Ella's latest trick

Yesterday morning I heard Ella talking to herself in her crib around 7:30. This is not unusual, she wakes up pretty happy most of the time and is content to entertain herself for a while so I can muster the energy to get out of bed and make her a bottle. On an average day I just go in and pick her up, no big deal. Yesterday was a bit different. I opened the door and instead of seeing her smiling face laying down in the crib she was jumping up and down holding on to the crib railing laughing her head off. What?! Thank the lord we had lowered the mattress the night before because we knew it was just a matter of time, neither of us had any idea it would so soon though! Of course, I turned to get the camera and as soon as I was out of her sight she went into meldown mode. So I just took the camera in there with me when I got her up from her morning nap. Here is our baby, so proud of her new skills!

Has it been three years already?

Yesterday Bryan and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary.... hard to believe it was three years ago all our friends were sweating profusely and praying it wouldn't rain at our outside ceremony. Just for the occasion here are some pictures from the wedding.

Big girl bath

Ella has outgrown her baby bathtub... well, she's not too big for it but she hates it because she can't sit up and splash around in it. So we've moved up in the world to the real tub... if I thought she loved bath time before I was wrong. She's such a a little water bug, she could spend all day in the bath or pool. Each time we put her in the tub she just splashes, chatters, and laughs up a storm, having a ball. It's quite amusing to watch her.

Her personality is coming out more and more each day but I think it's most apparent when she's in the water. This is a great age and we are loving every second of watching her figure out the world.

Happy Birthday Rebecca!

Wednesday night the book club girls got together to celebrate Rebecca's upcoming b-day... and all the other summer birthday gals too. We ate dinner in High Point, enjoyed a few bottle of wine and some great conversation. It was fun ladies. We definitely need to do this more often- I know it's been ages since we've actually discussed a book at book club but it sure was nice to not feel guilty for not having read the book! And from this day forward I promise to be better about reading the books- even if no one else does.

From L to R: Morgan, Megan, Nicole, Christina, Mollie, Rebecca, Stacy, and me

Thanks, Morgan for inviting me to be a part of the group and to all you other girls for making me feel so welcome immediately! I've really enjoyed getting to know you all over the last year or so... and I know Bryan has welcomed the evenings alone when I'm out with y'all ;) I'm really looking forward to our night in August.

She's pulling up... look out world!

Mark down another milestone for Ella... this morning when I went into her room to get her up she was on her knees holding onto the crib railing. I called Bryan to tell him he needed to put the crib mattress down a notch tonight because I knew she'd be going all the way up in the near future. I did not realize that would be today! One of her favorties pastimes is crawling over the DVD player in the bonus room to get to the wires behind it. This afternoon I attempted to keep her from doing this by putting a sleeping bag (which just happened to be in the room- my organizational skills leave much to be desired) on top of the DVD player. My hopes were sort of an "out of sight out of mind" reaction from her- if she can't see the wires she won't want to play with them. Not so much. She crawled on over there, used the DVD player to get to her knees and the sleeping bag to get to her feet. Because I'm a bit psycho about documenting her life I always have the camera near by so I was able to get picstures when she did it again about 10 minutes later. Now you can see it too!

What a big girl!

Farfalle with Chicken, Tomoatoes, Carmelized onions, and Goat Cheese

Okay I was flipping through one of my mom's Bon Appetite magazines the other day and saw a picture of something that look delicious. So I stole the page and made it for dinner the other night. Lord was it tasty, and super easy to make! So I've decided to share it... please make it and give it a try, it's so yummy.

2 tbs olive oil
2 large red onions, thinly sliced
2 tbs sherry wine vinegar
1 tsp sugar
8 oz farfalle pasta (the bowties)
1 C dry white wine
1 C chicken broth
6 heirloom tomatoes, cored and chopped
2 C shredded cooked chicken
1/2 C fresh thyme
3 C baby spinach
3 oz soft goat cheese, crumbled

Heat oil over med-high heat, add onions and a pinch of salt till beginning to brown (about 8 minutes). Reduce heat to med-low, stir in vinegar and sugar and sautee till onions are brown (about 15 minutes). Transfer onions to bowl. Cook pasta according to package directions. Add wine to skillet, reduce to 1/2 C. Add pasta, onions, broth, and next 3 ingredients, salt and pepper to taste. Stir to heat through. Put baby spinach in serving bowl, spoon pasta mixture over spinach and top with crumbled goat cheese.

4th of July Family Fun

We headed to Morgan and Bill's house to celebrate America's birthday with BBQ, a parade, and lots of friends. As usual we had a great time and all the little ones did an excellent job decorating their bikes, scooters, and wagons. One girl even did the whole parade on a pogo stick, I got tired just watching her! The little ones enjoyed playing in the yard and watching the big kids go by.