Loving the Mountains

Hibachi - More fun with a 3 year old!

2012-02-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

Joe and I picked Ella up from school and we headed to Last Samurai for dinner. We hadn't been to a hibachi restaurant in years! It was so much fun to enjoy the experience through the eyes of a toddler. She proudly ordered shrimp and she did a great job!
I have a great memory going to hibachi and sitting with a family. It was their "good grade dinner". Those kids were hilarious at the time, but Ella sure took the cake tonight!

I recommend the experience to all parents!

It's a small world full of blessings!

2012-02-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

I just spent an hour on the phone with a parent who has been in my shoes! My cousin Jill follows my blog. She thought of a someone who had a son who had surgery in Texas. She did some follow up and learned that they had also used Dr. Fearon!
Wow! Wow! Wow! The parents are both pharmacists. I talked the longest with Judd who is from Iowa and a Hawkeye grad! His son had a local surgery that didn't go well. He researched and researched and chose Dr. Fearon!

It was AWESOME to be able to discuss the process pharmacist to pharmacist. We were on the same page of our research process and questions. He emailed me pictures of his adorable son. His son was also 3 when they traveled to Dallas for his 2nd surgery. He looks so great one week after surgery! Judd is my cranio surgery parent twin! It's amazing how much we think alike!

I'm still scared and I'll still worry and stress, but a huge burden is off of me just knowing I have a friend out there who's really been through all of this!

A HUGE thanks to Jill! You have no idea how helpful this was!

What a blessing!

Dentist Success

2012-02-09T11:10:00.000-07:00

Ella went for her overdue dentist appointment today. She amazes me! On the way there she told me she was going to cry. She played shy when we went back to the room.

She did AWESOME! She cooperated, listened, and didn't even cry!

Dinosaur Train was on the TV and with her eyes squinted shut she said, "I hear Dinosaur Train" and we all assured her she could open her eyes and watch it, but she was content!

The best part is always the coin to put in the machine and choose a prize! She was so excited.She gets so excited she doesn't even know what she is choosing! She got a blue plastic dinosaur!

Proud Mama! We could always be better at brushing....but all in all, GREAT check up!

Yay!

Words of Advice

2012-02-08T23:26:00.000-07:00

I had a crappy afternoon at work. I was just plain in a bad mood. I had a headache.
Me: "I'm going to go get a soda and hope it improves my mood."
Co-worker: "why don't you make it a double?".

Laughter from all! He was just trying to be nice and thoughtful.....hoping I could be double happy, but it was sure hilarious and just the laugh I needed!

Holy Crap

2012-02-08T00:00:00.000-07:00

I've shared my Holy Crap story with anyone who will listen at work! Tonight we ALL agreed the theme of the evening was HOLY CRAP! It was one of those nights....
I wasn't going to publicly admit this story, but it's just too darn funny to not share!

Ella wanted to help me get our snacks ready for the Super Bowl. I let her turn the mixer on while making the salsa/cream cheese dip. Her eyes were huge and she exclaimed, "HOLY CRAP". My motherly instinct made me say, "what did you say?". "HOLY CRAP!" I did what any first time mom would do....I laughed hysterically as she said it over and over again in her cute little voice as she giggled with me.

Ella: "why are you laughing?"
Me: "The look on your face was just so funny that I can't stop laughing." (nothing like lying, but I thought it was a good save)
Ella ran into the living room to tell Joe, "holy crap" as well.

It was so funny to me because it was so natural and her little voice was hilarious!

The subject was dropped and we moved on.

Monday was uneventful!

This morning she remembered some gummy worms that were in the car. The bag was left open, so they were dried out and frozen. I gave her one and said, "well, it's really cold and you didn't close the bag, so it's dried out.". She's 3, it's candy before lunch, she tried it!

From the backseat, "HOLY CRAP!".

This time I reserved my laughter and ignored her. She said it 10 more times. I was biting my tongue!

Eventually, I said, "Ella, that isn't very nice to say. Maybe you could say Holy Cow or Holy Moley". She tried them both, but resorted back to holy crap!

Laurie, "Little girls shouldn't say that".
Ella, "what if I'm a mean girl?"
Laurie, "you're a nice girl and you should say, holy moley or holy cow, or oh my goodness".
Ella drops the subject.

We pull into school and Ella exclaims, "HOLY CRAP!" with laughter.

Laurie, "where did you learn those words?"
Ella, "school, right there!"

I felt a sense of relief that she didn't say, "I learned it from YOU!".

The final conversation, "if your teachers tell Daddy you were saying that at school, there will be no TV tonight".

Conversation OVER!

Joe's Birthday Weekend

2012-02-06T11:21:00.000-07:00

We talked about doing many things this weekend. In the end we stayed close to home and had the best time doing many of our favorite things! A huge thanks to Dorothy for keeping Ella for a sleepover!
Friday night was Sushi Groove and Wise Guys. Ella did fine with her sitter. We left saying, "why don't we come here more often?". We really do share a love for comedy! If you get the chance, go see Kevin Pollak. We're still waiting for our photo that he said he'd email!

Saturday we met Dorothy for lunch at Texas Roadhouse and then went to the aquarium. I bought Joe a penguin experience and he loved it!

Yes, I will sit in the saddle because Ella wants to!

The Aquarium

The Penguin Experience is in a room behind the
regular exhibit

They open the door and you can watch the penguins, but
you must remain STILL and quiet.

Joe said they pecked at his jeans!

That's a penguin experience!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Ella spent the night with Grandma and Joe and I headed downtown. We went to dinner and then to a Grizzly Hockey Game. We were ecstatic to finally stay for the whole game and watch the entire game!

Ella and Dorothy decorated and made a cake. We headed to Dorothy's for an amazing lunch, cake, and presents!

I took Ella shopping at the $1 store. She chose a gift, gift bag
and bow for the bag! She had a blast and was so
proud!

See...you can attach the hose and we can play!
She knows Daddy loves to play outside with her!

Such a helper!

Grandma gave Ella shirt from Sundance

This was a HIT!

The cake bakers and decorators!

How much longer do I have to wait to EAT this cake?

I found these adorable peachy penguins to give to Joe
when I told him about his penguin experience!

We finished out the weekend watching the Super Bowl and eating our favorite snacks! Joe entered us into the squares game at work and we won the first 2 quarters with our numbers of 9 for the Giants and 0 for the Patriots!

Such a fun birthday weekend and we're still working on planning the 40th birthday family trip in March!

Devastating

2012-02-06T09:57:00.000-07:00

While watching the Super Bowl, the text scrolled on the bottom of the screen stating that Josh Powell's home exploded and the bodies of two children were found. I had to read it several times to process as it scrolled across the screen. I grabbed my phone and went to ksl.com. I just can't get this picture out of my head! This has been a national story that began before Christmas in 2009! It's a local story. I've followed it pretty closely. I watched the 20/20 or dateline about the case which aired a few months ago. I've seen the family of Susan Powell speak at a missing persons event we attended.
I feel so sad for those 2 precious little boys! In some ways, they are in a better place and reunited with their mother. There lives have probably been such hell that it may be better and at least they died very quickly.

I heard that the father of Josh Powell is on suicide watch in jail. Seriously....we are spending more money to keep him alive? He makes me ill!

I feel the most sad this morning for the poor social worker. She likely works 24-7 including a Sunday afternoon to provide a supervised visit for these kids. She was completely helpless and she was forced out and the door shut in her face while minutes later she watched the home explode! Her life is forever changed and likely ruined. This hits too close to home for me as I know this is a similar position of my sister.

I feel sad for the parents of Susan who were raising those sweet boys after years of fighting for custody and even a chance to be in their lives. I heard that the older boy didn't want to go see his Dad and yet they encouraged him to go because it was court ordered. The horror and emptiness they must feel.

It's wrong, it hurts, I am sad. Our system failed too many and it breaks my heart.

Super Bowl Time - Menu

2012-02-05T16:29:00.000-07:00

Salsa/Cream Cheese dip with Scoops

Salsa/Velveeta dip with Scoops

Hot wings with blue cheese and celery

Little smokies

Shrimp Cocktail

YUMMMMM!

Happy 40th Birthday Joe!

2012-02-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

What an awesome weekend! It has been a lot of fun and I have pictures and stories to share!
We keep saying, "remember when we thought 40 was old?". Joe is 40 years young today and my favorite memory on his birthday was 4 years ago when that little stick was positive and we found out Ella would be born the following fall!

Happy, Happy Birthday to a great husband, daddy, and best friend!

No big party per Joe's request, but a fun weekend doing many of his favorite activities!

Brush with Fame - Kevin Pollak

2012-02-03T21:11:00.000-07:00

Joe and I went out for sushi and then to a show at Wise Guys. We saw Kevin Pollak and he was AWESOME! After the show he was selling a DVD and taking pictures. Joe and I had a picture taken on HIS iPhone and he'll email it to us!

Super cool! One of the BEST comedy shows I've ever been to!

Highly recommend it if you have the chance to see him! The joys of living in Utah. Not sold out and cheap to have a great seat to another amazing show!

A great start to a birthday weekend!

My gymnast

2012-02-01T22:03:00.001-07:00

Utah is known for it's Olympic Gymnasts! I have followed Shawn Johnson because of my history with gymnastics and her connection with Iowa! She went to school with my cousin.
I saw a video of Shawn in her crib doing baby gymnastics! I see that video everytime I see Ella pull these stunts!

Joe allowed her to do this. She KNOWS she must have a parent on the couch and the ottoman pulled up the to couch. Tonight she begged me to sit there and I reached for the camera.

We cannot wait to get Ella into the GTC (Gymnastics Training Center) which is blocks from our house and creates many Olympians!

We joke about Ella going to college on some type of athletic scholarship and gymnastics is our first shot!

I'm most excited to put her in this summer with her closed skull to gain the benefits from training like discipline, energy exertion, concentration and mostly because she will have a ton of fun and wear herself out!

FYI: I did take my turn after she was done and it's much harder than I remember to do a somersault! OUCH!

Poor Nicky

2012-02-01T21:28:00.000-07:00

This is Ella's new entertainment. She tosses Nicky's food around the kitchen and he has to chase it down and eat it. She laughs her head off. Nicky eats dinner. I am able to cook dinner. Win, win, win!

Disclaimer: This food was put in Nicky's bowl this morning and he didn't eat it! Nicky loves Ella. He is an awesome dog and just deals with her. They have an amazing bond. I promise we are not causing animal cruelty!

Ella also creates a bed for Nicky in her room with her soft, cuddly blankets and reads books to him!

Oh, Miss Ella

2012-02-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

We had date late last Friday night. It was FABULOUS! We came home to find Ella like this sound asleep! I had gotten a text from the sitter saying that Ella refused to put on PJ's and wanted to sleep in her very soft pants (fleece). This made us laugh so hard I had to snap a pic. Thankfully when I checked on her early in the morning she had taken the hat off!

