Aye! Aye! Aye!

Happy Cinco de Mayo! Love, Senorita Ella

To see more pictures from our authentic Mexican dress photo shoot, click here. Many thanks to Kristina and Mike for sending Ella this adorable gift from their trip to Mexico (pre swine flu people...no worries.)

Monday

Just a smile or two for your Monday...hope it's a fabulous week for all of us!

Where does the time go?

My baby (our baby as Tom always corrects me) is 18 months old today. I have (we have) a 1 1/2 year old. WOW. She is growing up before our eyes. Before we know it, she will be 18 and driving away in her car to head to college. Geez time for another baby, huh? Too bad that's impossible unless I'm Mary. Empty nest syndrome is lurking around the corner. I'm getting way ahead of myself. (I see my mom saying this to herself as she reads this post).

As far as Ella, she is doing great. Her vocabulary amazes me daily. Her newest words this week have been Johnny, Callie (I'm not surprised), pee pee, potty...Just today she said "I pooped" and patted her hiney (tmi?? I apologize). She is really starting to string words together, too. When Tom was on the webcam the other day, I asked her who he was and she replied with "That's MY daddy." Can it get any cuter than that? She also likes to say "That's a flower" or "that's mommy" or "that's a shoe". Pretty much anything she can put "that's" with, she will. Her favorite thing to do lately is to grab my hand and ask to play "ring round" which is her way of saying 'Ring around the Rosey'. Then I have to spin her around on the floor til 'we all fall down' and do it alllll over again until I'm too dizzy to play any longer. Ella can spin forever. Me? I'm old.

So here's to Ella...happy 1.5 yrs old girly. Thanks for making me a very happy mama.

Treats

After church on Sunday, I rewarded Ella with some Starbucks and a trip to the PX to buy her a new water table for summer. Ok, so the Starbucks was for me (mama needs her treats, too), but Ella certainly enjoyed her chocolate milk and showed it by shaking her hiney to the Maroon 5 song that was playing in the background. The girl loves to boogie.

I found a bubble fountain at the PX and just HAD to buy it because the machine blows bubbles FOR ME. No more sitting outside with a giant bubble wand praying that more than one bubble comes out. No more Ella shouting "more bubbles, more bubbles!!" at me because apparently I'm not quite fast enough for her. Complete happiness from the both of us. It's a win win situation. Lazy parenting at it's finest. Just press ON. :)

Click on the collage to make it a little bigger;)

Rain Rain, go away...

I was chatting on the phone with my bestie Bridget this morning and the rain was just pouring down. I told her I had to video tape it just for HER to see what I had to wake up to this morning. I'm sure all of you FL people are out at the beach or pool right now soaking up the sunshine. Whatever. This is what I get to enjoy. Oh and to make things worse, Tom has asked we not attend anymore "playgroup" activities because of the swine flu (unless we wear masks...and yes, he was very serious). So needless to say, story hour at the library this morning was also a bust. By the way, the rain has been pouring down now for 6 hours straight. April showers better bring my garden some May flowers.

Friends forever.

These two are inseparable. And adorable.

I wish I had her talent

Can I just have a teeny tiny bit of my mom's talent? Please? I can't even sew a button on a shirt (or a coat--thank you to Callie's mom for fixing my peacoat this winter!). One of my mom's latest creations...

How adorable are these? To see more of her fabulous work click here. Or visit her Etsy shop here. Let me know if you need a gift;) She can make anything and embroider anything. After all, she is amazing. And that's not just because she's my mom either.

The little things

It's the little things in life lately that make me smile from ear to ear. It's the unexpected surprises that brighten my day...the beautiful card my friend Laura sent to me to let me know she's thinking of me. It's the Facebook message from a HS friend letting me know he's been through it and he's there for me. It's the beautiful bouquet of flowers sent to me out of the blue from my hubby accompanied with a smiley face balloon for Ella to cheer us up. It's the text messages from Jaimie and others who send *hugs* and well wishes on random days. It's the afternoon naps with my little girl, my sweet Ella, watching her nestled on a pillow adorned with a pillowcase from my late grandma...a gift for our first wedding anniversary which I will never throw away no matter how old it gets. It's the little things that always keep me smiling.

TV or Dance?

Ella can't decide whether she wants to dance or watch tv in this video. The girl loves the boob tube...what can I say?? She also loves Beyonce's Single Ladies song and I will catch her throughout the day saying "uh oh oh uh oh oh ohh" singing the chorus on her own.

51 left...

...weeks that is. We managed to survive our first week without the man of the house. Aren't you all so proud? It hasn't been easy because I truly miss Tom and Ella screams daddy more times now than ever before. I am starting to believe she thinks he lives in the computer. Every time I flip the laptop open, she says "Hiiiii Dadddddyyyy!" in her cutest squeal. The problem is...the computer is still off when she says this! How do you explain to an 18 month old that daddy is halfway around the the world and when Riley barks, it doesn't mean daddy is home from work?!? :(

It's been a slightly productive week. I feel a bit more independent. Even though it's a forced independence b/c I would still rather Tom do it all. Tom was quite surprised to hear I managed to wash my car (it looked almost AS good as it did the day we drove it off the lot in Germany...I do believe that was the last time I washed it myself as well...I couldn't have the snow and salt ruining black beauty's paint...oh and minus the scratch from some Parisian imbecile...remember that Bridget?? I still love Paris!) I also fixed our squeaky pantry door (Tom couldn't believe I knew what WD40 was), pumped my own gas (Tom always does this for me), killed the family of red ants in our backyard, and here's the kicker...I killed a scorpian. A. Huge. One. Yup. It was in our living room and staring at the two of us. I imagine it was drooling, ready to eat my toddler and then possibly my foot or arm. I have only seen one other scorpian since living here. It was at my old job under my desk and you better believe I screamed my head off. They laughed b/c they aren't deadly here (how was I supposed to know that??). I have seen my fair share of tarantulas (so big you can see them running across the road), but scorpians...the thought of being stung by one sends chills down my spine. Go figure one shows up after Tom is out of the house. It doesn't matter now though b/c I'm pretty sure word has spread around the scorpian world not to mess with this tough no-bug nonsense chick. All in all, a good week! See look...Ella is still smiling!