Easter Fun

Our friend Kristen came to visit for the weekend from PA and it was great to have her. Ella loved getting to spend some time with her, since we had not seen her in awhile. This picture was taken at John and Bekah's house where we celebrated with a traditional Passover dinner. It was such a great experience and the food was delicious!

This year we decided to do Ella's first Easter egg hunt in the backyard. This is Ella after she finished gathering up all the eggs. She did a great job finding them around the yard. I'm sure this will be a tradition we continue for awhile.


Ella got some pink bunny ears in her Easter basket. She really didn't like to keep them on, so these are the best pictures I could get of her wearing them. Doesn't she look so cute?

Here we are all dressed up for Easter. We had such a great weekend just appreciating being outside and hanging out with friends and family. It was so nice just relaxing and enjoying some quality family time.

Ring around the rosie

As you can see, Ella has the "Ring around the rosie" song/game down pat. She usually grabs both David and my hands to make us do it with her, but this time she did it all on her own while I sang and took the video. She is getting so big and I'm sure it will not be long until she is singing it all my herself as well. Why do kids have to grow up so fast?

Future WNBA player!

I got this toy basketball hoop at a Moms sale a few weeks ago, and it didn't take Ella long to figure it out. She is a natural at dunking as you can plainly see from the video. David is very proud, as I'm sure you can all imagine. I'm sure she will continue to practice, so I'll keep you all updated on her progress.

Our Little Engineer

Ella loves playing with her MegaBlocks. She plays with them almost every day when they are out. It amazes me how well she can build things at only 18 months old. We usually help her build the base and then she will build the tower herself. When the tower gets to the point were it is to tall for her to put more blocks on, she will take a large chunk of it off, add a block to the top and then put the whole piece back on the tower. We did not teach her to do this, she just started doing it herself. She is our little engineer in the making!

Here are a few more pictures of the process.

Ella's Bath Time

Ella loves her bath time. As you can see in the pictures she has plenty of toys to keep her occupied. She especially likes her foam bath letters. She sticks them all over the walls of the bathtub and on her belly and arms. It is really funny when they are sticking to her all over the place. I tried to get a picture of that, but wasn't able to.

Here is Ella showing off her "smile".

Ella after the bath, all wrapped up in her monkey towel. I love watching Ella after a bath, she will just run around naked for awhile before we have to chase after her to get her diaper and clothes on. It is a crazy time of the day, but ironically I love it.

Weekend Away!

Last weekend David and I got the opportunity to get away for the weekend, which is the first time we have done so since Ella was born 18 months ago. To make this possible, my parents drove down from Erie to watch Ella while we were gone. This was a tremendous blessing for us and it was a great time for both Ella and my parents to bond. It was also great not to have to worry about her the whole weekend, which surprisingly was not as hard as I thought it was going to be. It is amazing how fast you can revert back to the "before kids" way of life. Needless to say we had a great weekend and knew that Ella was in loving hands and that we were free to enjoy ourselves and have a good time.

So, I'm sure you are all asking....where did you go? Well, we drove down to Cincinnati to attend a marriage conference. I know I know, you're wondering why we would spend our first weekend away with hundreds of other couples, at a marriage conference. However, it actually turned out to be the best way to spend our weekend. With kids, jobs, housework and everything else that takes up time and effort in our lives, sometimes it is hard to remember that you still need to work on your marriage. I'll admit that David and I were in this place in our marriage. We started to forget to really love, respect and care for each other. Throughout the weekend it was great to just have the time to remember each other and talk to each other like we had not done in awhile. I honestly believe that because of that conference David and I will have a much better marriage. We learned new ways to communicate more effectively with each other and most of all we just got a reminder of how important it is to put our marriage first, above all else (including our child).

So, I just want to take this opportunity to tell everyone about Family Life and their Weekend to remember conferences. These conferences are held on different weekends, in different cities all across the country. No matter where you live, I'm sure you can find one near you. Even if you think you have a perfect marriage and do not need any help or if you think there is no hope left in your marriage, I believe this conference is for everyone.

If you want more information or to find a conference near you, go to www.familylife.com/weekend

Playing in the snow, or at least trying to!

We have taken Ella out to play in the snow a couple of times this winter, but have yet to get her to enjoy herself. These first 2 pictures were from our first attempt over Christmas at my parent's house. She did have fun going down the hill a few times on the sled, but didn't really like the whole experience that much.


I love this picture. She looks so cute all bundled up and ready to go down the hill with the help of her cousin, Leah.

Our second attempt was at home and didn't really go over any better than the first. She just seems really indifferent about the whole experience. What you see in the above picture is about all she did. She just stood there and watched David, Mocha and I play and try to play with her. Hopefully next year she will appreciate the snow a little more.

David took this picture after his mom had walked Ella over to Kris's house to play with her cousins. I though it was so cute that I had to post it. Those cute little footsteps in the snow are so adorable!