Catching up! (again…)

As a younger person, I never believed anyone who said things like, “Just wait until you get older!  Time flies!” or, “Wait until you have children.  They grow so fast!”  But it’s so completely true! 

I just uploaded several months’ worth of photos, and I can’t believe how much Ella has changed and grown. 

I saw this picture of her playing in the kitchen in July, and thought, “wow, she was still a baby then!” 

In August, she was starting to change.  She built her first block tower(s) by herself and was so proud of her work!  We went to Pittsburgh for Janna and Eric’s wedding and she screamed in the car the whole way there and the whole way back.  It was the longest I’ve ever been away from her in one day.  The wedding was gorgeous and so much fun! 

 

In September, I was able to put two tiny pigtails in her hair!  We went to the Pumpkin Festival and she slept on my back while we walked around. 

In October, she was finally walking!  She walked around the block as a ladybug on trick-or-treat night. 

 

In November, she decided that she liked Gram and Grandpa reading to her.  The Buckeyes beat Michigan and she proudly wore her OSU garb.  :)  We drove to Tennessee to see her other grandparents!  The car ride was stressful and long, but we made it there and back safely. 

December was crazy busy with Christmas with all kinds of family! 

 

  

And here we are, at the end of January!  I celebrated my birthday this month with friends and family, and had the best birthday ever!  We ate at Genji’s, our favorite Japanese Steakhouse.  Afterward, we ate cake and played on the wii and sang Karaoke.  A great time was had by all.  And since then, time has been steadily moving along! 

So what's new?

I haven't been a very good blogger in 2009! I even switched blogging sites and still didn't update often! So how do I summarize the last 7 months? Bullets, I guess!

• I started watching 2 little girls on a regular basis. One came over once a week for a few hours, so that her mom could have some time to do some things at home without any "help" from her daughter. This arrangement worked out well for all involved--but they ended up moving across the country. I'm happy for them, since they are close to family and are where they want to be. But, I do miss this little girl and her mom! (I feel weird about writing their names, since this is a public blog and I didn't ask for permission). The other little girl started coming in April, and has been here for 1-3 days a week since! The little girl ("A") is 2 months older than Ella, so they get along wonderfully. This summer, the girls and I have gone to the library for "babytime," gone swimming in our little baby pool, gone to a playgroup, and lots and lots of walks! It's a great arrangement--she's part-time, so I still have days with just Ella, but Ella still gets some peer interaction, so that's great too. And, the money I earn goes straight toward my student loan!


• It's been a busy year of weddings! Ella has now been to 4 weddings and 3 funerals. WOW. 2 of the weddings were ones that I was in, so that has made it especially busy! Ella did so well at all of them--and fell asleep on Wes a couple of times, too. Congratulations to Lisa & Josh, Heidi & Ryan, Megan & Perry, and Janna & Eric!


• Ella loooooves water! Splashing in our baby pool, taking a bath, even washing her hands--she loves it! Recently, she's started saying "weeee!" when playing in water. And sliding down slides, and with anything else that she's having fun with!
  
• Speaking of saying "weeeee!"... she speaks! She says mama, dada, ball, baby, shoe, kitty, hi, bye, hello, that, wow, yay!, wee!, no (I don't like this one!), and others. :)



• We celebrated Ella's first birthday in June! (above). We had a party with some friends and family, ate cake (she smashed hers and played in it, but didn't eat it!), and opened presents. It was a wonderful, fun, exciting day! I thought that I would be teary or cry that day--but I did really well! The only time I was teary at all was when everyone sang her Happy Birthday! My birthday girl was all smiles and the center of attention, and I couldn't help but think back to that day a year earlier when she was born. She was so tiny and precious--and here she is now, my "big" girl!
• We've made the switch to cloth diapers! I took the plunge a couple of weeks ago, and so far, we're loving it! Our trash has almost completely disappeared! We already recycle, so we were mostly just throwing away diapers. Using cloth diapers is completely different than it used to be. No more pins, leaks, or messes! They're not complicated--and actually, the ones we use are pretty much just like disposables with a velcro-type closure. And the laundry isn't bad either. So far so good! And I must say, she's pretty cute in cloth!

I'm sure that a lot more has happened that I'm forgetting, but I guess those are the main things! We're loving Ella's newfound independence with crawling, and are waiting for her to start walking. We know that she'll do it when she's ready! But, she's still my mama's girl. :) She's adjusting better to being away from me occasionally, especially if she's with Wes!! We're going to start weekly "Ella and Daddy" nights soon, where they can have their special time without me, and I can spend time with a few friends in a bible study/fellowship.