Where have we been?

Okay, I know it has been a long time since I made a post. Lots of things have been going on. First of all, we moved in August to a new apartment. Several days after that, we went to the Bay Area for a week, Jordan started his second year of law school, we have had family in town, and we didn't have Internet so I couldn't post anything. Excuses, Excuses, NO MORE Excuses! Things have settled down and we finally got Internet about a week ago allowing me to blog again.

As for our family, Jordan started school again. It is going sooo much better than last year. He actually has time to spend with his family. Ella and I love it. He enjoys his classes and loves to study law. He had been working hard but also has time to relax and spend time with his family.

I have been busy taking care of a now 20 month old who is full of lots of energy. I have picked up a hobby of running every morning with 2 girls from our ward. They have kids also, so the 3 of us run pushing jogging strollers. It is quite the workout. I keep myself busy by also tutoring my niece Maylan in math 2 times a week and watching my cousin Paige 2 times a week.

Ella is Ella. She is as busy as can be. She is at such a fun age. Her personality shines. We got rid of the pacifier at 18 months (she gets it at bed time)and since then, She talks,and talks, and talks. She can say sentences of 3-4 words but most of the time she just babbles and then you recognize a few words in between them. It amazes me how much she learns each day. I feel like I will tell her a word once and she remembers it. She has an interest of using the potty and goes in it about once a day and she can say the letters of the alphabet(after repeating them from me). She is getting sooo big. She had developed an interest for Elmo and watches Elmo's world all the time (no more Baby Einstein). I am soo blessed that I get to be with her everyday of her life and see her accomplishments. I'm sad to see her grow up but look forward to watching her learn and progress. We love her!

Yummy! Fountain Water!

A few days ago, Ella and I got together with some girls from Jordan's Law school. Reilly, Camilla, and I met at Victoria Gardens (shopping mall) to hang out an let the kids play. Reilly has a little girl named Zoie who is a few weeks older than Ella. While we did a little bit of shopping, we let the kids play in the fountains. Ella is going through a hard time with teething. She is cutting her 2 year old molars which seems to be very painful. She bites on EVERYTHING! Well, while we were at the fountains, Ella kept eating the water. Although it looked hilarious,I felt bad for her because she was helping her with the pain. I tried to not let her drink the water but I did just to take one quick picture. We had lots of fun and hope to do it again soon.

Pee Pee in the Potty!

I know it my be a little early but Ella has shown interest in the potty. I started putting her on the potty right before her bath and she started going. I would reward her with a sucker if she went. she likes having a sucker in the bath so she continues to go in the potty. She has also gone a few time throughout the day but not all the time. We are so pround of her accomplishments and love her soo much. Hopefully she will be potty trained before she is 2! She still has 4 1/2 months.

Farewell to Elder Montgomery

Last weekend, we went down to San Diego to attend my cousin Michael's farewell. He is serving in the Tucson, Arizona Mission. We stayed in a hotel down there along with Ryan and Wendy and my parents. While we were there, Jordan went to see the Aircraft Carrier Museum while my mom and I went shopping at the San Diego Swap meet(O.C. swap meet is way better). We had a fun relaxing weekend. On Sunday we went to Michael's farewell at church followed by a get together brunch at his house. We are sooo proud of Michael and his decision to serve the Lord. We know he will be a great missionary.

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day weekend, We had our friends Matt, Mari, and Taylor Larson come visit us. They got to visit our new apartment. We are trying to convince them to move up by us. Hopefully Matt will get into Western Dental School so they can. While they were here, we went to the Orange County Swap Meet, swimming, Tio's Mexican Restaurant, and church. We love having them come and visit. We all get along so well. We hope we see them soon.

Our Family Pictures

We finally got some family pictures done. We did through my friend in Corona. She is amazing and actually got some really good picture of Ella. I highly recommend her if you need any pictures taken. Her website is rachelkirkphotography.com

2 Best Friends

While my brother and his family came into town, Ella got to spend some time with her cousin Abigal. These two little girls were sooo cute playing but a lot of work since the are both 18 months. With both their personalities shinning, I can see they will be good friends when they are older. As you can tell, I could not get one picture of both of them looking and smiling at the camera.

Legoland

This is only made of legos including the cars and the people.Pretty amazing.


