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. :)

Life Really is a Beach

Today we headed up to Turtle Bay at the North Shore and went to the beach. It was a beautiful sunny day and I snorkeled a bit. We ate lunch at the beach cabana and lounged around most of the afternoon. We are such island people! :)

Ron has been working out and can I just say... I have a very sexy husband!
Erin/Christin - found even more fun beaches for us. Can't wait to see you!

Road To Hana

We did the road to Hana on Tuesday, August 14th. Joey, Lee, Ron and I rented a Jeep and put Ella in the car with Grandma, Grandad and Great-Grandma. It was the rainy side of the island so we didn't expect great weather but it rained most of the day once we got out to that side. Our first stop at Twin Falls was a nice little hike up the river. Grandma & Great-Grandma headed back to the car while we ventured ahead. It was beautiful and soon the boys were in the waterfall swinging from ropes. Ever the "practical" one, I took Ella and headed back; why get sopping wet at the first waterfall when there were six more to see?? I didn't make it half way back before getting stuck in a downpour. I ended up soaked anyway! LOL We got Ella into dry clothes and quickly tried to put the top on the jeep which was already soaked too. So now I'm wet and I have to sit on a wet seat too! I really should have jumped in that waterfall. :-) We ended up driving about halfway before turning around. The road was crazy and we wanted to see the volcano too before the end of the day. The rain just made the vegetation and landscape more beautiful and tropical. The volcano wasn't that exciting but Joey sure made the drive down so. Joey - you pull over for the locals, not keep up with them! LOL

West Maui Drive - August 11th

We spent Saturday driving around West Maui with Grandad, Grandma, Great-Grandma, Uncle Joey & Uncle Lee. Aunt Shirley, Uncle Lewis & cousin Ashely joined us for the spectacular scenery. We drove the crazy road northwest to the most beautiful cliff sides and then went to Iao Valley State Park in the middle of West Maui. It was a beautiful day!

Maui Family Reunion

Back From Maui

We arrived home last night after wonderful week in Maui. It was great to see Ron's family and finally meet the extended family of cousins, great aunts and uncles, and family friends. It was hectic with so many people but we did manage to see a lot of the island. Here are some pics from our last day, yesterday. I'll post some more of the trip soon.
We were unaffected by the hurricane, though we did get rained on during our drive along the road to Hana... but as it is the "wet" side of the island, we didn't expect a totally sunny experience. Now that we are home, they are talking about a tsunami warning due to the Peru earthquake, but we are high in the mountains, so nothing to worry about. Thanks Amy & Tara for thinking about us though. :-)

Happy Birthday

Dear Grandpa / Great-Grandpa,

We hope you have a wonderful birthday celebration. It was so nice to visit with you and have you stay with us for a week. Ella is enjoying her Elmo chair and has become very possessive with it. :-) We'll be thinking of you as we try and get ready for Maui tomorrow. Enjoy the day and know that we miss you and love you. Happy Birthday!!

Love,
Tracey, Ron & Ella

Great Friends

It is by far the hardest thing about being in the military thus far, saying goodbye to great friends. We met Katie and Eric back in the early spring and have enjoyed having dinners, BBQing and hanging out with them. Ella, I believe, has had her first crush on Eric. She's usually quite careful about who she'll go to, choosing to suss them out for a little bit before venturing over to them. However, once she decided Eric was okay, she has constantly tried to get his attention and is quick to reach to be picked up or will bring him her toys.
Tonight, in honor of Eric's promotion (go Sergeant!), Katie and Eric invited us over for a celebration BBQ and farwell with some of his platoon. He leaves for training in Cali, before being deployed to Iraq. We'll possible see them (Katie's going home for the duration) in the fall for a bit between Cali and Iraq but we're not sure. It's sad to say goodbye but we will see them when he comes back in something like 15 months... and of course there's always email, it's just never the same. Eric had picked up a keg, so it was also Ella's first official keg party!

Immigration

Aghhhhh immigration! It's coming up 2 years since I received my residency card but I am now required to file more paperwork to "prove" that my marriage is legit. 4 days before I am allowed to file, they more than doubled the fee so Ron and I are coughing up almost $600 for some paper pusher to review "evidence" that I didn't marry Ron to come to the US.

Hopefully the "child produced from the marriage" is enough proof that I did actually marry because I love Ron. Sometimes I want to just say, "Trust me, if I was going to marry someone for a passport, there are many places I'd rather live" (Europe or Australia for example). Though I don't think that would go over well with the immigration department. :)