A New Season

A week ago our family entered a new season in life. I returned to Hockinson High School as a part-time social studies teacher. We have been preparing for this change for awhile and on February 2nd the change came. This change meant that we had to find someone to watch Ella while both Ben and I were at work. We found that person in Rose Hendrix. She is a wonderful person and we are very grateful that she is a part of Ella's life. I have watched in the lives of our friends how their parents' friends can be influeneces in their lives. God can use these adults to influence the kids. There are times when a kid can not hear things from their parents but can from another adult. I am hopeful that Rose will be one of these people for Ella. God seems to have worked all this out so that Rose can watch Ella.

Ella is doing great with Rose. She is happy and smiling when Ben drops her off and laughing and playing when I pick her up. Rose has a chocolate lab named Cooper that Ella loves and that plays with her. Cooper helps Ella feel like she is at home because he reminds her of her Hudson. Her time with Rose is great and I am grateful that she is in a good place while I am at work. I think it will be a good thing for Ella to spend this time with Rose.

This new schedule also gives Ben more time with Ella. I leave for work at 8 am and Ben has Ella until he drops her off at 9:30 am. Daddy dresses her, packs up her stuff, and plays with her. He has made a special CD of music he wants to share with Ella that they listen to on their way to Roses'. On Mondays and Fridays he picks her up at 11:30 and they hang out just the two of them until I get home at 12:45.

Last week I also got a new job. I am now working part time as an online instructor for the IQ Academy. I am still working on understanding all of the ins and outs of the job but am excited to get started. The great part of this job is that I can do the work from home and set my own schedule.

So far this new season in our family is going very well.

A Lot Has Happened in the Last Two Months

I have not been a good blogger in the past two months. In part it is because I was busy with the holidays and all the changes with Ella and then the thought of updating the blog to contain everything in Ella's World became overwhelming. So now I will attempt a quick recap of the past two months. A lot has happened so it may take awhile.

During the "Arctic Blast" of 2008 we enjoyed a lot of family time at home with Auntie Sarah and her friend. Since it was so cold and snowy we thought a snow suit for Ella was in order. Ella seemed to enjoy the snow. She was nice and cozy as she laid in the snow. We definitely enjoyed the intense family time and looking out at the beautiful snowy landscape.

Our first Christmas with Ella was great. Due to the snow storm during Christmas we barely made it across the state to see part of our family at Christmas. Our original plan was to go to Spokane to see Grandma and Grandpa Moll and Aunt Heidi through Christmas Eve. We would then travel to Tri-Cities to see Grandma and Grandpa Whitney and Aunt Brooke and Uncle Travis. The snow made it only possible to go as far as Tri-Cities. The Gorge reopen just two days before Christmas and we just made it through. Spokane was not in our reach since they got over SIX feet of snow. I could not imagine so much snow. The holiday was great despite the changes in our plans. We had a lot of fun seeing family and friends in Tri-Cities. It was a very relaxing time.

Ella spent some good hanging out time with grandpa on the couch with Maddie and Abby!

Ella opened her Christmas presents with Grandpa Whitney and Uncle Travis. Here she is working on chewing on Uncle Travis' hand. Teeth were in her near future.

Since Ella was five months old on Christmas day we thought it would be appropriate for her to have rice cereal as her Christmas feast. I was surprised how runny "solid" food is for a baby. Ella liked it though and by the end she was really getting into eating solids.

Daddy held her while I feed her the rice cereal.

After breakfast.

Ella loves her solids. She even loves carrots. I was very surprised about that. She will follow you with her eyes as you walk around the kitchen with her food and eats it in no time. She is eating squash, carrots, pears, grape juice, and rice cereal. Next we are trying zucchini. I love zucchini but would not eat her pureed zucchini. I will be surprised if she likes it.

The day after Christmas Ella was playing with Grandma Whitney. She was chewing on her hands having a good time when Grandma said "I think I feel teeth here." She was right. Ella had cut her first two teeth. You can see them in the picture above. She is working on more teeth now. I think we will see top teeth next.

She is on the move now. For awhile now Ella has been able to roll over. Now she is able to get up on her knees. She is even able get up on her hands and toes with her butt up in the air. It is very cute. She hasn't mastered going forward yet but she is really good at going backwards. Below you can see her progress into the bathroom.

Almost in the bathroom.

In the bathroom.

Here she backed herself up under the cabinet.

Since her hair is getting longer I am able to put her hair up in a ponytail. It is so cute. She looks like a cupie doll with her hair up.

With all this hair sometimes it gets a little crazy.

Ella is sitting up so well she sits in her high chair all the time.

This was a great image to come back to after I got my hair cut. I love seeing Ella and Ben spending time together.

Sitting so pretty. She often sits and plays.

January 25th was Ella's half birthday. Ben decided a few months ago that he wanted to celebrate half birthdays. Since Ella is so young there is not much to do, so we had a little celebration with Auntie Sarah. We got cupcakes from St. Cupcakes and Sarah surprised her with a birthday crown. It was a lot of fun.

Thanks Aunt Sarah.

Ella loved the crown so much she pulled over her eyes.

Some times Ben likes to be goofy with Ella. This was one such morning. He decided Ella needed to help with the laundry so she pulled her weight.

