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