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Saturday, June 25, 2011

Dancing Queen

Two sweet little souls with such quirky little personalities, all the way down to their toes!
On Thursday, we had high hopes for a visit to our zoo to look in on our new baby elephant. No dice. The weather didn't cooperate. Instead, we turned Ella and Roz loose at our mall. We walked, galloped, hugged, ate and danced. Ella danced A LOT. Shutterbug mama scored!


My personal favorite, all the way down to the little boy checking her out.






Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Our Little Yardstick

A rare occasion: Ella allowing camera to be present...playing in Roz's castle.
Ella had her two year doctor visit yesterday. Even her Daddy carved out a little time in his schedule to attend this one. There were shots, tears and sobs. But she did a nice job of re-grouping and even gave a high-five to her doctor before it was all over.

And I've decided to stop freaking out about her fickle eating habits because there's no question - SHE. IS. GROWING.

She weighs 27 pounds, 8 oz. and is a whopping 36 inches tall! Thus the new moniker, Our Little Yardstick. Her weight comes in at the 65th percentile; her height at 95th percentile. To give you a bit of perspective on how much she's grown, she is four (YES, 4) inches taller than she was at Christmas...just six months ago.

It looks like her legs and her hair are on the same mission of bionic growth.

Father's Day Weekend was a hit filled with a neighborhood gathering on Friday; live music over breakfast on Saturday; church then brunch with our family on Sunday; topped of with a day trip to our own oasis about 45 minutes north of Ella-land. It would have been nice to have a few pictures of such a great weekend, huh? Here's hoping the ban on shutterbug mama ends. Soon.

H, L & EML

Monday, June 13, 2011

Sprinkle Some Water On Me!

One year ago today, we celebrated Ella's baptism. (You can click here to look back.) We got up there in front of God, our family, our friends and our wonderful church family and said, "Yep. We're up to it."

And we are still up to it.

Even though getting Ella ready for a 9:30 am worship service can be challenging...even though I have to pack diversionary snacks and surprises so that she is respectful during the sermon...even though I'm petrified our church family is going to spoil her stinkin' rotten.

At the end of the day, she is dancing during our worship music...she knows parts of that twisted maze of an old church building as well as her own home...she passes the peace on her own... and she STILL shouts out Ah-men! and has added Alleluia! to her repertoire.

And no, you don't read much about our faith on Ella's blog. That is a personal choice, a deliberate one. But it is a constant, sustainable presence. And without it, we would not be a family of three.

Tonight we will light her baptism candle and remind her that her light, the light God gave her, is bright and wonderful and full of promise. May you let your light shine as well.

H, L & EML

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Part-Time Gardener

We've hired a part-time gardener to help us with the yard. In addition to being a hard worker, she is also funny, sings quite a bit and is rather bossy. But bossy is good in this line of work. She keeps us in line. Clothing is apparently, optional.








When things don't go in the direction of The Gardener, we get this.
And thanks to Ella's Aunt Cathy and Uncle JB, we have a new pink kitty sprinkler to help water the lawn AND keep The Gardener and her friends cool.

 
H, L & The Gardener

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Ella and NLP.

Just over one year ago, NicoleLee Photography rocked our world with this.

Sweet, Sweet Baby on PhotoPeach











Last month, she chased Ella around one brisk Saturday morning on the streets of downtown. (NLP has been with us every step of our journey to Ella. She and her camera trudged up to the airport the night we hit U.S. soil and fell into the arms of our family and friends.)

She has a very special connection to Ella, to us.

And. It. Shows.










Monday, June 6, 2011

Trooper

Our little trooper did very well on her first day of school.

She had a "Great Day" as her little report card states.

I left work a bit early. I pulled up in the parking lot and was delighted to see Ella and her new buddies out on the playground. I stole a few moments, watching her, shaking my head at how grown up she looked. When she saw me walking towards her, she paused in near disbelief (she did come back!) and then took off running in the opposite direction yelling, "No! Outside, Mama! Outside!"

We went for ice cream. Just the two of us. She was beside herself at her good fortune. Ice cream at 4 o'clock in the afternoon? Before dinner? As we made our way home, she took Panda away from her nose long enough to say, "I told you...I told you Mama come back".

H, L & EML

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Sassy Pants

Ella spent some time at Roz's house on Tuesday morning so that I could go into the office to unearth my desk. It is busy season in my line of work. The girls were thrilled and Sassy Pants Ella did a nice job of, well, being nice. We've been noticing an awful lot of attitude in her walk lately - mainly, the right arm swing.






And every good walk needs to include jumping.





And sharing flowers with one another.

Occasionally, a girl needs to re-fuel and take a good sniff of Panda from time to time.



We spent three hours at our MetroPark today with four other little FCC girls. The park was flooded with kids. It was marvelous and we both came home exhausted.

Tomorrow is quite the big day for the three of us. Ella's Friday caregiver, Christina, has retired, so to speak, graduating from nursing school and moving on to a new chapter in her life. It is difficult. Besides my parents, Christina is the only other caregiver Ella has had during our work week.

We think we have found a very good replacement for Fridays and she'll be starting at her 'school' tomorrow morning. I'm nervous. I'm a little melancholy. I remember like it was just yesterday how uptight I was the first time I left her to go to work. I feel 50 times worse than that now.

The real bonus in her new Friday setting is that Ava H., another one of our FCC buddies, will be in Ella's class. Ava will be a HUGE comfort to Ella as she gets her footing. We've talked to Panda and told her (Ella just told me yesterday that Panda was a girl) that she might need to step to the plate in our absence.

Thank you Christina, for loving our Ella so well. I'll keep you posted on how it all goes tomorrow!


H, L & EML