I have been wanting to dress Ella up in her penguin outfit all winter long to do this photo shoot and i finally got around to actually doing it today. She was confused as to why i set her down and started snapping photos but i was surprised that she didn't try to take her cap off the whole time. she normally hates wearing any type of hat. Perhaps the snow just mesmerized her. this was perhaps the second time that she has just sat in it and had an opportunity to touch it.

chocolate fix

i love chocolate. Not as much as i love Carl and Ella but i really love chocolate. Unfortunately, that means that i eat chocolate frequently, and being the mess that i am i sometimes drop pieces of my chocolate snacks into the deep abyss of the sofa cushions. on the rare occasions, such as this morning, that i decide to clean between the sofa cushions i am surprised at what i find. Well, this morning it wasn't me who found lost pieces of chocolate, it was Ella.
i had stripped the cushions off the sofa and was taking my time at cleaning while i let Ella climb around the cushions onto the bare sofa. my attention was diverted to some coupons i wanted to clip and Ella was being so self-sufficient at entertaining herself that i lost focus of her as i clipped. when i finally did turn towards her to see how/what she was doing i found her face covered in something. At first i thought that she was bleeding but that didn't seem right as i went closer to her and noticed that the stuff on her face was thicker and darker than blood. it was then that i smelled chocolate. Chocolate? i was confused. where did she find chocolate? the only answer to this mystery was that she found it in the mess beneath the cushions.
i must say that Ella was not only happy but she seemed downright proud of her find. Well, she won this time as it was too late to do anything about the chocolate expect for wiping the remainder off of her face and brushing her teeth.
i have been so careful about keeping junk food away from her since there is no need for her to have such things at this age. makes me laugh though. i must always be one step ahead of her or things like this will happen. actually this wasn't all that bad...expect i wonder how long that chocolate had sat in between the cushions?

Ella: 10 months gone by

 

 

 

 

my girl is 10 months old! only two months until her first birthday. i am terribly excited. hopefully her Grandparents Medina will be able to come out and visit and to see all the wonderful things that Ella is doing. She just figured out clapping today. i have been manuervering her hands for months, trying to teach her because she would become so excited whenever i clapped. Today, however, she put her hands together and clapped once and i made a big deal of it so she did it again and again. Yay, Ella.

Ella has also found the courage to let go when she is standing and maintaining her balance for moments. i haven't seen her do this much but we will work on it over the weekend. Maybe her first step alone will happen real soon.

Today we went for a sled ride. the weather outside is delightful for January so we took her out to enjoy it. i couldn't tell if she loved the adventure but it was something different. i hope the weather remains this way so we can go out more.

Christmas time has come and gone...

Christmas is over all ready! What a busy time it was.
We spent the time with Carl's parents. i thought we would be snowed int because The weather forecasters predicted the biggest storm in 30 years and i was pretty excited, but the weather didn't deliver. it did snow a lot but it also rained and everything iced over.
it was no big deal because we only had to travel 5 miles and we didn't have anywhere to go once we were there. We spent christmas eve, christmas day, and this morning at the Gillies house. Ella had lots of activity going on around her and Carl and I had lots of help with watching her. it was very nice. I am still having computer issues so it may be awhile before i am able ot post photos but i will try.
i have some wonderful photos of Ella celebrating her first christmas. i can't wait to show them off.

Ella is crawling in the photos below. depending on how you look at them you might see her moving forwards or backwards.

I am thankful

I had my first thanksgiving without the Medina clan yesterday. i spent it instead with my in-laws here in Minneapolis. Carl and i were in charge of the cooking, that was fun, while my mother-in-law, Mary, assisted and watched Ella.
i loved having more to do with the dinner since with my family i usually assist with opening cans and measuring flour but this year i was actually able to use my cooking skills. Carl took on the turkey and it came out great. i tried to make flan and it looked terrible but the taste was great. it was weird to not have multiple people yelling and laughing and arguing like it is with my family but i enjoyed the quiet of this year.

Ella had her first bloody accident today. she was trying to reach me on the couch and she slipped, hitting her face on the wood trim of the couch. i thought she had just bumped herself as usual but as i was patting her back, trying to comfort her, i pulled her away from me and realized her face was covered in blood. i immediately jumped up and took Ella to the sink to clean off her face and tried to find the cut, only to find that it was an itty-bitty cut on her upper lip, likely from one of her two bottom teeth. i can't believe so much blood came from that cut but Ella was fine. thankfully.