Attempting to decorate

I made my first attempt to decorate for Christmas a few days ago. I know...we haven't even had Thanksgiving but I'm just not one of those people who decorates "the day of". This year I am taking baby steps (pun intended). I have heard so many horror stories about kids and how they can destroy a tree in minutes. With Ella's track record I just knew I was in for a treat. As I decorated her tree I talked about how it is so important for her not to snatch the ribbon and ornaments off. I told her that she could only touch and that was it. Trying to explain and reason with a 15 month old really can be a chore but she did great! So far everything is still intact. So far...

showing mommy how she "touches"...

...and again

and again

taking a break to read a book

decorating is so exhausting

throwing a slight hissy

supporting daddy's bulldogs

Nick & I brought this ornament back for Ella. It's tacky but I love it!

TA-DA!!
the finished product

Pretty much the same as last year except I added some glittery, green ribbon and a couple new ornaments

2 Tickets To Paradise

I've been meaning to post our vacation pics for a while but knew it would take forever to upload all of the pictures. I took an obnoxiously large amount while we were there (nothing new). The ones that I posted are about a third of what I took. This year's Gold Cup reward trip was in Kauai, Hawaii and it was, by far, the BEST vacation EVER!! The weather was perfect and the people were so nice.

We have known for months about this trip so I had a while to get "mentally" prepared to leave Ella. It was the HARDEST thing I have ever done. I have never been a single day without her, so it was a HUGE adjustment. I knew she was in excellent hands. Nick's mom stayed for 4 days and my mom stayed for 4 also. It was me that I was worried about. I even debated on whether or not I should even go. Crazy...I know. Just to let you know...I made it! Nick...not so much. It was a little touch-n-go there for a while. He was worried SICK. He still had tons of fun though!

A few of us decided to go out a day early, so we wouldn't be exhausted when all of the activities started. That was the best idea! While we were there we consumed way too many fruity drinks, ate entirely too much food, and got enough sun to last us until our next beach vacation. We met a lot of people but pretty much hung out with our little group, which was nice. We went horseback riding, did the zipline, sailed on the catamaran, snorkelled along the N'pali coast,and had a couples massage. We even had gifts waiting on us each night in our hotel room. My favorite was the BOSE sounddock for our ipod. It was all well-worth the 12 hour plane ride there and back. I hope you enjoy the pics!!

Thanks again to my AMAZING husband for winning such an AWESOME trip!!

And ESPECIALLY thanks to our moms and dads that took off to stay with Ella!!

Cute As Can BEE!

Ella's First Halloween

Well, I can definitely say that Ella's 2nd Halloween was more eventful than her first. Last year we only made it to two houses before our little puppy dog was out like a light. This Halloween was so much fun! Nick and I got Ella all dressed and ready to take some (a million) pictures. Quentin and Samantha brought Emerson (aka the squiggly piggy) over to take some pictures too. They were so stinkin' cute!! I only got a couple pictures of Ella wearing her wings. These days I definitely take what I can get. I'm sure anyone with a child that is mobile can empathize with me on that one. She did wear the antennas the entire night. Go Ella! We took a hayride around the neighborhood with the Middletons and the Boyds and let the kids do some trick-or-treating. After our little bumble bee made several attempts of trying to walk into everyone's house we headed back to the cove for some snacks at the Striplings. We will be sure to give her the talk next year about proper trick-or-treating etiquette. Enjoy the pics!

cutest bumble bee in the world...and she knew it too!

can you tell she was just a little excited??

proud daddy-o and his bee

it doesn't get any cuter than these two

group pic

Samantha & Emerson

No, you're not dreaming...she's wearing a bow

Nick minus his scary Michael Myers mask

(long story)

"Are you serious, another picture?"

"So this is where all that candy goes?"

she was hyped up on sugar & threatening

to smash her pumpkin

Costume Sneak Peek

Nick decided to throw a monkey wrench into my halloween plans this year and pick out Ella's costume. I guess that's what I get for not ordering her costume on time. There's always next year. I remember the days when Nick had no opinion whatsoever. Oh how I miss those days. When Ella came along, so did his opinions. But I gotta hand it to him...he did a SUPER job! We let her wear the costume (minus the bodysuit, leggings and wings) around the house tonight after she took a bath. The child refuses to wear bows and hats, so I was impressed that she actually kept the hood on. I'm pretty sure she is the cutest bumble bee on the planet! We can't wait to take her trick or treating Saturday night. Stay tuned for more pics.

Lunch With The Girls & Baby Parker

I took Ella to get her flu shot this morning and then we met the girls at Tropical Smoothie Cafe' for lunch. It was nice visiting with Liz and Parker. He is such a sweetie and pretty much slept the entire time. He will be 4 weeks old tomorrow. Ella also slept right through lunch, which was also her nap time. Next Monday we are having lunch at Liz's house. Can't wait!

asleep at 11...right on schedule


(L to R)
Jennifer, Samantha, Parker, Liz, & Emerson




my little sleepy head & me

gotta love those baby blues

he is so teeny

she loves drinking through a straw

Ella loved Liz's smoothie

bandaid on the forehead...nice

Pittman Turns 3!!

This past Saturday we headed to Cleveland to celebrate Pittman's 3rd Birthday. The party was at Little Green Acres and the weather was perfect. The kids rode the train, played on the swingset, and decorated pumpkins for their party favor. Ella had a blast and loved petting the animals too!

Happy Birthday Pittman!!

2 of my favorite people

Noelle, Ella & Grayson

Collin & Ella in the train

Dave made the cake...very impressive

Cove Play Date

Today was a great day to play outside. Ella has 5 teeth coming in, so we've been doing whatever it takes to keep her busy. There is never a dull moment in our cove. When we all moved here there were no kids in the picture. Now there are 6 kids between us. Ella runs around like a wild woman outside and loves playing with the big kids. The scary part is that she's not afraid of anything so you have to watch her like a hawk. She will literally kick and scream when it's time to go inside...not a pretty sight. Too bad I don't have a picture of that.

My sweet Daddy bought Ella this romper.

riding with Makayla

lovin' every minute



holding on tight

She tried so hard to go up the slide backwards.

She was almost there.

Daddy had to give her a push