The Stewarts

She's how old?!?

2011-02-15T00:28:00.000-08:00

Yes folks, my little girls is a year and a half! That's right, 18 months old today.

We paid a little trip to the Doctor this Valentine's Day for her 18-month check up.
Weight: 24 lbs 8 oz (54th %)
Height: 34" (97th %)

She is up to about 75 words and 10 sounds (like animals sounds, trains etc.)

Her favorite foods are pizza, spaghetti and yogurt

She loves her "babies" aka stuffed animals and dolls.

She likes to line up her toys.
And root beer cans apparently.
Her new favorite thing to do is "upsidedown"

She is so full of spunk and energy and is always smiling and laughing.Being her mommy makes me smile every day.

Be Mine

2011-02-15T00:05:00.000-08:00

Our Engagement photo -- we haven't aged at all right?? ;)

It's Valentine's Day and I can feel the L-O-V-E! Brandon and I celebrated V Day last weekend with sort of a western theme - dinner at Outback then to the movies to see True Grit. We fit in a walk on the beach and some Cold Stone to round out the night. Oh yeah and the whole night cost $5. Thanks for the Christmas gift cards everyone!! My mom was sweet enough to keep Ella for us. I love spending time with my man, but it's funny how much we miss being away from Ella even if it's for just a few hours.
I made some cute wax paper hearts to add a little Love to our apartment.

Then for dinner tonight we had heart-shaped BBQ chicken quesadillas & cornbread muffins with heart-shaped brownies for dessert. YUMM-O

Hope you told someone you love them today. Even if it's not a significant other. We become better people by loving others.

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1 John 4: 7

Oliver Todd

2011-02-14T23:47:00.001-08:00

I have been babysitting my 6-month-old nephew Ollie a couple times a week for the past few months since my sister Laura went back to work. He is cute as a button and we love having him around.

It has been interesting for me to see what it will be like to have two kids. I can tell it will be a lot of work, but it's not quite the same since he gets picked up at the end of the day.

Ella absolutely adores him. Every time she wakes up she says "Ollie Ollie!" and wants to go out to the living room and see if he is there.

They make such good playmates and I'm really happy Ella has the opportunity to have another little one to play with, even if there is a bit of an age gap (one year). She loves to give him his bottle and pat his back when he needs to be burped.

Having another baby in the house is great for teaching Ella about sharing - a totally foreign concept to an only child. As you can see by this picture, Ella is teaching Ollie how to share his hat, binky and chewy rings. He doesn't seem to mind for now.

It's fun to watch them interact and see how they communicate with eachother.

He is growing so fast and is almost ready to start crawling. He is such a sweet little guy and I am one proud auntie!

Bath Baby

2011-02-14T23:43:00.000-08:00

BUBBLES are a girls Best Friend!

December 2010

2011-02-14T23:22:00.000-08:00

Brandon turned the Big 2-9 last year! Look at that handsome face.

The ever adorable Ella staying classy.

We had a fantastic Christmas. We missed being with Brandon's side, but we had some fun memorable moments with my side of the family.

Cousins Riley, Ella and Eva

Ella got some sweet shades,

some fun blocks that she is finally learning to stack instead of just knock down,

some super sweats,

and some monogrammed towels from her Auntie Lindsay.

Somebody stole daddy's milkshake.

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-02-14T23:00:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving in Sacramento with Brandon's side of the fam. It was such a fun trip. I loved that the weather was cool and it actually felt like Autumn. I do love living where it is 75 degrees year round, but it is fun to visit places that actually get colder.

Ella briefly crashed at the airport, but woke up as we went through security. She stayed awake on the plane until we landed around 11pm. She did well on the flight until she couldn't get her ears to pop on the descent... not fun... but we survived.
Ella woke up just in time for her first real Thanksgiving meal. Yay solid food!

We spent some time visiting the resting places of Brandon's much loved and missed Grandfathers.

I love this picture of Ella and her daddy.

We also got to go to the Sacramento Zoo!
Ella is captivated by the ostriches.

It was chilly, but Ella was prepared.
We had a bit of rain, but I love to be bundled up inside when it's cold.

Long time no blog

2011-02-14T22:53:00.000-08:00

In case you haven't noticed, we have been MIA for a few months. I really don't have a good excuse. Time has really just been slipping past me and now that it is February I can no longer blame it on the Holidays. So, I decided I should do some catching up! Enjoy the next few posts!

Growing Up

2010-11-14T12:54:00.000-08:00

Ella is 15 months old today. She said mommy this morning for the first time. She babbles mamama a lot, but today Brandon asked her where mommy was and she looked right at me, pointed and said "Mommy!" It was the best feeling, especially since she's been saying Daddy for months! Ella can now clearly say: Daddy, Mommy, Baby, Cat, Dog, Pig, Bug and I'm sure lots others we just haven't understood yet. She can sign "eat" and "more". She can growl like a tiger, say "who who" like and owl, and say "choo choo" like a train. She pretends to talk on the phone and can give high fives. I can't believe how much she is growing and understanding. I feel so blessed to spend every day with this little person so full of happiness and love.

