15 Months

I can't believe my sweet baby is 15 Months old! Where has time gone? I love watching her grow and learn, and my heart has grown every single day since she arrived. 

Here are a few of my favorite pictures if my little heart. 

Some photos from her first week. On the far right, that is her sleeping when she was 1 day old. I walked around the hospital room just looking into her beautiful face. 

Coming home from the hospital. 

Her first Easter. 

1 year photos

9 months 

First time sitting up on her own! 

This smile just melts me!

6 months

Her first flight - she rocked it! 

My two loves

These two are such a wonderful blessing to me from the Lord and I'm so grateful for them in my life.

As soon as Ella hears the garage door open at night she starts off running towards the door to welcome daddy home from work. Her face lights up, she bounces up and down, and she warms her daddy's heart. I love their bond and pray their connection stays strong and sweet.

 

Whenever Ella is coughing we obviously check on her - and this little smarty has figured out that is sure way to get our attention and she continues to cough just to get the laughs. 

The other night she coughed right in Josh's face, to which he obviously turned his face away. As you can see, this reaction tickled her fancy. 

Sledding...

...is the worst.

At least according to Ella.

This past Saturday we took her sledding for the first time. This was actually basically her first encounter with snow in any capacity.

Josh made a little sledding hill for her off of our front deck. They went on a daddy-daughter date to the store to pick out the perfect sled as well. My man is so sweet.

Here she is all dressed for the snow:

Spring Dresses

Winter has been too long and too cold - so Ella's wardrobe brought in so spring cheer this week.

My Aunt Carol gave Ella this sweet little dress - and it finally fits! Yippee! I love the sweet bunnies on it. Thanks Aunt Carol!

 Responding to the question "What does an elephant say?"

Blueberries

...the breakfast of champions! 

 

Cleanup is a challenge. 

Ponytail

Yippee! Ella's hair is finally long enough to play with! 

Today was her first ponytail:

Last week was pig tails:

First Haircut

Ella was such a trooper, although we did bribe her with treats! 

Please ignore the food on her face. 

Ella's First Car Wash

We had unseasonably warm weather this past weekend, so a trip to the car wash was in order. I went on the way to church, with Ella in the backseat, convinced she would love the experience.

I greatly misjudged. She sat watching the brushes and water circling the car. For about 15 seconds. Then, she lost it.

Downstairs Bathroom

Our downstairs bathroom is FINALLY complete! We had a little bit of a mirror debacle - after removing the rather large medicine cabinet that was there when we bought the house, we discovered a rather large whole in the wall which dictated the mirror size.

I finally found the perfect mirror at TJ Maxx! And begin painting it coral immediately. This coral color is the same that we used for the stripe on the opposite wall of the bathroom [pics in the blog post here]. I love the pierced edges and detail.

Thanks to Josh for mounting the mirror - you are the best!

Blowing Kisses

Blowing kisses is now part of our bedtime ritual. Ella is definitely a create of habit and routine; ask for a kiss in the middle of the day and she will (usually) burst out crying thinking she is going to bed. :)

Thanks for the adorable outfit, Janice, Eric, and Jonathan.

Reading with Dad is the Best

Josh is so good with Ella. I love seeing them play together.

Every night when Josh comes home, as soon as Ella hears the garage door opener she immediately starts to run for the garage door (even unfortunately in the middle of the diaper change). To answer her sweet "dada dada" Josh is always waiting on the other side of the door.

Then after hellos, Ella runs away, grabs her favorite book from that day and brings it to Josh. I personally think she is comparing his rendition to the one she has heard 25 times already that day from me.

I love these sweet moments between them, and I can't help but think how wonderful my life is.

Ella & Her Lion

For some reason, Ella has become attached to her lion stuffed animal. He was the first thing that she would look for when we got her up in the morning, and last month when her molars were coming in, we let her take him to bed with her. They are now inseparable. I've already started the hunt for a replacement, knowing the day will eventually come.

Ella will be quietly playing and suddenly she sees lion, she will hop up, run over to him, quickly grab him, plot down, and squeeze him with all her strength. Needless to say, Lion is a big part of our daily lives.

 Even Lion gets rides on the car from dad. :)

 Oh my - sweetness. Nighttime cuddles with Lion.

 One-year pictures with Lion. I love her sweet personality coming through here. Shout out to my awesome hubby for helping me capture this moment.

 What would I do without a baby monitor to spy on Ella and Lion?

Mom's January Visit

Each January Josh has a work conference in Ohio. Although Ella and I miss him while he is away, the last two years my mom has joined up for the time he is away. I love any time I get to spend with my awesome momma, this trip was no different.

If you have ever met Ella, you know she doesn't do well with new people...and this breaks my mom's heart, understandably. I had been praying for weeks before my mom arrived that Ella would finally warm up to her - and praise the Lord, she did. My mom is so patience with her, and I'm grateful for loving family to surround my little girl.

Family Christmas

The Friday after Christmas we were able to spend some time with Josh's cousins in Ohio. It was so fun to be with everyone. Each year it seems harder to keep up with the kiddos as they change so quickly.

Like ever-hopeful mothers, we attempted to capture of photo of all 10 kids. I'm sure Lindsey has a wonderfully Photoshopped file where everyone is looking. Always good to have a photographer in the family.

Super Hero Capes

This year for Christmas I made Super Hero capes for my fabulous nephews. I followed the tutorial I found here. They were super easy and fun!

I bought my towels at Walmart, they had the best color selection in my area. You will also need fabric paint and freezer paper. Although they are easy, plan at least 4-5 days to complete each cape. You will want to wash the cape before you begin working, then I did 2 coats of paint, and then you need to allow 3 days for the paint to dry. After the paint is dry, wash one more time.

The tutorial calls for velcro to close up the neck - I just used thick ribbon and sewed it to the towel with matching-color felt to reinforce the connection between the fabric and ribbon. 

Christmas 2013

Although I loved our first Christmas with Ella, being that she was only 1-month old, she didn't interact with us much. I know that she doesn't understand Christmas, we still have a few years for that, but it was fun to enjoy her exploratory-spirit.

Here are a few pictures of Christmas.

Before the Christmas Eve service at our awesome church, North Way Christian Community.  She is wearing the kilt that was bought for me in Scotland when I was 1 myself. I'm so grateful my mom held onto these sweet items from my childhood.

Her new (little people - yippee) Nativity set:

 

Christmas stockings (my favorite part of Christmas morning)

 

 

Josh's sister, Rachel, and her family and his aunt, uncle, and cousin joined us for dinner. It was so fun to spend the day with family in our new home. Getting all of those little cousins to sit still is no easy task. 

 I love how Michael and Ella have a sweet little bond. He is so precious with her and I think they will be special to each other. 

Uncle Nick has worked so hard to let Ella hold him. This year, he got his very own Christmas miracle. He did have to entice her with his phone, however.

Josh with Philip and Ella.