Alex the Cheerleader...

Ella...the admirer.

Sporting her "Alex's #1 Fan" t-shirt we made for her, Ella played all over the bleachers Saturday as we watched Alex cheer on her team, the Wolves. Carrying her little green and gold pom pom, under Daddy or Babci's watchful eyes, she seemed to be taking it all in. She still calls football baseball but we're working on that. She shook her little booty to the chants and cheers, which makes me, a former pom-pommer myself, just tickled.

Alex did a great job! She's on a squad with 12 (?) other girls so the competition is thick. But she's a beautiful little lady and she's really loving it and having fun.

She's in the back row when cheering and the front row when it comes to stunts. That's usually where I ended up in the squad line-up. As a cheerleader I used to think maybe that was because I wasn't the BEST, but now from an Aunt/Fan perspective I see that the back row is the one most easily seen from the stands, and you're less likely to kick a girl in the face when you do a cartwheel. And the front row stunt girls looked less strained/scared than those actuall building the stunt.

Go Alex!!

Shopping!

I've now created a monster.

On the way to watch cousin Alex cheer on Saturday we passed by Kohl's. Ella screamed, "Shopping!"

Ooops...

The Elmo Shoes

So, after the failed attempt at school pictures I thought I'd introduce my emotionally overwhelmed daughter to the tradition with which most self-respecting women deal with such a stressful situation...shopping.

The truth is, Ella needed new shoes but after the incident at school I knew the perfect time for shoe-shopping had arrived. Her little toes popping out of her sandals, I loaded her in the buggy and we were off to the shoe aisle at Kohl's. I found some sneakers like cousin Emma's with the flashy lights on the souls. She liked them. But then I found an Elmo sneaker for girls on the display shelf. I looked for its match in the boxes below -- nothing. I made the mistake of asking Ella which one she liked, she promptly tossed the first pair and with a big grin, grabbed the Elmo shoe. By this time, I had "befriended" another Mommy who was trying to find shoes for her little girl, maybe 18 months. She had a pair of size 6 Elmo shoes she thought she'd be returning. Perfect, we both agreed. Ella needed a size 6. She wasn't sure what size her little girl needed so I, being helpful, pointed out the little shoe sizing mat around the corner. I helped her plop her little girl's foot into the different outlines and sure enough, she indeed needed a size 6. So much for her helpful return.

At this point I went to the front counter and asked if an associate could be paged to shoes. A nervous looking man showed up, all shaky. I asked if he could check the back for a size 6 Elmo shoe. The other mom then asked, since he was already checking, could he see if there was a boy Sesame street shoe in size 8.

A few minutes later he returned and said, "you're both in luck, the last ones in each size! Would you buy me a lottery ticket?" We all laughed that stupid polite laugh, but something tells me he was serious.

Anyway, I was so excited I showed them to Ella. She was delighted. We made our way around to toddler clothing just to browse. I stopped along the way to look at their seasonal decor and then realized, I didn't need anything. We picked up a few new pairs of pants and shirts and went to check out.

As I loaded our purchases onto the counter I noticed something was missing -- one of the shoes. Of course! After I showed them to her I chucked the box into the back of the buggy, failing to notice she was still admiring one of them. Jimminy crickets. She must have tossed it somewhere in the store. The lady clerk was nice and said she'd watch Ella while I retraced my steps.

I got back to shoes and asked another man to check in the back just to make sure. Nothing, "you got the last pair, lady." I came around again to the front of the store where Ella was now crying, "Elmo shoes!" This time I took her around with me, the clerk had moved to another register, leaving my transaction open, clearly surmising I might be a while in my shoe search. At this point, we were quickly approaching nap time and Ella was verrry grumpy. So I started to pray. I carefully made may way through the shoe section, then around the corner to the porcelain pumpkins, nothing, then through the bath department, then back to toddler clothing, and there, behind a stack of neatly folded shirts, was the matching shoe. Someone had picked it up and put it out of harms way.

I said a quick thank you to the Man upstairs and got the heck out of Dodge.

School Picture Day

Tuesday was picture day at Ella's school. I was really excited about it. A girlfriend, Davis's mom, told me pictures at his school were super cute -- the kids sat in a whole in a big fake apple. The set-up at Ella's school was in keeping with that theme. The kids sat on top of a big number/letter block with apples scattered all around. I didn't work Tuesday but we told the teachers we'd be in for pictures anyway.

