A year ago...

A year ago today I returned to work after having Ella. It seems strange that it has been a year since I went back to work. At the time it was all consuming and seemed almost undoable. Now that it is a year later I can see how ok it really was. God was gracious and provided a good friend to watch Ella while I was at work. Knowing that Ella was with Rose and forming a bond with her gave me a great peace while I was working. I don't think I ever put a picture of Rose on the blog, but better late then never.

On this day when I picked Ella up at Rose's I found the two of them laying outside under a tree. This made my mommy heart very happy.

I am glad we made the decision I would stay home with Ella this year. It has been the right decision for us. It has been a hard decision and there are days when I would love to be at work rather then cleaning the same high chair tray again and again and again. But overall I am happy to spend my days with my girl. She is utterly amazing and a joy to watch grow and develop. I know that this season in life will be fast and before I know it Ella will be off to school and not need be home with her all day. It already seems impossible that she is 18 months old and that we are expecting another baby in July.

A Happy Family and a Beautiful girl

In November we had a family photo shoot with a lady named Nancy Noble. She did an amazing job. Here are a few of the pictures. I won't say they are the best because they are all incredible.

A Year's Perspective

I started this post a month ago, but have been so busy with life that I haven't got back to it. So here it is late but here.

A year ago we took Ella to Bi-Zi Farms and had a great time as new parents exposing her to all the Fall activities in our area. I knew when we went that it would really be for us since she was far too young to truly get what was going on around her. While we were there I thought how the next year would be very different and even more fun. It's the next year and it was so much more fun. Ella was able to engage with all the things they had set up for the kids. She climbed all over the hay bail pyramid, ran through the hay bail maze with Ben and me following, loved petting the animals, waved at the tractor pulled wagon every time she saw it, played with pumpkins, and toughly entertained Ben and me.

It was the perfect Fall day. There was no rain, which is rare here in our area, we had nothing planned, and we were all together. So we decided to head to farm. Below are pictures from our trip. For fun I have also included a few pictures from last year. You can see how much Ella has grown in a year.




Last year I had to hold her.



This year she could sit on her own.



She was so tiny.



No so much this year.



Ella loved the hay bail maze. She ran all over it. It was hard to keep up with her.








We found this great tractor three-wheeler. It was hard to get Ella off the tractor



Last year Ella didn't really notice the animals at the petting zoo. This year she loved the animals.



She is a country girl at heart.





Ella loved riding on the wagon out to the pumpkin patch. Daddy made a perfect seat.

I Can Do Anything You Can Do Better

You know that old song that goes "I can do anything you can do better?"


Well I should play that for Ella. She has become quite the little mimic these days. If she sees someone patting their head, she pats her head. If you spin in a circle, she spins a circle. The other night she had her hands above her head making these weird movements. I wasn't sure what she was doing until I looked behind me at Ben and saw that he was putting on his tux jacket and was adjusting the collar. She was mimicking his movements just without the jacket.


She amazes me with how much she is growing and changing. The baby that she was a year ago is gone. She is absolutely a toddler now. She runs around the house trying to do every thing she can. I can't pull anything over her. I used to be able to be able to tuck my phone or the remote under a cushion and she would forget about it, but now she knows exactly what I am trying to do and will move the cushion to get the phone or remote.


She is far too smart for my own good.

It took longer then it should have...

Yesterday I was vacuuming the house and it took much longer then it normally does because of Ella. Not because she was being bad or into things she shouldn't be in but rather she was far too cute. Every time I looked at her she was doing one of the cutest things she could do. I would have to stop immediately, grab the camera and hope I could capture the cuteness. Some times I was successful and other times I was not.

Lately she has really been into books. She will carry books around the house "reading" them. I looked over while vacuuming and saw her sitting on her pillow reading her book. Way too cute.

It's a really good book!




She also found her rocking chair to be a good spot to read her book.

She tried to feed Hudson her cantaloupe she threw down during her lunch. He didn't eat them, but he did lick them and then she ate it. So I won't be winning mommy of the year for that one.

He wasn't very interested.

When he didn't want to eat the cantaloupe she played hide and seek behind the curtains. What can I say. She is cute.

Swim Lessons

We are taking swim lessons this Fall.

Very exciting.

We have been looking forward to them for weeks and today was the day we would start.

We got ready. Put on our suits, got our towels, looked up the combination for our lock and headed off to do some errands before the lesson. After our errands we went to the Firstenburg Center and checked in. We gathered with the other parents and kids and listened to our instructor go over the rules. Once the rules were over (and Ella was crying to get in the pool to play with the toys that were in the bin sitting on the edge of the pool and I was sweating profusely) it was finally time to get in the pool.

We were two seconds from getting in the pool when the tweets from the whistles started. Everyone had to get out of the pool! What happened? Well someone pooped in the pool. No I am not kidding. Two minutes into the swim lesson and there was a floater and that was the end of our lesson. The pool had to be cleared and we were not getting in for our lesson.

So we will try again on Thursday. Hopefully everyone will go to the bathroom before and we will have a lesson.

Just for fun I have included pictures of Ella in her swimsuit . So cute.

First Day of School

Today is the first day of school and I am not there. It is strange to not be going to work today, tomorrow or any day this year. I am so happy to be staying home with Ella this year. I look forward to be able to have play dates, go to the library's reading hour, meet Ben for the random lunch in the park, and number of other things staying home allows me to do. But at the same time I will miss school.

I will miss the students, the routine, the events, my colleagues, teaching history, seeing students "get it", discussions about education, holidays in school, special breaks, and the list goes on.

I will not miss grading, getting up early, tests, complaints, fire drills, emails, state requirements, waiting for the buses, students misbehaving, or the like.

I am surprised by my lack of complete and utter joy over staying home. I am so happy to stay home with Ella, to have this time with her and to support Ben in his preparation for his Doctorate. But at the same time I will miss the classroom. I am going to cherish this season in life though. I will not wish one day away while I am home because I know that this season is short. Before I know it I will be back in the classroom and Ella will not be a little girl anymore. She already has grown so fast. She is no longer a baby. I have a toddler. So with that in mind I will embrace this season. I will soak it all up and treasure it.