors too.

Which brings me to our excitement this past weekend- my sister and brother and their families all came to visit here in Michigan this weekend. We usually go down there so it was nice to have them come this way. We planned on going to the Renaissance Festival on Saturday. We were all looking forward to spending time together. As we got ready to leave Saturday morning, I started having pains in my left side. It started pretty slight and got sharper throughout the morning. I tried to ignore thinking it would go away, but eventually I said something. We decided I should try to go to the festival and if I needed to leave to go to prompt care I would. When we got in the car and started driving on our horrible roads, I started crying because the pain was so bad. Poor Dave!! He was so great! He didn't freak out when I started crying suddenly. He just stated we were going to the ER, and he called my mom to get Ella. After they gave me something for the pain, it didn't hurt again. The dr who saw me for like 30 seconds told me the whole process would probably take 4 hours because they werent sure what it was. 4 hours later, after the cat scan didnt reveal anything, they tell me I may be there for the night. I cried. I kept telling Dave they weren't going to find anything and they should just let me go home because it stopped hurting. The reason they gave was that they werent sure I could get in for an MRI and have the results before they left for the day. Luckily we got in for the MRI and eight hours after we arrived, we learn that I have a herniated disc in my back. ???? It seems like I am too young for that, but they said its possible that it happened during my pregnancy and is just now beginning to pinch a nerve. Ugh.

The good news is next week I start working from home two days a week and may actually be able to fit in dr appts and therapy if I have to. I know lots of people are telling me I need to take better care of myself but honestly I am!! I sleep better now, things are calmer for the most part, and I just started Weight Watchers again. I WAS planning on starting to exercise a few times a week but I guess I have to take it easy now :(. I have lost 7 lbs so far! Add that to the 7 I lost when I had mono and I am in a much better place! I am excited about that. I can't wait to fit into my clothes again.

Happy belated birthday, Dave

2007-08-23T08:19:00.000-07:00

So I posted our first post yesterday and forgot to mention it was Dave's birthday too. Somewhere I lost a year and thought he was 36 again. So we made a pact. Dave will be 36 again and I will be 29 again come November :). So Happy 36th birthday, Dave!!

I felt bad because we didn't do anything big for his birthday. We barely saw each other. So wonderful wife that I am, I took cupcakes to his work to share. My mom used to do that for me when I was in school. Big difference- she made them from scratch. Yeah, I just went to Meijers. We had a nice dinner at McDonalds together and then he worked until 3 am. It was very romantic.

We did have a date this past weekend to celebrate anniversary mostly. We saw the Bourne Ultimatum. What a great movie!!! It was definately an action movie extreme but it was Matt Damon so.... Good date movie. We then went out to BDs Mongolian barbeque. That was fun because we can never do that place with Ella.

Two days of posting in a row...I'm on a roll! Ok truthfully my boss is gone so it is really quiet at work.

First post!!

2007-08-22T08:17:00.000-07:00

We had a blog a long time ago but I lost it. If anyone knows where it is could you please return it? I keep up with our friends through their blogs. So much easier than email. I love theirs, but I realized we weren't being fair because we don't share our news. So here it goes! The first one is a doozy!

I had been feeling lousy for the last month. Finally I am feeling somewhat normal. I couldn't figure out what was wrong. It took a fever every night for a few days to get me to the Dr. I had mono!! How I got it is still a mystery. I told Dave I need to stop kissing on strange people whenever I feel like it. Now we have to wait and see who else in the house will be struck down. It is almost a guarantee that Dave will be inflicted but may be we will get lucky. I really just don't want Ella to get it.

Ella now has her own malady (sp). Unfortunately we aren't sure what it's going to be yet. She has a blister on her upper lip. It doesn't seem to bother her except when you try to clean around it. We spent last night at the after hours clinic which was the busiest I had ever seen it. Ella has a new fear of doctors. Our normally happy laughing girl turned into a screaming bright red demon. I had never seen her so upset. They told us it was either Hand Foot Mouth disease or the herpes simplex virus. Neither sound very fun to me. We are leaning towards the HSV because she has no other symptoms and seems perfectly fine except for the ucky sore on her mouth. I had just gotten over my worry of her catching more stuff from daycare. The joys of being a working mom. At least I get to go home early today!!

I promise to post pics soon!! I have some really cute ones from bathtime the other night!