Ella! Tubs are for bathing!

So little miss Ella was taking a bath this evening and I was in here checking up on blogs on the computer while Jared watched her when all a sudden a heard, "Mommy come here!" I walked into the bathroom and Ella was sitting in the tub playing with little brown things floating in the water. Yep, you guessed it. Ella decided to go poo poo in the lovely tub water. Yay! I had Jared hold her up while I moved the poo from the tub to the toilet, then we drained the water and Jared gave her a dry bath (she was already wet from the original bath so he soaped her up in her drained tub and then rinsed her in the faucet). Oh the joys of parenthood :)

A night awake

Ella decided to wake up at 11:00 pm tonight, wide awake as if it were morning. I don't know what she was doing! Something must have woken her up. The snow plow was here earlier and he isn't quiet, so maybe that did it. I don't know. We just left her alone until about midnight when we were going to bed. I checked on her and she was still wide awake. So now it is 12:54 am and I am sitting here awake because I just can't bear to go to sleep with her awake like that. I'd be afraid she would get scared and cry and I wouldn't hear her because I was sleeping. So what better thing to do than to update the blog with a ventful entry (venting, not really because I am not mad at her at all, nor irritated. Just tired). She is my sweet daughter and I love her. I will stay here awake until I go and check on her and she is finally asleep again. Motherhood: it is a joy, really! :)

UPDATE: The next morning...

Ella finally went to sleep around 1 am. She of course also decided to get up at her usual time, 7 am, so mommy only got 6 hrs of sleep. Thank goodness for being a stay at home mom and baby naps (mommy nap today :) ). Let's just say, Ella is well rested and happy as ever. Yay! :)

Oh, also, Ella is a cousin! Her little cousin was born yesterday (Jan. 25) morning! Yay! I will include his details once his parents post about him on their blog and once we go see him so that we have pictures of him and Ella together. It's so exciting!

She's semi-mobile!

It's Chef Ella!

So....Ella was left in the middle of her bedroom while I went to make her breakfast. She is now in her bathroom. She rolled out the door, down the hallway, and into the bathroom. Makes me think of the meatball song where the meatball rolled off the table, onto the floor, out the door, etc... What a goofy girl. And really, it doesn't take me long to make her breakfast, so speed is coming into the equation. Goof goof girly. Also, she is actually trying to crawl. I find her on her hands and knees often and she even moves her knees forward but has yet to figure out that the arms have to move too. Face plants occur often. :)

Crawling attempt #1

Ella's CRIB!

We FINALLY got Ella's crib! I have been waiting and anticipating and hoping and wishing and...you get the point...we finally have chosen and obtained a crib for our darling daughter to lay her head. I always had visions of growing up, getting married, being pregnant, decorating the nursery, and then having a beautiful baby, but as many of you know, such did not happen. We were living in Spokane Valley, WA in an apartment that I told my husband that I would NOT bring our baby home to when our sweet Ella came into this world. I had originally told my Jared that we would be out of that apartment by April, job or not, because I didn't think it was a good environment to bring our child home to (I wish the stairs didn't cloud our judgement when we decided to live there, because all I saw was stairs when if I had looked around I would have seen it wasn't a very pretty place to live in a not very pretty area, but alas, the stairs were all I saw (I have always wanted stairs. Crazy silly, but true. I thought it made it look more like a home with the kitchen, dining room, bathroom, and living room downstairs and two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs)). Anyway, nearing the delivery of Ella, I decided it didn't matter where we lived and that we could make it a safe environment for her regardless. I also knew it was only temporary. So, Ella's room was also the office. It was not a nursery but a place to put her clothes. She never slept in "her room" at that apartment because she was in our room with us. When we moved she was only 3 months old, so we hadn't needed to move her into her own room yet. Thank goodness. This is what Ella slept in while she was in our room and even until she was 6 months old (4 months in our room and 2 in her own):

The cradle that Grandpa Winston (Jared's dad) made for Grammy Winston (Jared's mom) when she was having her babies. All of Daddy's siblings, including himself, slept in this cradle. How special!

When Ella was approaching 6 months old. I finally put my foot down and decided that we NEEDED her crib. Then went the process of deciding on one, ordering one, and finally bringing one home. On Saturday, December 20, 2008 we brought home sweet Ella's crib. HOW EXCITING! I could finally decorate the nursery 6 months after the baby was born, lol!

Ella helped us set it up:

On December 21, 2008 Ella slept her first night in her new bed. It was a successful night with sweet dreams and no peeps. I was so happy that she made such a smooth transition. She has never had any problems to this day (aside from her alarm that detects her breathing going off due to her sleeping from the foot of the crib to the top of the crib in one night and thus not being on top of the detector) and it is such a blessing.

