Saturday Happenings..or lack of..

Today was filled with a "whole lot of nothing" and it was wonderful. Ella and I started the day by cuddling on the couch watching some Elmo and eating chocolate donuts (that Randy brought home for us last night as a surprise!) The Elmo part wasn't my favorite, but it was soooo worth it for the snuggles and kisses I got the whole time! I did some extra cleaning and stuff during the week so that I wouldn't have to today..but I was almost bored without the housework to keep me busy! Ella and I are missing Randy a lot this week since he worked an extra day. Looking forward to the next three days when he'll be off.

Thought I'd post some pictures of things that have been making me smile this week...

I can't get enough of these toes peeking out of these special Princess shoes (which she started calling her "puppy" shoes today...yikes, didn't think of how confusing that could be to a 20 month old when we named the dog Princess...) I also love the noise they make on the floor as she walks by. So sweet that they have become a must have with every outfit! Even cuter when they're paired with bed head from an afternoon nap :)


I'm also smiley because Randy hung the pictures that my mom drew of Ella in the living room this week. We've had them since October and I'm so happy to have them where I can see them all of the time. Every time I pass them, I can't help but think how special they will be when Ella is grown. I put the original pictures below them for comparison.

LOVE THEM!

Ella and Daddy.

Ella was *so* excited because Daddy surprised her when he brought home some "fench fies".
They're so cute.
Love them.
Love this picture!

Thank You Nana and Papa!

Ella got a package of goodies in the mail today from my Dad that made her a really HAPPY girl. A big box of her favorite snacks, some new dress up stuff, and new clothes.

Thanks Nana and Papa, We LOVE you!

Here's a special thank you from Ella herself!

1...2...1...2...

Hee. This makes me smile.

Update..

Thought I'd give a little update on our week so far.
Ella has still been having a hard time figuring out when she needed to pee so I decided to give her a break and see what happens. So I started putting her in diapers or pull ups and waiting to see if she will tell me when she needs to potty. Yesterday she told me once in advance where I had enough time to get her on the potty so she could pee. All of the other times she told me right when she was going or immediately after. I still think that's great for 19 months old. I don't want to push her too hard and giver her some kind of "potty complex" lol. The awesome part is that I haven't had to change a poopy diaper since Monday morning. Saturday was her first poo poo in the potty and Monday she went in the middle of the night so we changed it when she woke up. But she has told me and gone on the potty since then!! Woo Hoo! Sounds good to me!
It's already almost 11 today and so far we haven't been able to catch one in time. It's definitely a process!
I'm hoping that something really exciting happens this weekend or next week so I can give you all a more interesting update that doesn't involve the words potty, poo poo, pee pee, or diaper..I'm sure you're wishing for the same!! But until then...it's all I've got.

Because of potty training Ella and I haven't been out much! A trip to the store here or there, but nothing lengthy. So today I am putting a diaper on Ella and we are off to the library and park!

Thought I'd leave you with a picture...(Ella will probably hate me for this one day)

Here's our little pooper :)

Takin' Care of Buisness...

Well, I have been wanting to update, but I've been too worn out to come up with a good post. lol. On Saturday evening, Ella came to me and kept saying "Poo poo potty". This was really no big deal to me since she has been coming to tell us that she needs a diaper change for awhile now. Well, when I checked her diaper it was still clean and dry. She continued to tell me so I decided to put her on the potty and sure enough, she started to go!!
So this weekend we have taken on "Operation Potty Training" and let me tell you, I am already soooo tired of it. But I am keeping momentum and hanging in there!

She doesn't know quite how to predict that she's going to pee until right before (like a millisecond!) it comes out. So we usually hear, "Oh No!"..followed by the millisecond..and then "Uh oh, pee pee potty". But I feel like we're making progress because she doesn't like getting pee on her new panties so she is trying really hard. As long as I keep up with her and put her on the potty like every 10 minutes we are staying dry. She is also starting to figure out make the pee come out so that's been good, too.
While she's been learning that, I've been doing lots of laundry, reading her lots of stories while she sits patiently on the potty trying to pee, and being insanely corny about every trickle we hear!!

So if you've actually been reading this long so far, thanks for caring about our potty progress!

Growing so fast...

We made it to the park yesterday for a little bit and Ella loved it. She cried so hard when it was time to go!

While I was uploading the pics, I did some looking around and found these from August. I can't believe how much she has changed in just 6 months!! One thing hasn't changed a bit...she still loves to "wing"!!

Wow, that was a fast week!

My computer has been being really funky lately about any sights having to do with google. Since I have to log into a "google account" to update my blog, it wouldn't let me come on at all! I could look, but not comment or anything. Randy tried to fix it last night and we thought it didn't work, but this morning it let me..so maybe it did work?!? Or maybe my computer got over it's grudge against google. Who knows!!

I'm going to recap our week all in one post! I'll start by saying that we've had a couple of WONDERFUL weather days. I really don't want them to go away. I am just *so* extremely ready to be done with winter. Come on Spring and Summer. We have the most wonderful Springs here where you could just be outside all day!! I can't wait.

Last Friday night, Ella went to a "Princess Party" for Sarah Ebeling. She has been in attendance at Sarah's Birthday party for the past 3 years, first in utero lol, then as a baby, and finally this year, shew as able to have some fun and enjoy it. She's was still very easily distracted and busy, but I think she had a great time. Still can't believe Sarah is 5 though.

Looking back at this picture of my little Princess among all of the other Princess' was pretty emotional. I know we will be having another baby soon, but Ella is still very much our "baby" and there was no hiding her "big girl-ness" in the pictures this week. She is definitely not a baby anymore.

After the party, I left Ella in the hands of Jason and the Ebeling kids (until Randy got off), and headed with Lora to Ladies Night Out. We have something the first Friday of every month with all of the ladies at church, just to get out and have some fun. It's always a great time, and this past Friday, it was bowling. I'm a horrible bowler, but I still always have so much fun. So glad I'm not very competitive..helps me to enjoy things I'm really not good at. lol.

Here's the group after a few hours of bowling, lots of pop corn, and soda to top it off!

Yesterday, the weather was so great that I just had to get the girl's out side. While the baby I watch was taking a little nap, Ella, Lauren, and I hit the backyard for some play time. It was so nice to get some fresh air and the girl's loved running around like crazy. It's supposed to be nice again today, so I think once Randy's home from his accountability breakfast with Jason and Claude, we may hit the park or something.

Super Bowl Sunday!!

Just thought I'd share some pics from this past Sunday. We went up to church fro a Superbowl party and "Cornhole" Tournament. It was a lot of fun spending the evening with our close friends and enjoying the game (or commercials for some of us lol)!

Ella had some fun with her stroller since there was so much room to push it!

Here is Ella climbing and jumping with her best bud Hannah aka "Hannie"

She thought her hat looked better backwards like Daddy wears his lol

Mommy and Ella

The whole gang!
Our team name was "Livin' in 2002" hence the Bucs Gear :)

Hanging out with Aunt Lala and Eric :)

Three of a kind :)

Ella and Mommy

Randy and Chandler playing some Cornhole (please excuse the spots..apparently I needed to clean my lens and this was one of the first pics!)