A Poor Man's Disneyland

The last night we were in Finley we of course had to go out to the shop. I ran inside for something and when I returned my mom had put Ella in the cart she has to bring things into the house from the shop. I immediately returned to the house for the camera. By the time I returned the cart had become an amusement park ride. It was hilarious. We were all dying watching my dad run her around the shop in the cart. We said "Who needs Disneyland when you have a shop and cart."

This is video of the last ride.

A Little Bit Country

Some of you may not know it but I was a country girl in my younger years. :-) OK I wasn't a complete country girl. There was always a part of me that wanted to live in the city. Now that I live in the city I love to go home to my roots and I love even more to expose Ella to the country. This past week Ella and I spent a week at my parent's house. I have to say that my girl loved the country. She loved the cattle, the pigs, taking a walk around the property, playing in the shop, driving the boat, going to great-grandma's with her Popas, and so many other things.

Every day we went for a walk. Ella found many exciting and fun things to explore.



This day the steps at the house were absolutely enthralling.



There are more steps on the other side of the house!



Ella's absolute favorite place at grandma and grandpa's was Popas' shop.



Often we would play in the shop after the bath and PJ's. That meant she had to wear her galoshes in the shop which was very fitting for this atmosphere.



The first night we were there Ella went out to the shop with grandpa. When I came out to the shop later I found her in uncle Travis' boat learning about the joys of fishing. Uncle Travis showed her how to make the engine go up and down. When Ella mastered this it was she was very proud of herself and couldn't get enough of making the engine go up and down and up and down and up and down...you get the picture.







She was a pro by our last night there.



Just checking things out.



During the walks Ella also checked out the farm animals. She really enjoyed checking out the steers (one of which is no longer with us but is hanging in the cooler in the shop ;-0), horses, and pigs. I think Ella's favorite animal was the horse. She wanted very much to get really close to them but there was a hot wire between us and them so we only looked from a distance.



For the Whitney's pigs have a been a staple animal in the field for years. We have raised pigs for as long as I can remember. This was Ella's first real introduction to the pigs. At first they were shy and wouldn't come over to visit.



But after calling them for a bit they came to say hi.



Ella enjoyed getting an up close view of the pigs.



Will she be a pig farmer in the future?



While we were in Finley the Super Bowl happened. Every year my dad has a huge party in the shop. Ella had the best time. She was not shy and made many new friends that day. My girl is quick to get comfortable with people. She was flirting with many, playing games with others and just being herself with everyone.



She really enjoyed watching the game with Popas. He also enjoyed it. For some time now Ella has been forming a deep love for my dad. She loves to do any thing with him and hates it when he leaves her sight. She will follow him around and try to help him with whatever he is doing. This love affair began at Christmas and has deepened with every visit. He picked us up and brought us home. After he left she keep going to the door pointing to it and crying. She misses him.



In the evening she would help Popas bring in firewood. The first night she helped, she wouldn't let him stop bringing in wood. By the time he finally called a stop to it he had enough wood for the night and the whole next day. The wood was going down the hallway.





Since she couldn't carry the wood she just showed Popas the way to the stove.

We had a great trip. I loved that she was able to experience the country. There is definitely something special about life in the country. It is quite and slow, which was a good change of pace.

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.