College Bound

Here is my little bookworm all dressed up in her Marquette duds.

Here is Ella watching a Youtube video of cats meowing- now that is all she wants to do.

Valentine's Day

This weekend Grandma and Grandpa Menard came to visit. Ella had a great time laughing and giggling with them. She even showed off all her moves and extensive vocabulary for them.

18 months old

Ella has been such a little chatter box the last couple of weeks. She loves to say her name. When we eat at table she will point to me and say "Mama" then to Jake and say "Dada" and then she points to herself and says, "Ella."
She can also tell you the different colors of things. Right now she knows, blue, yellow and purple plus she can count to two and some times she adds in four and eight.

The Zoo

Today, me, Jake and Ella went to the Point Defiance Zoo. Of course Ella did fantastic she wanted to walk most of the day, which was great because she loves to practice running. Here are some cute pictures of our busy day visiting the animals and sea creatures.

Swimming Lessons

Ella started her first swimming lessons this past Monday with our friends Christy and Preston. I was a little nervous on how it all would go but I was amazed how much Ella loved the water. The class is 30min long and I think just about the entire time Ella had a huge smile on her face and was doing the sign for "more" after each song or activity we did in the water. She even wanted to stay in longer after the class was finished just to play. I wish Jake could have been there to video tape it. I can't wait for this Monday.

On a side note Ella's bath time just got a little more exciting thanks to her Uncle Luke buying her some new water toys. The crayons that can draw on the bathtub are a huge hit. I can't tell who likes them more Jake or Ella!

Profile - Week 22

Here is a quick peak at my profile picture of me heading into my 23rd week. I know I haven't written much about this pregnancy but truly there hasn't been much to talk about because it has gone by to fast and smooth. Next month we start working on Ella's new room so I'm sure we will post some pictures as we go.

Beautiful day in the Neighborhood

It was such a beautiful day outside that we spend most of it outdoors. First we took Ella to the park to play on the playground. She loves going down slides. Then we took a stroll through Jake's favorite park in town. We made it home a little before lunch time which gave us more time to play in the yard. Ella enjoyed running back and forth on the porch and some on the grass while wearing her squeaky shoes. She is very into picking out her own shoes these days. Anyway, while Ella did that I pulled weeds and swept the front steps. I felt very productive.

I wanted to give you an update on what Ella has been doing and saying these days:
Some new words are: near, rake, car, truck, did it, two, me, and mail. I know they sound random but she is really starting to mimic words you say.
Ella loves to play "mommy or daddy's going to get me,"(meaning Ella will run into one of our arms and then wants either me or Jake to pretend to scare her over our shoulders), she runs, twirls like a ballerina, tries to hop, likes to find you bellybutton, knocks on a door, and climbs up on chairs and stools.



Her hair is getting long enough for pig tails.

The Park we were at today.

A mossy road in the Park that just looked really cool.

Going down one of the big slides with Daddy.

Crawling through a tube.

Taking a ride.

Enjoying a good book after a bath.