Watching the clouds go by

I don't have a picture of this but using your imagination will make this entry that much sweeter. Ella was playing with Digger today (15 year old family Pomeranian we inherited when my mom moved) and they were having a fun time. They were sitting on an incline in the back yard, I was lounging in a chair just a few feet away. Ella moved to hug Digger and instead basically sat on him. Annoyed and old, he struggled to his arthritic feet and walked away. This sent Ella tumbling a couple of times on the slope, landing on her back. She rolled over and started to get up when something caught her attention, like a whisper from heaven. I watched her slowly lie back down, peacefully she lay there watching the sunlight peeking through the leaves of the trees. A few puffy clouds drifted by and still she lay there, just watching. I've never seen her so still ~ except of course when she's sleeping. The real beauty of this moment --I remember laying in the grass, looking up at the summertime sky for hours as a child. What an innocent, beautiful discovery. I could almost feel her saying to herself, "there's all this down here, and still so much up there."

This in addition to her saying "I lub oooo" at bedtime has made my heart melt.

Ella's World: One Year Anniversary

We've been blogging about Ella's World for a year as of July 20th. Look how much she's changed!

Many regular watchers and readers of her little life might enjoy a look back at some of the archived blogs over the year. It's gone by so fast.

Bogged Down

No the blog's not down, I'm just bogged down!

I just started a new job at CNN and they're thoroughly kicking my tail. It's challenging, but everyone's super nice.

But with this new opportunity came daycare for Miss Ella. She's into her second week now and still having separation issues at drop-off and she's already suffered through her first daycare cold, it was a nasty one! We're all in transition now but we'll hopefully get the hang of things. I'll be mostly part-time once training is over so that will help all of us, hopefully.

You can take the girl out of California....

But you can't take the California out of the girl!

Mommy's Birthday

What a wonderful birthday. I didn't do much of anything all day except play with Ella. Then around 2 I went to the spa for a facial, massage and pedicure. Family and friends all seemed to remember this year, which was truly special. I always forgive them if they forget, July 3rd often gets sucked into family vacations and that other big birthday that falls on the following day.

Babci and Granddad came over and Matt and I enjoyed an amazing dinner at Bonefish Grill. Try the spicy shrimp appetizer! Yum!! I wasn't impressed with the bananas foster, but the candle on top was a nice touch. My sis-in-law says they make a mean creme brulee. It's a bit noisy for some people's taste, but we loved it.

As usual, it rained on the big day, but this was the best birthday I've had in a long time.

Fun with Zach and Ryan

After realizing we had seen our friends, Mark and Kelly more often when we lived out of state than we have now that we live in Georgia, we finally found time to pay them a visit. They live 15-20 minutes from us on a Sunday morning. So we headed over to their house for a nice brunch. It was our first time meeting little Ryan, who is an absolute angel.

But big brother, soon-to-be three, Zach was a real treat. He and Ella got along beautifully. They jumped on the couch, shared pancakes, played in the sand table and lots of other fun things. We're starting to see how this whole thing will eventually work, the kids will play nicely in the other room while the adults enjoy some good conversation. And we did well, we talked about many subjects, most of them not relating to our kids. I like this part.

Early July 4th Party

Uncle Wayne and Aunt Durene had a 4th of July party at their house on the 30th. It's like the 5th or 6th annual party and it's a neighborhood-wide event. This was the first year we were able to attend. Everyone brought a dish and their own beverages, water and juice were provided for the kiddies.

Ella had a fun time playing on the swing with cousin Emma but she had absolutely no interest in the bounce house. She loved it at her first birthday party but the second I tried to squeeze her through the little netting opening she screamed bloody murder. So we played on the swings and ate lots of really good food!!

Natural Fireworks

Hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. Ours was very low key because nature had her own plans for fireworks in our house; green apple splatters. Yes, Ella woke up on our Nation's birthday and had hosed down her crib with watery brown poop. She had a bath before breakfast and I stripped the sheets faster than you could say, "God that stinks!"

So Matt piddled in the yard and I attempted to trim the bushes out front during her nap. One sliced extension cord later, I think they look pretty nice.

By 4 o'clock Ella had experienced two or three more blowouts and was running a low grade fever. So we decided against the 4th of July fireworks event we were supposed to attend with Matt's family. The next morning, she woke up with only pee in her diaper. The fever was gone and she ate very well. We waited all morning to see if the squirts would return. By eleven she seemed fine so we headed to our friends, Gerin and Rick's lake house, trying to salvage what was left of the mid-week holiday. We had a fantastic time and Ella seemed to thoroughly enjoy her first boat rides, first on the speed boat, then on the pontoon.

We caught some cute pictures of Ella taking in her fun-filled day with her new friends Max and Abby. But the most memorable moments were supplied by Gerin and Rick's soon-to-be six year old, Abby.

When we were out on the speed boat and came into open water, she yelled, "Dad, drop the hammer!" We got the boat up to 68 mph and she was loving every minute of it. Ella was wearing her Coast Guard approved life vest and we were holding her tightly.

Then, after Rick went knee boarding, for the first time in many, many moons, she patted him on the back when he pulled himself up on the dock and said, "Hey Dad, you really turned up the heat!"

Hand to God! Who writes her material??