My Big Girl!

My little Lauren, I can't believe you are two today! I can still remember the day you were born like it was yesterday. Cliche', I know, but still very true! You were five days late and I thought you were going to stay in my belly for forever! Now I know you were just showing me who was boss, because you definitely think you are! :) You were such a chunky little thing, and so stinkin' cute. Now here you are...two years old! You're seem like such a big girl already. You're even a big sister now! Having a baby sister has made you grow up so much more in Mommy's eyes. Part of me wishes you were still my baby just a little longer, but we wouldn't trade Ella for anything. You have taken on the role of Big Sister quite well. I'm so proud of you! You are now 36 inches tall and weigh 34 pounds. That puts you right in the 95th percentile, just about where you've always been. You are losing some of that baby fat though, just another way you are turning into a little girl, rather than my baby. There are tears streaming down my face as I type this. I am so very grateful to be your mother. You have made me grow in so many ways and have brought so much joy to our home. You like to keep me on my toes and have taught me lots of patience...but we're still working on that aren't we? ;) As sad as it makes me to see you growing up so fast, I love seeing how your personality is shining through. You are rarely shy, and will talk to just about anyone given the right circumstances. You got your daddy's goofy side, and love to put on a show. You love to talk, and I never know what new phrase will come out of your mouth next. You pay attention to a lot more than I give you credit for. My favorite thing to hear you say is "I yuh you...Mommy". Well, I yuh you too baby and I hope you have a WONDERFUL birthday!

Three months already?!!!!

Our Ella Bella (as daddy so lovingly calls her) turned three months yesterday! She's still so little and yet she's definitely growing! Here's what she's up to these days...

* She will do a full on giggle for Daddy and only Daddy. Mommy is trying her best, but just gets really cute smiles and something more like a chuckle. ;0)

* She recognizes and loves her older brother and sister completely! They get big smiles too.

* She loves to see what is going on around her. If she's in a reclined position, you can bet she's trying to get that head up so she can see what's happening.

* She's finally fitting into 3-6 month clothes....I'm pretty sure Lauren had well outgrown them by this age!

* She loves her mommy so much that she's already decided to sleep through the night! She has to be in her carseat or swing to do it, but hey, whatever works!

* She hasn't quite "discovered" her hands, but she reaches for things sometimes and loves to suck on them!

* Her eyes are definitely going to be either brown or hazel. At this point they are looking more hazel, but if I remember correctly, so did Lauren's at this age.

* She LOVES lots of attention, but she's also perfectly happy hanging out in her swing as long as she's changed and fed.

* She has the longest and pointiest tongue I've ever seen on a baby, and she loves to stick it out! I don't know if pointiest is a word, but that's what her tongue is!
* Her legs are in constant motion unless she's asleep. She's always got at least one leg kickin' away.

* She is so alert and has been since day 1.

are these not the CUTEST socks EVER?!!!

We love, love, LOVE this girl and thank Heavenly Father every day for sending her into our lives!

This and that.

Well I don't have anything in particular to blog about, so I thought I'd just do a quick update to let everyone know what we're up to these days.

The past couple of days I've been sick...I'm pretty sure it's not what Todd had a couple of weeks ago, it's just a cold...and he got it too, poor guy. Unfortunately it's given me the worst headaches I've ever had to go along with the regular yucky cold stuff. I can tell I'm finally starting to get better, but now I have the aches and pains of laying around for two days. I plan to get off my hiney today and get some things done. Just work through the stiffness til I feel better!

Garrett's been watching A LOT of videos the last couple of days, because mommy was too sick to care. So....if you see him and all he can talk about are mythical creatures like dragons and mermaids and trolls, you know why. :) We were so excited thinking he could start soccer this spring, but when I finally looked up all the info online, I found out he can't start until fall....and it's too late to sign him up for T-ball. Guess we'll have to wait until fall for our little man to start gaining his independence!

Lauren is nearing her second birthday and being oh so adorable and yet driving me crazy all at the same time. She has something new to say every day. I love it. She is FINALLY bottle free (somehow we just lost ALL those bottles ;)), yeah!!!

Ella is getting bigger by the minute. Everyone else always comments on how little she is, and she is compared to my other two, but I'm really seeing her growth lately, and I love the little rolls she starting to get. I just don't know what to do with skinny babies!

Todd is most of the way through his first term of online courses. He is working toward his Bachelors of Fire Science. Each term is only eight weeks long so it's kind of a crash course in each subject. His most time consuming class right now is English, as he is writing a research paper on Prescribed Burning. On top of that, he is also taking courses at the fire department to get training in the various aspects of firefighting. We miss having him home a little more sometimes, but are glad he's doing something he enjoys.

We found out Todd's parents will be moving out of town in a few months, and will be selling thier home. So....if you or anyone you know would be interested in a gorgeous home in the country...let me know and I'll hook you up with some more info. :) Chelsea has some more pictures on her blog, here.

That's about it...Ella will be three months in a couple of days so you'll be hearing more about her, I just wanted to make sure the rest of the family got a little bit of blog face time!

P.S. I just realized that yesterday was the 1 year anniversary for my blog! I can't believe it's already been a year. I love that I now have all these memories saved and hopefully at some point I'll feel up to working on getting them printed in a book. :)

Ella's Blessing Day

Yesterday, we finally blessed our sweet little Ella. Unfortunately Todd came down with the respiratory flu on Friday. We kept hoping he'd feel better by Sunday. Saturday afternoon he was so bad he asked me to call his dad to come over and give him a blessing. His fever broke and he felt great for most of what was left of the day. He woke up Sunday morning not even wanting to get out of bed. So, we called on his dad once again to bless Ella for us. At first I was so very sad that Todd wasn't going to be blessing her, but as the day went on I felt very at peace with the decision. We could have postponed it until a later date, but we'd already waited this long, and family was coming from out of town to be there. We just felt like it needed to be done that day, so Ella was blessed by Grandpa, and I think that will be special to her someday. She was given a beautiful blessing, a member of the bishopric told me later that he was holding the microphone and he peeked to make sure he was holding it in the right spot, and as she was blessed to be married in the temple and to be a mother, she had the biggest smile on her face. So sweet! A huge thanks to Roger for being there for us, as always.

After church we headed to Todd's parents for a wonderful dinner. We had ham, roast, rolls, salads, and so much more yummy food! The kids had a great time together (driving the rest of us crazy ;))! It really turned out to be a very nice day, and I'm so sad Todd had to miss it. He is feeling better today and was able to go to work, so we are grateful for that. Thanks to everyone who attended Ella's special day!