Reading

At my baby shower, my Mom had everyone sign a photo mat that would someday hold a picture of Ella reading. Those who signed noted their favorite book. When I saw Ella reading Pip and Squeak by Ian Schoenherr I thought it was the perfect opportunity. Ian is a close friend of Scott and Jodi and they had him sign this book for Ella. She has come to call it Ian's book and when she reads it (she currently likes to read to you) the story is about Kemper and Selma with Ian and the mouse in the snow... the end. There are variations, but she has latched onto the very first page where Ian wrote a note to her from Selma and Kemper.

This afternoon when she was reading (I had not realized she was reading Ian's book) I heard her say, "It's snowing". I was in the kitchen and yelled to her in the living room, "Really Ella, it's snowing?" Her reply was "In the book mama". I tried to get her to let me see what else was going on in the book, but she was reading to her babies so I was not allowed.

Knock Knock...

Who's there?
Boo hoo
Boo hoo who?
Don't cry little girl, it's a knock knock joke!

March for Babies

We woke up to rain today and I wondered if our plans to participate in the March for Babies would be cancelled. Hmmm... after a couple calls back and forth (should we, should we not...) we met Dory and Sami for the event. Just when we headed out (you can see the clouds in the picture below) it started raining and we weren't able to complete the march. We did have time before the march to hear stories from families helped by the March of Dimes. Amazing stories that made me thankful to be a part of the day.

Where's Randi?

That is what we wake up to after Randi stays with Ella. This past week we have been lucky enough to be able to say, "She'll be back tonight". But as I woke up today I knew Ella wouldn't understand, "She'll be back in three months". I tried anyway. I talked about education, following your path, and Ella's reply after thinking about it was, "I miss her." All I could think of was, I miss her too.

I Need Space!

Why is it a four bedroom house can't contain two adults and one child? For a long time this baffled me. What is the problem here? I'd walk around the house scrutinizing each room. Wes finally gave up asking me what I was looking for when I answered, "space". I finally came to the conclusion that I needed our living room to not be a "dump all" of Ella's toys. But now what? Without a basement, we don't have many options. Then I remembered our neighbors put shelves in the closet under their stairs. Since our stairs turn, that closet is very small, but I was up for the challenge. Now I'm adding shelves everywhere and I have new found friends at The Container Store. You all know how much I love a project!

So the idea was I'd store Ella's bunches of small items in bins, all labeled appropriately (Yes- this is a bit like heaven for me). Worked like a charm. Who knew we had multiple glues, tapes, glitters, bubbles, etc. I put her toys on the lower shelves so she could get them. Her tea set is the easiest to reach and I was excited for her to see it and bring it out for a tea party. Needless to say, it didn't go like that. The toy closet is now a coffee cart. Uh huh, you heard me right. Ella makes tea or coffee (including sugar) IN the closet and brings it out to you. Isn't that great? These pictures are of her adding sugar to my coffee as ordered and bringing it to me. Nice!

Jump!

Ella and I went to the store to get "big girl underwear" and ended up with a raincoat and boots. There were a bunch to choose from and I thought we might end up in decision overload but Ella had her eye on the kitties and frogs and then only the frogs. So we left the store with Ella wearing pants and top, underwear OVER her pants, and her new raincoat and boots. By the time we went out to dinner, the ensamble included a tu-tu. Here she is with Granpa jumping in puddles and in her dinner outfit...

Wes and Ella Sleeping

Will this ever end? Our current sleeping issue is Ella wants you to sit in her room while she sleeps. It usually ends in me leaving the room and her crying, but not on this night. Both Ella and Wes fell asleep...