Busy

The girls dancing to Elvis from the "Honeymoon in Vegas" soundtrack...
Sorry it's been a while, it's been a crazy week. Erin was supposed to arrive yesterday but wasn't able to make her Seattle flight as the plane from Victoria was broken... so we are on our way to pick her up today.
I have been doing some purging this week and trying to get rid of so much stuff we don't need. I donated a lot of Ella's outgrown cloths, our old clothes and knick knacks... I have no idea how we ended up with so much stuff! So this week has been busy. The purge was a panic response to the possibility of us moving houses... We currently live in a neighborhood with renovated and non-renovated homes. As of October 1, non-renovated homes will have a rent reduction and by us moving out of our pretty-decent-for-military renovated house into a non-renovated I-can't-believe-I-live-here home, would put a whole lot of $$$ into our pocket. Of course talking ourselves into moving down the street to the "hood" didn't change the fact that the move was denied. "Apparently" the policy is that we are allowed to move from one neighborhood to another, but not WITHIN a neighborhood. Military = government = no sense. They couldn't give us any reason why, even after I demanded to talk to the Master Cheief of Navy Housing, and was told "it's just policy". So now we're going to go talk to the army housing people and see what they have available. Perhaps staying here is easiest but we at least have to try to get that extra money. :)

Some Sort of Update

I've been working on archiving my blog by saving it to file and updating the videos so they can be viewed easier. It's been a time-consuming project.
Ella's potty training is going steady. She sits on the potty a lot throughout the day, but we seem to miss the whole concept. She's usually already wet a diaper by the time we get her on her potty. Today while watching her potty video, sitting on her potty, Ella got so excited with the singing that she stood up to clap... and peed on the carpet! So we're close, just haven't peed IN the potty yet!
Here are some pics from this week. This is how Ella likes to wake up "La-la"...
...and with her new big-girl underwear...... and on her tricycle...

Potty Training Begins

Today we saw the doctor to get a referral to a pediatric urologist for Ella's bladder reflux. Diagnosed last October with a mild case, Ella's been on a low-grade anti-biotic to prevent UTIs and to protect her kidneys. They usually grow out of this condition and Ella needs to see the specialist again for tests to see if she has in fact grown out of it and no longer needs the medicine. We also got the okay for potty training. It does seem a bit young, but my neighbor has a potty training DVD that she started her son with at 15 months, and he was fully out of diapers by 2. At the play group this morning, she gave it to me and then the doctor this afternoon recommended we start with Ella. We stripped Ella down and sat her on her potty in front of the DVD... she didn't move for the full 25 minutes and was mesmerized. We're going to try an be consistent and have her "use" her potty before and after meals, first thing when she wakes up and the last thing she does before she lays down. Who knows how this will go but we have faith! :)

She tripped and fell this afternoon and busted her lip and gums...again. There was blood everywhere and for a second we contemplated taking her to the ER but the bleeding stopped and I was able to rock her to sleep after a good 20 minutes of consoling her. Her bottom teeth cut her gums on the inside of her upper teeth and her upper lip is swollen. She's still sucking her thumb so it's not a complete catastrophe.

Ella is on the rise... she's climbing onto the book shelf and last night after dinner I looked over to see Ella crawling IN to her highchair. I've tried to get some video and will post some soon... it's amazing! Both Ron and I looked over and could not believe she was up in her high chair trying to turn around to sit properly in it. How did she do it???? LOL

Dear Auntie,

I hope you have a happy birthday... Mommy is belatedly re-posting this so blame her:) I miss you and can't wait to see you in a few days time. There is so much to show you and after all the love we get back on our blog, I can't wait to hug you in person.
Happy Birthday!!!

Love Ella

Ella's Tricks

Ella knows her numbers....

Ella blasts off with Little Einsteins...

Big Shoes

Yummmm, Macaroni!

First Bicycle

Today we bought Ella her first bicycle. It's the cutest pink and purple tricycle I found at Toys R' Us while I was looking at Halloween costumes (I know, really early but I wanted to see what was in the store before I ordered on-line). Of course, I walked out with something totally different than intended when I walked in but Ella is one happy little girl!
At our play group at the YMCA, Ella spends all her time outside playing on the riding toys and on the playground, even if every other kid is inside, Ella is oblivious and will stay outside to play. It's a great thing to see her so active, so instead of waiting until Christmas as planned, I decided to get her a tricycle now. Needless to say, a great buy!

