Finally a Pony Tail!!

I have been waiting a long time to be able to put Ella's hair in a pony tail. It's still not quite long enough for one ponytail, but I was able to squeeze in two little ones on the top of her head. Even more exciting is that she actually kept them in! Hair clips are ripped on with in minutes unless I can get them in her hair with out her knowing. So exciting!

Drew is here!

Baby Drew is finally here making an early appearance on Sunday May 23rd. We have been waiting for what feels like forever for this little boy to come. Chrissy went into labor early Sunday morning. Saturday was spent BBQ'ing and celebrating Drew's upcoming arrival. Danny and Guy had a few (okay, a lot) of drinks while they celebrated so when Chrissy's water broke at 2am she gave me a call to take her to the hospital. (Gave the guys a chance to sleep it off) I have never been so excited to be woken up at 2am! After a long morning of blood tests and monitoring, Drew arrived via c-section weighing 7lbs 2oz and 20" long.

He is so cute and absolutely perfect! Seeing him for the first time was emotional for everyone. What Danny and Chrissy have been through this past 6 months I wouldn't wish on anyone. It was so great to see the joy in their eyes again that only a child can bring.

Chrissy after we got to the hospital (she looks pretty good! Especially for having contractions 5 min apart and it's 3am!)


Right before Chrissy went in to the OR.


Baby Drew






Grandma and Grandpa


Jared holding his baby brother for the first time




We love you guys a ton and are so excited to have a new addition to our group!

Bottle Free!

We are officially bottle free! Last week we decided to cut Ella off cold turkey. She has done surprisingly well; although we did have a few rough mornings. She is growing up so fast! I wish I could commit all of the cute, smart, funny, and amazing things she does to memory. But since I can't I hope to be able to one day look back at this blog and remember the things that made me smile =)

Lots to love at 14 months

This little girl is always keeping us on our toes. She is no longer walking but running and into everything! So before I head to bed in an effort to regain some energy, here are a few things that I love about Ella at 14 months...

1. I LOVE that you are so generous with your kisses. You will give anyone who asks (except for me of course) a big smooch on the lips. You especially love to give Daddy kisses.

2. On that same note, I LOVE that when I tell you to say good bye you immediately blow everyone in the room kisses and wave.

3. I LOVE that you dance in the car. It always makes me smile to turn around and see you clapping your hands and swinging your head and arms around to any up beat song that comes on the radio.

4. I LOVE to watch and listen when you and your Daddy are together; especially when he is giving you a bath. From anywhere in the house I can hear Daddy singing a made up song about what body parts he is washing, and you laughing in return.

5. I LOVE that you like Yo Gabba Gabba. It may be a silly show about people dancing and singing in funny costumes, but you always dance and laugh. (and I have to admit that it gives me 20 minutes to do whatever I need to do =)

6. I LOVE that you are willing to eat just about everything that I put in front of you. You like most fruits and vegetables and of course anything that Daddy and I are eating. Some of your favorites right now are: grapes, pineapple, carrots, and bananas.

7. I LOVE the little curls that have started to show up at the end of your hair. It always reminds me of Grandma Coull. Your Great-Great Grandma Coull would have loved to see those curls. That was always her favorite thing to look for on little babies.

8. I LOVE to see you explore and try new things. You love to go outside and swing or even just walk around. Unfortunately your love of going outside has also caused an obsession with going out the dog door. Just today I watched you climb out the dog door to go hang out with Daddy who was fixing some sprinklers.

9. I LOVE your growing vocabulary. Thank You, Eye, Nose, Cheese, and Sit Down (can't imagine why you picked that one up =) are just a few of the newly added words.

10. I LOVE that you are overall such a good kid! You say thank you (although sometimes in place of please, we are working on that), sleep through the night, and make us smile every day.

I LOVE you baby girl!

Baby Amy

Aunt Valerie and baby Amy came by to visit us yesterday and Ella loved Amy. She kept kissing her over and over and leaning into her to give her a hug. It was all super cute until Ella said "eye" and poked her finger into the baby's open eye. Sorry Amy! We can't wait until Amy gets a little older and the two of them can play; but in the mean time I will enjoy having a tiny baby to hold. =)

Is it summer yet?

I know we're not quite there, but last weekend we started getting ready for summer by helping Danny and Chrissy set up their pool. Ella looking super cute in her sunglasses and hat supervised while snacking on some fruit. Jared had an Ella sized Lifeguard On Duty chair from when he was little and Ella loved sitting in it! Thank you for sharing Jared! I'm sure there will be plenty of days spent hanging out in the sun and swimming in the pool; I can't wait for summer =)

Happy Mother's Day!

Mother's Day this year was great! Ella painted me a beautiful plate that I will love forever with a little help from Miss Kim (Thank you Kim!) and Guy sent me some gorgeous flowers and a card mushy enough to make me cry. He also helped me out around the house all morning taking care of the baby and washing and putting away ALL of the laundry (I HATE doing laundry so this was a bigger gift than I'm sure he knew).



After spending the morning at home hanging out just the three of us, we picked up Ella's Great Grandma Dixie, Grandma Thomas and Aunt Caitlin, and we all headed out to Mama Carpinos; one of my favorite Italian restaurants. We waited a while to be seated but the food was delicious and well worth the wait. Ella held up surprisingly well considering we were there long past her normal afternoon nap time which was a pleasant surprise.

But the real excitement came at the end of our meal. Ella started to get a little fussy so Guy took her out of the high chair. After sitting on both of our laps we let her walk around the little area near our table. When she bent over to pick something up off the ground we both saw immediately that poop had come out of her diaper and was up her back and all over her clothes! So gross! I quickly pulled the Mother's Day card and off Guy went to clean her up and give her shirt a quick wash in the bathroom sink (because of course I didn't have a change of clothes). Thankfully we were just about to leave when it happened so once Ella was all cleaned up we left; but not with out one last reminder of why Mom's get a day to celebrate what they do...

As we get in the car Guy looks over and says "Is that poop on your pants?" Yup! That's right! I had baby poop on my pants! It was a quick reminder that being a Mom never ends. I looked at Guy and said "Happy Mother's Day". =) It made us both laugh.



Ella, Thank you for a year full of laughter, love, and learning. I love you so much!,

Mom