The cute and the goofy

My mom came to visit this past weekend so Ryan and I got to go out on a date! : ) We saw Taken, and can you believe it was the first time that Ryan and I have been to the movies since Ella was born? We used to go pretty regularly- we used to do lots of stuff - not so much anymore! : ) There is a crybaby matinee at a theatre downtown; I've been to that once with my friend Eri and her baby, Kai, but they only have one option (of a movie) per week. Speaking of Eri- she was kind enough to watch Ella for me so I could go in to work- the same morning I called her up! Someone's on vacation at work, and his fill-in got reassigned last minute and so I actually went in 2 extra days so far this week. That's a lot of working for me! But actually it's been okay : )

Ryan watched Ella yesterday, and even took her to her doctor's appointment. She is now 27 inches long, which puts her in the 95th percentile for length, and 16 pounds, 13 ounces which puts her in the 75th percentile for weight. She's actually always been in the 50-75th percentile range for her weight- the nurse told me she was in the 90th percentile on the last visit but she must have been reading the chart wrong (I happened to check on babycenter.com out of curiosity and then reconfirmed on the original growth charts.) Anyway - she's healthy! I didn't think I'd mind not being at her checkup but I think I asked Ryan over and over how it went, what did the doctor say, etc - more like an interrogation, so I guess I better go to the next one!

Although Ella was furious while getting her shots; she looks like she recovered pretty well, huh?

In this past week, I have snapped 111 pictures on my camera! Geesh! I didn't realize I was taking so many pictures! But I guess I will take about 5 or 6 of Ella doing exactly the same thing from just a slightly different angle! And sometimes she'll blink or make a funny face (kind of like me!) So, just for fun here are some of her goofiest pictures!!!!!

Just another day...

Hmmm, I finally figured out how to use the internet on my laptop (something is keeping our wireless from connecting, so we're using a landline until we figure that out), Ella is napping, Ryan's not getting home til late- I have the perfect chance to blog something and I cant think of anything to say!!!! Hmmm..... Well, let's talk about Ella!

Ella likes to babble "da-da" and if she's in bed with us she'll wiggle over to Ryan- cute! And she gets excited when Ryan comes home from work- she hears the door jiggling and she just knows it's her daddy : ) She's getting soooo close to sitting up unsupported and rolling over- every day she's getting better and better. I just started her on oats which she has been doing fine on- she mostly got rice cereal up til now, with tastes of other foods (some baby jar veggies/fruits and some frozen fruits in a strainer). We think she's starting to teeth but nothing visible yet. Her 6 month check-up is next week. I can't believe she's going to be 6 months old already! Where has the time gone?!?

Here are some pictures from the previous week... The first is Ella in her new jumperoo from my parents; the second is Ella limp as a noodle! The last picture I just took a few hours ago... She looks like she wants some food on that tray, huh?

Well, that's my little cutie pie : )

My mom is coming tomorrow, yippee! (Well probably, she's flying stand-by and you never know with stand-by- so you never want to get to excited about those maybe it's not going to happen plans...) No big plans yet but it's always nice to see your mommy : ) It's funny how after having Ella I appreciate my mom more. I wish she could come more often. Or just live next door. Hehe...

My Valentine...

Boy has my life changed so much from last year.... Valentine's Day last year I was pregnant and miserable! Ryan made the 30 plus minute drive to my workplace to take me out for lunch, and since I always love trying new places he took me to this Japanese restaurant right by my work. Well, before I could finish my lunch I had to run to the bathroom and I threw up EVERYTHING I had just eaten. It was ssssssssoooooo gross; I remember it felt so thick I thought I would choke on it - and to top it off it splashed the toilet water and vomit onto me. Oh my goodness, I hope I never go through that kind of all-day morning sickness ever again! Oh and then for dinner I really wanted Papa John's pizza.... The wait was forever and the entire thing was such an ordeal that when the pizza delivery man finally showed up I ended up rejecting the pizza and slamming the door in his face! I'm sure I told him that I was pregnant and hungry and he hadn't helped resolve the situation. Poor Ryan had a sad look on his face - he was hungry too! We ended up making a frozen pizza... Guess I didn't think that through when I lost it on the pizza guy...

This Valentine's Day should be a little more enjoyable for me : ) Ryan's taking me to an acrobat performance (if I can find the tickets!) and possibly a picnic, we'll see.... What means a lot is that I know Ryan is trying to make me happy -doing the kinds of things that I like... So, I actually meant for this post to highlight how wonderful Ryan is.... Throughout just being friends, then dating, being married and becoming parents together, Ryan has always been extraordinary. Yeah we had those newlywed fights, once I even dragged out my luggage with the intention to start packing I was so mad (who knows why? I got mad over pretty small stuff) but then I did the lower lip pout and asked Ryan if we could make up and get along again... Then after we had Ella, I swear my hormones were out to get Ryan! He didn't even do anything and I was just mad at him almost all the time! I resented how he didn't have to make the same changes as me- deciding on work, dealing with breastfeeding, etc. I'm happy to say that my hormones have come a little more into balance and I'm no longer having those kinds of feelings. I feel much more clear-headed now and I realize that I have the best husband ever. I really mean that, and I think that Ryan deserves credit for how great he is. So, I don't mean to brag or make anyone jealous or anything... but shouldn't I be able to brag a little?

Once Ryan gets home from work he changes Ella's diapers, feeds her, gets her ready for bed... When we're eating out he holds her so I can eat first. When we watch Mia and Aidan (our niece and nephew), Ryan is running the show. He makes dinner much more often than I do. He puts away the laundry since I just hate that last step in that never-ending cycle... He tidies up after himself all the time... I could keep going but I think it's clear he's pretty extraordinary, don't you think? Not to mention I know I can count on him to rescue me if my car won't start and I'm stuck somewhere, or if I did something stupid like run out of gas (yep that happened once.) And then there are the little things, like how he'll pause the DVR when I want to talk a little... which is like ten times during one show! There's just so many great things that he does... And he's super handsome! I would go on and on but I know that sort of thing can be annoying... so, that's it for now : )

Well, Happy Valentine's Day!