It's November...

2010-11-10T14:26:00.000-08:00

...Time to give thanks!

No matter what trials I may have in my life, there is always so much I have to be thankful for.
Count your many blessings, see what God has done!

Halloween

2010-11-08T20:19:00.000-08:00

This Halloween weekend was so much fun. We started out going to Tanaka Farms in Irvine. We rode on a wagon pulled by a tractor over to the petting zoo. Ella isn't a fan of petting large farm animals yet. Maybe I'll give her another year to get comfortable with this tradition. We ate some homemade pumpkin bread and wandered in a little corn maze before finally finding the perfect pumpkin.
Ella liked the ones that were her size.

The group!
Aja, Laura, Ollie, Mom, Ashley, Riley, Eva, Natllely, Chelsea, Ella

Ella's sticker says "Farmer in Training". She was pretty pooped after her fun day.
But soon she was awake and ready to get into her costume! Ella was a sweet strawberry this year.

We went to our Ward party where Ella got to do some trick-or-treating. This is her second Halloween, but being only two months old last year, this is her first time really experiencing it.

She won best costume in the costume parade and had fun chasing the boys around the gym.

Brandon and I went as "a pair of blue jeans" (our name tags say Gene & Jean). Kind of a cop out costume, but it was all we could come up with last minute. I like costumes that don't require a lot of effort and/or many embarrassing elements :)
We took Ella to the Walnut ward party with the Stewarts, where the camera sat in Brandon's pocket all night, but we had a fun time seeing old friends.
We also went to my mom's house to carve pumpkins and have dinner.

We took the girls to a couple houses to trick-or-treat because we didn't think they had got enough candy already that weekend. And we just wanted more pictures of them in their costumes.Wonder Woman (Riley, age 3), Super Girl (Eva, age 2), & The Strawberry (Ella, age 1)

I am sad to pack her costume away, she was such a cute little strawberry. Hope you all had a Happy Halloween!!!

Bridge to Nowhere

2010-10-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Brandon and I dropped the munchkin at my mom's and went on a hike to the Bridge to Nowhere in the San Gabriel Mountains. It was such a fun day. The weather was hot, but perfect for trudging through the cold streams (that you have to cross MANY times).

View from the bridge.
Bungee jumpers. You couldn't pay me to do this! I know they say it is perfectly safe, but, call me crazy, I just don't enjoy the "rush" of feeling like you might die.

The sky was blue and it felt so good to be out in nature. It was the perfect date. It was just the kind of escape we needed. We really need to do that more often. I can't wait to go back and do it again or find other places to go explore.

Darla

2010-10-15T12:05:00.000-07:00

This post is in honor of my mom's sweet teacup chihuahua that passed away this week. She was such a sweet little dog and was a loving part of our family for many years.

Darla struggled with health issues and after a few days in the hospital and numerous lengthy seizures, the decision was made to let her have some peace. It will be sad to not have her snuggles and kisses. We will miss you Darla.

I want this

2010-10-15T09:50:00.001-07:00

How cute would Brandon be cruising around with Ella in one of these??

Ella's First Birthday

2010-08-15T14:37:00.001-07:00

Ella turned ONE this past Saturday!

We had a little party for her at Grams and Grandpa Stewart's house. It was so much fun. Ella had a blast. She was pretty worn out from all the playing and swimming.

Here's the birthday girl ready for some fun.

Let's go in the bounce house Grams!

Kid Paradise

Riley and Ezra going for a ride.

Watching the kids swim.

She got lots of new books to read.

Kissing her new baby doll from Grandma Jensen. She has recently discovered baby dolls and stuffed animals. She carries them around the house all the time now and hugs them and pats them. It's so cute.

Reading some of her new books with Grandma Jensen and Great Grandma Long. Ella would read books all day long if she could. She will constantly bring me book after book. I love it.

Grandma Jensen with all her silly grandkids together for the first time including new little Ollie. Ella thinks his nose looks pretty squishy.

Eva is a little chilly after her dip in the pool.

Matt and Alina take a snooze in the hammock.

Ready for her cake!!

She was a little timid at first...

Then she realized it was yummy and dug in!

Ella enjoying her cupcake.

Will Walk for Puffs

2010-07-11T21:39:00.000-07:00

Ella is 9 months

2010-05-25T11:06:00.000-07:00

Ella had her nine month check up yesterday. Here are her stats:

Weight: 19 lbs 6 oz (57th percentile)
Height: 28.7" (82nd percentile)
She's finally getting down to a normal weight percentile, but I will miss her rolls.

She loves cruising along the furniture and standing on her own. She'll probably be walking soon...yikes!

Here's Ella having a bath after we got home from the Dr.'s yesterday. She just started laying down and "swimming" in the tub. It's the cutest thing ever.