Today we went to Legoland with Rob, Raelene, Wendy, my mom, and all the kids. My brother came into town for the week so we had lots of fun things to do. Yesterday we went to Disneyland but I didn't bring my camera. Legoland was fun but there weren't a lot of rides for Ella to ride. In fact, she only rode 2. They did have an attraction full of lots of water and she loved to run through that. However she didn't have her bathing suit so we let her go in her diaper. I normally wouldn't do that but she could do anything at the park and she really wanted to run through it. I felt bad for her. I didn't want her clothes to get wet because it was toward the end of the day and I didn't want her to sit in her wet clothes. oh well. she had fun and I had fun.

Pixieland

While we were in the bay Area, Marcie, Drew, Marjie, Ella, and I went to Pixieland in Concord. I really wanted to go because I used to go there when I was little. Back then, it was called Funderland and they have all the same rides. Ella rode the airplanes all by herself and wanted to ride the dragon roller coaster but wasn't tall enough. she would just stare at it in amusement. We had lots of fun.

Bay Area Fun!!!!

Brent, Jared and Paige and Chevy's
Jordan, Me, Nicholas, and Jess
Ella hanging with the Nosal Boys.
Auntie Val and Ella

Marcie and Jeff

After getting pretty much everything moved in, We decided to take one more quick trip up to the Bay Area to visit family and friends before Jordan starts school. We first stayed with the Nosals for 3 nights followed by Marcie's for 3 nights. Our vacation was filled with visiting family and friends, Marcie's birthday, Marjie's birthday, laying poolside watching TV day and night in the Nosal's pool, Pixieland, shopping, watching the opening ceremony of the Olympics, and the finale of So You Think You Can Dance (Go Joshua). we had a blast and Ella didn't get sick like last time.

Say Cheese!! OC Fair

After spending a few days of straight unpacking, we decided to take a break and visit the Orange County Fair. We had lots of fun. When we got to the fair, we looked around in the arts and crafts, visited the petting zoo, and watched the people ride the crazy rides. It was a fun day.

Ella's 1st Big Earthquake

Yesterday, there was an 5.4 earthquake that hit the Los Angeles area. The center of it was in Chino Hills which is about 25 miles from our home. Boy, we could feel it. Ella had just woken up from her nap and I was holding her on the couch. She had just fallen back to sleep, and I started to fall asleep with her. Right when I fell asleep, everything started shaking. A few pictures fell off the wall and one broke. It freaked me out and my heart started pounding. I hadn't been in an earthquake that big since I was little. Thank goodness Ella was already in my arms and we ran under a doorway for shelter. It didn't really phase Ella much beside the fact that she got woken up from her nap. What sacred me the most was that all the phone lines including cell phones were down for 25 minutes after the quake and I couldn't get a hold of anyone. Jordan was at school and he was able to get a hold of me but not right away. It just made me realize that we need to always be prepared because you never know when a natural disaster might hit. Thank goodness this wasn't it but it was a good wake up call.
We are moving tomorrow to another apartment in the same city we live in. We are so excited it is a two bedroom and Ella will finally have her own room. HOORAY! We're also excited that we will have a 2 car garage right under our apartment. I'm trying to pack but Ella loves to help me unpack. She loves to climb in and out of the boxes. My mom is now watching her for the next couple of days while we move to our new home. Thank you mom!

On Monday, Ryan, Wendy, Maylan, Brandon, and Marissa came over to swim. Ella is getting more and more comfortable with the water. She now jumps into the pool (in my arms). Maylan and Brandon love to wear goggles, well so did Ella. She first picked them up and would try to put them on by herself. So I put them on her thinking she would take them off instantly, but she didn't. She liked wearing them and didn't want to take them off. She was a big girl like her cousins. She would walk around, play with the pool toys, thinking she was "hot stuff" wearing her own goggles. They were a little big on her. I thought she was cute.

More beach fun

Last Saturday Ella and I went to the beach with my parents and Ryan and Wendy. Jordan couldn't come because he was working on his write on competition for Law Review for school. We went to watch the National Surf Open in Huntington Beach. By the time we got to the beach the surfing part was over so we watched the biking event. They also had skateboarding and dirt bikes there too but we didn't stay for the shows. The weather at the beach was beautiful and Ella has no fear of the waves. She would keep running up letting the waves crash on her. I really have to watch her now. She is getting more and more independent. I love to see her interact with here cousins. She loves May May and Buddy and can now say their names.

She Loves Salad

I found out that Ella likes to eat salad. At first she used to just lick the dressing off and then spit out the lettuce but now she eats it all. This was her at The Olive Garden. Who doesn't love the salad there. She wanted the big bowl to herself. While she was there she also ate calamari. She is so not like her mom.