cousins

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My mom and her cousins (about 12 total-I think) left today for Cape Cod. It is a cousins trip and I know they will have so much fun relaxing!! Debbie and her family (and some cousins who live in the area) went over to see Nana this week, and I went over to introduce her and the others to Ella. It was fun to see all of them. They all prayed so often for Ella and her health...we are very thankful. I hope they have great weather and a fun time!

KC Zoo

The zoo is always a fun place! Especially when Jenny and Brody have free passes if we go with them!!

Riding the carousel-he chose the Daddy Lion

Carter and Brody on the frog slide

Feeding the deer

Riding the train around the zoo! It was nice to feel the breeze...

Ella-phant

Ella the Ella-phant! Thanks, Grandma Deb for my cute Ella-phant outfit!

 

Miss Debbie with Maddie (Adam and Jess' baby girl) and Elle

I know Maddie and Ella will grow up being good friends!

Yallapalooza and garage sale

Ella the cowgirl-going to Debbie's while we went to the concert (Notice the adorable John Deere tractor on her overalls and boots--pink ofcourse--from Linda)

We love the drummer!

Did I mention we were soaked??

Carter had the best seat in the house

Uncle Ryan and Aunt Jennifer

The groupies

We have been having fun!! First, I had a garage sale to get rid of all my baby boy things. I did save a few things for Ryan's cousin Megan who is due at Christmas. So, in the horrible heat I had a sale last Thursday and Friday. My goal was to make enough money to cover one week of daycare, and I met that and exceeded it! I am happy!!

Ella slept through the night for the first time on Wednesday night. I woke up on Thursday morning to get up for the sale, and the first thing I thought of was Ella. I am proud of her! She is getting to be a big girl. She has done it a few more times this week...Mommy always appreciates a little extra sleep!

Ella is also rolling over front to back and back to front. She is so cute to watch. She will roll and get her arm stuck, forget about trying for a little while, and then try again. We were cheering for her last night when she did it.

Ryan's band, ROBE, played at Yallapalooza on Saturday. It was on the big stage at Sandstone (outdoor amphitheater here in KC). It was a pretty big deal. They were the opening band, and then big names played after them leading up to Clay Walker-the headliner. We were excited to go see him play! Uncle Ryan and Aunt Jenn came in for it, along with my mom and her friend Linda and Ryan's parents. I took Carter and he loved it. He just watches daddy play so intensely. It did not just rain on us-it poured!! We were soaked by the end of the concerts...it was a lot of fun!!

My mom and Linda were concert-goers this weekend. They went to Yallapalooza and then to The Sprint Center to see Paul McCartney.  They stayed at Kyle's hotel in Lawrence. I am glad it was a fun weekend for them and we got to see them.

We have been enjoying time at home since it has been so hot! I love cozy days with my kids!!

Splash Cove Pool

                                               SO MUCH FUN!! THE BEST POOL FOR KIDS!!!

This is the main part we played on. The whole place is geared towards toddlers, so there really weren't many big kids. There was also a wave pool and a large slide. (Yes, I went down it once). There was a lot of shade...it is the perfect pool to play!!

 Carter spent a lot of time on this slide. I went down it with him many times!

Jenny and Brody having fun!

Carter and Mommy splashing!!

Jenny and  Wet Brody!

We ended out pool time and cooled off with a sticky treat!

Ella stayed with Debbie, our AMAZING daycare provider. It was only the second time I had left Ella. She did great and I am so glad Ella and Debbie are getting to know each other. I know Ella and Carter will have lots of fun at Debbie's this school year.

Summer FUN

SUMMER FUN with Brody! We went to Little Monkey Business on Wednesday. It was a great way to have fun inside, since it is so hot outside. Ella had fun sitting on the side with me and my friend Jenny (Brody's mom). Brody and Carter always have so much fun together and play great together.

                     Carter the construction worker (hence the costume) building with the big Lego blocks.

Carter playing the drums (actually a building toy)  like daddy!

After playing we went to lunch at Fritz's. It is a train restaurant and the "train" runs on a track up above by the ceiling and it bring you your food. (See the picture below of Carter getting out food).

 It was a fun day! I like doing special things with Carter that he enjoys.

Carter has such a KIND HEART

At the beginning of the summer, I talked with Carter and made a list of "fun things" he wanted to do together. One of them was, " Make something special for the trash men." We talked awhile about what that special something may be, until he decided he wanted to give them CUPCAKES and COKE. (Coke because that is what Daddy likes). So on Monday evening, we made cupcakes and then on Tuesday morning we woke up early to wait for them. (Usually they are here by 7:30 am). NOT THIS WEEK! Ella had her doctor's appointment, and after waiting for an hour and a half on the porch with his cooler and chair...we had to leave. We came home after the appointment, and the trash men had already been by our house to pick up the trash. Carter had an outburst of screaming/crying...so we decided to drive and go find them...

We found them a few streets over...so glad! He was even nice enough to pose for a picture with Carter. When he got the pop, he said, "Oh, I love Cherry Coke! " Carter felt so special...

This is Carter watching the trash men drive away eating their cupcakes as they were driving.

Then we had to go wait for the Recycle Truck to come...so we moved the little pool to a shady spot in the front yard and Carter swam while he waited...

And they came and loved their surprise! They began drinking their cold pops right away. The driver started honking the horn really loud!! ( The next door neighbor friend, Henry, joined us).

Pediatrician Appointment

Our Pediatrician was booked, so we had our appointment with the Nurse Practitioner, Valerie.

