She crawls!!

Ella has had a big couple of months with lots of milestones occurring. She has had 2 pearly white bottom teeth for a few months now, and all of a sudden at least 4 teeth have decided to make their appearance together. We were pretty certain that Ella was going to skip crawling all together and go straight to walking. She would sit up on her own, drop to her tummy and do a crazy fast turn/flip, and then sit right back up in a new location. It was quite amazing to watch. She eventually started to consider crawling by doing more of a slither on the ground, and virtually overnight that slither turned into a very fast, coordinated crawl.

Niagara was a-fallin'

Before school started in August we took the opportunity to drive to upstate New York. We had never been up that direction, but always wanted to plan a trip there. It was a long drive, but Ella was a trooper! Our first stop was Niagara Falls. It was incredibly impressive to see! We decided to take a ride on the Maid of the Mist. We weren't sure how Ella was going to do with the sound of the roaring rapids, since a month prior to our trip she started to not enjoy the sound of the faucet filling up the bathtub. Thankfully, she had no problems. I carried her in the Bjorn and she was content to simply gnaw on my finger.

Ella had on her own baby poncho, but was also covered up by mine. She was able to stay completely dry. I can't say the same for Skyler and me. 

We took out Ella's binky since we were convinced she'd throw it overboard. My finger had teeth marks in it for a few hours after. :) 

Months 7 and 8

It's crazy to look at Ella everyday and see just how much she has changed and how much she has grown! After going back and looking at all these pictures it's even more apparent! Ella now has 2 little chompers and we know a few more are on their way. She has the biggest, brightest smile, and the realization that her tongue is very fun to stick out of her mouth. Ella has also mastered the art of taking off her socks, and still has the flexibility to stick those bare little piggies directly into her mouth. She is now 8 months old and is more fun than ever!!

 Ella is wearing the dress that my great-aunt Dot made for me when I was a baby. 

Ella decided to add her own signature touch to the dress (the drool down the front).

Testing out her new winter hat to prepare for the "cold" Virginia winters. 

This is almost always how we find Ella sleeping. It reminds me of the 

how the stepsisters in CINDERELLA sleep.  

Ella loves when Daddy works from home, and even offers to help. 

Ella is a very good reader, and she always has a very captive audience.

I'm ready for my close up, world!

Up close and personal with our Ella Rose!

Queen of the Piano Palace

Music is, obviously, a huge part of our lives, and we wanted Ella to be able to make music of her own. She loves when we sing to her, I'm assuming since she spent months hearing us sing and music of choirs. She LOVES to dance with her Daddy, and she loves to play in her piano palace. She's able to play music with her feet and her hands, which brings an immense amount of joy to our sweet girl.

 Ella was introducing her friend Lamby to the piano palace. 

Ella kisses

There are several videos that we've been trying to post, but apparently many of them are too big! I am also  in the process of putting more pictures up, so they will be coming soon. :)

Ella was in a very kissy mood last night. As we were playing on the floor, practicing what will soon result in crawling, Ella kept grabbing my face and pulling me close to give lots and lots of Ella kisses. Ella kisses are tender and sweet and always remind us how tender and loving little babies are. We pray everyday that Ella always knows and feels how loved and cherished she is.

I LOVE to laugh!

Ella LOVES to laugh and no one makes Ella laugh harder than her Daddy! In this video you can hear Ella's giggles over Jeopardy (a nightly tradition in our home).

The rains came down and the floods came up!

August and September have definitely been the interesting months for East coast dwellers. We got through our first earthquake and survived a hurricane. It wasn't until we had torrential rains that we had a problem. Our basement flooded. The cleanup wasn't fun and the smell is pretty awful, but we know that there were people much worse off than we were.

This is the little stream that's behind our house that turned into the raging rapids! Crazy Virginia weather. Who knows what the winter is going to bring!

The months keep ROLLING along!

Little Miss Ella is so proud of herself because she can now roll around the room. One minute she's on her play mat, the next minute she's laying by your feet. We love to see her learn new things, and she's definitely mastering this!

Ella's other favorite thing to do is sit on your knee while you bounce her and sing "This is the way the ladies ride..." She LOVES that! I remember my Mom singing that to my nephew and he thought it was the greatest. Ella clearly does, too!

Ella smiles with her whole face, and that smile makes everyone in the room smile!