This is the way that she loves to sleep in her crib:

This is how I have found her when she wakes up in the morning, all too often:

Some other sleeping positions:

Ah...I finally have my baby's nursery up and decorated. I am so pleased with the results:

The entrance to Ella's room and then the corner with her crib and toys. Notice the beautiful blanket Auntie Danielle made for me for Christmas '07

Some views of Ella's crib and decor: Little Pond by Cathy Heck (totally don't sell it anymore!)

Ella's overflowing closet and the adorable froggy wall clock that Ella got for Christmas from Great Grandma Winder

I purchased her bedding at Walmart, and ordered her crib skirt from Lands' End. Her curtains are also from Walmart but are not a part of the baby bedding. We also got a plastic mattress case from New Zealand (they have done studies that have proven that it is the fire retardant in the mattress that mixes with mold and other stuff from use of the mattress to create a toxic nerve gas resulting in SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) or crib death.) to prevent SIDS and a pure cotton blanket to cover it. I am so pleased with her nursery even though I had to wait 6+ months to finally get to decorate it! :)

Ella is 7 months old!

Time has done the usual and made my daughter another month older! Ella turned 7 months old yesterday, January 9th. It is crazy how fast time has flown and is continuing to fly. Some of Ella's accomplishments this month include: sitting up, sitting up in the bathtub, feeding herself (graham crackers and other crackers), rolling to wherever she wants to be, sleeping in her crib (when we transitioned her from cradle to crib, that post in the near future), sitting in her high chair and leaning over while sitting up to reach things far away and then sitting back up on her own. She is amazing! Here are some videos and pictures of a few of miss Ella's accomplishments for this month:

She sits up! December 29, 2008

Bath-time with new bath toys!

Isn't she a graceful bird?

She loves to sleep like this! I don't know how this can possibly be comfortable, but we find her like this often.

Ella is the joy of our lives and we are so grateful to have her as part of our family.

Ella's first Christmas: 2008

My family had the opportunity to come to Utah for Christmas this last year and it was so much fun. It was very special because not only had we not seen them for over 3 months, but it was also Ella's very first Christmas. We had a wonderful time even though the time went far too quickly. This is a recap of their 5 days and nights at our home and all of the wonderful things we did, including Christmas:

December 23, 2008: I called my family around 7:30 am to see if they left safely (they were going to leave at 3 am) and found that they were only a few hours away because they had decided to leave the night before and drive all through the night. I was grateful for this but my apartment was no where near ready for them. If you had seen me through Ella's eyes that day you would have seen a crazy mamma running around the house trying to get more than one thing done at a time. Alas, I did get all of the important things finished and my family arrived safely at around 12:30-1:00 pm. Here is a picture of Ella and me as my family walked up the steps to the door:

I had some things to take the post office to mail for Christmas so Danielle and I went to do that and while we were gone, Ella opened her first present. Here are a few videos of that event:

Her very own lap top! She really enjoys closing it after we have opened it for her. Eventually I am sure she will get interested in the buttons and all of the features, but as of yet she feels so accomplished in having learned to close it all by herself.

We then went on a journey to go out to eat dinner for that night. We were in search of The Olive Garden but had trouble finding it (come to realize it is RIGHT BY our apartment lol). Instead we found Red Lobster (actually we ran into Red Lobster but still wanted the Olive Garden so I asked for directions and then the Olive Garden was packed so we ended up back at Red Lobster). It was very yummy. Here is some pictures and video of our time there:

Ella waiting patiently for her dinner

Auntie Danielle, Ella, and Me outside of Red Lobster 

Ella having some drink from a straw             Ella with a food mustache

Ella's first taste of lemon!

December 24, 2008: Christmas Eve! Jared had to work and Ella and I spent the day with my family. Danielle and I made caramel corn for my friendly treat (treat for my friends) and while we were doing that Ella was rocking out! 

When Jared got home he made the sugar cookies and helped make homemade noodles for turkey noodle soup. Jared also made a pecan pie (which my dad couldn't wait to eat and claimed it was "the best pecan pie he has ever had") and Jared and I made a pumpkin pie. I had to have my dad and Jared run to the store to try to find cherry pie filling because I didn't realize it required 2 cans (seems silly. Why not sell 2 cans worth in 1 can) but they couldn't find any so we ended up making apple pie instead. My dad did the honors of preparing the pie to bake and did a wonderful job at the lattice work. My mom helped me make Chicken Cacciatore for dinner and Danielle went around our apartment complex with me to deliver my popcorn treat. We then read the Christmas story and Ella got to open a present from her Auntie Danielle. Here's a video of that:

Auntie Danielle and Ella                         Grandpa Smith and Ella

The stockings were hung...

The underneath of the tree was filled...

We were ready for Christmas!

