Strike A Pose

Well if you're going to stand nude in the driveway, you may as well stand next to a luxury vehicle and "work it" for the cameras.

This is being blown up for her 16th, nay 18th birthday party.

Night, Night, Digger

Late last week our sweet old dog, Digger stopped eating and took a turn for the worse. By Sunday he was lethargic and barely responsive. With the help of my good friend and family Veterinarian, Dr. Avant, he has now gone to heaven to play with the Big Man, the name we perceived the family dogs would have given my father, Ella's Grandpa.

Ella loved him so much and still keeps asking for him. She does not yet know heart brake, and for that I am glad. A wise person once said, the only bad thing about pets is their short life span. Amen to that.

Birthdays Are Messy

Recently we celebrated Babci and Aunt Stephanie's birthdays. They actually share the same special day but we celebrated with Babci early because she went to the beach for her birthday, lucky girl.

Nonetheless, we celebrated in style, a week early. Matt ordered a half bushel of blue crabs from Maryland. He cooked them according to Grandmom's garlic crab recipe, and they were AWESOME!! We cooked too many though, which meant, much like Thanksgiving turkey, we were eating crab for days. I've had my fill for a while...maybe.

But the real treat for me came when Aunt Durene gave the kids icing covered sugar cookies. We allow the indulgences on special occasions. Ella went face first into the cookie. Meanwhile, a more stately and demure Emma, while delicately eating her own cookie, watched her crazy cousin with dismay. They crack me up.

We all spent the night at Uncle Wayne and Aunt Durene's and the kids had a special breakfast complete with Uncle Wayne's special fluffy pancakes!! As Ella says....YUMMMM-EEEEE!!!

Ella and Emma

Ella can't get enough of her cousin Emma lately. And from what I understand the feeling is mutual. So when we found out Babci and Granddad were babysitting Emma Saturday night, we invited ourselves over for a playdate. They are so much fun to watch together. We spent the night and the girls slept in the same room. We were all awakened to the sounds of giggling. See, we put them down at separate times so they didn't know they were in the same room until they woke up and looked around. It was really sweet.

Sunday morning we had waffles and fruit and milk and then went outiside to play. It was overcast so it felt a bit cooler than usual, but popsicles were still a must. The girls had two or three each, ending up with dark purple mouths!! What fun!!

Weekend Project #1

Okay it's actually weekend project #2 of the long list of things I'd like to get done before Auburn football season. The first? Oh, we painted Ella's bathroom and it's not quite what we had in mind. We were trying to match a green in her shower curtain but instead of a nice sage green it's neon green. As in 1984 neon green. Remember that?

So project #1 is now a two-parter.

But project #2 turned out nicely. When we were cleaning out the attic in my mom's garage before her move we found an old rocking chair fit for a child. The seat had been removed but it was structurally sound. I like to think my Dad came across and it stowed it away for future grandchildren. It was a fire engine red but we decided to change the color. After breakfast at Cracker Barrel we went to Michael's. We picked out some yellow fabric with cute multi-colored butterflies (a new fave of Ella's). We got some primer and some lavender paint. For all those who know me and know I love purple, Matt picked out the color, just for the record I'm not forcing my favorite color on the child.

After Ella went down for a nap I started sanding and painting. Matt cut out a seat from a piece of wood and cut out a piece of foam for the cushion. After her nap we had to put the seat together but it was more or less ready to go. She loved it. She kept getting in and out of it saying, "rocky chair, rocky chair!!" This morning as I cleaned her breakfast dishes I heard her sitting in it singing a little rocking chair song she made up all on her own. Thanks, Dad.

Learning to Accessorise

Hey, these stacking rings make great bracelets!!

Slippin' Slidin'

It's been unbelievably hot in most of the nation lately, and we've broken some serious records here in the Atlanta area. So when the smog alert was high and the heat was horrible we headed to the country, and cousin Trey. Aunt Leshia had purchased a slip-n-slide with a playdate with Ella in mind. We waited until late in the afternoon and went outside with Grams and Grandma. Trey enjoyed playing with Ella's watering can but Ella just kind of stood in the spray and let her little legs get wet. I'm pretty sure she's cutting her two year molars because she's chewing a lot, whining a lot, wanting ice a lot and having the squirts a lot. So she was content sitting on the swing with Grandma or in Grams's lap.

The kids had a good time playing inside. Everything was going well until Ella tripped in the living room, went airborn and landed by smacking her forehead on the coffee table. Immediately she started swelling and turning purple. Try keeping an ice pack on a 19 month old's forehead. Impossible. But it's funny now when she get's hold of something cold, she tries to put it on her forehead, days after the fact. At any rate, that's the giant goose egg you'll see in the next several entries.

Funny, soapy, bathtub hair!

C'mon Diggy

I think I've made reference before in the blog to the dog we've taken in. Digger is a 15 year old Pomeranian. He was one of three family dogs, the only one still standing. When my mom moved this summer she asked if we would take him in and of course we said yes. He's on the downhill of life, I think arthritis has destroyed his joints and he has a terrible time walking, but he seems happy so I just haven't gotten the guts to take him to the vet for the inevitable. Plus, Ella has grown to adore him. She know the routine, after her meals it's time to take Digger for a walk around the yard so he can do his business. After the last bite, the last sip of milk she starts proclaiming, "un-go see Diggy!" Once out of the high chair she walks to the basement door and says, "un-go down, un-go see Diggy!" Digger spends most of his time in the unfinished basement because he pees without warning. We go downstairs and she wakes him sweetly from his deep, old dog slumber and we go outside. All the while she's saying things like, "hey buddy!", "c'mon Diggy", "I lub ooooh"! She hugs him and tries to roll around on him, not quite understanding that he's a living being, not a stuffed animal. One thing we know without a doubt, once Digger goes to the happy hunting ground, we have to have a dog.

Shoe Fettish

Miss Ella hates wearing shoes, but she like wearing our shoes. And if I leave my shoes laying around she insists I put them on, even attempting to get them on my feet herself, upside down and backwards.

But there are several reasons I love this picture of her. She's wearing my big flip flops, and that's pretty funny in and of itself, but she's got her hands on her hips, a McGaha trait (that's my side and the child takes so little after me I'm happy to see it) and she's got a glistening snotty nose. Since she started daycare she's been non-stop snot. If only someone could find a use for snot, we could bottle it and make a freakin fortune.

Getting ready for some football

Daddy keeps reminding me football starts soon and that basically means weekends will be dedicated to the orange and blue and all the fun that goes with being an Auburn fan. And just in case I forgot about the impending season, Ella reminded me by grabbing a tiger by the tail, literally. The same day Mr. Kyle called to say the Tigers were at training camp, Ella pranced around the playroom with Carnell, her special tiger. Yes, named for the Cadillac.

What this translates to for the mommies in the audience, I have to get him to help with all those little household projects done in the next 2-3 weeks or I'm screwed.

War Eagle! Now, paint that room!!