Our first family vacation!

A few weeks ago we were able to go on vacation for Liam's spring break.  I really wanted to go to Nauvoo, but I was nervous about how Ella would do with a 7 hour drive in the car.  I didn't know if it would end up not being fun for anyone if Ella cried the whole drive there and back.  We figured that we should just go, because in just a few months we will  be driving to Utah which is a 24 hour drive.  We thought it could be a test run to see how it goes.  Of course Ella was a champ; she really didn't cry at all and was mostly happy. 

We decided to not drive all the way to Nauvoo the first day, so we stopped in a town about an 1 1/2 away for the first night. Liam was really excited to find out that it was the United States John Deere headquarters so of course we had to go.  There were tours to see how things were made at the John Deere factory, but we were not able to go because they don't allow young children to go.  Liam was pretty bummed, but he was really excited to sit in this nice tractor.

After we went to the John Deere headquarters we made our way to Nauvoo.  When we got there we went tot the visitors center and had a nice chat with a some senior missionaries.  They were all very happy to see baby Ella.  Ella definitely made a lot of new friends on this trip.  One of the more fun things we did was to go on a sleigh ride.  As soon as we got on the sleigh, I really started to regret the decision, because it was really windy and I didn't want Ella to get cold.  Ella was bundled up in a coat, hat, mittens, and a few quilts.  She thought it was really cozy and soon went to sleep.  She slept for the whole ride.  I was amazed because I thought it was freezing!   Later that night we had the opportunity to go to the show the senior missionaries put on called "Rendezvous."  This is really the highlight of these people's mission.  They love it!  We were asked several times if we were going to come, and so of course we had to go since we were the only people visiting Nauvoo at the time.  We thought it was a fun show.  My favorite part was all of the missionaries that weren't performing that night sat in the audience and sang a long any ways.  So the audience consisted of me, Liam, Ella, and senior missionaries who perform the show on a different night.  It was such a fun, happy night.

The next day we went to Carthage Jail.  There is definitely an incredible spirit there.  We were really able to feel it, even when Ella was being a silly goose.  For those of you who haven't visited the jail before,  they take you up to the room where Jospeh and Hyrum were martyred.  There they talk about what happens in the room the day that Joseph and Hyrum were killed.  It is really an amazing experience to talk about that while sitting in the same room where it all happened.  During one part they play the hymn, "A Poor Wayfaring Man," like on the day when John Taylor was singing it to the men, and of course Ella decided to start swaying back and forth on my lap.  She was dancing!  It was so hard for me to keep a straight face because I had never seen her dance before, but really it was not exactly the place to laugh.  Oh well!  What do you do right?  Ella also decided to leave her mark in that room.  She spit up all over the floor just as we were getting ready to leave. 

Walking up to the room where Joseph and Hyrum Smith were martyred.

The window that Joseph fell out of after he was shot.

After Carthage Jail we went back up to Nauvoo to see some more of the different houses and locations.  We were definitely the talk of the town.  All of the senior missionaries were hoping that we would visit them in the location they were at.  They all wanted to see and talk to Baby Ella.  After a few hours we left to make the drive back home.  We were planning on driving the whole way home, but once we got to Chicago we got stuck in a big snow storm and had to stop for the night.  So we got up the next morning and finished our drive.  We were all really happy to have made it home safe.  We had a really fun vacation!

Ella is 7 months old!

Ella has learned a few new tricks in the last month.  She is starting to get up on her hands knees and scootch herself backwards.  She finds this very frustrating sometimes.  She has also started clapping.  It is pretty cute to watch her try and figure out how to do what i'm doing.  Ella also got her first tooth in the last month.  Needless to say we have had a grumpy baby on occasion.  Mostly Ella is a very good and happy baby.  We love having her around.

Just playing with the carpet

I don't know why we buy toys for babies. They don't seem to like them as much as other things. Ella's list of favorite toys include: my hair, my face, my glasses, her binky, the wipes package, cups, the remote, burp rags, and paper. Some of that list Ella is not allowed to play with but she seems to grab them anyways. Ella does have favorite toys that are actual toys but I'm not sure she would miss them if she didn't have them. Here is a video of Ella playing with the carpet.

A funny video

Ella is a model

 One of our neighbors, Emily, offered to take pictures of Ella, so I of course took her up on her offer.  She did an amazing job and all of the pictures turned out beautifully.  Emily brought me over a disc with more than 60 pictures on it.  I loved all of them so it was really hard for me to pick which ones to put up for every one to see.  I am obviously a crazy mom, which is why there are so many pictures for you to look at.  

 Ella definitely has a mind of her own, she doesn't often do what I want her to do, which was smile in this case. Emily did get a few pictures showing those cute dimples even if Ella didn't cooperate too well. I love all of the different facial expressions Emily captured.  Ella has a serious side to her; she often has a look on her face where you can tell she is really thinking hard about things.  I love that you can see that in some of these pictures. Thank you for taking such amazing pictures, Emily!  I think you can all tell that I think my baby is super cute!  

Valentines Day and some videos for Grandpa

Valentines Day was a really fun day for us.  Ella and I were able to go to a Valentine party with some of the kids from our ward.  In the afternoon Ella and I made sugar cookies for Daddy.  When dad got home he gave me a new pair of Toms for Valentines Day.  They are new style that just came out; the crocheted look.  They are super cute.  After that we took some super cute pictures of Ella.  She was really smiling a lot!  Unfortunately for all of us, when I looked at the camera none of the pictures were there.  How lame! Anyways after that we went to Old Chicago (our favorite pizza place here in Michigan).  It was so delicious. When we got home we put Ella to bed and then watched The Blind Side and ate sugar cookies.  Here is a valentines picture that I took of Ella a few days before Valentines Day.  I'm still pretty bummed that I didn't get any of those pictures.

And for Grandpa I have some videos of Ella just playing and being cute.

Ella is 6 months old!

Ella turns six months old tomorrow!  It is hard to believe that she has been around for half a year.  Ella is starting to learn a lot of things really fast.  She loves to talk.  She spends a lot of her time talking to herself.  Her favorite repetition right now is "dadadadada."  Of course daddy likes that a lot.  Ella can also scootch herself in circles while she is playing on her tummy.  She has not yet been able to move forward, which Ella finds very frustrating.  Ella is getting pretty good at sitting up.  She still falls over but mostly when she tries to grab something that is too far to the right or left of her.  

Ella is such a smilely, happy baby.  Her laughs and smiles are contagious.  We love having her around.

I forgot to flip this picture. Oh well.