Ski Lesson 3

2012-02-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

Last week I took Ella to ski school and left her at the door and she went inside to the "parent free zone". I waited and waited outside as the other kiddos came out. She was one of the last ones out and she was with one little boy and 2 instructors and they headed up the gondola. She gave me a hug and kiss and I waved her off.

I went to the coffee shop and Joe met me there. I headed back down to work and left Joe with the camera. My instructions: Take some pictures of Ella when she gets off the gondola.

This is what I found on my camera! There's the gondola she has ridden up and down in! It was the peak of Sundance, so maybe there are some A-listers in those gondolas!

Sadly, this was her final ski lesson. She was too sick to go on Monday and they won't let us reschedule for Friday!

Bedtime Stories

2012-02-01T20:23:00.000-07:00

We used to read books to Ella at bedtime. Miss Indepentent 3 going on 23 can do it herself! She just HAS to read to her friends. She carefully tucks them all in and arranges them perfectly. Sometimes they watch a "movie" on an imaginerary screen and special friends get to sit on her lap! This night she had this baby book and every animal had their turn to see themself in the mirror.

Miss Ella, I love you!

Serious Game!

2012-02-01T20:19:00.000-07:00

This was a few weeks ago. Dora on the Leapster. Joe's headset for work. Vest. There's no way we could convince this serious, stylish gamer to go to bed!

I own a Scentsy!

2012-02-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

I got it for Christmas and I love it! My Mom has had one for years. I always told her it wasn't my thing. Then I heard of the college collection and told her I liked it! Merry Christmas to Laurie and I think it's cute in my kitchen!

Do you have a sick food?

2012-02-01T20:05:00.000-07:00

Joe does. I don't. My prediction is that Ella is going to crave Ramen Noodles anytime she is sick! She's had them every day this week and she ATE them, so I made them! Today she had them for lunch and dinner (disclaimer: she did have healthy snacks in addition). She asked for them at 10AM and I caved and made her "dinner" at 11! She loves to crunch on the stray noodles in the bottom of the bag!

Great food to have a high energy, short attention span toddler "cook". Boil 2 cups of water add noodles and boil for 2 minutes. Even Ella can wait that long for a meal!

I never had them growing up. I learned about Ramen in college. I was hooked on Campbell's version that were 3x the price and "baked-not-fried" my freshman year! They stopped making them and I stopped eating ramen until I met Joe!

I thought ramen noodles were for making this recipe and that's it!

She's on the MEND!

2012-02-01T19:54:00.000-07:00

Ella could have gone to school today.....but hindsight is 20/20 and she did have a fever of 102 last night and the official rule is 24 hours without fever! Today Joe is in meetings until 10PM, not the kind of meetings you can easily leave when daycare calls you to pick up your sick kid! When I work the evening shift I'm the only person their to do my job after 4:30, so I just can't leave either. We played it safe today. I'm exhausted!
Ella has been sick and played her sick card for several days! This afternoon when she chose not to nap and was looking like her feisty self, life went back to normal with strict rules and expectations for behavior! Rough afternoon for Ella and many fits before I finally got her to bed!

She told me she's waiting up for Daddy so as long as she stays in her bed she can do whatever....but I'm guessing she'll be asleep within minutes!

SERIOUSLY!!!!

2012-01-31T23:53:00.001-07:00

What a week! Ella is still sick, super sick, except for the 2 hours from when I made her appointment at her pediatrician to when we returned home. She ate like a champ instantly after I made the call. She ran and bounced and smiled at her visit (although she said, "I'm so, so sick")! She has a virus. A really crappy, horrible virus!

In hindsight, this is one of those sneaky viruses that starts as a GI bug and when you get over that....surprise, horrible achy, fever, congestion, cough, and misery! Her ribs are so sore from coughing and it breaks my heart to watch and hear her cough!

We sprang the first leak in our almost-100 year old pipes. I guess they didn't like the new stuff going to the water heater and we had a visit from our plumber friend from yesterday and more water in our office!

Tonight I answered one of those phone calls at work that became a 2 hour stressful problem (someone else's problem) that I had to resolve! Knowing my sick child was at home, I was only going to provide THE BEST care to another mother taking care of her sick child!

I almost lost it when Ella cried into the phone, "mommy please come home, PLEASE!". It's so hard to leave her, but it's life and she gave Joe a run for his money as usual! I said, "I had a night from hell". He said, "me too"!

I need to decompress after my night, but when I crash, I will sleep and I will enjoy whatever amount of sleep I can and then look forward to a cuddly nap with my punkin! I've called in sick for tomorrow! Joe has meetings with people who have flown in and can't work from home. I'm hoping she turns the corner tomorrow! Enough is ENOUGH!

Seriously...

2012-01-30T16:19:00.000-07:00

The weekend began with Ella having the stomach bug. Joe and I found a flood in the basement and discovered our hot water heater crapped out. Awesome! I hadn't planned on cleaning out our office that turned into a storage dump this weekend! Ella has had the general daycare gunk for months, but she started to get sick on Sunday.
Her cough makes my chest hurt and she feels like crap! I knew I couldn't put her on the mountain for ski school, but I thought she could handle daycare. Then she just wanted me to hold her while she kept saying she didn't feel good and I knew I couldn't take her anywhere!

I called work this morning and offered to come in at 4 (after Joe worked and at least began to take care of the plumbers). They found someone to cover my shift and I just stayed home.

I've spent the day changing movies, snuggling, walking away because she's too fiesty to sit next to, helping her play games on my phone or the ipad, and fetching whatever drink or food she requests. Of course when we get her almost asleep in her room, the plumbers arrive! At least now she's finally asleep!

Ella missed her last ski lesson and they aren't willing to reschedule. I know I said I wouldn't try, but again the lady offered and then said, "oh wait, my computer won't let me do it. The preschool program won't let you change". Bummer! If we lie about her age, we could maybe sneak her into lessons on another mountain in late March and April, but I think her height would give her away!

Ella is ultra-feisty. I've been just grumpy all weekend. Joe is beyond overwhelmed with everything and dealing with the grumps!

Tonight I will have hot water and tomorrow will be a new day!

Let the Weekend Begin!!!

2012-01-26T23:34:00.000-07:00

Our day began at 3:30 AM! I awoke to Ella yelling, "Daddy". I asked Joe to check on her (because I just couldn't do it). I'd been asleep for 3 hours! Ella said her tummy hurt and came to sleep with us. She was RESTLESS and she didn't even ask for the TV on, so I knew she was sick!

It wasn't long and she announced she needed to throw up! Surgery does have it's benefits and she always knows and gives us enough warning! Poor kiddo! Her tummy was just RUMBLING! At least I didn't have loads of sheets, etc to wash!

It was day 7 of 7 for me at work! I'm EXHAUSTED! We survived. I stayed home with her this morning and went into work late when Joe came home early to take over!

I hate the stomach bug and I hope it doesn't bite anyone else this weekend!

The good news: my weekend has arrived!

The marshmallow ball

2012-01-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

Ella was with a sitter last night. When I came home Abby told me that everything went great, but she had a major meltdown about a marshmallow ball! Randomly she started crying and saying, "we didn't make a marshmallow ball" over and over again. Abby tried to calm Ella down, but she kept crying and saying, "it was supposed to be special for YOU". Finally she convinced Ella that she would tell Joe and that calmed her down.
When Joe got home I asked him about it.

He laughed and said, "oh, I smooshed some marshmallows together into a ball and threw it at her like a snowball and she thought it was hilarious".

Evidently he missed the part where she wanted to make a special one for Abby!

Ella brought it up first thing this morning and he instantly made her a special marshmallow ball!

I love these two!

Ella Surgery Update

2012-01-24T23:39:00.002-07:00

We have scheduled Ella's surgery for May 1st in Dallas, Texas. Dr. Fearon will be her surgeon in addition to his assistant craniofacial surgeon and a neurosurgeon. It's a BIG DEAL to do the surgery out of state. After much research, time, prayer, and questions, we have scheduled it!

I had emailed a LONG list of questions to Dr. Fearon. He called me this morning and answered them all and the additional ones I asked. I have a lot of confidence in him! It's unique to find a surgical expert that is such a person! We are so blessed to have found him. He does the most craniofacial surgeries in the US every year. He is always studying his work and outcomes and has a long list of publications to support his work! He's GOOD! There is no guarantee that we won't have any complications this time (it's kind of our track record to have complications), but I think she will be in the best hands that we have available!

His office is used to working with out of state patients. They begin working on the insurance process about 6 weeks to 2 months before surgery. My Type A, pushy, always planning self is struggling with this, but March 1st will come and I'll pray and fight until I get the final word of approval!

Good and bad, my healthcare experience and all we have been through allow us to ask great questions and make even better informed choices!

I called Joe to share all the information. He told me about this conversation with Ella last night.

E: Are we going to get this fixed? (while touching the back of her head)

J: Of course!

It just breaks my heart! Our little girl is wise beyond her years and just KNOWS what's going on. We are always honest with her, but we haven't talked about surgery or her head in so long. She is so special and I will continue to do all that I can for her! I love you Ella Bella Boo!

We plan to go to Dallas early and do some fun things prior to surgery! I'm hopeful recovery will be easier and faster and we'll move into summer ready to go HELMET FREE!

Viral You Tube from my neck of the woods

2012-01-24T08:37:00.000-07:00

We had a storm on Saturday. It was warm and slushy and the huge flakes kept falling. I think this hill is steeper than it appears! I guess if I lived on this hill, I would watch too! This brought back a flashback of driving to high school on early winter mornings where I fish-tailed the entire way down 8th Ave and managed to miss every parked car in my rear-wheel drive car!

Living in a valley -- we have many hills and the hospital is on the side of the mountain! The drive home Saturday night was pretty ugly for me even in 4-wheel drive!

It's Fantasy Football for GIRLS!

2012-01-22T20:52:00.000-07:00

I read a comment recently on facebook from a guy commenting that his girlfriend described Pinterest as "fantasy football for girls". Joe is Mr. Fantasy Football. He runs the very elite team at work. He takes it seriously as does his boss! It's a BIG DEAL at our house. He badly wants me to get into it so that I can share his excitement and understand the importance of the {ridiculous} stress of it all!
This probably wasn't a fair conversation...but I couldn't resist!

L: Can you please download an App for me on your iPad. It's called Pinterest and I want to try it on the iPad.
J: Sure, what is it?
L: It's Fantasy Football for girls
J: EXCITEDLY: Really, that's great!

I move on to login hoping that it didn't cross with facebook and signing me in on his iPad. I began scrolling through the many pins and oooohing and ahhhhing!

