No Tower of Babble Here

Ella's stance on tower building is pretty clear. No.chance. Not.on.her.watch. 

These are the largest towers I've been able to build without her storming across the room with her one-woman wrecking crew. 

New Pets

Our street has its very own little clan of deer. Who apparently pride themselves on their ability to eat all our foliage. 

Our first buck sighting. (In our back yard right past our deck).

We had seven deer for lunch. We served lilac leaves. 

Yum! Leaves for breakfast (she is camped in the front yard). 

Yes, that deer just emerged from that tree. No, you shouldn't have trees on your property that are large enough to hide deer. 

Bloodwork

Ella had her 1 year bloodwork done in advance of her 12-month appointment (crazy we are already here!).

Ella has a strong dislike to anyone new touching her, so I was pretty nervous about how she would do with nurses being able to find a vein. All my mom friends told me they would only prick her finger, no inserted needles, I started to breathe easier. 

We arrived for our appointment and waited about 10 minutes. 

They called us back, pulled up her sleeve, whipped out a huge rubber band, tied up her arm and immediately begin looking for a good vein....

Ella actually did quite well and even stopped crying half way through. This little girl is a champ.

First Halloween

Our new neighbor had a street get together before trick-or-treating, this was a nice way to meet and re-meet our neighbors.

Ella went dressed as a pumpkin, thanks Gram for the sweet pumpkin coat! 

I also whipped together a Halloween tutu, what fun would a holiday be without sparkling tulle? 

We stayed at home to pass out candy, but only had 10 or so trick-or-treaters. Josh bought candy for 100. 

11 Months

Ella is pulling herself up and exploring constantly. 

Basically sums up her 11th month! 

One "nice" one for Gram! 

Downstairs Bathroom

Our downstairs bathroom redo wraps up our current house projects. This redo packs the biggest punch, and brings some flare to the downstairs! 

Before: 

When josh took off the mirror we found this: 

A close up on the awesomeness that was the old wallpaper: 

After: 

New (non wood) toilet seat: 

New brushed silver fixtures: 

Vanity: 

"Adorable mirror...coming soon to a bathroom near you" a place holder until my father-in-law can find the perfect mirror. 

A more complete picture of the striped accent wall (thanks to Josh for letting me try stripes). 

We also painted the cabinets white and added new hinges. 

Before: 

After: 

I painted the old knobs with rustoleum. 

Baby Dance Party

Love my tiny dancer!