One of Ella's favorite things to do is to bounce in her bouncy seat. She really gets going in the thing. It has definitely helped to strengthen her legs.

So Cute.

Ella loves to stick out her tongue. She does it all the time. People often comment on it.

Ahh.....Bonneville

This Fall has been crazy! With Ella here and Ben's schedule exploding we have been all over the place all the time. Ben decided a few weeks ago that we were going to get away for at least one night. After looking at a number of places we decided to go to Bonneville Hot Springs because it was close and we had heard good things about it from a number of people. I am hear to say that it was great. We had a room with a hot tub on the balcony and I had a mineral bath and wrap. The time away was great. It was good to see my husband and it was good to be together as a family. Ella was perfect. We were able to spend a lot of time in the hot tub even with a baby. We would put her on her bouncy chair in front of the sliding door and watch her from the hot tub. She slept through the night and hardly fussed. I love how great she is.

Before we left we hung out in the lobby. Ella got real comfortable. She is such a laid back kid.

For the Love of Toys

Can you see Ella?

She is under all her toys. She loves her toys now. We have Fergie the Frog, Harriet the Horse, Lenard the Lion, and her taggie blanket. As you can see we are into alliteration in the Moll house! Ella enjoys laying on the floor and playing with these toys. She spends up to an hour just playing with the toys and moving around the blanket. Some time she spins around the blanket so that she points a new direction. She almost rolls over. She can get on her side but not make it to her stomach yet. But she is working on it.

We have to make sure to take the toys with us when we leave the house. I have found that toys help in the car. Ella is a great baby. She sleeps well, plays well, and eats well, but she does not ride well. Many times in the car I have driven home or other places with a screaming baby. I don't really know why she cries but I think it has something to do with not being able to see me or that she is bored. The toys are helping. We have fewer screaming drives now with the toys. So thank you Fergie, Harriet, and Lenard.

Ella's Friends

Even though Ella is only 3 and 1/2 months old she already has many friends around her age.

This is Joel. Joel loves Ella. He talks about Ella at home and even knows her car. A while back he saw a green Element while driving with his mom, Brooke, and pointed at the Element and said, "Ella, Ella." When Brooke asked him who he wanted to invite to his birthday party, Ella was on the short list. In the picture Joel is buckling Ella's car seat. Joel loves to buckle all buckles he comes into contact with. Whenever Joel is around I can be sure to find Ella's car seat all buckled up.

This is Zack. Joel's younger brother. Zack and Ella both had the same due date. His mom, Brooke, and I were college roommates so to have the same due date was a big surprise and a lot of fun. Zack was born a week before Ella. We have all decided that they will become great friends.

This is Zoe. Zoe was born in early April. Her parents are Peter and Diane. Ben and Peter play music together often and we all go to church together at Imago Dei. Peter and Diane choose not to find out if they were having a girl or boy so when Zoe was born a girl we were all very excited because at that point we knew Ella was girl and we decided they would both be great friends. In this picture Diane and I had the girls and were taking them to the Beaverton Farmer's Market to see Ben and Peter play music with their group Pocketnopocket. Notice they both have the same car seat. After Zoe was born we were over at her house and Ben was checking out her car seat and stroller. He decided then and there that that would be the system we would get and so Zoe and Ella match whenever we take them out together.

This is Joy. No Joy is not around Ella's age but she is carrying Ella's friend who will be born in about 5 weeks. Joy is having a girl but she and Bill have not settled on a name for their little girl. Since I didn't like calling the baby "baby" I gave her a gag name. We are calling her Tiffany Coco Channel until she is born and we know her real name. I am sure Joy and Bill will give her a much better name than this.

Aigee, Aigoo

Apparently Ella takes after her daddy and loves to talk. Yes I said daddy. Ben is the real talker of the family and Ella is obviously following in daddy's footsteps. She is beginning to find her "voice" in the past week or so. Aigee is one of her favorite sayings. The other day Ben and Ella had an exchange of aigees and aigoos. Ella would say aigee over and over and Ben would say aigoo back to her.

With her voice Ella is also discovering volume. Just about every morning when Ella wakes up she wakes up growling very loudly. She opens her mouth wide and growls as loud as she can. She has this amazingly cute face as she does. I am sure she is trying to say something to us as she growls. Last night we had our home community meeting at our house. Ella was in her Bumbo seat on the kitchen table when people started arriving. She must have gotten really excited with the people arriving because she began to growl and smile at everyone that walked through the door. She got really loud as she did it. It was hard to hear over her. Some times when I am on the phone she does the same thing and the person on the phone will comment on it.

It will be interesting to what her first real words will be!

It's In Her Blood

With a grandma that is a teacher, a grandma who has been a librarian, and a dad that reads 10 books at the same time, it is only natural that Ella would be drawn to books. While she was hanging out in her swing, I got a book out to read to Ella. She automatically grabbed the book and wanted to investigate it. She even began to turn the pages. I have a feeling we will be reading many books together in our future.

It was a touch and feel book with baby animals. These are great books because they have different materials that feel like the animals' skin or fur. That way the kids can "touch and feel" how the animal would really feel.