J: So, how is this like fantasy football?
L: It's something I enjoy doing like you enjoy fantasy football.
J: You're looking at pictures. How do you compete? How do you WIN?
L: I'm always winning. I find awesome ideas and repin them and then my friends see them and they repin them!

If you don't Pinterest....you should! It's BETTER than Fantasy Football! I'm hooked!

WARNING: It's VERY addicting! I set time limits for myself and I only pinterest once a week or so!

Dear Pinterest, Please make an android app!

First REAL haircut

2012-01-22T20:30:00.000-07:00

Miss Ella is over 3 years old and this is the first ON PURPOSE haircut! I so wish she could be the 3 year old with long curls, pigtails, braids, etc, but we have years of cute hair. I likely will be more lenient when it comes to hair style and color when she wants it after the time in a helmet and being called a boy!

I think it's adorable and I regret not getting her this cut prior to Christmas! Such a big girl haircut.

She still talks about her stitches. It breaks my heart! She remembers more than I want her to!

I also decided with the curls and dryness of Utah, it's time to give up the J&J and move to salon quality shampoo. Our stylist said they put so many things in baby shampoo to make it tear free that it could melt hair! EWW! We'll see how it goes and if I notice a big change in her hair!

The cupcake place next to the salon closed, so no cupcakes which is a bummer! She also put some strong smelling product in Ella's hair and she told the stylist, "it stinks". Honesty only a 3 year old would express!

Go Utah!

2012-01-20T09:06:00.000-07:00

We went to our first Utah sporting event! I have a friend who is an Arizona grad and we went together to the Arizona vs Utah basketball game. It's so sad! This is Pac-12 Basketball. This is ARIZONA basketball and the arena was empty! It worked out nicely for us because tickets are CHEAP and there was plenty of room for Ella to move around!

My attempt at some pig tails!

Stairs and a Churo - this is more fun
than the game!

We made it through part of the 2nd half, but left early when Ella was DONE.

Parenting is the hardest job ever!

2012-01-19T07:43:00.000-07:00

I'm Type A in many areas of my life. I always want to do the BEST job. I take parenting very seriously and I think most people forget to mention (and no one wants to hear).....it's pretty thankless and A LOT OF HARD WORK on little sleep!

This article was shared by multiple friends on Facebook and I agree! It discusses the stress and pressure felt when hearring such comments as, "Oh, Enjoy every moment. This time goes by so fast."! I'm with the author, when you're in the middle of a toddler meltdown, exhausted after working all day, stressed because you have a full night of toddler drama ahead of you....these kind of comments make me want to barf!

I choose to push through the hard times and soak up and love the good times (and blog about both). Parenting is more challenges than fun which I believe makes me a good Mom. I'm not perfect. My child is FAR from perfect. We have fun. We yell. We make mistakes. At the end of the day we all know we love eachother and I will seize and hold the memories that I choose!

Ellaisms

2012-01-18T20:29:00.000-07:00

Everything that happened previously is "YESTERDAY". Yesterday I went skiing, yesterday I was a baby, yesterday you were a baby and I helped you with your binky.
If it isn't yesterday, then it's twos-morrow or maybe twos-day. Sounds like Tuesday, but the accent is correct so you know she's saying today with an S.

We still hear, "what's next, what's after that, what's after that, and what's after that?????? At least I can be confident at some point I can end with bedtime....but then there's, "what's twos-morrow in the morning when I wake up?"!

She loves to tell stories. Lately there's the story about Eugene (no Punzle, just Eugene (pronounced NEW-GENE), and a dinosaur, and a mean guy. She's all about the non-lead characters. Tangled, Toy Story, and maybe Rudolph or any random movie with a "mean guy".

Yesterday we took turns taking eachother to school (in a car she designed). She would pass back a treat just like I do while driving. We'd get into school and say good bye. Seconds later would be the pick-up and we always went to a hotel and then went to see the Beavers. Salt Lake Eve was a huge hit for her!

Her other favorite is, "we're watching a movie". I have to sit where she tells me and she makes an imaginary screen and tells me exactly what's happening.

She now will call me at work, but she hangs up on me mid-sentence almost every time!

Tickle game is her absolute favorite! I don't do it quite as good as Daddy and only Grandpa can tickle ears (she reminds me everytime). We have a strong no-face tickling rule, but she bends the rule for Grandpa! She's learned that I really am quite ticklish and she can successfully tickle me and it sucks (for me)!

At every meal we say, "Ella you must have at least 3 more bites. Her usual reply is, "no, I'll have 4 bites. We go with it and she usually has 7 or 8 more bites by the time we're done". It HAS to be her idea on HER time!

She can't stand it when I'm "sad". It's not really sad, but more likely when I'm mad at her or when she knows when I'm thinking about something else and not engaged. She says, "why aren't you happy? Please be happy! I will tickle you and make you happy.". Who can't get happy over that?

The words that ring in my head constantly are "ONLY I"! I re-do more things so that she can do it herself than I care to admit!

I still have the scene in my head where I was walking past the gondola (thinking she was already on her way up) and saw her sitting across from her coach laughing and smiling and riding up the gondola for the first time with excitement! Priceless! Some Moms would freak out. I am one who was proud and excited and rushed down to my car to call Joe to share the excitement and pride!

We have bad days and we have good days. Today was awesome and I'm thankful for every second! I love my little girl more than I thought ever possible and it's more and more every single day!

Afternoon Texting Conversation

2012-01-18T20:05:00.000-07:00

L: Did u know ella can pedal?J: Pedal what?
L: She's riding her bike in the patio
J: Seriously?
L: Yep....forward and backward
J: Nope didn't know that
L: Thank you daycare and peer pressure
J: We should get her a mini exercise bike, lol

Plates?

2012-01-18T15:32:00.000-07:00

We have VERY heavy and VERY breakable beautiful stoneware for our everyday dishes. We chose them when we registered for our wedding. The easily break in the dishwasher if it isn't loaded just right and many of them have chips. I like them and I won't get rid of them yet (even though Joe wants to). I have the matching coffee mugs, serving bowls and platters! They are way too heavy for Ella to carry and way to breakable to let her use!

We need an alternative for Ella. She wants to be just like us and the Dora and Sesame Street plastic isn't cutting it!

What do you recommend? I looked into Corelle and it's not as cheap as I thought it was. Do I buy a huge set of something or just some unbreakable cheapo stuff to get through the next few years? I don't have room to store 2 sets so what I choose will be used for entertaining as well the next few years!

Ski Lesson #2

2012-01-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

It's kind of been a cluster this week! Monday the weather made us turn around. Today we made it up the mountain fine. You have to ride a gondola from the parking lot to the base of the mountain. On the way up I realized I didn't have my phone! OOPS! I figured Joe had texted and called at least 10 times to make sure we made it and to give me the update on where he was!
We walked over to the main desk to get Ella's ticket for ski school. Ella walked through EVERY PUDDLE in her tennis shoes making sure that her ONLY pair of socks were good and wet! Awesome! She was just so excited and she never misses the opportunity to jump in a puddle! When we arrived I found out we didnt' have to do that every time. Great!

We made our way to ski school. OF COURSE they were not expecting us! The lady was super annoyed. She explained that the lessons are for 5 weeks in a row for consistency with the same coach every week on the same day! I turned to Ella and told her, "Sorry, no ski school today". The lady said, "I will get her in". She wasn't happy! Soon Ursol arrived and he was Ella's private coach! I had heard them say, "everyone is going up the gondola today", but I didn't think it would include Ella. Sure enough, he asked me a few questions and they went up the gondola! SERIOUSLY! My 3 year old is going up the mountain????!!!!!

I promised her I would wait right there for her and told her she wouldn't be able to see me. Ella was ecstatic and off she went with her new friend of 30 seconds! I stood there in awe for a bit.

Heading to the gondola to go up the mountain!

I headed back down to the parking lot to call Joe. He said, "oh crap, it's after 10, I haven't left yet". I said, "don't come she just went up the mountain!". I had to explain 3 times that we couldn't watch her this week!

I headed to the coffee shop and relaxed. Everyone is getting ready for Sundance. Beginning later today and for the next 2 weeks Park City will be full of celebs! Next week may be interesting getting to ski school!

There she goes!

I saw her come off the gondola and she came running to me. She exclaimed, "I did great!" and had the biggest smile! Ursol told me she is the only 3 year old he has every spent 2 hours with that didn't cry once! His approach at age 3 is to just have fun. She wants to ski down more than she wants to work on stopping or turning! She made it almost 2 hours and then the last 15 minutes she said she was done skiing and they played on the mountain. At this point he doesn't recommend taking her anywhere but the beginner area, but she has 2 more weeks! At age 3 she is doing better than I expected! I'm so proud!

Such a proud girl after her lesson!

Zoomed in, look at that smile! You can just feel how
proud she is!

Ella was excited to call Joe. She said, "Daddy, you were right. I got to ski fast" and "my coach was very helpful". I made her repeat the word helpful because I've never heard her say it and it cracked me up!

What a positive, fun experience for her! Miss Energy is EXHAUSTED and fell asleep mid-sentence on the way home.

I would love to have heard a recording of her and Ursol's discussion on the way up the gondola! She's 3 and hanging out with an Aussie ski coach. One lucky little girl!

Utah Grizzlies!

2012-01-17T12:32:00.003-07:00

I just clicked HERE and found a facebook update from Joe including a statement from Ella! So cool!

Left hand side of screen, just above Grizzlies TV. You may have to be Joe's friend on Facebook to see the comment!

My New Favorite Margarita

2012-01-17T09:43:00.001-07:00

I still crave the Rio Margaritas in Colorado. There is a limit of 3 margaritas for a reason at the Rio. I've only had 3 once....

Utah's quite strict with alcohol and after a few bad experiences with martini's and margaritas since moving here, I just avoided them.

Last night I met the girls from work for dinner and drinks at Frida Bistro. No pictures to share. A different group than I usually go out with from work and it was fun.

I have a new favorite! Pineapple Cilantro Margarita along with some fabulous appetizers and a great dinner. Add in my great company and always great to see co-workers outside of work and it was a perfect evening!

I owe Joe BIG TIME for getting our over-tired munchkin to bed. I would have brought him home a margarita if I could have!

Iowa Family - I know you like margaritas -- remind me to take you there next time you're in town!

Media - what's appropriate?

2012-01-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

Joe has a much more lenient view of TV and Media for Ella. I prefer if she's going to be in front of the TV babysitter, then I want her to learn something! I think it's my guilt and it's just plain knowing that TV is NOT the best place for kids.

Ella is super high energy and she wears us out! With her lack of sleep lately, we ALL need a break!

