Little Miss Mischief!!!

All was quiet...until squeals of giggles and squeaky shoe-edness broke the silence!!!

~Loves Ella's re-arranging abilities Mommy dee,  it's organized, just Ella organized Daddy David, and Giggle, giggle, squeak, squeak, squeal with delight Ella!

It Snowed Overnight!!!

We woke up this morning to more snow...so you know what we HAD to do right?!?!?

We went sledding!!!!

~Loves playing outside with her girl, but DONE with winter Mommy dee, wore warmer boots to stay out longer Daddy David, and our sweet little snowbunny Ella

You Are My Sunshine!!! (....and our 8 Month Family-versery!!!)

One of our favorite songs to sing is "You Are My Sunshine!"

Usually, Ella gets really into it...she sings loudly, wants to dance with Mommy while Daddy plays the ukelele, or wants to play the ukelele while David helps her.

This time...a whole lot of nothing, but she is still cute nonetheless.

Also, today is our 8 month Family-versery!!! That is just crazy to think about!!! This time last year David and I were scurrying around filling out more but, different paperwork, getting things notarized, sending e-mails and making phone calls...little did we know that a month from that time Ella would have found us!!!

Amazing!!!!

~Always has sunshine on a cloudy day Mommy dee and Daddy David and our own little ray of Sunshine Ella

Las Vegas Weekend

Last weekend we traveled to Las Vegas to meet up with a great group of people. Most (except for 1) we had not met at all in real life. We used to refer to them as our Imaginary Friends since we only "knew" each other fom an online message board.

We stayed at the Treasure Island Resort/Casino with the rest of our group and had such a great time meeting and getting to know so many.

It was so nice to walk around outside in the warm sunshine 65 degree weather, that feels almost like summer compared to what our weather is like presently...-8 below!!!! Yikes!!!

It was a whirlwind of weekend; I mean when you take a toddler to Vegas you should expect to be up at 5:00a.m. and then take a 9:00a.m. nap each day right!!!!

Friday Night - Meeting and Hanging Out

A mini version of Ella Bai Jia Bei...Thank You so much!!!!

Mmmmm....noodles and french fries....the food of champions in Vegas!!!

A proud moment for Auntie Lisa....DONE!!!!

Dee, Ella, and Auntie Jen just before heading back to the airport to come home.

Ella and Daddy DONE!!! for the night!!!!

Just for grins and giggles....DONE!!! DONE RIGHT!!!!

~loves to travel, but there is nothing better than being at home Mommy dee, Manny...I mean Daddy David, and DONE, DONE, DONE Ella

Ha, ha....Trying to Catch Up

Ha, ha...so I just noticed the strange post that I made last night. Obviously, I used the wrong e-mail address to send myself an e-mail with school/work attachments. When we created the blog before leaving for China we made it so we could update via e-mail just in case we were not able to see the blog itself in China. Apparently, in my haste to send myself an e-mail I sent it to the blog. At any rate, I thought it was pretty funny.

We went to Las Vegas over the weekend so I/we are still trying to catch up on life back at home.

We had a fabulous time and met some wonderful "imaginary" friends that really are not imaginary anymore.

Hopefully, I will be able to get some photos and videos up on the blog tomorrow and for certain this weekend.
~the vacation laundry is almost done Mommy dee, the suitcases are put away Daddy David, and loving being back on a schedule Ella

Fairy In Training

F.I.T. (Fairy In Training)

All  F.I.T.'s need a tutu - check

All F.I.T.'s need to have cute little fairy wings - check

All F.I.T.'s need to have shoes that squeak just because they are cute - check

and.....

All Fairies in Training need to practice saying "Abbra-Cadabbra!"

~Mommy dee to the cutest Fairy on the planet, Daddy David who is learning more about tutu and fairies than he ever thought possible, and our F.I.T. Ella

We have been home for 7 months!!!

WOW!!!! We have been home for 7 months!!!

So much has changed and yet most of it seems like it is the way it has always been.

Awww....look at her....such a little bitty.

Going out in the snow!!!! (This was taken a few weeks ago, but I couldn't pass up that smile!!!!)

~Where does the time go...Yikes...Mommy dee, She is just getting so big so fast Daddy David, and "No, no, no you can't scare me...I am Ella and I am brave!!!!" (this is what she tells her motorized bath toys that she still isn't too hip on...the boat is alright...but keep that whale and froggy out of the water!!!)