Ella was very verbal with the Nurse Practitioner!

She is exactly where she should be!! I am so proud of her. The NP that should looked great! Ella got 4 shots...and was very fussy the rest of the day.

Baptism

Ella was welcomed into the Catholic Church on Sunday, July 11th at her Baptism. She wore the same gown I wore for my Baptism. She wore the knee-highs and white shoes that are stitched with a cross that Carter wore for his Baptism. She was glowing and beautiful! She was so happy. We chose my brothers. Ryan and Kyle and Ryan (my husband's) sister, Stacy to be Ella's God Parents. Thanks to them for loving her as much as we do!

 

She fell asleep in her gown in the car seat on the way home. (About a 3 minute drive!) The headband she is wearing Ryan's mom found. It had a special saying with that that said that on Ella's wedding day, it will become her garter! HOW COOL!! She was also wearing a teeny, tiny pearl and crystal bracelet.

The cake was DELICIOUS!! It was made by a HTS mother that has started a cake business.

Ella and her special Aunt Jenn (my brother Ryan's wife)

Grandma Ruthann with Caden and Ella. It was Caden's first trip to KC--I know there will be

lots more to come!

 

My special Girl with the matching bonnet that I wore....she is so special!

Ella received this special sheep and pink Rosary from her Aunt Patrice (my mom's sister), Uncle Robert, Natalie and Ashley. They live in San Antonio. I am so glad they were in town and able to celebrate with us!!We had so much fun with them while they were in town.

It was a wonderful celebration! Deacon Clayton performed the sacrament. It was his first Baptism that he performed-ever. He will be ordained as a Priest next May. It was a special day for him, too.

Thanks to all our family and friends who joined us on this special day. Thanks to everyone for your prayers and celebratory wishes!! We are truly blessed to have Ella in our lives.

Check-ups

9:00 AM Occupational Therapist from the NICU Follow-up Team

Cindy Hale is so nice. We saw her while Ella was in the hospital, so I was excited to hear our appointment was with her this morning! She could not believe how much Ella has changes since leaving the hospital! "You're amazing!" "Fabulous!" " Looks perfect!" These are all the things she was saying about Ella today! I am so glad. She thinks she looks great and everything is going well with her gross motor skills. Her flexibility in her hips is good, her joints are "locking" as they should, she is enjoying tummy time, her neck muscles looks great...." She gave us some ideas to work on the next steps of Ella's development, such as practice her holding objects at mid line, playing patty cake and us needing to massage her toes. She said at this time, she has NO CONCERNS about Ella's development. We are so blessed!!!

9:30 AM NICU Follow-up visit with Doctor and Nurse Brenda

Since seeing her last, Ella's volume in her feedings has gone up 2 ounces! They thought she was doing great and even called her a "chunk!" Ella is approaching the growth curve with her weight and her head circumference is on the growth curve. Everything stays the same except that they are increasing the dosing on her reflux medication. She weighs 11 pounds 5 ounces and her blood pressure was wonderful at 91/82....YEA ELLA!

She was so tired from her visits and fell asleep as soon as I put her in her infant car seat.

My Mom, Carter, Ella and I celebrated the good appointments with a special breakfast at First Watch! Thanks for the special treat, Mom!

6 months old

I can't believe our baby girl is 6 months old today. How much has happened in the last 6 months...She is a true blessing!

Thursday, Jan. 7th, 2010--I remember (after 11 previous days in the hospital-with no shower and barely ever out of bed) getting up to go to the restroom and knowing my water broke. The nurse did not believe me, but I assured her it had. I remember it being about 5:30 am and Sally (the nurse) telling me the doctor would be in about 7am. To me, 7:00 seemed so long...but I made it and the C-Section was scheduled for 9am. I was put completely under and Ryan was not allowed in the room, because they were not sure how long it would take to "find" Ella, nor where she was exactly in my belly region. However, the doctor and nurses told me that right when Dr. Wickstrom made the incision, Ella rose out of me. What a miracle!!

Ella was so small, but so beautiful. She had my "rosebud" lips as my dad calls them. She was born with a little redish hair and no eyelashes. We were amazed at how tiny her hands and feet were. They nurses encouraged us right away to "hold" her by placing our hands on her while she was in the incubator.

Miss Ella, you are beautiful and we cannot imagine our life without you! Your smile warms our heart and we love hearing your coos and giggles. You are a good baby, except for the late evenings or when
 you are hungry. You are doing so great health-wise. We are so proud of our tiny fighter!

You have the biggest, brightest, beautiful blue eyes. You still have tiny feet and hate having socks or shoes on. I love your small birth mark on your chest area. You make silly grunt noises when you are pooping...that make us laugh. You love standing on daddy's lap and looking into his eyes-it makes you smile every time. You love hearing our voices. We love watching Carter and you interact, and know you will grow up to be great friends. We love you! Happy 1/2 year big girl!

Branson Day 2 and 3

We did not do any of the "tourist" things in Branson. All our time was spent with my Gram (Great-Great Grandma to the kids) and the outlet mall. We did not see any shows or go to any water parks.

We did enjoy the pool at the hotel, found a great bbq restaurant, went for ice cream and relaxed. Each morning Ella was up early, so we would go to the hotel breakfast bar/lobby and sit together so mom and Carter could sleep past 6am.

It was sad leaving my 90 year old grandma. We do not visit as often as I would like....my and I are already planning next years trip and hope to bring all the boys (dad, my brothers and Ryan) with us!