I found this website and I really like it! I had to create a log-in to see anything, but it's helpful and it has some great ideas for apps which you can select by device and even some educational games I may look into for our Wii.

Snowed Out!

2012-01-16T09:24:00.000-07:00

No Ski School today! We're getting some much needed snow! We loaded up and left early, but I saw 3 accidents within 2 miles up the mountain and I turned around!

I'm on hold trying to reschedule this week and we'll have to find an alternative this morning!

We badly need the snow....but why did it have to start a blizzard when we needed to head up the mountain!

It didn't work!

2012-01-13T11:33:00.000-07:00

My tried and true oxi clean doesn't do the trick for dry erase markers! I'll be letting the shirt air dry and trying this next week!
The dry erase markers will be put away for a while!

January 12th

2012-01-12T18:05:00.000-07:00

I kept thinking of this date and feeling like I was missing something. Is it someone's birthday? An appointment? A deadline?

Then I remembered Ella's original surgery date! I tear up just thinking about the fear and worry I had on my plate just one year ago! I remember like yesterday sitting at the surgery class and then walking through the halls listening to her worsening cough!

The emotions of a cancelled surgery. The drive to the airport to pick up my Mom who had no idea surgery was not happening while in flight. The ONE MILLION phone calls I had to make to reschedule all that I had worked so hard to plan! It was such a challenge for my personality!

A much different feeling this week, but I will never forget January 12, 2011!

Dear Oxi Clean

2012-01-12T17:10:00.001-07:00

I hope you do dry erase marker because this is a brand new shirt and I don't love stains on a shirt!

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Pollyanna

2012-01-12T17:06:00.001-07:00

Due to frustration with the price of most Disney Vault DVD's I opted to order this childhood favorite of mine! Ella liked it and it was awesome to watch it with her.

Joe said, "why are you watching little house on the prairie?".

The Parent Trap is on my list! What other Disney classics should I get?

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No Nap = Early Bath

2012-01-12T17:00:00.001-07:00

And take out for dinner and to bed early for this exhausted Mom!

Crazy how lack of sleep can change my entire evening!

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Dexter....I'm sucked in again!

2012-01-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday night we realized we had Showtime for the weekend and watched an episode of Dexter Season 6. Monday we realized the free preview was over and called Comcast to order Showtime! We have watched the first half of the season (minus episode 4 which isn't available).
Neither of us wanted to get out of bed when our toddler alarm clock went off at 6AM! Tonight we will turn off the TV and go to bed earlier!

We won't keep Showtime for long....but I noticed the entire series of Nurse Jackie is on On Demand and after watching a few episodes with my sister and mom, I think I'll have to watch that series as well!

Ella's Ski Movie

2012-01-10T13:11:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer: Lots of Ski Mom and instructor comments (sounds from the base of ski school)! The shakey parts were filmed by an ecstatic and proud Dad!

I'm so proud of my little girl! I look forward to YEARS of fun on the mountain as a family!

Ella's First Ski Lesson

2012-01-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

IT WAS AWESOME!

PROS:
Ella just bounced around so excited to ski!
Joe drove up for part of the lesson and I've never seen him so PROUD! He was bouncing around himself and you can tell which videos he filmed!
Ella has great balance
Ella can ski forward and backward!
Ella wasn't the kid crying through the entire lesson!
We live so close to the resort! It's really awesome to be able to take her every Monday!

CONS:
Ella missed the 1st day last week and they were short an instructor, so it took almost an hour before she was on the snow! They offered to keep her longer and she had the mountain to herself, but she was DONE by noon!
Ella was paired with a little boy who cried for his mom the entire lesson!
Ella had no patience to wait for him or her instructor and went down the hill a few times on her own using the fence to stop her! Once it was backwards and I didn't get it on video because I was too stunned!
SKI MOMS - OMG! It's a whole new level of pushiness!
I thought it was a lot of work to get myself equipped to ski....but it's even harder to get a kiddo dressed and to the mountain!

I dropped her off and she took off running with the instructors. Joe made it up before Ella came out and he made me hide behind a tree so she wouldn't see us! Eventually we talked to her and she did just fine with us watching! Joe and I were more nervous than she was!

My view from behind a tree!
She's the one on the far left in pink with an orange helmet!

On the snow with one ski to get the feeling of a ski
under her

Moving uphill on a platform in her skies

Oops!

I wish someone would pick me up when I was learning!
They pull them up and shake their skies back in place!

Heading to the magic carpet! She looks so little!

Ready, Set, Go!

Off she goes

Crash!

She got it! No more falls on the magic carpet!

Ready to SKI!

Wait for Ali and Wyatt!

Nope, she keeps going!

Yay! You're really skiing!

Crash!

Back at it!

Uh Oh! There Ella goes again without Ali her instructor!

After her backwards ski into the fence! Still standing!

That's her buddy.....finally they gave up and just let him
lay there and cry! Poor guy!

Through the tunnel!

Way to go Ella!

Snow Day!

2012-01-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

Finally some SNOW to play in! Joe posted a cute video to Facebook of Ella making a snowman and Nicky pawing it down entitled "This is why we can't build snowmen at our house".

A night in Minneapolis

2012-01-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

We left Charles City Thursday afternoon to travel in daylight and to be there for our early flights! Alyssa, my mom and I went to Gap Outlet and scored some awesome deals which were amplified with Alyssa's discount and no sales tax on clothes! Thanks Sis!

Ella is so fun to take on rides and I learned the Nickelodeon has taken over the amusement park in the mall of america. They had a twilight discount pass where chaperone's ride for free and everyone took a turn riding with Ella. She was pretty exhausted, but had a fun time!

I needed to buy some shoes and also got a good deal with a heath care worker discount and no tax! Love shopping in Minnesota!

She was in a MOOD and I knew we needed a LOUD restaurant. I wouldn't think of Dick's Last Resort as a family-friendly restaurant, but when your child can stand on their chair and SCREAM with joy and/or because they like to hear themselves scream and not be a bother.....that's our kind of family-friendly!

Balloon ride with Nana

It's my buddies!

She insisted on riding a BLUE one and waited in line
through a 2nd round of the ride so she could ride on BLUE!

The family of bibs - Joe needed a few extras!

I said I wouldn't post this,
but she wanted a HAT so badly
and I guess she got one!
We got a lot of laughs out of this one!

Parenting FAIL!

2012-01-10T09:26:00.000-07:00

Ella went to school with shampoo in her hair this morning! Oops!
Joe started Ella's bath and I finished it. The tag-team approach usually works for us. Now that Ella likes to wash her own hair, we're going to have to communicate better! She had half-wetted her hair and shampooed it on Joe's watch. By the time I arrived I assumed she only half-wetted her hair and let her get out without rinsing her hair because she told me she didn't wash it. I had a killer headache and ZERO energy to put up a fight with a toddler!

She smelled like baby shampoo last night, but I didn't think about it. Then this morning her hair was a curly mess on top of her head and I felt the greasiness through out.

Oops.....

More Iowa Fun!

2012-01-09T16:00:00.000-07:00

We took Ella bowling! Ella spent the day with Grandpa and Grandma. It was a great trip!

Bowling with the Dinosaur!

Ooooh, I got some pins!

LOVE this expression and excitement!

Fun project with Auntie Lyssa!

Why do kids do this?

She's our rock star!

Stinky sock is how Stinky Steve got his name!

Cuddles with Maggie

Cookies at 10AM? Must be at Grandma's house!

I think she explained the story of Jesus's birth to Elmo!

Who/'s ready to party?

Patiently waiting....and waiting!

Happy Birthday!

Surprise! Happy Early Birthday Joe!

2012-01-09T15:30:00.000-07:00

Joe has a big birthday next month and we thought it'd be fun to include the Iowa family in the celebration! We met at Teluwut and surprised Joe with a party!

She's MINE, she knows how to do the "head-tilt laugh"!

The new bridge at night

An Iowa Christmas!

2012-01-09T15:09:00.000-07:00

It was a whirldwind of work followed by 2 crazy days of Christmas, then 6 long days of work! I don't know how I managed to pack, but we left for Iowa on New Year's Day! As we boarded the plane a flight attendant said to Ella, "Happy New Year, Christmas is over". She stopped in her tracks and said, "No, it's not, there's Christmas in Iowa"!

We found Auntie Lyssa at the airport with a running and screaming greeting from Ella! We loaded up the MINI VAN and headed to Iowa!

I'm a pro at this!

Always a helper!

Ready for my show?

Grandpa loved the Charles City book!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Putting on a show for Stinky Steve!

How did you know I wanted this?

Oooooooo!

Elmo Monster!

Love this!

Some say, this shoe looks like a boat, others just
make the shoe a boat!

Awesome!

Who's ready for Mardi Gras?

Ooooh, I love her!

Salt Lake Eve

2012-01-09T14:33:00.000-07:00

We went to Salt Lake EVE and had so much fun! Joe needed one more night in a Starwood hotel, so we spent the night downtown and brought in the almost New Year Salt Lake style.

Ella had seen the enormous beavers on TV and it's all she talked about for days! They are the beavers from the VanCouver Olympics and were the mascots for the Eve Festival.

Little did she know, there was a convention ballroom filled with JUMPERS! There were signs designating the age you had to be to jump on each thing, so that made it less scary for all of us!

There was also a huge room filled with 2012 balls! It was a hoot, then the DJ started some music and turned the crazy lights on and I laughed harder than Ella!

We skipped the Reggae Band and other bands, but focused on the kid-friendly activities and had a blast! I plan on going again next year and inviting some of Ella's friends and families. It was really fun!

Joe is as AWESOME Dad for
climbing up these slides 100
times!

This was her favorite!
She thought it was so cool
to slide into the balls!

This one was full of air which meant WIND and
she was so scared to climb through, but
she finally did and was so proud!

This was fun!

Lights out, colored lights on and jammin'

Hi Mr. Beaver!

Uh Oh! Who did this?

We're Home

2012-01-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

We made it back. Great trip! It was as fun as it was exhausting! NEVER enough time to do all that I want or spend as much time with anyone. Why does the time go even faster when we're with family?
We are all sick - cough, congestion, runny nose and/or sinus infection for everyone! We all took a nap, the bags are unpacked, and I found an outfit to wear to work tomorrow without doing laundry!

It's chill-out movie night for us and I think we'll all be in bed early! I work 7AM - 7PM the next 2 days, then I'll get my life back in order!

The holidays are officially over for us. Cheers to a fabulous 2012! Let it begin!

Dream new year's party for a kiddo!

2011-12-30T21:42:00.001-07:00

We went to salt lake city eve tonight and ella had a blast!

