Ella vs. the Screen Door

5/14/09 - We like to think that all of the pictures we take of Ella are beautiful. I sit back and look through them from time to time and think "Wow, she never takes a bad picture; What a pretty little girl she is..."
Well, after today's little photo shoot at the screen door, I think I'll have to change my tune. Ella is human. Behold.... her glamour shots. (aka: blackmail pictures for when she gets a little older)

Incase you were wondering what she was so interested in that was outside... Well, Daddy went out and was riding around on his bike... I guess she wanted to join him :)

Lydia's 1st Birthday!

Beautiful Birthday Girl, Lydia!

Almost touching her candle...

Ella playing with Aunt Jessie under the piano :)

Lydia and all her friends playing after opening some presents :)

5/11/09 - This past weekend, we spent some time with our little niece Lydia celebrating her 1st birthday! We had a wonderful time visiting with family and watching the birthday girl cover herself from head to toe with cake :) Unlike Ella, she wasn't at all afraid of getting a little dirty :) We're so proud of our beautiful little niece - She's grown into such a big girl; super smiley, super happy and just an amazing little girl! Happy 1st Birthday Lydia!!!

Sunny Bunny

4/26/09 - For the past few days, it's been in the 80's here and Ella has loved being outside! She enjoys picking flowers, pointing out birds, watching the trees, eating dirt and feeling the grass between her toes :) This morning, right before church, she and Daddy were out in the yard picking flowers for Grandma :)

Rockin' Out with Daddy

4/18/09 - Today Dan baby-sat. This isn't the first time, by any means, but I always wonder what he and Ella are up to when I'm not around. On this particular day, I happened to look at the pictures on the camera when I got home and look what I found....

Apparently Ella and Daddy played Guitar Hero and Ella is quite the rocker :)

Happy Bunny Day!

Some goodies from the Easter Bunny

Discovering the goodies and only really caring about the book :)

Ella, Grandpa, Cousin Lydia & Grandma Mokwa

Another basket from Aunt Maria, Uncle Chad & Lyddie!

4/12/09 - Ella celebrated her second Easter this year! Last year she was only 1 month old, so it wasn't quite as eventful, but this year she was actually able to "search" for her Easter basket! (It was cleverly hidden in broad daylight on one of the chairs in the living room). Anyways, after her bath, it was off to find the basket... unfortunately she was off and running before we were able to get her dressed.

Luckily, she allowed us to stop her playtime momentarily and get her all dressed up for church, a visit to Grandma & Grandpa Mokwa's house and another Easter basket from Aunt Maria! :)

Bottle Bandit

Sweet, innocent little Ella...

"hmmmm.... what do I want..."

Ella's new favorite pasttime is getting into trouble. Who would have thought?

On this particular day, Ella decided that she wanted something from the refridgerator and she didn't want to wait around for Mommy or Daddy to go get it for her...

You have to give her a little credit though - at least she grabbed her bottle and not the soda :)

The Great Hunt!

A little help from Mommy...

and a little help from Daddy

Showing off her prizes!

Cold & Rosy Cheeked Cousin Lydia :)

4/11/09 - Ella participated in her first Easter Egg hunt this year next door at the church :) Her favorite cousin Lydia was there to go hunting with, as well as her Aunt Joy, Aunt Maria, Uncle Chad, Daddy and Mommy :) Even Uncle Dave & Aunt Helen came by to see the big event! It was a cold morning, but even though she was all bundled up, she had no problem picking up the eggs and throwing them in her basket (once she got the hang of it). There were so many other kids around, Ella was a bit distracted at first, but after some "encouraging" words from her Daddy (*see video), she didn't want to lose, so she soon realized what she needed to do :)

She was able to find 40 eggs and she won two prizes; one of which was a nice fluffy bunny :) All in all, she had a pretty good day!