And here are some other pics of this week at the park. I love the outfits Karen sent Ella, they're adorable! Thank you, Karen, Ella looks so cute in them!

Waikiki - Update

We headed into Waikiki this afternoon to play at the beach. Just something different as we never go into town. The water is warmer there but the beach itself isn't as nice as some of our regular beaches. Ron and Ella were playing at the shoreline while I watched from a couple feet away, when I noticed the lifeguard looking for someone out in the water just in front of us. I called Ron and Ella back to the towel and we quickly gathered our things to get out of the way for the lifeguard as a man was brought up to shore just feet in front of us. I'm not sure if she saw him go under or he was washed up but the man was unresponsive while she was doing CPR. We cleaned up and got ready to go as crowds gathered. They were still doing CPR on the way to the ambulance and I haven't heard anything on the news... It was on the late news, the man is in hospital, critical but alive...good news to end the day.

It was very sad to know that the spot where they were trying to revive a man, was the spot where just minutes before Ron was burying Ella in sand. We had planned on spending more time and walking around Waikiki, but the events definitely put a damper on the day and we headed home. Here are some pictures of Ella in the sand. She likes it when Ron buries her...

Ella's Language

Well, we've been very envious of all Nolan's new words and have tried to encourage Ella to begin speaking as well... speaking English that is. Ella will natter on and on, telling us all sorts of stories, none of which are in English. Her intonation and hand jesters are perfect; she pauses mid-story to wait for an appropriate response like "really, Ella, I had no idea..." and will continue to speak in her own baby language. Up until now, Mom-mee and Da-dee, are the only words we recognize and she is very insistent with them. :) She understands everything though. She points to all her body parts when we name them, will open/close doors and drawers when asked, she will put things back, find objects, etc. Really, any sort of instruction we give her, she will quickly attempt.

Lately she has been fascinated with my chest and is always poking at me. She likes to mimic us and will tickle us like we do to her: poking us in the belly button or under our arms. Last night she was poking at me and I innocently said, "Stop poking Mommy's boobies". She thought it was hilarious and proceed to grab hers and say "boo-bees". Of all the words we've tried to get her to copy and she picks this one???? LOL It was hilarious! Ron looked at me like "What the heck are you teaching our daughter??" She has also begun calling Lahrissa, La-la and will go looking for her around the house calling, "La-la, La-la". Our word count is officially up to 4...and yes, I'm counting "boo-bee" as an official Ella word! :)

Here are the girls outside playing in the pool today.

Quilting and Play Groups

So I haven't posted for about a week because I've taken on a new project that has me completely engaged... quilting. I know, I know, but once I get started, I can't seem to do anything else. I also haven't been sleeping much as I get so much more done after Ron and Ella have gone to bed. I've been averaging 5-6 hours sleep but I have almost finished the quilt I made for our room and started on one for Lahrissa last night. I don't have any photos of Ella either (shocking!) but we really haven't done much this past week.

Lahrissa is back from holiday and Ella squealed with delight Thursday morning when she saw her. I also found a free morning play group at the YMCA here on base that I've taken the girls to last Friday and today. They love it and there is so much to do that it's nice to have them in a structured play area with other kids. Everything from arts & crafts, outdoor play, trucks, dolls, kitchen, animals, dress up, water and sand activities... you name it they have a station for it. It's Monday, Wednesday & Friday mornings for an hour and a half. Perfect to wear Ella out before her morning nap. They also do a story and singing time at the end. It's a wonderful freebie I can take advantage of.

We've gone to the pool a couple of times this week. Ron continues to work out and is swimming to build up his cardio. Ella is big enough (and has learned) to hold onto my back while I swim. I'm sure we look funny and one lady said we looked like a turtle, but it's great exercise and Ella loves being in the big pool. She just clings to my neck and back as I breast stroke a few laps. She is also learning how to kick when we hold her out on her belly. Swimming lessons don't start until they are 3 but we hope to have Ella already able to float, jump in and dog paddle by that time.

Ella's napping so I'm going to do some more quilting... pics to come soon. :)