You have continued to steal our hearts the past few weeks. Turning 3 months old was a big milestone for all of us and a scary reminder that you are growing way too fast. Although each day seems the same as the day before, you continue to teach me that every day is so different. You take me on a new adventure in parenthood with every laugh, kick, cry, and smile. You recently started batting your eye lashes which made your grip around your Dad's finger even tighter. Life has been so busy lately, but you are the first to remind us to count our blessings and take a step back. For that alone, I will always be so grateful.
The past few weeks you have found your feet, cooed, and smiled. You have started sleeping 7-8 hour stretches (thank goodness) each night and have been sleeping in your crib. We have marveled at you with each milestone and will continue to do so as you continue to change and grow.
Love you, my girl -
Mom
I couldn't just choose one picture, so I decided to include all of them from the past few weeks and a video for an addded bonus!
The Texas Rangers have defied the odds this season, broken records, and charmed the hearts of fans, new and old. And tonight is no different. Tonight is Game 1 of the 2010 World Series against the San Francisco Giants. Wow, I can't beleive I just wrote that sentence.
The Rangers have united a city and we are thrilled to cheer them during this series!
It's Time!
As you can see cheering on the Rangers has become a family affair...
When Jeff had to spend a week in Des Moine in mid September, he decided to make it a family affair. Since KC is only a few hours away by car, the three of us flew into KC, then Jeff drove to DM to work for the week. Ella and I got to spend the week with Granda and Grandpa. It was a ton of fun!
My initial concern for the trip was the flight, but Ella proved to us that she doesn't care where she eats or sleeps. We got through security without a problem and had to take care of some serious business.
Actually, it was Ella taking care of serious business.
Ella & I flying the friendly skies...
She was fantastic. She ate on the way up and down without a problem, stole a few hearts, and slept. By the time we landed in KC, we were relaxed and ready to enjoy our mini vacation with the family. We kicked off our fun with a trip to Cheesecake Factory and some playing with Grandpa...
Aunt Kelly and Grandma were there too, but apparently I thought Ella & Grandpa playing was a little more picture worthy!
The trip was fun and relaxing. We got to see and meet so many people. The first night we were there all of Jeff's friends from high school came over to meet Ella. Okay, not ALL of his friends, but two of his friend, Paul & Jill.
The next morning I was reminded how much I can't hang and was still in bed, so Aunt Kelly got to feed Ella. Remind me to ease into a night out next time.
Please note what Ella is advertising in what she is wearing: that she loves her Grandpa and the KC Chiefs. Good girl...
Sunday was a pretty chill day of watching football (Boo Cowboys). Paul & Shana came over and Paul finally decided he was ready to hold Ella.
They both look rather uninterested, but we were so happy to have some extra time with Paul since they were going to be out of town the following weekend. It is always good to catch up with both of them. Too bad I wasn't able to get a picture of Ella and Shana together...
We capped off the night with a visit from Mary Ann, Mike, and cousin Avery. It was a lot of fun to watch Avery with Ella and she warmed up pretty quickly. You can read all about Avery here. She is pretty dang funny.
Avery wasn't too sure what to do except point and say, "Bebe."
But then we were able to coax her to "take" toys to Ella. This went on for most of the night. It was really cute and so fun to watch.
For an extra laugh, pay attention to what Mike & John are discussing. Classy, Mike.
Mimi was loving on Ella and Avery. She did a great job sharing her Grandma love and I think Avery was only a little bit jealous.
We spent the rest of the night playing and hanging out, which can pretty much sum up our entire visit.
The rest of the week Ella and I spent a lot of quality time with Grandma and Grandpa. It was a lot of fun and very relaxing. Grandma came home for lunch or we would meet her (and some days Aunt Kelly). We finally met Linda Morgan and Barb Adams was able to meet Baby Ella.
Grandma had this great chair that we used all week. It was so helpful and Ella loved it.
We got a very special treat when Ella's Italian Grandmother came over. Scott came over too, but Ella was super fussy by then and not in a posing mood, so no pictures.
Grandma Lucy brought Ella the cutest outfit from Lambeau Field. And for those of you who don't know what that is (Angie), it is where the Green Bay Packers play. We can't wait to put it on her when she gets a little bigger. Ella now has Chiefs and Green Bay gear. Seems like we really need to get her some Cowboy stuff, which these days is probably on sale.
Sidenote: Angie, the Green Bay Packers are a football team.
We didn't stray from routine too much during the week. Every night was pretty much the same thing. Dinner, bath time, TV (it was premier week), and watching Grandpa "hit it" at exactly 10:06 p.m. and then wait for Grandma to fall asleep during the 10 o'clock news. Speaking of, go here to see the nerdiest meteorologist ever.
No one loves a bath like Ella, but a bath in a whale tub given by Grandma was no contest to a bath back home. I'm still not sure if Grandma enjoyed giving the bath more than Ella did getting one.
Later on that week Ella and I met up with Grandma and Aunt Kelly for lunch.
After lunch I took Ella to Grandma's school. It was so fun to have Grandma show off Ella! All of the women were so nice and one even made us a homemade apple pie.
Doesn't it look so beautiful?
By Friday Jeff was home and we were ready to settle in to another weekend with the family. We kicked off Friday with lunch with Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Kelly, and Dad. Oh, and it was also RED FRIDAY in KC, which is the day you're supposed to support the Chiefs before game day. We joined the bandwagon...
We spent the rest of the day relaxing before the family came over that night to eat pizza and play games. Oh, and I'm starting to think this Red Friday business works because the Chiefs won that weekend.
Look! It's finally Uncle Tim!
Tim had been in Denver all week working, so we hadn't seem him. He made up for it by bringing Ella a stuffed duck that quacks, really loud. Thanks Tim!
At one point, I just set down Ella on his lap. Neither one of them knew what to do...
Ella eventually warmed up to Tim (or is it the other way around?) and we played the rest of the night. We got some great pictures of our smiling baby!
Like all good things do, our week long trip, was coming to an end. Grandma was trying not to cry and Grandpa finally decided he was ready to feed Ella.
I can't stress enough how grateful I am that my baby does not care who feeds her. It really doesn't matter what it is or where it comes from - such a relief!
We said our goodbyes and were ready to face the skies again.
It was another easy flight home - Ella didn't even take her bottle, she just slept the entire flight.
Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa for letting us visit for so long. We had such a great time. It was nice to be home, but we really enjoyed the week together. It is so important for us to be around family as much as we can.