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My Sleep Miracle

2011-12-29T21:22:00.000-07:00

It's been a challenging month with Ella! She's a morning person and she can function on little sleep (for a while). She started getting up at 6:30, then 6 regularly. It was just getting earlier and earlier! She was up between 5 and 5:30 for weeks and then it was 4 - 4:45 for over a week! Joe and I were at our wits end and then it was 3:50AM on Tuesday morning!

I was at work and after finding little on the American Academy of Pediatrics website, I went to google and found this article! This lead me to this link followed by this book! I'm thankful for the helpful cliff notes and I may not even need to buy the book!

I created the Ella's Sleep Book. I made it at work with a black pen, yellow highlighter, and scrap paper! It's full of horribly drawn stick figures! She LOVED it. We read it over and over again. She kept showing me the page of Ella's empty bed and saying, "Look, there's no one in Ella's bed, she's in Mommy and Daddy's room!, Uh, oh!".

I can't believe I'm posting this!

It really hit home for her. I prepare her for things like surgery, airplane rides, trips, etc, but you forget the simple things and sometimes you just need to discuss in detail what is expected!

This is her favorite page! Horrible artwork and
misspellings!

We also bought some Pediasure and made sure her belly was FULL before bed and offered her a snack. Joe created a reward chart and has promised her ANYTHING she wants from Toys R Us when it's full. He included Christmas Bows which he bought on clearance -- genius!

Great Job Joe! She is so proud to earn a bow.
She chooses where to place it and feels so
special!

The deal: Ella must stay in her bed until she hears our alarm clock or we come in her room to tell her it's morning. She knew the plan was to put her back in her bed without talking to her if she came into our room. Joe told her our TV was reprogrammed and it only works in the morning after our alarm goes off. Now there is no incentive to wake up early to watch TV.

She didn't come into our room at all! I set my alarm for 5AM. I heard her stirring in her room before that. I got up and went into her room. Her light was on and she was playing with her Dora and Boots dolls quietly. She said, "I got out of a bed to get my doggy because he wanted into my bed, but I got right back in". I put on a big production of how proud I was and you could tell she was proud! We found a bow for her reward chart and she encouraged me to take a shower so she could watch TV.

When we got home that night she demanded to read her "Christmas Book". I showed her EVERY book I could think of and then I finally figured out it was the silly book I wrote! Wow, I'm a big hit!

Night #2 was also a huge success, but she was mighty grumpy this morning. I think I'll wait until I see her light on before I go in and I'll set my alarm a bit later tomorrow!

I expect that future nights may be a struggle. We have a few hotel nights and several nights in Iowa coming up this week. At least we've had two nights without a middle-of-the-night visitor to get us through the rest of the week and for that, I'M THANKFUL!

Merry Christmas with Pictures

2011-12-28T20:54:00.001-07:00

Christmas Morning Ella was up at 4:30AM! We talked her into watching TV in our room for a bit, but we were all opening gifts by 5 or so!

Ella kept informing us that she hoped Santa would bring her a new beanbag chair. She needed a new one because hers had stains on it! I was surprised by her disinterest in clothes and her overall excitement to move on to the next gift!

It was a whirlwind weekend with little sleep, but we made some great memories and the little girl sure had a good time!

We begin with the stockings (it was a surprise to Joe and
I got to begin the morning with my big present)

The headband didn't last long, but it's soooo cute!

Ready for ski lessons!

What could it be?

It's NOT yellow, but I LOVE IT!

This will be so comfy!

Love this shirt (thanks Mom!)

Helping Grandma

Helping Diane

EVERYONE took a turn playing with this
oldie but goodie! Highly recommended toy!

Love this microwaveable gingerbread girl to sleep with!
I wouldn't mind having one!

Christmas Apron to help Grandma cook!

"Punzle, she's Eugene's friend"
This singing, light-up doll is fun!

Time for dessert!

Christmas Eve with pictures

2011-12-28T20:31:00.001-07:00

After the challenge of getting Ella to nap and me falling asleep on the couch for a bit, we got ourselves together and headed to Dorothy's and then church. Ella was full of energy and had a hard time sitting in church, but I told her she would miss the candles if we left. She was motivated to stay! It's hard for a 3 year old -- asking Santa for gifts, giving presents to friends and family, Santa arrives, the Elf leaves, and it's Baby Jesus's birthday. Well....when you're 3, birthdays mean blowing out the candles, not waving them in the air saying Bible verses and singing Silent Night. It was my first Christmas Eve EVER to not have a lit candle while singing Silent Night!

Cheese!

Dancing and twirling in her dress!

Grandma and Ella

Attempt at a picture of Ella by the tree...

Family Photo

I Love this little girl!

Diane was able to join us for the weekend!
She introduced us to Glogg!

Dorothy by her tree

Yay for dessert!

Ella got the piggy in the pudding!

Present time!

Snow Shoes...now we just need some SNOW!

Princess Jammies!

She's a PRO!

Miss Ella is LOVED! Thanks for all the thoughtful gifts!

5 Years at Primary Children's

2011-12-27T20:53:00.000-07:00

I constantly say, "we're new to Utah" or "we just moved here"....but we've been here 5 YEARS! I really thought this move was temporary! It makes me laugh to think how little I knew about Utah, Mormonism, parenthood, marriage, REAL adulthood, home ownership, REAL STRESS before I moved here! We've been through a lot in 5 years. I'm a different person in many ways because of all I've been through.

Monday was my official 5 year Anniversary with Primary Children's. I received my certificate and prize last week. I chose a $50 gift card to Gap and hope my sis will help me pick out a new outfit!

I honestly thought we'd be here for a few years, but the longer we stay, the more I think we will be Utahan's for a long while. There are enough perks to overcome the challenges!

This is the longest I have remained in one job! It's crazy to think over half of my career has been here and I still feel like we just left Colorado!

I'm not sure when I will stop saying, "I'm new here", but I'm starting to feel more and more at home in Utah! I NEVER would have guessed we would have been here five years, but now I think we will most likely be here in another 5 years and I think it's great!

Christmas Eve Brunch

2011-12-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

Even as a child I hated the wait for Christmas Eve! My family has strong traditions and it involved waiting ALL DAY for Christmas Eve to begin!
I thought it would be fun to host a Christmas Eve brunch! In hindsight.....I was a single mom for 3 weeks, followed by working 45 hours/week Monday-Friday for 2 weeks with the previous weekend insanely busy! Well...I wasn't as organized as I had wanted to be, but it was fun! HUGE Thanks to Joe for stepping up and being an awesome helper for a party he thought I was crazy to host!

In usual Ella-style, she was up at 4:30, so we had plenty of time for the early morning grocery run! Best Kept Secret --- shop for Christmas groceries at 6AM Christmas Eve when the store is just opening. Go in your PJ's....everyone else is in theirs!

The food was prepared, the house was made to be presentable, the toddler was prepped for sharing toys and being a friendly host and the party began!

It was a fun morning! Joe and I kept the food warm, cups full, and Miss Ella (mostly) out of trouble. Not many pictures taken! Miss Ella was in her bed for a much-needed nap before a single guest left! Life with a ~~spoiled~~ loved, ~~selfish~~ only-child is a whole new experience!

The kids table. Avery, Ella and Abby

Frosty is the BEST babysitter EVER!

Priceless! I love these girls!

Making Snow Globes

Matching Snowman shirts.
HUGE Thanks to my Mom for making them for me!

More gifts!

Gingerbread House

2011-12-27T20:27:00.000-07:00

I'm working on some traditions! Here's last year's post! I was going to skip this one, but then when it was already 30% off at Target, I decided to just go for it!

This year's kit required assembly. Joe was home and said, "oh, that's for girls" and wasn't motiviated to help us! I asked for help to get all the sides up while dealing with an excited toddler. He's got mad gingerbread house skills that he won't admit to! He did remind me that he grew up in a bakery!

I just realized I can EAT some of this candy!

This is serious business!

Way serious!

Watch OUT, I have the "glue"!

Finished product

This is the side where Ella had the frosting and I placed
the candy as I was told to do!

Merry Christmas from Ella!

2011-12-26T05:20:00.002-07:00

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

I had a really hard time going into the weekend. It just didn't seem like Christmas could possibly be here! I don't think I've EVER worked every single day with only Christmas Eve and Christmas off! IT'S HARD! I realize this is what MOST people have to deal with. My schedule has it's ups and downs. It's a set schedule and it's not my holiday to work, but as an essential employee I work as scheduled on observed holidays!
The weekend was busy, exciting, fun, exhausting, full of love and awesome! Ella has been getting up between 4:30 and 5:30 AM for the last few weeks. FYI - the BEST time to go to the grocery store is 6AM when they open on Christmas Eve! Ella was in her PJ's and it was the most enjoyable shopping we've done in months!

It's so sad to think I work the next 6 days including a 12 hours shift on day 6 of 6! I am so excited to head to Iowa next Sunday for the continuation of Christmas and birthday's to celebrate!

Merry, Merry Christmas! Thanks for all the love and support this year! Love to all of you!

Many pictures and stories to come! I'm going to post an Ella video yet tonight! Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T22:05:00.003-07:00

Ella, Laurie, Joe and Nicky and there's the crumbs Santa left! We have a
huge box of stockings and everyone chose their own.....I may have to come
up with a different plan for next year!

We are ready! Brunch was great! Ella chose great friends because I like their parents!

We heard the Christmas story and sang Silent Night at church and then it felt like Christmas! First time in over 30 years that I sang Silent Night with a non-lit candle. It is Jesus's birthday and Ella has much experience blowing out candles, so I guess she won that one! Awesome Christmas Eve dinner at Dorothy's.

Presents are finally warapped and under the tree with care.

Joe and I are EXHAUSTED and hoping she sleeps past 430AM tomorrow!

Merry Christmas Eve!

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Dear Post Office

2011-12-24T04:28:00.000-07:00

I'm frustrated! I've been tracking packages like crazy! I mailed packages priority with promised delivery dates of Dec 21st. I thought I was in the clear. One package sat in Denver for 7 days! Another priority package hasn't even left Salt Lake yet and it's a 2 day priority box mailed on Monday! Other packages mailed at the same time arrived in 2 days! There is no rhyme or reason. Murphy's law is that if you are a child or an Auntie....your package hasn't made it yet. Sorry!
I always say I'll mail packages earlier, but who wants to get their Christmas gift in the mail in November!

Please, please arrive today to our family!

Got Stitches?

2011-12-23T21:01:00.002-07:00

Cranio Care Bears had an auction via facebook. I saw a onesie that said, "got stitches?" and I loved it! At some point you just have to have a sense of humor when there are several stitches and an enormous scar ear to ear on your precious baby!
I inquired to purchase one in a size 3T. The sweet lady who is one of the partners in cranio care bears offered to make me one. She only asked that I make a donation!

