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August is here and Ella is Mobile!

It's been awhile since I blogged - sorry about that I have been chasing Ella around the house because she is mobile! She can crawl really good now and constantly is trying to stand up. She doesn't crawl to something and try to pull herself up she straighten's her legs and tries right from the middle of the room! :) With this rate she will be walking in just a few short weeks and then we are in trouble!

I know the real reason everyone checks the blog and that's for pictures. So here you go. ....



This is Ella in the pool at Uncle Aaron and Aunt Trisha's house. We were celebrating Mason's 1st birthday.
Mom and Ella playing in pool. It was SOOOOO Bright out that Ella had to wear her shades. She really liked them though because she HATES sun in her eyes.

My little girl is getting so big so fast. Look at her standing up playing all by herself! Think she has enough toys? It's like where's Waldo but with Abby.

Look at this Dad..... a new trick! :) She is so silly!

Ella is a happy baby she spends her day's laughing and talking and screaming just oh and growling and making funny sounds. She loves to pretend she is a monster and get you! It's so cute.

Fawn Doe Rosa

Daddy took his girls to Fawn Doe Rosa yesterday. It was amazing! Rob and I have always loved that place but it was SOOOOO much more fun with Ella there. These are only the pictures I took with my phone but wanted to share something! I will download some other ones this week and get them posted too!

Here is Ella at the start of our adventure! These are her new Little Mermaid shades! $1.99 at the Disney store... SCORE!!! (Oh and lots of Green...it was a green day! Grandma would have been proud!)

Ella found a little friend just her size. She loved this bunny. It was a nice break to just sit in the shade for awhile too. It was super Hot out! Of course she is going for the ears just as she does with Abby at home!

Look Daddy! I have a Bunny! So many smiles and screams yesterday! :o)

OoooooH! is what you can't hear in this picture! The bunny is like "got any more carrots?"

Ah! Daddy is in heaven! Two BIG bucks and his daughter! :o) It is so fun to just hang out with the deer. They loved the carrots we fed them and the corn. They were just lazing around in the shade but who can blame them.

Fun Weekend

Down to 8 days until finalization!!! It won't be long now.

Friday Rob took me and Ella to Maplewood Mall to ride on the merry-go-round. It was fun. It was hilarious to see Ella's eyes light up when we entered the Mall!! She loved it! I think we are in trouble...she likes shopping way to much! :o) But she gets that from both Rob and me!! She enjoyed the ride here is a picture before it started. In this one she looks like "HOLY COW!" what is going on.... She did like it when it started.

We went swimming again on Saturday until it started thundering! Rob was grilling chicken and we were playing in the water. I will post some pictures of that later this week. Ella has a new little frog tube to play in and boy did she like that! Helped us to put more water in the pool with the frog to sit in. : ) Pretty stormy on Sat - the whole family was in the basement. Turns out all the damage we received was knocked over flowers.

Sunday we went to my Dad's for dinner, it was Ella's first time at Grandpa's house. She liked the antlers and the horses. I think the horses liked her too.. and since she is a water baby like Mommy! When we got home from Grandpa's guess what.... we went swimming again!! That turned into an exciting night though. We have three baby robin's and one jumped out of the nest. Rob thankfully saved it from Moose and Abby who wanted to eat it!!! But then the other two babies jumped out... so just picture Kate and Ella in the pool (on the deck) Rob down in the yard with two dogs, three baby birds and a TON of really mad adult robins dive bombing him!! Oh boy! To make this long story short no babies were eaten! We were able to get them all safely outside our fenced in yard so the dogs could not hurt them. Hopefully they stay out there now. They appeared big enough fly away.

Lastly here is another cute picture from this weekend. This was Saturday morning - we were taking pictures to send to Grandma in case she wanted to show Ella off at Target Field. :) What kind of a face is this? Hilarious!

Mary Kay Facial

Last night a new and Great friend Carol Anderson came over to see me and Ella. She is an independant Sales Director for Mary Kay. She came to give me a facial and teach me some good techniques for face care and also just makeup application. Oh and of course to see Miss Ella. :)

Here is Carol and Ella while I am busy trying out product. It was soooo much fun! I am thinking of having a party...let me know if you are interested.

Here is a picture of Mommy after trying some makeup and of course Ella got in on the fun too.... he...he...he....

Another Shot of Ella smiling away at Carol while she tried to talk to me and play with her....

This is Carol's husband Gary.... Gary works with Rob in Baldwin. We went out to their place a few weeks ago to put up a game camera to see if we could snap a picture of their bear. It had been coming into their yard a few times.

She loved the feel of his wiskers...

How much did she like his whiskers....well take a look!! This is why the Anderson's now refer to Miss Ella as Frenchy!! Ha! Too funny but also embarassing for MOM....Ella STOP LICKING people!! :o)

We are so happy to have Gary and Carol be a part of Ella's life! They are so great with her. It's so nice to have someone so willing to let you just simply brag about your children!

Back to the facial...I of course LOVED it! I bought the TimeWise Miracle Set and some great mineral foundation and all the accessories to go with it! I have had it for a day now but seriously just can't believe the difference it has already made on my skin in just three uses! Loving it so much I just wanted to give a shout out for Carol! Below is her site feel free to check it out, and seriously let me know if you would come to a Mary Kay party at my place!

http://www.marykay.com/canderson15

Swimming

Ella went swimming for the first time a couple of weeks ago...I am terrible about getting pictures out here in a timely manner...however better late then never right?