So I got Ella all dressed up in her pretty pink polka-dotted dress with matching hair clip. She decided to wear the bracelet Grams gave her all on her own. We talked about pictures all the way to school and when we arrived she walked right into the room and started socializing with the other kids who were waiting in line. I began talking with one of Ella's teachers and we were enjoying a nice chat when suddenly my ears tweaked and my stomach tensed as I heard the distinct sound of Ella's screaming cry. I turned quickly to props and backdrop to find another desperate looking teacher holding my red-faced, tear-stained child. This happened in a matter of seconds.

The photographer, already at his wits end and it was only a little after 9 a.m., suggested we let her go back to her classroom and calm down and play a bit. We tried that approach. A teacher then took her back about ten minutes later. Again, the wailing could be heard for miles. We tried everything and finally I decided it wasn't worth it. So we left. Back in the car Ella kept saying, "no take a picture", like a broken record. What kind of psychological scar do you think that left?

So we went to Kohl's and bought her a new pair of shoes.

A chill in the air

We've been enjoying quite the cool down here in Atlanta. Of course we're supposed to get back into the upper 80's sometime this week but for the last week or so we've had the windows open in the house and we've been spending more time outside, since we're not sweating bullets the minute the door shuts behind us.

But chilly weather means chilly feet. Thank goodness for our Mom and Tot socks. They were a gift last Christmas, I think they came from Ginny. Anywy, they're so cozy and sweet, we just love them. I can't find them on-line but I think they were sold at Talbots last year.

Grams's Birthday

Last Sunday we celebrated Grams's birthday. I won't dare tell you her age because that's rude, but she's really young for a Grams. Anyway, she came over early and spent some time with us before the rest of the family came over. She gave Ella a little bracelet she wore when she was a little girl, and Ella, my 'i'd rather be covered in dirt and climbing on something dangerous' child loved it. She wore the little thing all day without any complaints.


Aunt Leshia made and decorated a beautiful carrot cake which came complete with sparklers for the singing of "Happy Birthday"!

Trey and Ella had a big time playing together, as usual and all in all I think it was a success. And thus continues the upcoming "birthday season" in our family...

Trey - October 19th

Matt- October 26th

Emma- November 4th

Uncle Richard - December 3rd

God-brother Thomas- December 4th

Uncle David- December 14th

Miss Nassim/Grandma - December 16th

Ella- December 20th

Aunt Durene- December 30th...

That pretty much takes up all of our remaining weekends until the new year...did I forget anyone?

Davis Update

Last weekend we went to visit out friends Heidi and Paul and their nine month old son, Davis. You might recall we first introduced Davis to Ella's World on March 17th of this year. Well since that first meeing Davis has really grown up. He's looking more like both his Daddy and Mommy, he's eating baby food, he's crawling and he's just as sweet as can be. Ella, however seemed more interested in Davis's "big sister", Annie, the dog. That is until Matt held Davis. Her face tells the whole story, "hey, this is my Daddy!"

And as usual, in my perceived attempt to have Ella take a bath with all the little boys she knows, they shared a bath. Ella's not one of those kids who can go a day without a bath, she gets dirty. Thus, if we're at someone's house and it's bathtime, I throw her in too. Plus, it will make for interesting speech fodder at future wedding rehearsal dinners, etc.

Tracks in the dew...

A true sign...Fall is on the way. Little Ella made tracks in the dew this morning. We sat outside and felt the cool breeze blow through our hair while Daddy and I sipped on coffee and Ella sipped on Soy milk. Ahhh...perhaps the blazing heat has left us.

At the Park with Cousins

We recently discovered a great park near our house! Actually we went searching for it last weekend when cousin Emma spent the weekend with us so her Uncle Rob and Aunt Stephanie could enjoy a nice getaway.

The playground goes on forever and has lots of climbing things, swings and slides for all ages. There's even a big covered sand pit and a wading "river" the kids can walk through.

We had such a good time there with Emma we decided to take cousin Trey this week when he and Grams came over for a play-date. I've posted some of my favorite pictures from both visits. Parks, every parents answer to a long day with highly energetic kids. And it's free!! Love it!!

Perhaps, the last of the pool...

...At least for this summer.

Matt and I returned to coastal N.C. over Labor Day weekend to spend a few days with some good friends.