You can see her little band-aid from her flu shot. Luckily that was the only shot she needed and she didn't even flinch, let alone cry. I was glad she didn't even seem to notice it! Unfortunately, she also needed blood drawn for a routine check for lead poisoning and anemia. They took it from her finger, and she scrreeeeeamed the whole time :( I don't blame her. I HATE having blood drawn. But, she got over it real quick and was making crazy noises for all the pharmacists at the pharmacy and making them laugh just a half hour later.

Here is Ella and I having our daily paper fight with the ads that come in the mail. We love our happy girl.

Some Advice...

2010-05-21T16:30:00.000-07:00

BUSY!

2010-05-12T11:15:00.000-07:00

Things have been really busy around here lately. I have one presentation down, one left to go at school and two finals next week. Then I just have one summer class and two in the fall and I. AM. DONE. Can't wait!!! I hope I can get all my cramming in by next week. We are going to Sacramento this weekend. Unfortunately it is for the funeral for sweet Grandpa Patton. Brandon and I are SO glad we got to go spend some time with them last month. It will be a sad way to spend my birthday, but a bittersweet reminder of how precious every year of life on this earth is. I think I will squeeze my loved ones a little tighter every day this year. It will be nice to see all the family though. I am glad Ella will get to see her cousins that live so far away. She loves to play with other kids and doesn't get to all that often. I am so grateful for family and can't wait until summer when everything will slow down a bit and we can just relax and have fun as a family. We went on a family walk on Monday night. I had to convince Brandon to take a leisurely walk with Ella and I instead of his usual intense run (he likes to feel accomplished!), but I was so glad we did. It was so nice to just stroll and talk. We don't spend nearly enough time just relaxing and talking anymore. If it's not too late to set a new years resolution, maybe mine will be to spend more quality time with the ones I love. Family is my greatest blessing and the happiest part of my life.

Lately...

2010-04-28T17:23:00.000-07:00

...we have been enjoying some BEAUTIFUL spring weather...

..We got to go to the San Diego temple to see Jay and Rachel get married for time and all eternity...

...We have made a few trips to the happiest place on earth...

...And spent some time with cousins...

Three more weeks left in my spring semester! Then let the summer fun begin!

Ella Dialogues: Finger Foods

2010-04-20T17:34:00.000-07:00

Mom's trying to get me to eat food with my fingers. These are pretty hard to pick up...

Maybe if I use my foot...

Wait a minute, I'd better check the nutrition facts...

Oh great, I dropped it on my shirt...

Success!

Uhhh... what is this stuff?

hmm Maybe the container tastes better!

Easter

2010-04-14T22:54:00.001-07:00

Just thought I'd post some pictures of Sweet Ella in her Easter dress.

(...you can click the collage to enlarge...)

PS: Ella's laugh is on YouTube, if you want to see go here.

PPS: Happy 8 Month Birthday to Ella xoxo

Sacramento

2010-04-11T14:27:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we did a day trip to Sacramento to visit Grandma and Grandpa Patton. It would be Ella's first time on a plane and her first time meeting her Great Grandma and Grandpa. She did great on the plane. We watched some Baby Einstein and she was happy as a clam.

We had a great time visiting with Grandma and Grandpa and Auntie Karen. It was so nice to see them.

It was hard to leave at the end of the day. We were sad it was such a short trip, but were so glad we got to go.

Videos...

2010-04-07T11:53:00.000-07:00

Brandon playing "Attack Blocks" with Ella. I can't watch this without laughing...

...And Ella learned to play peek-a-boo by herself.

Taking Flight

2010-04-07T11:43:00.000-07:00

This Saturday we will be taking Ella on her first flight on an airplane. We are going up to Sacramento and back to visit Grandma and Grandpa Patton who will be meeting Ella, their great granddaughter, for the first time! We are so excited and can't wait to go. I'm a little nervous to see how Ella will do on the plane. If anyone has any tips for making plane trips with babies a little easier, please comment!

Arizona

2010-03-31T08:53:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we headed out to Arizona for some spring training baseball. We saw the Angels vs the Giants in Scottsdale on Friday,

then saw them play again on Saturday at the Angel's stadium in Tempe.

The weather was in the mid seventies and slightly breezy. Can't get much more perfect than that for baseball.

Ella did really good most of the time, she would get a little restless here and there (can you believe a 7-month-old wouldn't stay in her seat for a four hour game? so rude!) so we would take turns walking her around the stadium. She had fun watching all the people and trying to talk to the other babies she saw. She even squeezed in a nap at Friday's game.

It was also our anniversary on Friday and that night our hotel room number was the same number as our first apartment we moved into when we got married! Isn't that sweet? How sentimental...

We got to visit some friends and eat some really good food.

Ella did great on the car trip. It was about 4-5 hours each way and she slept almost the whole time. When she wasn't sleeping she was sweetly singing to her toys. She is such a sweet girl.