December 25, 2008: Christmas Day! We made it a point to not wake anyone up for Christmas morning until Ella herself had woken up. It was difficult because Ella was too little to know what day it was so she slept until her usual 7 or 7:30 am wake-up time. We all got up and went into the living room where we opened our stockings while I nursed Ella. Then Daddy put on the Santa hat and went to work passing out presents. Jared did a really good job making sure that everyone had something to open. Uncle Brandon also called and we all got to talk to him, ironically right after Ella had opened her present from him. In the video you can actually hear me talking to Uncle Brandon about the gift. Here is a video of that:

A Special Edition "Tickle Me" Elmo, How thoughtful!

Santa got us some fun things too! Jared got a new toolbox (the photo is blurry but it is nice. 3 drawers underneath a top that opens). It is nice that he will no longer have to use just a box to put his tools in.

Ella got a boat with toys for her bath. We just tried it out last night and she seemed to like it.

Danielle got a new iPod. Green!

and I got a sewing machine! I have been wanting one although I don't really know how to use one. I have asked around though, and I do have friends that do. I just realized I have no photos of it...

Danielle got Ella the monkey rattle that was opened on Christmas Eve, and we got Danielle the new Jonas Brothers on Tour book:

We got my parents a framed family picture of us and I made a wood plaque that reads: Smith families are forever for them to hang on their wall. We also gave them a disk of Ella's 6 month pictures.

Our big gift to Ella was an Ella Elephant from Build a Bear Workshop. We thought it would be a great idea to get each of our kids a stuffed animal that we made for them that starts with the same letter as their first name, hence Ella Elephant!

Ella got tons of other fun gifts too. Here are pictures of some of them:

50th Anniversary How the Grinch Stole Christmas and plush figurine and a real Ella the elephant? How funny!

Ella and blocks from mommy and daddy and Ella in her new coat, hat, and gloves from Grandma and Grandpa Smith.

Me with the ring that Danielle gave me. It reads "Always Sisters. Forever Friends" and an engraving on the inside that reads "do you like pickles?" which is an inside joke between her and me. How thoughtful.

Jared got Dark Knight from Danielle and a portable hard drive from my parents. I also got the newest addition to the Harry Potter series The Tales of Beedle the Bard. We also got a quilt from Great Grandma and Papa Schaffer, a gift card from Great Grandma and Grandpa Winston, and some homemade bread and jam from Great Grandma and Grandpa Winder.

Jared gave me a bread maker (YAY!), some new interference free cordless phones (they are so cool) and some new shirts and jeans (LOVE THEM 'cause I picked them out lol).

Evidentially I didn't have the reaction to what Jared was saying that Jared was expecting, but the gift was very thoughtful and I am excited to not have to buy bread anymore!

Jared got a new shirt, some new jeans, some new khakis, the newest addition to the Harry Potter series (oops), new needle nose pliers, and a new winter coat from Ella and me.

December 26, 2008: Jared had to work. Grandma Smith, Auntie Danielle, Ella, and I went shopping at the Mall and Target. We didn't really buy anything but it was fun to look around just us girls.

The above pictures were taken with my phone! Doesn't it take good pictures? Very impressive. Gotta love the Christmas streamer headband found at Claire's, lol!

After shopping we went to Panda Express and ordered orange chicken, noodles, rice, and cashew chicken that we took home and ate before Jared, Grandma and Grandpa, and I went to the temple while Auntie Danielle watched Ella. It was so nice to go as a family and do a session at the temple, and the Salt Lake Temple does live sessions which was very unique and interesting. Danielle really impressed me when I did a little test by knocking on the door and not revealing who I was. Instead of answering the door, she just walked to the back room. I was very pleased with her reaction. I definitely knew that our little girl was safe under her watch.

December 27, 2008: We got up and played games (Jared, Danielle, Grandma Smith, and me) while Grandpa Smith played with Ella. It was fun! 

Jared made some cinnamon rolls with my new bread maker and I made homemade turkey noodle soup for lunch. After lunch we went to the temple and watched the new Joseph Smith movie and viewed the Christus. It was a great experience. 

Danielle and Ella and Ella in her car seat. What beautiful girls!

Funny video of Ella on the ride to the Temple

Our newest family photo taken at Temple Square

After the temple we walked to the Olive Garden and had a yummy dinner. 

Ella fell asleep on our walk to the Olive Garden. How cute does she look all bundled up!

Ella enjoying her dinner at the Olive Garden

It was so nice to spend some time in Salt Lake with the family. When we got back to the apartment, Ella went to bed and we watched a movie on Grandpa Smith's lap top.

December 28, 2008: This was the day that the Smith family was to head back home. There were some tears and some sad faces but we were grateful for the good weather and roads that aided in their safe return home. Now we are looking forward to seeing them in February when Brandon comes back from Iraq!

Ella got so many neat things. Here are a few pictures of all of the toys she got, all of the clothes she got, and a picture of the two combined: