Merry Christmas, Baby!

Ella stacking her first set of blocks!

Taking a peek at her Dora playhut...

Opening some gifts with Aunt Joy :)

"Enjoying" the presents from her first stocking at Nana and Grandpa's house :)

Testing out her new tubby toys :)

12/25/08 - This year Ella celebrated her first Christmas! Of course, she was a good girl and slept in until 8:30am, which made her Mommy and Daddy VERY happy :)

She was a little sleepy at first and not too interested in much of anything except her breakfast puffs, but as time went by, she got a little more excited about the wrapping paper and boxes :) Maybe next year she'll be interested in the actual presents :)

Her first present was a new can of puffs, then a book, some new tubby toys, blocks, a Carebear, a chatterphone, her own cellphone and keys, and then of course her Dora Play Hut!

After opening presents at our house, we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Mokwa's for more presents, including her own lawnmower and a talking remote control :)

By 10am she was little miss grumpy pants because she hadn't eaten her bottle and hadn't taken her morning nap, so we headed over to Nana and Grandpa Moase's. She took a nice nap on the way over and then we spent the rest of the day there, opening all kinds of presents, visiting, playing in water, and eventually taking a nap. All in all it was a good day :o)

Christmas Eve

Ella's very first Christmas Eve present!
A babydoll from Aunt Jessie and Uncle Dave!

She really loved this dolly :)

Cousin Lydia with her very first Christmas Eve present!

12/24/08 - We all spent Christmas Eve at Dan's parents house with the whole family. Each year we all get together, have a big Christmas Eve Dinner, play games and open a few presents :) Ella had a wonderful time with the family and loved opening the presents :) I can't wait for next year when she actually knows what's going on :)

Ella also had a good time "sharing" food with her cousin Lydia :) Maybe it was more taken by force than shared, but that's Ella for you :) She loves her food!

Early Christmas with Amelia!

Earlier in the day, after learning that she was going to be able to open a present early!!

Ella's fancy new shirt

Not sure if she wanted her picture taken...

Amelia was a pro at unwrapping!

Mia and her ladybug :)

12/23/08 - Ella celebrated Christmas a little early with her friend Amelia this year. Josh, Shonna and Amelia came over to exchange gifts and visit the day before Christmas Eve, so Ella was pretty psyched about opening a present early :)

She got a cute little fleece outfit from Old Navy that she proudly wore the next night over Gramma and Grandpa's house :)

10 Months Old!!

12/21/08 - Ella turned 10 months old today! I never thought she would be doing the things she is doing by now, but she never ceases to amaze me! She crawls lightning fast now where-ever she goes. She pulls up on just about anything she can, and walks sideways to get to where she wants to go (as long as she can hold onto something). She eats all kinds of puffs, little Gerber crunchies and Cherrios for snack and we've just been letting her eat some of the steamed veggies we have at dinnertime to help her learn what each kind is. Her favorite so far has been peas :)

She is now into 2T size clothes and wears a size 6 shoe, but she still weighs 24.5lbs (like she has for the past 3 months or so). She's super healthy and hasn't even gotten a sniffle yet, so hopefully she'll stay healthy throughout the cold winter months :)

She's been saying all sorts of things too... I think she said "foot" and "goat" this morning, but I'm not sure. She says "ticka-ticka-ticka" ALOT, because whenever we change her diaper we always tickle her belly and say "tickle-tickle-tickle!!" She has been very well behaved, even through her 6th tooth coming through and the last growth spurt she went through and we thank God everyday for such a wonderful little girl!

A Visit to Nana & Grandpa's!

Peek-a-boo with Grandpa!

Nana showing Ellie how the camera works :)

Snacktime!

12/20/08 - Well, with Christmas right around the corner, I thought I should probably post a few pictures before I flood you all with Christmas shots. This particular day, we all went over to see Nana and Grandpa Moase, which is always a good time. Ella had fun playing peek-a-boo with Grandpa and dancing around with Nana. I think Ella's favorite thing to do right now, is be carried around by Grandpa. He'll pick her up and walk her all around the house, opening cabinets and pointing at different things... showing her all around. :) She really likes seeing and touching new things with her Grampie :)

Ella's First Thanksgiving

Little Lydia and Ella AKA Santa's Helpers :)
Ella and Grandma Mokwa

Shyla, Ella and Aunt Joy :)

11/27/08 - Ella enjoyed her first Thanksgiving with the whole Mokwa Family out in Bradford PA. Aunt Maria, Uncle Chad and Cousin Lydia hosted this year and it was just such a wonderful time. Even though Ella didn't get to try any of the Thanksgiving day foods, she enjoyed being with the whole family at the dinner table chowing down on her crunchy wheels and puffs. She got reaquainted with her cousin Lydia and spend most of the time being passed around from family member to family member enjoying every minute of it!

Maybe at Christmastime Ella will try some new "people" food :)

Ella "Chipmunk" Mokwa

11/24/08 - Ella is a very bad girl. Tonight she was alone for 2 minutes in the living room with a canister of her new favorite snack... sweet potato puffs. From the kitchen, I wondered why it suddenly became very quiet in the living room and thought it may be a good idea to check on my little angel. To my surprise, she had discovered the puff canister, popped off the lid, and had her cheeks full to the brim with nearly 15 puffs. As my little chipmunk saw me approach, she quickly grasped at the loose puffs on the floor and began shoveling them into her already over-stuffed mouth like never before. By the time I got to her, she had two fistfuls and a humungus mouthful of the crunchy snacks. Dan suggested that perhaps she was stocking up for winter like a little pack rat or chipmunk... which I guess makes the whole situation cuter :) Either way, Ella is not allowed to have any puffs tomorrow since she had enough for several babies tonight... She's such a stinker.

The Runaway Bunny

11/11/08 - Ella has a new favorite book :) She loves looking at the pictures and pointing out the bunnies on each page with Mommy :) In these pictures, we just arrived at Nana and Grandpa's house and usually she's itching to get out of her carseat... but on this certain occasion, she wanted us to leave her alone so she could enjoy her book :)

Thank you Aunt Helen!! :)

Straight & Tall!

11/7/08 - I caught Ella climbing this chair today and thought, "Look how big she is!"...

I can't believe she's already almost walking... just yesterday she was a little blob that couldn't even roll over and now look at her :') She's such a big girl! :')

*sigh* I guess it's time to have another one :o)

Up Close and Personal...

11/7/08 - Today I flipped the screen of the camera around so Ella could see herself while I recorded her... It was a success until she realized that there was another baby in the screen and she wanted to play with her...
Also, I have yet to catch her saying "mama" when she's not crying... but you can kind of see it almost coming out in this video.... She wants to say it, but doesn't really need Mama just yet, so she's just whispering it :)





Nevermind! :) About 5 minutes after I posted this, Ella decided to cooperate :)

Alfalfa

11/5/08 - I think these are the first bathtime pictures we've taken since Ella's first bath so many months ago :) And of course, in honor of the occasion, Ella had to sport her "Alfalfa" look :)

p.s. Some of you may be laughing because there is a certain picture of me floating around with the same hair style from when I was little.... well, if I had to go through it, so does Ella :o) We will definitely be showing these pictures to any boy she brings home :)

Snow Angel

11/2/08 - Just a few shots of Ella modeling in her little fury outfit. Today at church someone said she looked like a "Snow Angel" and Ella got a huge grin on her face :o) She loves compliments :)

Cooking with Ella - Episode 1

10/31/08 - "Hello and Welcome to "Cooking with Ella!" In today's episode, Ella will be demonstrating the 5 easy steps for selecting the perfect canning jar."

Step #1: Make sure no one is watching you as you pick up a canning jar off the floor.

Step #2: Carefully inspect the jar for imperfections and clarity.

Step #3: Taste the jar to be sure it meets your standards in glass quality and firmness.

Step #4: The most important step: Test the bottom of the jar for stability, using your teeth as a tool.

Step #5: Continue to do step #4 until Mommy takes the jar away because you're making that lovely "nails on a chalkboard" sound with your teeth against the glass.

"And there you have it! The perfect canning jar has been selected.... Next episode we will be demonstrating the proper technique for 'slinging food.' Thank you for joining us!"

Mama Tiger

Making a run for it...

10/29/08 - Ella has gone back to saying "mama" almost non-stop and I LOVE it. I thought for a while there that she wasn't ever going to say it again, but it's back and it's better than ever! Now she doesn't only say it when she's upset, but also when she's hungry, has a poopy diaper, or just wants to make noise :)

With the new teeth coming in, she hasn't been much for pictures, but she did let me dress her up and play for awhile in her tiger suit :)

Happy 8 Month Birthday!

10/21/08 - Today was Ella's 8 Month Birthday :) I can't believe that in one more month she will be 'out' as long as she was 'in' :)

She still loves squash more than anything else, will down an 8oz bottle in the blink of an eye if she's hungry and can make it from the fireplace to the dining room in about 10 seconds flat. She loves her "big bear" and her special time with Mommy each morning. When it's time for Daddy to come home, I think she knows it because she starts looking around for him and as soon as she hears the door, her eyes light up and she gets all giddy :)

She weighs 25lbs and is just around 30". Still in size 4 diapers and already fitting nicely into 18-24 month clothing. She's growing like a weed and now when I look back at her "baby" pictures, I realize how fast time has gone by. She is such a good little girl and I am so blessed.

3 Teeth!

10/14/08 - After looking through Ella's recent pictures, I realized you can see all three of her little teeth in this one :) For those of you who haven't seen her new chompers - take a look! :)

Her fourth tooth is coming; hasn't broken through the gums yet, but it's on it's way!

Hunting Season

"Grrrrr!!!"

10/9/08 - With Ella's Daddy dressing up in camo everyday getting ready to go out hunting, sometimes she likes to dress up too.

Visiting Family & Enjoying Fall!

Ella's first pumpkin! Little, cute and chubby - just like her!

10/7/08 - Over this past weekend, we enjoyed a visit from Aunt Jess, Uncle Dave, Aunt Joy, Aunt Maria, Uncle Chad and little Cousin Lydia. They all decided to come and visit at the same time and we just had the most wonderful time with all of them. On Saturday, we decided to make a stop at DelKanic's Greenhouse for their Harvest Festival. We were too late for the free hot dogs, but just in time for some great shots by the beautiful mums! Also, Ella got her first pumpkin! :)