When we came back home, we felt we had to take advantage of the neighborhood pool one last time before it closed for the season. As it turns out, the water was already quite cold and only the bigger kids could stay in for more than a few minutes. But there were lots of other kids there whose parents clearly had the same idea. This is Ella and her freind Ava who lives across the street. Ava's about 2 1/2 and now that Ella's talking more they are becoming fast friends. Ava has an older brother, Evan and and older sister, Anna.

This is the only swimsuit that still fits her. I guess it's a good thing things are turning cooler.

"Picking" a good spot to jump in

Glockies

Ella's word for glasses. She loves taking off our prescription glasses and trying them on. Of course we discourage this because I'm convinced it's going to ruin her vision or at the least make her cross eyed. So, as a trade-off we've started collecting baby sunglasses for her. It's very Elton John-esque as you can see in this picture where she's waking up Daddy while sporting some funky glasses Grams brought back from Panama City, FL.

Family of the Month

God help me, I don't know how or why, but Ella's Primrose School just named us family of the month. There's a little write-up in the monthly flyer and they put up a big spread about us on the bulletin board at school.

Boobies?

At nearly 21 months Ella is starting to pick up on little things about the human anatomy. For instance, she's quite interested in my boobies. I try not to be awkward about her touching them, pointing at them, hitting them. And when I point out she also has boobies -- one thing is quite clear about what her little brain is processing, Ella's boobies don't yet look like my boobies. Twice we've found her trying to rememdy this. Once, Matt caught her trying to put tennis balls in her shirt, sticking out her tummy in an attempt to keep them in place. Another time, I rounded the corner while doing laundry and found her wadding up fabric sheets and putting them in the top of her shirt. She seemed quite proud of her little lop-sided humps.

Yes...we are in trouble.

War Eagle!

She has no idea what she's saying it for, and it usually comes out more like "woa eee guh" but Daddy's making great strides in teaching Ella to say "War Eagle!" Despite the fact they're probably going to suck this year, it's cute to see her making Daddy proud.

Teachers at school say she talks all the time, one even says she's a "beautiful talker". Ooops, there goes that swelling with pride thing again.

Fee Hug

It's a lot harder than I thought....this working part-time and keeping up with the blog. I think it was easier in L.A. because she was still crawling and taking two naps a day. Now she's into everything and running hard and fast until she scrapes a knee.

Anyway -- there are those priceless payoffs with parenting and I do enjoy sharing them with all of you, so what if they come in spurts of blogging amidst long dry spells.

One of the latest and greatest things Miss Ella is doing -- fee hug.
What's that you say? Well it's actually our love bug trying to say "family hug". Whenever Matt and I are hugging one another and Ella gets that interested, curious and left-out look on her face we pull her up to us and create a type of cirlce of arms which we started calling "family hug". Ella's little face lights up. Lately, she's been walking up to us and requesting a "fee hug" all on her own. It's the sweetest thing for a few moments, and then she inevitably pushes one of us away, wanting only Mommy or only Daddy.

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!!

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??

Fun at the Town Green

Ella, Abby and Max

Yesterday we spent some play time with my friend, Gerin, her two kids, Abby and Max and her mom, Nancy. We met at the Duluth Town Green (our hometown) where they have a play-friendly water fountain and on Thursdays they have live music for the kids. It's a very beautiful place. You may have seen it, it's also where all the fancy news agencies sat up their live vans during coverage of that stupid runaway bride incident. The funny thing is, I remember when it was nothing but a city dump and runaway kudzu.

Ella and Max were not as interested in the water as Abby but they did manage to get a little wet. They both loved the music and did their best to dance. Ella stood in one place and stomped her left foot, girl's got some mountain blood in her.

The picture of the day: Max giving Ella a kiss. I believe that's her first from a boy who's not family. I mean, she did accost some little boy at church and lay one on him, but this time she was receiving the love.

We then sat in a shady spot on the lawn and had lunch. When Gerin and her crew had to pack up and head for the lake ahead of the 4th of July traffic crunch we stayed and played a little while longer. Then we went to the soda shop and enjoyed some vanilla ice cream. Ella loved it because there's a toy train that circles the store up high below the rafters. She watched it, giggling and saying, "choo, choo!!" It was a fun summer afternoon.

Ella and Emma want bubbles

Emma and her parents (AKA Aunt Steph and Uncle Rob) came over the other night for dinner. The girls, as usual, had a great time playing together. They both really wanted bubbles -- too bad I bought the cheap dollar store package, you may as well be blowing water. But they had fun anyway.