Sledding Fun cont...

...the fun continues!!!!

~loves sledding with my girl Mommy dee, loves sledding with his girl Daddy David (although there isn't any proof...David and Ella did go sledding together), and "No (snow) is cood (cold)" Ella

Woo-Hoo Sledding Fun!!!!

Ella went sledding for the first time yesterday.

It was a beautiful day, sunny, bright, and cold. I think it took us longer to get bundled up and get to the hill than to actually go sledding.

When we first set out to get in the sled, Ella was not too sure as to what was going to happen. There were a few protests of "No, no, no." Then once she was securely in one of our laps and we set out it was easy to convince to go again.

Once we would reach the bottom of the hill, either I or David would run down to met the other two, Ella could be heard saying "Mommy go" or "Daddy go" (which means "Mommy turn" or "Daddy turn") and want us to trudge back up the hill (of course carrying her) to go down again.

We are looking forward to the next snowfall when we can go sledding again!!!!

~Must get some snowpants Mommy dee, Must get some snowboots Daddy David, and MUST go sledding again Ella!

Singing the ABC's

It is never to early to start....right????

Poor little thing, being a Kindergarten Teacher's kid is going to be tough act.

~Kindergarten Teacher Mommy dee, La, la, la..fun singing songs Daddy David, and ABCDTHOUTUJDKJOUZ thats how it's done Ella

Ahhhh....Organization!!!

We went to IKEA last week and bought an "Ella Toy Organization System So Mommy Doesn't Go Crazy Unit!" (Which also matches the rest of the furniture in our basement!)

 Ella's toys were slowly taking over a corner in the basement and after all the Christmas gifts the corner just about exploded!!!

 I know the photo is blurry, but you can see how much better everything looks and everything is easy to get to for Ella also!!!!

~loves IKEA for restoring my sanity Mommy dee, loves putting together IKEA furniture for his girls Daddy David, and Oooooo and Wowie Ella Doy Pot (Oooo and Wowie Ella Toy Spot) Ella

A Love Package from Special Friends

Ella received a very Special package from a very, very dear friend last week. This package is Special in so many ways and words cannot express to Debbie our gratitude, all we can simply say is "Thank You!"

I "met" Debbie online several years ago through an online forum we both belonged too. Over time, our chats turned into messages, turned into phone calls, which eventually lead me/us to meeting Debbie and her beautiful and wonderful family in October 2009.

I count myself so lucky to have made such an wonderful "imaginary friend" so many years ago.
~one lucky Mommy dee to have so many wonderful friends, camera-man extraordinaire Daddy David, and Ooooo....Wow..... more pwesents pweese Ella

Busy-ness, sickness, and new routines

We have been busy little bees over here. Busy, busy, busy.

We had a wonderful first holiday break together as a family. We didn't go to any fabulous destination, or do anything outlandish, we just enjoyed each other's company....sometimes...too much togetherness was a bit much, but a smile, an "wuv u," or a "Hi Mommy/Daddy" made everything better.

Then.....

I got sick on New Year's Eve. This was so not the way I wanted to ring in the New Year with our little family. We were just staying at home, David made Chinese Dumplings, we were going to watch the ball drop on t.v....just normal family stuff. Hmmm....that didn't happen.

I am still getting over whatever it is I have, and David and Ella have been fantastic. Ella seemed a bit confused on what was going on, but she just rolled with it like she always does. David deserves the Medal of Honor for being such a fantastic husband and an outstanding Daddy this past weekend.

Finally, Ella returned to daycare today and loved it. She was able to see her friends that she hasn't seen a few weeks. Needless to say though, getting her up at 6:00a.m. was bit more challenging given that she was sleeping until almost 8:00a.m. over break.

Unfortunately, we haven't taken any photos the last few days, well...since I am the resident photographer and I just haven't been up to the challenge since last week sometime. Hopefully, David will be able to scan a few photos from Chrismtas Eve that we haven't shared yet and I hope to take a few photos of Ella tomorrow...she is just too, too, cute to not share with you.
~icky sicky but, hopefully, on the mend Mommy dee, Husband and Daddy of Year Candidate David, and our sweet, funny, always on the move little girl Ella