I offered to ship her a shirt. I chose to ship 2 and asked her to use the other for another 3 year old in Ella's situation as a small gift in one of the hundreds of packages they mail out! The greatest gift you can receive during a time of stress is a kind word from someone who's been there too. These lady's take it one step further and send a package full of love and support for anyone who requests one during cranio surgery! We have received 2 packages from Cranio Care Bears. They ROCK!

Tis the season for charity. Please consider Cranio Care Bears while you are giving during this holiday season!

New Shirt added recently and so cute! Way to true
for so many of these cranio babies!

Although you cannot currently see Ella's stitches...there are still a few there and she will wear her battle wound with pride her entire life. I strongly believe Miss Ella will be an amazing advocate for cranio defects and will make such a difference in the lives of many!

*** oops, these photos were taken after dinner, but before bath time and it looks like you can tell she had spaghetti for dinner!

Don't give the whole bottle of sprinkles to a toddler!

2011-12-23T20:52:00.000-07:00

OOPS! We are hosting a Christmas Brunch tomorrow with friends. Two of Ella's friends and their families are coming along with other friends/family. The party is family and allergy/personal food choice friendly including vegan options.
I have crafts ready for the girls and booze for the adults! I'm serving ham, fruit, quiche, Auntie Joyce's cinnamon rolls, hashbrowns, tofu scramble, juice, coffee, tea, bloody mary's and mimosas. Hop a flight and come join us if you'd like!

I have gifts for the girls. Matching shirts made by my sweet mother who keeps saying "yes" to my many project requests! FYI - SHE ROCKS! I also put in a photo ornament with a picture of the girls at the symphony and reindeer food.

I let Ella start with scooping about a 1/4 Cup of oatmeal in each bag. She did great. You can use glitter, but I opted for edible since they are 3 year olds and used sugar sprinkles. Then I gave her the red sprinkles and she poured about 1/3 of the bottle into each bag! SERIOUSLY! "STOP ELLA" means, "keep pouring and make sure the entire huge bottle of sprinkles is GONE in this project and you will have no sprinkles for cookies!". The worst part --- I let her do this 6 times (3 bags of reindeer food including red and green). I kept thinking it would get better....darn optimism!

They're cute and I'm not sure what critters will be attracted to the 1 pound of sugar spread on the lawn tomorrow night!

Root Canal Do Over

2011-12-21T06:25:00.000-07:00

I'd much rather be at work this afternoon than getting a root canal! I hope it goes quickly and there aren't any complications!
I hope I'll be able to chew again by Christmas Eve, but at least I'm getting it done with this year's benefits and eventually the pain will be gone!

There are still several things to get done before Christmas, but I've reserved tonight to lay on the couch and go to bed early! I hope I have enough energy to at least work on my grocery list!

UPS 8:51 PM

2011-12-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

I feel so sorry for anyone in retail or delivery business this time of year! I have been beyond frustrated with "the mail" lately, but I was just glancing at my Amazon account to check on packages. A package was "out for delivery" and it was almost 9PM.

Seconds later, the doorbell rang.

NOT exactly ideal at this time of a night with a toddler who FINALLY went to sleep, but my package arrived as promised!

Ella with Santa

2011-12-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

Ella LOVES this guy! She carries him around the house. I play "where's Santa?" like she plays "where's Elf?". She pulled the bell off his hat 2 years ago. I think she remembers doing it! Now she LOVES to ring his bell. He's sleeping by her bed tonight "keeping her safe". Whatever.....I think she's actually sleeping!

She's into getting her picture taken when it's her idea. BUT, if I pay a photographer to take her picture she refuses to take a single good photo! EVEN when the photographer offers me a 2nd chance to come back the next day!

At least this one is pretty darn cute! LOVE these Santa PJ's and they still look brand new after her wearing almost every night since Thanksgiving and being washed many times!

THIS box saved my day!

2011-12-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

CAKE POPS from Grandma Barb! Ella was throwing a MAJOR fit about opening a package tonight. It was a padded envelope from Amazon and it's a DVD she's getting for Christmas! Evidently 3 year olds also have x-ray vision and she knew what is was! I ordered the darn thing and I can barely remember!
I wouldn't let her open it. There was also a package from Grandpa and Grandma. I called them and they said it was intended to be opened ASAP.

It was cake pops! I had a long day and the first one hit the spot, so I had to have another one. That meant my partner in crime had 2 as well. Don't tell Joe that's why she didn't really eat dinner!

Grandma Barb also packed gift bags. Ella was so excited we had to fill them RIGHT now. She carefully chose 2 cake pops for each of her teachers and we packaged them. Next we filled 3 more bags for our stockings. She filled Ella's first, followed by Mommy's each with 2 cake pops. Last was Daddy and he had to have 3 cake pops! She's just plain hilarious sometimes! Next she carefully placed one in each of our stockings. She remembers which is which and she knows Nicky can't have cake pops!

What a fun treat! Thanks Barb! They were packaged so well and all arrived in perfect condition and taste awesome! I'll bring the box back and hope some more will arrive some day! :-)

Ella will be so proud to bring cake pops to her teachers tomorrow instead of apology letters to her friends which she had to take today!

My Favorite Words

2011-12-19T19:55:00.000-07:00

I find myself saying these same words over and over again!

"Someday, she will turn 4!"

Let's say tiny babies are challenging with little sleep. It gets better. Then you have the crawling and then walking stages which bring on new challenges. You are exhausted from chasing, but you all sleep through the night. Then the tantrums begin. Then you have tantrums with some words so you "think" you know what they want. More words come and you think you finally understand your child.

Then they turn 3 and turn into a crazy being you just don't understand!

Four will come....I'm just not sure how sane my house will be by October!

Date Night Success

2011-12-17T20:02:00.000-07:00

Joe and I had a MUCH needed date night last night. It's been crazy since he returned from Australia. Ella exhausts us both and it was great to have some time to ourselves! We had a new sitter for Ella and her name is Abby and Ella keeps saying that now she has 2 Abby's and it cracks me up!

We went to Cucina Toscana and the appetizer has me dying to go back to have it again! It was half an avocado filled with crab, and mozzarella sitting on the plate with a great sauce and it was AMAZING!

It was the annual Santa Pub crawl and we saw some of the crazies just beginning as we headed back to bed! Living with a toddler makes you old and boring since you know you have to be up super early even if you have nothing planned and feel like crap!

The Symphony with a 3 year old!

2011-12-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

Ella and her two friends and all the moms went to the symphony this morning. Ella was a perfect angel all morning, so I should have seen this coming.
The Utah Symphony did a fabulous job! I truly enjoyed the music. My child was a challenge. It was a wiggle-friendly concert, but it was exhausting for me! I haven't seen an orchestra perform in years and it made me miss being in such an awesome ensemble!

The girls were all dressed up and we planned on a photo shoot prior to the concert. It was MAD HOUSE and it didn't happen. By the end, Miss Ella was in melt-down phase and this is the best photo I captured! We also were guided out via the back door since they had a 2nd performance following the first.

We'll try again next year and now we know how busy it really is and I'll be more prepared for what to expect!

Who needs sleep?

2011-12-14T21:46:00.000-07:00

I was chatting with a guy at work. He is a workaholic. I was asking him about the holidays and at some point he told me, "No matter what time I go to bed, I'm up at 4:30AM". He comes to the office early and enjoys 2 hours of uninterupted work! He's crazy and chooses to spend his time at work.
It made me think. Wow, he's a lot like Ella. I'm a morning person, but I do like my sleep. Ella is still only 3 years old and needs more sleep than she is willing to give in to right now. We all pay the price for that!

After my conversation I started thinking. Ella is going to be one of those people who just doesn't sleep much. She'll be able function on little sleep and enjoy life! Joe and I will pay the price for a few years, but all in all she is likely going to be very lucky! Now if I could find a way to just steal 10% of her energy!

Gingerbread house - toddler size

2011-12-14T21:36:00.000-07:00

This is so clever! It was full of gum drops, M&M's, sprinkles and candy canes when I picked Ella up from school the other day. They made them and then had them on display. I think her mouth had been watering all day for that candy! She managed to get every piece off on the way home!

The teachers said they glued the graham crackers on, so she couldn't eat those, but everything else was fair game. She also said Ella ate more frosting than made it on her house and I have to agree after seeing her friend's houses!

So easy and what a great size for toddlers!

Preparing our Will - FAIL

2011-12-14T21:31:00.000-07:00

I bought the legal plan at work this year. I knew it would force us to rewrite our will (it's been over 6 years) and I know it's the right thing to do.
I called the lawyer last week and told him I wanted to use my legal plan and needed to do our will, power of attorney and advanced directives before the end of the year. Yep, I suck!

He was nice enough to meet with us today. I sent Joe an email last week with the appointment time of 4PM. I put 4PM in my calendar! I then convinced myself it was 4:30 and told Joe 4:30 all week! OOPS...it was 4.

I called Joe and 3:45 and he started to drive downtown. Major oil spill....huge traffic. He was late. The lawyer specifically told me we BOTH needed to be there. I apologized and asked to get started. He starts reluctantly. Joe calls and informs me he has a flat tire.

Seriously!

We reschedule the appointment. Joe doesn't have a jack in the car (bad luck) and likely because he has helped me with my many flat tires with his jack! He called the roadside assistance we thought we had.....we don't! I was not-so-nice.

I picked up Ella and drove through horrible traffic while entertaining a toddler and playing DJ. Thankfully I found a box of raisins and stickers in my purse! We hit MAJOR traffic due to an accident. I think I said, "I can't go any faster or I will smash the car in front of me" 100 times!

Eventually we made it. My jack worked. I called the closest Discount Tire and they agreed to fix the tire. Randomly they had inventory tonight and were going to be there late! They rock! We have insurance on our tires and for $18 he got a new tire TONIGHT!

We went to dinner, picked up Joe's car and eventually we all made it home.

I didn't bring any milk with me to pick up Ella tonight and I was in big trouble and had a time out myself. AND I needed 2 minutes to be alone more than anyone knows! It was my quick fix to agree to a time out since I knew I had a LONG time in the car with her! She thought she was pretty cool.

I was EXHAUSTED! I heard there may be a "no cell phone" federal law coming. Being distracted by a cell phone DOES NOT COMPARE to the distractions from a 3 year old in the car (including back seat driving instructions)!

Planning for our death will be rescheduled for next week!

Everyone is in the holiday spirit and either too busy to blog or Christmas excitement blogging....I'm hear to make you all feel a little bit better about your day! :-)

I love you too, Ella!

