Doe-raa!

This is a super long catch-up post so bare with me. We had a really busy fun weekend. Ella and I went to stay with my mom for the weekend for a little "girl time." Friday night we took Ella to the Iguana Grill in Tuscaloosa. She loved it!! She ate some of her food, but mostly she loved the atmosphere. She was bouncing up and down and singing and waving and looking all around her. Anyone who hasn't been should go once. The food isn't great but it is absolutely gorgeous inside! There are hanging baskets and stars and beautiful lights. Doesn't sound like much, but it is!

Saturday morning we headed for Cathy Martin's pool for a little fun in the sun.

From 8-8-09

Ella had a great time in the pool. She even tried to jump from the side to me. Jason was a little upset he missed it, and not even so much as a picture to prove it.

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Ella said "Lou-Lou" for the first time this weekend. She and Lady Lou spent a lot of time bonding this weekend. They chased turtles, ate puffs, went to the potty, and looked at the creek. Speaking of potty, my 16 month old daughter, only had one dirty diaper all weekend! She went to the potty each time! She still wets her diaper though. I don't think she has the bladder control or the communication skills she needs to move to pull ups. We just take her to the potty A LOT. I don't think it will be too long though. Woo Hoo! I am so proud of her I could burst!!

From 8-8-09

Ella loves to look at the "Babies" on the walls at home, which are actually just pictures of her. She also loves for me to show her pictures of our family. She likes to name everyone. So, I made her two books that she can take with her anywhere she goes. The first one is just pictures of her. It also has pages about her everyday activities like brushing her teeth, eating, sleeping, taking a bath, going to the potty, playing on the playground, etc. There is also a couple of pages identifying her eyes, nose, mouth, fingers, toes, belly, etc. The second book is all about family. There is a page for each immediate family member through 1st cousins, so its a pretty big book.

Normally when I make these sort of books to remember a vacation or the past year, I use a service like MyPublisher, Blurb, or Picaboo and make actual hardback books. This time I wanted to make a book: (1.) that she couldn't tear up (2.) I could add pages to. I would recommend any of these other services if you are looking to preserve your memories, but don't like photo albums. I think all of us probably use digital cameras now and by the time you print out all of your pictures and buy an album, you've probably spent more than one of these professionally bound books cost. One word of caution. If you do decide to go with one of these services, go with hardback, don't cheap-out and get the softback. They are usually glued together and eventually will fall apart. I learned this the hard way. The hard back books are sewn together like a regular book.

I have derailed my thought train.

Back to the books I made Ella. I made a template in Photoshop Elements for a 5x7 picture. Added the images I wanted and wrote text on each picture. Then, I uploaded them to Samsclub.com and had them printed out at our local Sam's. Then I put them together front to back in the order I wanted them for the book and took them to OfficeMax to have them laminated, cut out, and holes punched in them. Ella loves to "read" her books.

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I mentioned in a previous post that Ella had no attachments yet. I thought I had a year or two before Dora was a big deal at our house. Well, when the first thing your daughter says to you in the morning is "Doe-raa" and points, it is a serious obsession! She used to grab the remote and start pressing buttons, usually messing up whatever she was watching. Now she realizes, whatever she presses will not make Dora come on, so she politely brings me the remote, looks up and says "Doe-raa peas."

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Meemaw only has two episodes of Dora on DVD, but I think we watched each one 4 or 5 times, while dinner or lunch was being prepared. Below she is "running" with Dora.

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Later Saturday night, we went to Riverside park to meet up with my brother, Scott, and his kids for a picnic. Other than the stinky fish smell, it was a beautiful evening.

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This is my grandmother, Lou. She has been battling Ovarian Cancer for nearly 4 years now. Her doctors have started her on a new treatment and her hair is growing back. Isn't she beautiful?

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Luke and Ella giving kisses. I just love the innocence of children, they will kiss anyone.

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We had a picnic of PB&J and Goldfish, of course. Afterwards, we went on a long walk in the park. It was nice to do something different and the kids had a really good time.

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Finally, my sweetheart has reached another important milestone. I can now pull all of her hair up in a ponytail not just the top. This is a momentous event and could not go unmentioned. Ohhhhhhh.....my baby is growing up....(wail!!!).

From 8-9-09