Our sweet Ella turned 1 today. I can't believe it! I just realized today I should have left the birthday decorations up from Talm's birthday last month but it never even dawned on me that she would have a birthday too. Yet here we are and I'm coping..... sort of :)
It is hard for sure to let her grow up (as if I have a choice). I remember wanting to rush to the next milestone with the older kids, especially Mckayla. It's such a different feeling to think of these stages as my last, to not be carefree watching them grow knowing it wasn't your last child because I don't know that right now. I would love more. I never imagined a bigger family than what I came from (4 kids) but I would love one or two more children. But the complications from post delivery understandably scare my better half. So I just try to enjoy every single second of miss Ella bell.
I can't recall more than a hadful of days if any in those first months of her life I was grumpy about getting up to feed her.
Yes she's a great sleeper but I remember it being much harder. I just adored suggling into the couch with her all swaddled tight in her soft blankie and watching sunshine come in to the window.
And now she's a big, curious, funny girl!
She was sick yesterday, hot with a fever and spent a good 2-3 hours
asleep on my chest. It was sad but nice. She's feeling better today but
still a little down. The kids are out of school today so we all went to
Kaitlyn's preschool valentines party this morning then home for Ella's
much cherished late morning nap. In the afternoon we walked around the mall together, the kids and I, for
a bit before taking her birthday pictures which I'll post a link too
tomorrow. Super cute! She was really tired when we got home and I feel
bad about it but we managed to have some present and cake time with her.
Lots of fun, she's such a cute girl! I love that sweet angel with all
my heart. She was hard to come by with miscarriages and always fearing one, but she has been such a blessing to me and
to our family. I cherish every day I get to greet her standing in her
crib holding blankie waiting for me, love nursing her several times a
day, love watching her crawl around and walk along the walls and
furniture. And I love watching her interact with the kids and they with
her. We love our sweet Ella bell so much. Happy birthday baby!!
The kids were all so excited to choose and give her their present.
It took her a minute to catch on.....but not long. Love that Jer caught this face of hers!
I just love her
A must watch video above
Watching me bring her cake over
I love this picture even though it's hard to see clearly, she's chewing on her thumb smiling because we're singing to her
Yeah I know. Close call! Curiosity almost got the cat.....and I shouldn't have been watching dad film
It started with dipping her fingers in and licking them and progressed to solid fist fulls :)
Oh how we love this boy! He is such a sweet brother and son. So loving and sweet. He is doing so great in 1st grade, his teacher loves him and wants to test him for the advanced program Mckayla is in.
He had a birthday party he and Kayla worked hard to prepare for and had one friend show up, Titus. Yes, one. Luckily he seemed ok, only a bit disappointed but we tried to keep him busy and Dad played with the boys and mckayla and Kaity.
They played Lego's, pin the beard on Sensai Wu, musical chairs and had cupcakes and watched a ninjago movie.
Today on his birthday ( which he milked for all it was worth trying to get out of any possible chore) Mckayla and I worked hard on his cake and we had a nice family party. Thanks to everyone for coming! And of course we always miss our out of staters!
Happy Birthday my precious Talmage. You joined us on Friday the 13th, all 10 lovable pounds of you. A long and easy memorable labor with Aunt Stephy there. My first of 3 natural births. You've always loved your mommy and I sure love you!! Here's to lucky #7
Anita MADE this for Talmage! Love it!!
Mckayla was a great help with the cake. She made all these legos from rice crispy treats and fondant.
We had a fun afternoon at the library Saturday. It was the nutcracker theme, complete with crafts, fancy refreshments, and even acting out the play. Katie dressed up as Clara, Kayla a ballerina, Talm the prince, and Ella bell a festive Mrs Clause :)
She's a movin' I tell ya! Just started crawling yesterday! A one foot and one knee down shuffle but it gets her around so she's happy. She's also very much into pulling herself up to stand, but forgets she's not a pro stander yet and lets go to hold toys and falls. She's doing great though! She loves to rock the rocking chair too.
Well I guess since the last post was 8 month old Ella, here's 9 month old Ella. I'll get to Mckayla's birthday very soon. But this was a quick share and that I had to do. LOVE this baby!
Sweet girl is getting so big. A great sitter, great eater, loves to roll both ways, starting to pull from sitting into her knees. Loves her musical toys, starting to dance, and loves anything she can 'shake-a shake-a'. I love to watch her just light up when she she's the kids. Love this girl and her awesome siblings!
Such a pretty day. They're great and we're very happy for them. I wasso happy to be able to Skype with her family on our phone so Anita's mom and brother could watch them come out of the temple and take pictures. It was so sweet to watch her get so emotional upon seeing them and to see their tears as well.
Was so fun having cousins Morgan and Alyvia here all month! The kids just loved it
Talm had a blast as one of the boys with Dustin's brothers and friends decorating the car.
Yes, Mckayla. It was all of 9:30am. Ugh. Lets hope photo head swapping works On the bright side I wore some awesome fancy new shoes! :)
