Snow day photo dump

First snow day of the winter. Ella had a blast.

That face. You can tell she is up to no good. 

Parenting fail: when you try to get your toddler to catch a snowball and instead nail her in the face.

Jim put her to work already

Shoveling with Daddy

Warming up with some hot cocoa 

Pumpkin patch

You know you live in BFE when a visit to your local pumpkin patch involves driving a few miles out of town and going to someone's backyard (I can't make this stuff up). It probably was for the best because I'm not up yet to dealing with a huge commercial pumpkin farm, and because it was free, I didn't feel bad about not staying overly long. Ella had a fun time looking at all the pumpkins, although I suspect the appeal was more in that we had read about Curious George visiting a pumpkin patch. Marian was less than impressed. 

Family photo. Best of multiple attempts. 

Ella was fascinated with the bumpy pumpkins

Little pumpkin with the pumpkins

Love the mischievous look on her face 

Not quite sure what I was doing here but thought it ended up being a sweet picture

Unfortunately our nice family morning ended up with Ella puking all over her crib during her nap. I would rather deal with any other form of illness than puke. I thought we were going to have a massive meltdown at bedtime because all her stuffed animals are now in the wash. Not a peep about her stuffed animals, which is how I know she must really feel crummy. She did, however, try to tuck her little pumpkin into bed.

Remember how I said to be jealous?

Well, I need to amend that statement. You shouldn't be jealous.

You should be dying with envy. Because Kristen is even that much cooler in person. And I got to spend an entire long weekend with her.

I picked her up at the airport Saturday morning and we did not lack for things to talk about for the entire trip. No awkward silences, even though I am an awkward person. Maybe we need to write to the pope because someone spending extended periods of time with me without a single awkward moment is nothing short of a miracle.

I seriously cannot wait until our next visit. It's only a 17-hour drive. Totally do-able with two kids, right?

Head on over to BeerCat Brewing to read more about our super awesome time together. Because here is another sign of Kristen's amazing-ness: she actually remembers to take pictures AND doesn't leave them lingering on her computer for years.

Be jealous

In a couple of hours, I will be leaving for the airport to pick up my awesome buddy Kristen from the airport (for proof of her awesomeness check out her blog, BeerCat Brewing. Okay, maybe don't, because it is way better than my blog and you will probably never want to read mine again afterwards).

I am beyond excited. Which is maybe a little crazy, because Kristen and I have never actually met before. We started talking back in the days when I actually had time to spend on The Bump instead of spending countless hours catering to Curious George's whims. In the almost 2 years (sob!) since Ella was born, I have met several other Bumpies and they have all been really fun people, so I am expecting no less out of Kristen.

We are planning on having as many crazy shenanigans as two moms, one who is hugely pregnant, can have in the middle of BFE. Stay tuned for a later post about our incredibly awesome weekend and be prepared to be super jealous.

Ella's first hockey game

One of the things we've been waiting to do her entire life has been to take Ella to a hockey game. But between job interviews and moving, it's one of those things that we kept putting on the back burner. Or we'd think about it and there wouldn't be a home game that weekend, or the games would be past her bedtime.

This Sunday was the very last game of the Tulsa Oilers' season, and fortuitously, it was an afternoon game. We decided even though it meant getting her up from her nap early and mama having to forego much of her afternoon nap, we'd go.

I'm so glad we did, because she had a blast. We got to sit close to the ice and where the players come out (one of the perks of it being extremely minor league hockey), and had a row to ourselves so she could play around a bit. She got to see the mascot guy without the creepy costume head on, which is a good thing because she is terrified of people in costumes. And she got a free cookie from the guy at the concession stand- not exactly part of her mommy-approved diet but it was hard to say no when it was already in hand.

Going to the hockey game confirmed my belief that toddlers are inherently violent little creatures. Her favorite part (besides the chocolate chip cookie) was seeing the hockey players bash each other into the glass and get into a fight. Jim thinks she liked it because the crowd got so worked up. I think she liked it because they were doing one of her current favorite activities- hitting.

Of course now this complicates the whole "no hitting" rule. Because if hockey players get to hit, why shouldn't toddlers?

30 Days of Thanks: Days 17 & 18

Day 17: For a fun day of hanging out with friends and family. We had a great lunch downtown with some friends at bd's Mongolian grill, complete with dessert at Red Mango. Later on my sister-in-law and brother-in-law came by for a bit to hang out with their favorite niece.

Day 18: For the fact that in the eyes of my daughter, my singing and dancing are incredibly awesome and can always bring a smile to her face.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from our family to yours! We had a blast taking Ella out trick-or-treating, and our neighbors got a kick out of seeing her in her costume. 

