Our Christmas Picture

This is our Christmas picture. It was taken at our ward party. Merry Christmas!

This is Ella at 10 months. She is getting more and more busier everyday. She crawls all over the place and can stand for short periods of time (5-20 sec). Her favorite thing to do is pull herself up on everything and move from place to place hanging onto things. Her hair is getting longer and the curls seem to fill up her head. I am starting to use clips in her hair instead of headbands because there is so much hair. Ella is discovering many new words. Here they are

Da Da

Daddy

Ma Ma

Mommy

I do

Ba Bi

Bee bee (baby)

as at (as at)

Na Na

Na ma na ma (food)

She likes to play "Patty cake" and clap her hands. She also likes to sing "The wheels on the bus" with me. When she stands up on things, she is starting to dance a little by moving up and down. It is so cute. She is also eating more solid foods and pretty much will not eat any more baby food because she likes to feed herself. She is so much fun and is turning more into a little girl. We love her.

Ella's 1st Thanksgiving

This is Ella on Thanksgiving. We went to my parents house. Ryan, Wendy, Maylan, and Brandon came too. Ella loved the turkey! She would walk all over the house in her walker eating turkey and rolls. We were supposed to go to the Bay Area to see Jordan's parents but it was too close to finals for Jordan so we decided to stay home with my parents. It was fun day.

Ella's 1st pair of Flip Flops

This is Ella's first pair of flips flops. I know it is winter but living in Southern California allows her to wear them now. She is truly a California Girl.

This is Ella at the park swinging on the swings. She thinks it is funny to hit me while she is swinging.

Ella at 9 months

Ella is 9 months old. She weighs 24 lbs. What a chunk! She loves to do things by herself. She crawls all over the place and pulls herself up on everything. She has no fear and even moves from the couch to the coffee table. She loves it when we chase her around the house. She tries to crawl as fast as she can, it is so cute! She likes to crawl behind the couch. She can only enter one way behind the couch, but she cannot turn around so she cries until Jordan and I have to crawl behind there to get her.

At 9 months old, Ella can say "Da Da, Ma Ma, No," and "Na ma na ma" (which is food). Of course, her first words other than "Da Da" and "Ma Ma" are "no" and food. That's my child. She has said "Hi" a couple of times but it is not an everyday word. I use Sign Language and she recognizes food, drink, and milk. The other words I sign she just looks at me like I'm weird.
Ella is busy, busy, busy. She likes to go (just like her mom). Our daily routine consists of leaving our apartment around 10:00am and returning home around 9:00pm. She takes about 2-3 naps a day that are about 15-45 min long and it is usually in the car moving from one destination to another. Her bottom two teeth have already come in, and her top teeth are on their way. I can see them but they have not broken through yet.

Halloween Time!!!

Ella with her antenna's on. She didn't like it on her head because she was too hot. So we replaced it with a bow!

You can see Ella's 2 teeth.

We got to celebrate Ella's 1st Halloween. The Saturday before went to the Pumpkin Patch with our friends Todd and Lisa Ruitman in our ward. We got there just before 9:00pm and found out the Pumpkin Patch was closing so we did not get to do any of the activities. We did take pictures. Ella was a butterfly for Halloween. We went to Ryan and Wendy's for dinner and Trick or Treating. It was so fun. Ella like being with all the kids going Trick or Treating and she got lots of candy for her Mommy and Daddy. After that, I babysat until 4:00 in the morning. It was a long night.

Fun Weekend with Grandpa and Grandma!

Our family at the beach
Ella with her Grandma and Grandpa

Grandma is in here favorite place with her grand-daughter. She couldn't be more happy!
Ella fell asleep with her Grandpa

This is why we live here in beautiful California!

Jordan's parents came to visit us from Washington. We had so much fun. We took them down to the beach and on the sailboat. The beach is Marjie's favorite thing to do, so we made sure we did that. After sailing on the sailboat, we ate lunch at BJ's, and then relaxed at the beach just talking and enjoying life. Ella developed at cold while she was there so she slept most of the time. On the way home from the beach, Ella's cold was so bad we decided to take her into Urgent Care. They said she was okay and that she just needed to rest and not be out and about. That was hard for me because I like to go. The rest of the visit with Steve and Marjie was pretty laid back. We ordered take out from our favorite restaurants and got some small errands done. It was still a very fun weekend. We miss them sooo much!

Busy Ella at 8 months

Ella is getting so big and has accomplished a lot this month. She weighs 22 lbs and has outgrown her car seat. She has 2 bottom front teeth and she getting more hair. It is light brown and almost blond which is weird because both her mom and dad have dark brown hair. She was born with curly hair and it still continues to grow in curly (she has her mom's hair).
She has also mastered the scooting stage and is officially crawling. She is all over the place! Not too long after figuring out how to crawl, she now pulls herself up on everything. The girl has no fear. When she pulls herself up, she likes to hang on with only one hand or she will turn around and lean her back on what is supporting her with no hands. I think she does it because Jordan and I usually start running over to her to catch her and she wants us to play with her.
She likes to do things by herself. She would rather feed herself than have me feed her. I enjoy it but it sometimes could get frustrating because I'm afraid she is not getting the right nurtrients although it doesn't look like it. She loves to play with her leap frog standing table and she loves to walk in her walker at her Grandma Blocker's house. We love Ella so much and are so glad she is part of our lives.

Ella at 7 months

This is Ella right before we went to church. She is wearing the dress my aunt Diane gave to her when she was born. I'd never thought she would ever fit into it. My little girl is growing up so fast!

Ella at the Beach

This is Ella's 2nd time at the beach. The 1st time was in Santa Cruz, CA in July with her Grandma Scott and Aunt Marcie. My camera's battery died so I dont have pictures. She wasn't a big fan of the beach because it was very windy and the sand blew right in her eyes when we got there. So, she cried until she fell asleep. Her Grandma Scott bought Ella her first sand bucket and shovel.

This is Ella at Huntington Beach. She was 6 1/2 months old and quite a chuncky monkey. We went with Grandma and Grandpa Blocker along with Ryan, Wendy, Maylan, Brandon, and Brittney. She loved the water and had no fear of it. She didn't know what to do with the sand so she just sat there. She is definitely more of a So. Cal Girl. It was a fun day.

Ella in front of the Salt Lake Temple doors

Ella is so happy to be there

Ella with her cousins Kaden and Kyle

Ella and I went to Utah in September for my Uncle Michael's Wedding. We enjoyed seeing family however, we did not get to see very many friends. It was a short trip but enough to make me miss Utah. Its not that bad of a place. Jordan did not go because he had school. It was the first time he was away from Ella and I. We sure missed him.

Ella's 6 month pictures!

Our new Blog

Hello Everyone,
Instead of sending emails of pictures, I have decided to create my own blog of our family. It will probably be all about Ella since she is the center or our lives and we pretty much just take pictures of her. We love it! All is well with us. Jordan is busy in Law School while Ella and I spend time playing, swimming, and shopping. It is so fun being close to family and we have made some friends in our ward. It is super hot here but luckly we have a swimming pool to keep us cool.