2011-12-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

Monday night I wanted to go to Whole Foods on my way home. I wanted to sneak out of work in time to run there before picking up Ella, but it didn't happen. When I tell her I will be there at a certain time, I ALWAYS make it! She plays outside between 4:30 and 5 and if I don't pick her up until after 5, she is mad at me and she gives the teachers a hard time getting her back in because she's waiting for me!
I went straight to daycare. I nicely asked Ella if we could go to a grocery store on the way home. She told me, "NO"! OK, it can wait until tomorrow. I bought a Living Social deal and it was about to expire. Half price groceries.....I couldn't let it go to waste!

She agreed to go on Tuesday. I picked her up and we headed to Whole Foods. It started out great. It's the newest store and I hadn't been there. She chose her favorite fruit - blueberries. We made it out of the produce and the SCREAMING began. Screaming, for no reason. I tried everything! Promising her treats, finding her samples, letting her pick out cookies, ignoring her. She just kept screaming and it was echoing through the whole store. She wasn't mad, she just likes to hear herself scream with an echo!

Remember I had just picked her up from school, so she had her helmet on! Just imagine the stares! At least people probably had some sympathy, but I know Ella has no excuse to act like she was acting and I was pissed!

We got to the checkout and she was still being a brat! I clicked onto the coupon on my phone. It was taking forever to load (at least it always FEELS like forever when you have a screaming kid in your cart). I gave up and left with my groceries and NOT using my coupon!

We made it to the car. She was back to herself. The conversation went like this.

L: Ella, I'm really upset with the way you acted at the store. You really made me mad.
E: Oh
L: What kinds of things did you do that were naughty?
E: I screamed, I kicked, I cried, I threw things
L: Are you going to act like that every time we go to the store?
E: No'
L: Remember those cookies you picked out?
E: YES!
L: You didn't earn them, so they are going into time out.
E: I can have them tomorrow?
L: Maybe!
E: quiet
L: I know you really like to watch movies at night. Tonight there will be no movies.
E: Oh, what about Elf on the Shelf?
L: NO TV! No Rudolph, No Christmas Baby, NOTHING!
E: Quiet

We continued to drive along. Eventually she said, "Mommy, I love you!"
I replied with "I love you too and I'll always love you"!

What a little stinker, but even when she's driving me crazy, I still love her even more every day!

The Elf on the Shelf

2011-12-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

I've recorded some random Christmas shows for Ella. She LOVES Elf on the Shelf and watched in 3 times in a row Saturday morning! The story is cute, but corney, the music is great and the commercials for Nook are such a waste when these companies have such a captive audience! I don't think there's a single toy commercial! She giggles, anticipates whats next, and LOVES to tell me all about it!

I've set the DVR to "Only I delete", but I think think the TV Elf will have to fly away when our family elf (not-so-creatively named ELF by Ella) flies to the North Pole on Christmas Eve!

The Elf has had ZERO impact on Ella's behavior, but it's sure fun to see her eyes light up when she talks about him and she finds him every morning!

I'm happy it's Monday!

2011-12-12T19:09:00.000-07:00

Our life is hectic! Joe arrived home and after having him gone for 2 weeks, it's an adjustment for all of us! Good or bad....it's a transition!
Miss Ella refused to nap! I did EVERYTHING including simulating daycare, letting her scream in her room (then she was banging her head and we can't have that), holding her down with love, allowing her to play quietly and crossing my fingers! Three days in a row of no nap! I threatened to cancel evening plans to go look at lights and out to dinner. No nap, feisty child....I cancelled. It killed me because I was missing something I wanted to do...but I couldn't take her anywhere!

Monday morning came. I think we were all relieved to head back to work and school and routine!

Let's hope 5 days of naps for Ella, Joe back in the country, and more sleep for me leads to happy week for ALL of us!

He's home!

2011-12-10T20:59:00.001-07:00

Joe's home. Ella's horrible cough landed her in my bed since I didn't want to sleep on her floor! Even though she was cuddled in my warm bed, she was still up at 545am!

We met friends at the aquarium and ella was a complete grump!

No naps for anyone! Ella was in bed before 7. Joe followed! I'm catching up in DVR and I'll be following soon. I'm hoping a full night of sleep for all allows for a better day tomorrow!

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He's on his way HOME!

2011-12-09T19:45:00.000-07:00

I really miss Joe! I feel like he's been gone for more than 2 weeks! It's been a long haul with my crazy schedule and the stress of crazy labs for Ella. Ella's teachers have described her as "emotional" and she has a lower threshold for major fits with Joe gone. The "ALWAYS ON" wears on me and the lack of sleep is challenging with my work schedule. It will be so nice to be home all together every night for the next few weeks!
Joe boarded his plane this afternoon here which was noon tomorrow in Australia! He arrives in LA in the morning and makes it home by 1:30. We can't wait to pick him up at the airport!

It's so funny that he arrives earlier than he leaves! I now know why Delta gives you the option for flight status for yesterday, today and tomorrow. I had to search for tomorrow for his flight which is currently "IN FLIGHT".

We'll all be happy campers tomorrow night! Hopefully Joe can help me find the rest of the Christmas boxes and we can finally get some ornaments up on the tree! They must be in the unfinished (100 years ago dirt unfinished) part of our basement and I just don't go there!

We miss you and I may try to video the reunion of my sweeties! They both melt my heart!

Jump Around!

2011-12-09T19:38:00.000-07:00

We met Mason at Jump Around Utah this morning. We ALL had so much fun! At first I was quite resistant to taking off my shoes and bouncing with the kids....but then I did it! Eventually we were all out there, even Baby Max and had a blast! We sat in the center of the bounce pillow and enjoyed the motion and it felt like we were on a boat!

I LOVE watching Ella problem solve! It's HARD work and she isn't always tall enough to climb up things. Her and Mason took turns offering eachother a boost!

The both went down all the slides. I held my breath when the chose to go down the huge slide TOGETHER, but they both popped up at the end!

Their hours are frustrating because they close for private parties during all the premium times! I'll just have to keep watching their website and take advantage of some fun bounce times on my days off during the week!

I see they are open New Year's Eve and I think you'll find Joe and Ella there while I'm at work!

Geography!

2011-12-07T23:48:00.000-07:00

We played the can you identify the 50 states game tonight at work! We printed 5 maps and we each filled out a map as best we could. Only 2 of us found Iowa! One person got a perfect score. I only had 41 states! Some of my errors and omissions I could have figured out if I had been able to concentrate and not be at work! The East Coast is the hardest for me! Joe would have been embarassed of me!

I came home and ordered this for Ella....but kind of for me! It's embarassing to not know the geography of the US and after I master this task, I'll move on to the globe!

Give it a try! Here is a link to blank map!

Tomorrow night we are going to try capitals!

And I was ready to give up!

2011-12-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

Last week Ella was a terror at Kindermusik. She barely participated and I left so frustrated and said, "WE'RE DONE!". I talked to her about it and told her that we could just stop going to Kindermusik if she didn't want to be a part of the group.
I didn't bring it up again today and we went! I went in thinking, this is our last day! I haven't paid for the Spring session yet, so I was planning on telling them we were done.

Ella was PERFECT! We both had so much fun! As we were leaving she said, "I did really GREAT!". It's the truth and we'll be back in January!

This morning we had an awesome morning. I wish every morning could be like today....but then I wouldn't appreciate how great today was, right?

Happy Birthday Miss Lauren!

2011-12-07T00:10:00.000-07:00

Beautiful birthday girl
Props to my mom who made this
shirt at my request and
exceeded all expectations!

We have great friends in Colorado and they have a little girl who is destined to be awesome friends with Miss Ella! This year we have cancelled plans and missed opportunities to be with Lauren, but we follow her via Life By Nicole and Ella does love her friend Lauren! She made a video of "happy birthday" and we talked all morning about it being Lauren's birthday!

Nicole left me a voicemail months ago that just melted my heart. I saved it and I listened to it the other day. Miss Lauren, you are such an awesome friend to Ella already! We love you!

Lauren sent Ella gifts after every surgery! I send pictures in my thank you notes and Lauren was looking at this photo.

Lauren: Why is her hair dark?
Nicole: What? (assuming she was asking about her scar!)
Lauren: Why is her hair dark? Is she like you?
Nicole: Yes, it's dark like mine. (lauren is blonde and nicole is brunette)
Lauren: Why is her hair short? Does she like it short?
Nicole: Yes, she likes it
Lauren: I like it short too. I want short hair!

Miss Lauren you are wise beyond your years and you will go so far in life with this attitude!
Much thanks to Nicole for sharing this awesome story with me at a time when we were either stared at because our daughter was in a helmet or because she had a huge scar on her head! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the way a child thinks!

PS: I still saved the voice mail!

Nicole has also sent me a photo from the skate park where every kid had a helmet on! That one made my day too!

Happy Birthday Miss Lauren and cheers to awesome friends and daughters who will also be awesome friends!

The Glamorous Pokey!

2011-12-06T23:42:00.000-07:00

Ella and Abby are great friends at school. I've really enjoyed getting to know Abby and her family! I ran into Abby's mom today at work.

She said, "I have to tell you a story!" I instantly thought, UH OH!

She walked into daycare to pick up Abby yesterday and saw her lounging in a chair like she was hanging out at the beach. As she looked further she saw Ella holding her hand. She said, "what are you doing?". Abby said, "I'm getting a pokey"! CRAP!

I've been telling Ella that she has to keep going to school and learning and eventually she can go to college and learn how to do pokey's!

Abby was thrilled with the experience and has been begging her Mom to take her to "her work" so that Abby can have a pokey like Ella!

Seriously? I guess I can feel great knowing that Ella represents the pokey as a positive experience. I'm super impressed that they have figured out that both of their mommy's work at the same hospital.

The VERY hard part for Laura was to figure out how to tell her that she didn't need to have a pokey, but to not make it sound horrible because at some point she may need a blood draw!

Crap! Parenting is hard! Little Miss Ella you continue to amaze me!

FYI

2011-12-06T11:12:00.000-07:00

This is what happens when you forget to put a filter in a grind and brew coffee maker! Seriously....I didn't need this today! What I need is a POT of coffee!!!!!

Root Canal Do Over AGAIN!

2011-12-06T00:02:00.000-07:00

The dentist I used when I first moved to Salt Lake did 2 root canals for me. I decided I didn't like him for various reasons and found a new dentist. Two years ago I had to have a root canal redone because he didn't seal it properly and it leaked and was infected!

I had my cleaning today and complained of sensitivity in one area. It's the tooth where the 1st dentist did the other root canal! SERIOUSLY! I'm PISSED! My dentist said that tooth can have 3 or 4 canals and he only did 3. It's likely that there is a 4th canal that was missed and now I need to see an endodontist to have it redone! THEN, come back to my dentist for him to fill it!

I've been through this all before and the endodontist is great. It's not fair for me to have to go through the pain, expense, and time it takes to do this over when it should have been done correctly the first time!

Lesson learned.....only find a dentist based on personal referral (and don't use your husband as the person to refer you). At least I finally got Joe to switch to my new guy!