After taking a gazillion family photos this afternoon (thank you to our awesome friend and amazing photographer, Bob), Ella was not particularly pleased to put on her pumpkin costume and have more photos taken. Here she is riding in style:

She did, however, really like all the Halloween decorations. 

Unfortunately she got scared of a few, and the combination of scary decorations and being up past her bedtime meant that we didn't get around to as many houses as I would like. 

Our little pumpkin is now sound asleep in bed, so Jim and I are going to put our feet up, watch Hocus Pocus, and eat some candy. 

Pumpkins!

Tonight we carved our jack-o-lantern, and let Ella paint the little pumpkin she's been dragging around for the past week. Messy, yes, but most definitely fun. 

At first she was a little apprehensive. Possibly because it seemed strange that we were not only making a mess, but encouraging her to do so as well, instead of saying, "Eww, yucky!" at everything. 

She very soon lost interest in watching Jim carve the jack-o-lantern, and decided that the gourds were way more fascinating than my attempts to get her to paint her pumpkin.

Demonstrating for the camera her amazing ability to stand up on her own, and rocking some wild hair.

The finish product. Yes, I know she ate some paint. It's non-toxic. I checked in a panic after she decided to try and eat it when I glanced away for a second.

Here's the jack-o-lantern Jim carved. It has the same number and placement of teeth that she does.

One very happy, very messy little baby.

Pumpkin Patch

Some of my fondest childhood memories were going to the pumpkin patch every year. Naturally, I was beyond excited to take Ella this past weekend.

A rare photo of the three of us on our way in

Pretty much as soon as we got there, we had torrential rain. We hung out inside the shop while we waited for the weather to clear.

Ella figured out clapping this past week, and now does it constantly. 

They had some gigantic pumpkins that we of course had to take pictures with. My sister-in-law and I contemplated actually getting some, and I'm not quite sure why I didn't go back and get one before we left.

I told Ella this is how my belly looked when I was 9 months pregnant

One of the advertised attractions was a pumpkin eating dinosaur. What's not to love?

They also had live pig races (how did I not know such a thing existed?!), and a corn maze. I remember corn mazes being a lot more fun, perhaps because I wasn't tall enough to see over it. 

They also had a hay-bale maze for the little kids. Auntie Beth and Uncle Mike took her in.

 And finally, the main attraction- the pumpkins!

I've been a bad blogger

I can't believe it's been almost two months since I've had a chance to sit down and type something up. So quickly, before the mayhem machine shrieks or finds some new mischief, here is a quick list of what has gone on in our lives since the beginning of August.

• We took an insane, three-week long road trip, traveling through 18 states (twice in Indiana, Georgia, and New York), and logging almost 4000 miles on my car. Ella and I spent a week in Florida and two weeks on Cape Cod. Jim flew down to Florida to meet us, spent a week on the Cape, then had to go to a conference in Philly. 
• Ella has learned to crawl; cruises around like crazy; walks holding onto our hands; stands up on her own for short periods of time; says hi, mama, dada, dog, and up; waves hi/bye; eats "grown-up" foods; tries to climb on everything; and is full of trouble. I spend my days chasing after her, learning about new things in our house that have to be baby-proofed, finding Cheerios everywhere, and cleaning up bits of paper that she loves to tear up. We go to bed exhausted, but this is my favorite stage so far. She has such a fun little personality. 
• Jim got a chance to get back to brewing. He and one of our friends made a pumpkin beer for the fall. Once it's ready, we're going to have a fall party. 

Gah, I'm trying to think of more things that we've done. In fact, I'm sure that we have done something more. We must have done something more, right? I'm blaming the baby for this lapse of memory. To distract you from my poor blogging skills, here are some photos.  

Sound asleep in the car

Right after she learned to crawl. She was very proud of herself. 

At Justin and Lucie's wedding reception in Florida

Loving her float on Cape Cod

Not loving her life vest

Finally somewhat happy on the boat

Jim and I managed to get out for a date night at the Popponesset Inn

At the Cape Cod Children's Museum. Ella showing her disapproval of sharing with the other kids. 

Showing off how she eats like a big girl

Playing foosball with Nana and Grampa Jim

With her Nana and Grampa at the beach

She loved, loved, loved spending time with Nana

Swimming with Nana

Wearing Nana's hat

Showing off how we "nap" at the beach

Posing for a picture

Swimming with Daddy

Hanging out

Her super-secret, babies only clubhouse

Labor Day weekend at the Splash Park

Fascinated by the water

Extremely suspicious of spaghetti

Pulling clothes out of my dresser

And her face when she realizes she's been caught in action

Crawling around

Cruising around the house