No Nap Ella!

So....I am not going back to teach until November, but....I still need to get my classroom ready for school which starts after Labor Day.

Ella and I have been in my classroom for the last two days from morning until after 2:30p.m. which means she has missed her nap two days in a row. I tried to convince her to take a nap....nice squishy bean bags, a blanket, BoBo, and a Clifford DVD playing in the background. That idea was met with a resounding "No, no, no" then she was off to follow me around the classroom.

Well, this evening No Nap Ella was falling and crashing hard at dinner time.


Needless, to say when we laid down for "Nite, nite" at 7:45p.m. (yes, she really did make it till that time) she was asleep by 7:55p.m.!!!
~tired Mama dee, video recorder extraordinaire Daddy David, and I am so tired I almost fell into my peas (the only green vegetable I eat) Ella

Fun at the Park!!!

We went up to one of the neighborhood parks this evening to slide, swing, you know just have some good old fashioned fun.

What is amazing is that Ella can climb the stairs and go down the slide almost all by herself....3 months ago...she was a weeble wobble stander and now she is climbing stairs.

(Oh, and we really dress her in other clothes, it just so happens that she is wearing the same outfit she wore the last time we took photos and video.)

Oh, Oh, Oh...apologies for the airplane noise on the video. It really sounds like we were under attack I think it was just multiple planes flying overhead...apparently we were on the flight path into Metro this evening.)


~video recording dee, Ella helper David, and stair climber and slider extrondaire Ella

3 Month Family-versary!!!

Today is our 3 month Family-versary!!!!

Ella has made it an amazing 3 months for us!!!

She amazes us each day by the things she learns and does that she wasn't able to do the day before.

Ella is talking non-stop. If she isn't talking then she is singing. If she isn't talking and singing, then she is laughing and giggling. She is certainly going to be a chatterbox. Many times she just looks at David and I like "Why in the world are you not answering my questions?" I really think she thinks she is speaking as plain as we are to her.

Ella's favorite words are: BoBo (her stuffed puppy...the love of her life), Dobby, Daddy, Teala(Peala), JuJu(juice), Nil(milk), Dow(down), Mamamamamamama, Tooson(shoes on), Toosoff(shoes off), Buhbye(bye-bye), Boo(book), Tinu(tissue), Memo(Elmo), My-na (her friend Mya), and the list can go on and on.

Ella is also almost running (3 months ago she could barely stand on her own), she tries so hard to jump and many times does, but then lands on her bum. She can climb the stairs on the play structures at parks and go down a slide by herself. She likes to swing on the big kid swings (no baby swings for her). She also enjoys swimming now...in fact she basically pulled David to and into the pool last weekend when we were at a Metropark.

We are having the best time with Ella...that isn't to say that it has all been fun and smiles everyday all day long, but the fun and smiles far outweigh anything else.
~Proud Mama dee, Proud Daddy David, and the amazing little girl Ella

Tuesday Fun Day!!!

Each day Ella surpises us by what she can do and how silly she can be.

The first video clip shows how she was using her belly to turn on her Leap Frog little barn...we only caught it one time, but she used her belly at least 5 or 6 times.


Big girl swining on the Big Kid Swings.


Yummmmmm....an orange sherbet push-up pop!!!

~Mamamamamamamamama dee, Dahdahdahdahdahdah David, and lovin' orange sherbet and swining on the BIG kid swings Ella

Chicago Trip

David, Ella, and I went to Chicago this weekend to meet up with a wonderful family from Iowa: Kathy, Jim, Mackenzie, and Madison. Kathy, Jim, and Mackenzie traveled to China this past April to meet Madison and bring her home to her Forever Family.

Kathy and I belong to a Yahoo Group for families that have adopted a child/ren from certain cities/provinces from China. We started chating just prior to their departure for China and have kept in contact ever since. We discovered within a few of our first e-mails back and forth that their Madison and our Ella had been together in the same S.W.I. (orphange) in China since they were babies.

Kathy was so wonderful in that she scanned a few photos that she had received from the S.W.I. and sent them through e-mail...and right there was our Ella! When we met Ella we received a small photo book and right there was a photo of Madison too!!!

We thought that it would be and will be very important now, as well as, in the future for the girls to have this link with each other.

We are not sure whether they recognized each other or not, but like to think that there may have been a spark of recognition and we are already planning our next trip to see each other.

Ella, Mackenzie, and Madison at the Navy Pier


Ella, Madison, and Mackenzie having fun running around at the Navy Pier.

~Loves Chicago dee, didn't know what The American Girl Store was about but now I do David, and train traveler Ella

This is what our day was like today!!!

Pictures speak louder than words!!!



~exhausted dee, worn-out David, typical 2 year old Ella (but still as sweet as ever)!!!

Outside Fun!!!

Whew....it was a HOT day here today.

We waited until this evening to venture outside and have some fun.

Bubbles and Sidewalk Chalk what more is there to life when you are 2 years old?!?!?




~Hot Mama dee (ha, ha, ha), Sweaty Daddy Dave, and Hot and Spicy girl Ella