sun, sand and water

on sunday afternoon we headed to the pool with daddy.  

on tuesday, ella kept pointing to the backyard and saying "pool!  pool!"  so of course we filled up her pools for her and she was soo excited to jump in and splash around.

daddy and nana helping el down the slide

it was rainy this morning so we changed our plans (to go to the zoo, ha ha) and headed to the children's museum instead.  

ella at storytime at the museum.  it was navy week so navy sailors read books and sang songs with the kids.

el did not want to hold anyone's hand, so she stood in the middle of the circle and was the 'mulberry bush'

ella playing with her friends oliver and aidan in the sandbox.  she cried when she got sand on the sleeve of her hoodie.  ha ha, so my kid.

we went to a gymboree music class yesterday.  it's so funny to watch el - she definitely does not like crowds of people or kids, so she'll walk out of her way to get a toy or put away something.  but she understands when you say "go get the toy" or "please give the toy to ms. julie so she can put it away."  she's growing up!  

another day, another soft pretzel

i meant to add this pic a few weeks ago.  apparently i took too long to make ella's dinner.

ella picked a duck and won a free thing of bubbles.

ella and her nana (and her soft pretzel)

ella eating nana's sub

so we headed back to taste of blue ash this afternoon.  ella got another balloon and another pretzel.  she also ate a mini sub sandwich.  evidently roger and i will do anything to get out of making dinner...

last friday night (sorry, the song is stuck in my head)

ella and daddy at taste of blue ash

ella and her little friends (right before she fell!)  :-(.  and she single-handedly started a stroller revolt.  after the other kids saw her out of her stroller, they all wanted out!

ella and her balloon

yesterday we headed out to the taste of blue ash with some friends.  ella ate a soft pretzel for dinner, got a free balloon and stayed up way past her bedtime - a pretty good night for her.  happy 17 months ella bean!

come on through!

yesterday we went to a park and played in the shooting fountains.  

today, we went to gymboree and and the theme this week was learning the word "through."  ella practiced crawling through tunnels and throwing balls through the shape cut-outs in the bridge.  :-)  

her new favorite thing to do is play with my iphone - when you push the 'home' button, it shows a picture of roger, ella and me.  she gets so excited and points to roger on the phone and says "dada!!"  she  also knows her name now (lala) and learned how to fist bump today.  love ya els!!

tales of an absentee blogger

ella and andrew at - guess where?? - the zoo!

yeah, yeah, i know, i'm behind on the blog.  oh well, it happens.  i need a new camera.  can that be my excuse??

thank you so much to jill last week for helping me with ella while roger was traveling on business!    

on friday, our friends from chicago came to visit for the weekend with their 13 month old son, andrew.  ella took andrew to the zoo, out for lunch and swimming at the pool.  they played so well together!!

this week has been pretty quiet so far - brunch with the girls and ella's friends on monday and the library yesterday.  

let me entertain you

so add a cold to an already tired sharyn and we have what made for a few long days.  stuck in the house.  and i've come to the realization that scheduling an activity every day might have backfired on me.  ella needs to be entertained.  constantly.  oh well - we're back out tomorrow, first thing!

this afternoon, i called in reinforcements.  ella had a baby-sitter for a few hours while i ran to a dentist appointment.  i was soo nervous since this was the first time that we left ella with a non-family member, but she did great!  it was actually her instructor from gymboree so having spent so much time with her helped i'm sure.

ella pointing at the giraffes

ella and her friends 

ella and her friend aidan playing with a stuffed elephant at the gift shop

i overlooked thanking jill for taking ella for a sleepover last saturday; so thank you!  roger and i took advantage of our time without ella by painting her room and cleaning.  could we BE any more fun?  then roger suggested we go out for dinner - some place we could not go with ella.  here i am imagining a quiet, romantic little restaurant.  where did roger choose?  willie's sports bar.  i think the name speaks for itself.  and we sat at a hightop (his definition of "some place we could not go with ella" evidently).  and we watched ufc fight night.  awesome...

tuesday i hosted the most insane playgroup ever.  9 moms, 11 babies...  what the hell was i thinking???

wednesday we went to the zoo.  again.  oh my god i feel like i live there.  but ella made all of the appropriate animal noises when she saw the elephants, bears and monkeys.  :-)  

today, we went to gymboree and out for lunch with some friends.  do you ever get that thought of "really??  this is my life??"  good, bad or indifferent.  that happened to me today.  under the parachute house at gymboree at 10 a.m. singing "twinkle, twinkle, little star."  really??  but i am thankful.  thankful i have this time with ella.  because one day i will be back to arguing with steelworkers 3 times my size while ella rolls her eyes about something i said to her.  so for today i'm more than happy to sit under the parachute house with her.

going rounds with an elephant

 ella after she pet the snake named "cheddar"

 ella and her friends at the penguin exhibit

  we went to the zoo again today.  ella got to pet a snake and see her favorite exhibit - the penguins!!  then she rode a carousel for the first time!!  her animal of choice: the elephant.

the best part was the 2 1/2 hour nap ella took this afternoon when we got home.  i think i'll take her to the zoo everyday...  :-)

also a shout-out to ella's aunt amy and future uncle justin.  congrats on your engagement!  we are so happy and excited for you both!!

i'm tired. that's my story and i'm sticking to it.

  my parents came to visit last weekend so ella was able to spend a fabulous weekend with her gigi and poppie.  

gigi even stayed a few more days.  so monday we were off with 6 babies, 5 mommies and 1 grandma to the aquarium.  ella showed gigi the fish, sharks and penguins.  

on tuesday, ella cried and squirmed her way through a haircut resulting in crooked bangs.  :-(  we also thought she was coming down with a cold, but she had 4 teeth that finally poked through!!  

wednesday morning, my mom left.  immediately after, ella's diaper leaked (requiring a load of laundry and a bath) and bailey and george both freaked out from the storm outside.  then ella was playing on the family room floor and laid down on her stomach.  i decided to lay down next to her because i was beyond exhausted.  i closed my eyes.  just for a second.  or 20 minutes.  love that this kid quietly entertained herself unsupervised immediately next to her sleeping mommy the whole time.  mom - please come back!!

i've now talked to most of you who follow the blog (all 5 of you) and so you know that ella will be a big sister!  my fave two responses to it:

• "you're pregnant again??"  dude, there will be a 2 year difference in their ages which is totally normal. it's not like el is 3 months old.  
• "is ella excited?"  umm, no.  she just learned where her nose is.  the whole a-sibling-is-on-it's-way concept is a little over her head...

ha ha - i LOVE you family and friends!!