Family Zoo Day

One thing we have really enjoyed this summer is having a family zoo pass. It has been really fun to watch Ella's growing enthusiasm for the zoo animals. She is more and more vocal with each visit and she points and says, "Oh!"

Halloween 2013

Ella loves to carry her American style Halloween pumpkin around. She has been filling it with toys and carrying it from one room to the next for the past several weeks. Therefore, when the trick or treaters came she was more than happy to stand with her pumpkin. However, I think she was a bit confused why the girls had so much make up on. She has never been so close to anyone in costume. Thankfully she was not scared, but simply curious.

Fall

We had two lovely weeks of fall weather and now it has turned cool and rainy. Over the weekend we had the worst fall storm in over 40 years with strong winds and rain. Being a South Dakota farm girl I thought there was a tornado coming down. I didn't take Ella to the basement, but I was a bit concerned she was napping upstairs. Thankfully we all survived and no trees fell on our rental home. The most exciting part of October has been watching Ella walk. She has been pulling herself up and shuffling along furniture for a few months now, but hadn't taken a true first step. Then in a matter of two weeks she went from 3-4 shuffles to walking from one room to the next. Saturday we purchased her first pair of shoes. I now look forward to being able to go shoe shopping with my daughter. It's nice to have a little shopping buddy. At almost 14 months Ella now says "up" and "apple." Every animal that she sees she says bow wow and I instruct her that a cat says meow and not wow wow. Needless to say she is a dog lover. Our weeks are filled with play groups, play dates, baby swim, stroller rides, grocery shopping trips, and going to the park. Thankfully we have met a delightful young mother who lives just around the corner. Her son is a few weeks older than Ella, but the kids seem to get along. At this age is a bit early to truly play together. It has only taken me 2.5 years to meet someone who has similar interests, but with Ella's help I found a friend. I guess you could say my hobby is drinking coffee. All mothers of young children would agree that it is a truly exhausting job. I was prepared for feeding and diapering a kid, but I didn't think about getting down on my hands and knees and mopping the floor after each meal or the physical wear and tear that a little kid has on a mom. Yesterday I got a head to my chin which almost made me bite my tongue and then I got a forehead to the collar bone which also rattled me. I'm covered in black and blue marks just like Ella and feel as though I truly need to train and get in shape before a second child enters the world. The real sad fact is that I am only caring for one child. Therefore, I have no room to complain. What do the mothers of 2-5 kids do? Please contunue to read my blog and by 2020 all these mysteries will be solved.

1 Year

Our baby girl is 1! How on earth did one year go by so quickly? The first few months I was so exhausted that it is just a blur, then I settled into motherhood, and now she is 1. Ella is in a wonderful phase right now. She sleeps through the night, takes 2-3 hour naps every afternoon, has a great appetite, drinks more fluids than before, and despite the fact that she is into EVERYTHING, she is still a blessing in our eyes. We feel very fortunate to be blessed with a healthy and happy little sunshine. We celebrated with her on her birthday Sept. 4th and then had a small family party on the 7th. It was nice, simple, small, and most important all about the birthday girl.

11 Months

Ella is such an absolulte joy. At 11 months she crawls and pulls herself up. Each week she is getting more and more adventurous with her ability to move from one kitchen cabinet handle to the next. She loves to swim and splash around in water. The amazing thing is that with just two teeth she can eat everything. Watermelon, blueberries, strawberries, and noodles are some of her favorites. However, she eats from the table with us and enjoys picking everything up with her hands and by herself. We have been going to the zoo regularly with our family pass and each time she points at a new animal and starts jabbering to me. I get the sense she is explaining exactly what the animals are doing, but in her own little language. It is SO cute!

We are Alive!

I don't know where the days go, but I thought I had better write and inform everyone that we are alive and well. Ella is 9.5 months old now and into everything. She is crawling, standing next to whatever she can pull herself up on, and really keeping me busy. Eating has become more of a workout this week as she decided that pureed foods from a spoon are for babies. She wants to pick up everything and eat it herself. The problem is that now she is not getting as many veggies. She is a fruit and carb lover just like mom. This summer we have been biking as often as the weather permits and even participated in our first family bike day. As soon as the program starts cooperating I will post a recent picture. Off to bed for some much needed rest. JS

Ella in The 'Nati

Ella visited "THE 'NATI" (AKA Cincinnati) for the first time on March 7th. It was her first U.S. city and special as it is where B and I met and used to live. The city will always have special meaning to us. We made millions of memories across the Ohio/Kentucky region during our 5 year stay. Going back was a wonderful experience because everything was familiar to us. We could jump in the car without a map and know exactly where we wanted to go. During our four days in the city we visited all of our old friends and co-workers. It was really neat to be able to introduce everyone to our daughter. I showed Ella my old condo and Sharon Woods Lake. It was a wonderful visit filled with so many happy memories of the past.