The sitter made my night!

2011-12-05T23:42:00.001-07:00

It's hard to find good sitters! I just lost another good one due to an unplanned pregnancy in addition to her full time job! I have to depend on someone to pick Ella up from daycare, bring her home, and get her to bed! It's a HUGE job! I can't leave work if something goes wrong, so it has to all happen!

This afternoon I texted some info to DeAnna. I got this reply:

"Sounds good! I'm honestly very excited - I love hanging out with Ella! She says the most adorable things"

I was smiling ear to ear at work! I knew I liked this girl and Ella really likes her!

I replied with, "Awwww. That makes my day! I think she's hilarious!"

I got this back, "My favorite is 'that's beeeeeeeeeautiful'"

DeAnna ROCKS and she knows how to make me feel comfortable and at ease knowing my child is in good hands!

Last week Ella conned her into the full Rudolph movie instead of the 10-15 minutes of random Christmas movies I had planned! The fact that they have fun makes it all worthwhile!

I asked Ella how it went. I specifically asked about riding in DeAnna's car (she has a soft top Jeep). Ella said, "Mommy, DeAnna has a TRUCK".

I'm so thankful for my helpers while Joe is out of town and always!!!!! It means so much to have Ella excited for the sitter and especially Grandma to pick her up! She proudly informs all of her friends at school!

Sleepless in Salt Lake

2011-12-04T20:12:00.000-07:00

My child isn't into sleeping! We've been living a nightmare since Daylight Savings time change. At least she has transitioned to finally sleep past 6AM....but now she is giving up that 2 hour afternoon nap! I've learned that you cannot force a child to sleep! You only provide an ideal environment for a nap and some control for the child. Then you just cross your fingers!

Before we went to lunch she told me how tired she was. She was EXHAUSTED and I thought for sure she'd nap today after skipping the nap yesterday.

We both were in my room for over 2 hours today and yesterday and I caught a few minutes here and there of sleep, but she didn't sleep at all!

She used to nap in her bed, then on her floor (like at daycare), then in her tent in her room, then in our bed, then in our bed because she fell asleep while watching cartoons.

I wouldn't be worried, but her baggy little eyes and feistiness let me know she is NOT getting enough sleep! She was ready to go to bed at 5PM tonight, but I kept her going. Even at 5PM after being awake for 11 hours she was awesome at the grocery store!

But when it came time for dinner, she was a WRECK. I had to skip her bath and just fight with her to finally get into bed!

Any advice? I feel like I've tried EVERYTHING! She "naps" at school and I assume she really does sleep, but I guess I need to ask her teachers.

My Christmas Gift arrived early!

2011-12-04T19:53:00.001-07:00

You may remember that Ella stopped her 6 months of antibiotics on November 11th. We drew labs on November 22nd, 25th and 27th! She had one lab that didn't look so good! I have been a WRECK fearing that I will have to quit my job to stay home and give Ella IV antibiotics for the next year! Not to mention the dread of another surgery, loss of more skull and on and on!

We went in this morning for labs. I knew it was only ONE lab, so I thought they could get enough blood through a finger poke and told her they were going to poke her finger. I was a big liar! The ESR had to be a venous draw and they HAD to pull blood from her arm! I felt horrible!

She did well (considering) and she's always fine when it's done. The last 2 draws involved 2 pokes and this was just one, so we were all relieved! We got to the parking lot and she said, "they never poked my finger or thumb". Really Ella? You want to go back for more pokes! Love this little trooper!

We headed to the park to burn some energy. Then we met friends for Dim Sum. I was constantly hitting refresh on my phone and waiting for the lab to pop up! I do this at work a lot....but the stress when it's YOUR KID is out of control!

I almost jumped up and down when I saw the ESR had dropped to 12! It is half of what it had been and my suspicion of infection is very low!

I still have to talk to her doctors tomorrow, but I am very relieved!

It's the truth!

2011-12-03T22:48:00.000-07:00

From a post on Facebook from a classmate referred to as "Mom" all through pharmacy school.

Dear Santa

2011-12-03T22:19:00.000-07:00

We were almost out of milk. Ella didn't take a nap. I glanced at the Harmon's ad and noticed Santa was there today. We headed out. I didn't have much time to prep Ella and it was the grocery store she goes to often. He wasn't an awesome Santa.

She got really excited when she saw him. I was holding her and when I put her down and tried to get her to walk to Santa, she asked me to go with her. He offered for us both to sit by him. We did and she just giggled and stared at him. I think they got one good photo. For your entertainment it will be available at Customer Service next Saturday!

I encouraged her to tell him what she wanted for Christmas. She replied, "nothing".

Guess this will be an easy year for Santa!

She was thrilled that he gave her a BIG candy cane. I'm not sure she's ever had a regular size candy cane and that was worth the trip to her!

I am VERY guilty of planting some ideas of things that Santa might be bringing for Christmas....and she has randomly told some things to me...but the "nothing" comment really caught me off guard! In her defense, who needs Santa when everyone sends her gifts all year!

Awesome Night!

2011-12-03T22:08:00.000-07:00

I'm so grateful! Thanks to Dorothy for spending the evening with Miss Ella. Little Miss No Nap was likely a bit of a challenge!
My friends are AWESOME! We enjoyed dinner at Brio. These are the kind of friends where we eat off each others plates to try everything and share dessert at the end!

The spa was amazing! I don't think I've had a facial since before Ella was born! The kind lady knew I needed it and included a lot of massage as well. I could have stayed there all night!

I am relaxed and ready to move on to another day in the morning with a better attitude!

This was the best Christmas party ever!

My awesome lunch date

2011-12-03T12:54:00.001-07:00

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Happy Weekend!

2011-12-03T09:13:00.000-07:00

It was a week of little sleep and quite busy at work. It's so much stress for me to depend on someone else to pick Ella up from daycare and get her to bed. Both Dorothy and our sitter did great! Ella is a stinker and talked the sitter into watching a much longer movie than I planned, but all in all things went well. Hopefully I'll be less stressed next week.

Ella went to a ballet on Thursday night with Dorothy and some friends. She is STILL talking about it! It started at 6PM and was perfect for her age!

We had a FAILED photography experience yesterday and the girl was nice enough to allow us to return today for Photosession DO OVER!

We went to Jungle Jim's last night with Mason and are heading out this morning to meet Abby. I'm bringing the Starbucks for the moms and the girls will have a blast!

Christmas cards are ready to mail and it feels great! I'm waiting on a few more addresses and they'll be done! They came out cute.

It's Christmas with the Mista's tonight and I can't wait! My friends are amazing and I think all four of us EQUALLY need a night out. We're doing dinner and then the spa! Hopefully I'll remember to snap some pictures.

Ella and I both had a full night of sleep and we are both in better moods today! Joe is hanging in there. VERY busy with making everything happen. We Skype with him early every morning as he is ready to head to bed! He has plans to go see some crocodiles tomorrow (or our today...or something)!

All in all.....we are hanging in there! One more week....I CAN do it!

The Wind

2011-12-01T11:26:00.000-07:00

The wind has been crazy! I don't mean to make light of the situation because it's caused a lot of problems for people, but Ella just cracks me up!

We walked outside and it was blowing like crazy. I had to move 2 of my neighbors garbage cans out of my driveway!

She came running toward me and stopped in her tracks and started freaking out and crying!

"It's going to wind me away! I'm scared!"

Poor little pumpkin is light enough to blow away, but wind me away just cracks me up! She kept saying it all the way to school!

Christmas treat

2011-11-29T11:33:00.001-07:00

Egg nog latte with an extra shot of espresso gets me in the holiday mood.

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My Monday

2011-11-28T20:37:00.000-07:00

I woke up at 5:34AM in a panic. My alarm was set for 5:15, but I guess I didn't turn it on! I jumped in the shower and as I was putting shampoo in my hair I heard a little voice yelling, "mommy". CRAP! Ella was up! I did the only thing I could think of. Moved my shower to super speed and started yelling myself. "I'm in the shower. Come in the bathroom"! Eventually she made her way to the bathroom.
We made it out the door on time, but I'm not sure how! School drop off was HORRIBLE! It is so hard for me to leave her when she's crying, but I've learned that's Ella and there is nothing I can do to change it!

Work was work. I got an email this afternoon that said, "Ella ran up to Abby and gave her a hug and kiss when I dropped Abby off". MADE MY DAY!

I made grilled chicken florentine for dinner. Cheater Macaroni Grill frozen entree that requires a skillet and 1/3 cup milk! Ella took a bite of chicken and said YUM! I was thrilled....and that was the ONLY bite she ate! I then heated up some beans which she looked at but didn't eat. I promised a cookie if she ate her dinner, but she didn't so she didn't get one. Eventually she got down and fed her food to Minney and Bear. With more threats, she finally let me feed her most of her dinner while she ran around the kitchen like a wild animal! NO COOKIE!

After her bath, we both put on our PJ's and cuddled on the couch and watched Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I'm sure I watched it as a kid, but I don't remember it at all! The movie was pretty crappy. The experience was awesome! She wanted to sit on my lap and we watched with the glow of our Christmas tree. When the movie was over we cuddled and she kept asking for more Christmas songs. I carried her to bed and sang her Silent Night.

I love this little girl! What a perfect ending to a hectic day!

ROUGH Transition

2011-11-27T20:38:00.000-07:00

It's always hard when Joe leaves. The first few days are the worst and this weekend has been challenging!
If I can entertain Ella and she keeps her mind off the fact that he is gone, things are fine. But I can't take her to an amusement park every day for 2 weeks! At some point she does need to eat, sleep and bathe all which have been VERY challenging!

I already posted my shopping success!

This morning we made it through 25 minutes of church, we left before the sermon even started!

I bought a clear 66 Qt tote for "TOY TIMEOUT" since I'm tired of hearing "No, YOU do it" when I ask her to pick up her toys. You should have seen her clean up when we returned home from the store!

Elf on the Shelf is in our house! She kept being good and smiling at him for 5 minutes and then that wore off!

She screamed and hit her door during a 3 minute time out!

She did NOT watch the Rudolph movie before bed tonight. We went straight from bath to bed and I read a ton of books instead!

I feel like a horrible Mom, but I'm trying to tell myself I'm not. Every day should get better and always does. It's hard on her and I have sympathy. Joe has invested so much in the company and is so good at what he does, it's just the way it is for a few years and Ella will never remember. I may never forget, but she will!

I'm very thankful I traded into the day shift tomorrow and I can be home to put Miss Ella to bed tomorrow night and I am hoping we can cuddle on the couch and watch Rudolph together! Best of all, I can go to bed early and be ready for the rest of the week! Fingers crossed she sleeps past 6 every day this week!