I think her favorite part may have been just playing with her little links.
Oops! We fell down being silly....but this is fun!!!!

Here is my little sunflower all bundled up after swimming! What a look she is giving me....

Last Visit before Finalization

It's been a long time since I blogged. I need to try and get better at that but life just gets so busy. We had our last social worker visit on Sat. And down to 15 days until finalization! That is going to be the happiest day ever! Both Rob and I just can't wait until the judge tells us Ella is FOREVER part of our family. It's weird because she already is a Leiby and she is already part of our lives, but now to have the paperwork match and the state and government to agree with what we already know in our hearts is going to be awesome!

We had a busy weekend. Rob was lucky enough to get out fishing with the neighbor on Saturday and then we had a nice dinner with them and bonfire. It was Ella's first bonfire she liked it! She is addicted to Fireworks and a different neighbor lit more of them off so she was one happy little girl!

She is busy eating everything and just taking in all the new stuff. She had a graham cracker for daycare last week and one at home on Sunday she liked that. A little weird with the new texture of food though - she made some funny faces.

Hope to update pictures sometime soon.

Father's Day's Coming

Well Father's day is fast approaching and I am so excited that my Europe trip was postponed and I will be home with Rob to celebrate! Ella and I brought surprise cupcakes to work last night for Dad the first of his presents. We totally embarrassed him by writing " We Love you!" on them. he..he...he... oh well I know he loved it so that's all that mattered!

So here is my shout out to my amazing husband who I happen to think is the best father in the whole world! His caring and compassion for Ella is breathe taking. He works 12+ hours and still comes home to rush in her room and see her first thing then gets up with her in the morning and plays and feeds her and takes sole care of her all day until he heads off to work again....and all with no fuss or complaints!

I was off on business travel last week and Rob stayed home from work with Ella he is truly amazing. He didn't miss a beat with her schedule. I can tell you....YES I know how lucky I am to have an amazing partner to help raise our daugther. In my eyes there is nothing better for little girl then a good healthy bond with her Father!

Some pictures of Ella and Daddy....


Here they are at the Underwater World in MOA. Notice the shark hat! :)

"WOW!!" Look over there at that fish!!! It's HUGE!!"

Oh! Here is Mom and Ella from last weekend...we were out checking on our baby robins... Isn't she a doll!

She is almost 6 months now and she is getting so big isn't she??

Ah Daddy is never too far from me....

xoxoxoxox to Daddy!

Ella's BIG week

It's been big week for Ella! She rolled over on Wednesday for the first time! She had been very close for quite a long time but finally decided it's not so hard! Now she is doing it all the time!

Here are a few pictures I wanted to share... YES mom painted those cute little toes.... they are just adorable in her little sandals! :)

The sleeping picture is from a day bumming with Dad! He loves her pink camo hat that Nicole Jones and Pat Reeve autographed but as you can tell it's still a little big yet....

The picture below is from just this Wednesday! She not only learned how to roll over that day she also learned how to blow bubbles too!! That is her new favorite thing to do. I will try and get the video uploaded for you to see. It's adorable. I think she is getting a tooth and she is drooling constantly so when she blows...oh boy! She gets everyone wet!! :) And it makes such cool noises keeps her entertained for hours.

Mother's Day

I had a great Mother's Day! Daddy and Ella took me to the Zoo!! I LOVE THE ZOO!! This is a picture of Ella enjoying her day. She got to wear her fishing hat and shades because it was quite sunny out! It wasn't all to much for her, she really enjoyed watching the grizzly bears and the monkey's! Other then that though....she was like "whatever" :) Mom and Dad sure enjoyed it though.

I was very thankful to be a Mom yesterday, I reflected on our struggles and how long it took for our dream to become parents to come true and then I reflected on all the people I have talked to and helped council even in the short time I have been a Mom! This was all meant to be. I truly believe I am meant to help other women become Mothers and be there for them. Teach people about adoption and also just help others see that we are all just people regardless of what we look like or where we came from! Inside we are all the same!

I can't imagine my life without Ella. She was definitely meant to be part of our family. She has made such an impact on not only Mom and Dad in her short 4 months with us but our entire Family and circle of friends. She is one truly amazing kid!

Pictures...."as requested!"

Okay It's been a month since you saw any new pictures of Ella! Here we go!! This is a picture of Ella in her bumbo chair from Sat. Behind her is our "new" chalkboard wall. The nephews were down and had a fun time doodling on it as you can tell!!
Here was a close up by the wall! I am not sure what she was looking at!

This face is so FUNNY!! Whatcha lookin' at??

Sunday it was cold but still nice and sunny out so the whole family bundled up and headed out on the deck to grill supper! This was Ella's get up!

Here is a closer view of my little super star!!

Ella is still sleeping very well! I put her down awake every night and each morning and she puts herself right back to sleep! Ah that is so nice. It was hard getting there I thought we never would but now that we are here! Oh sweetness. I can get so much more done before I go to bed now because I am not holding her until she falls asleep, and not going back in her room every 5-10 minutes to put her back to sleep!

We bought Ella a life jacket and if it gets warm enough this weekend she might take her first boat trip! : ) We want to see if the Crappies are biting!

PRODUCT RECALL!!! - Children's Med's

I just found out from my boss about a recall made on Friday April 30th. I am concerned not many people know about this since my friend had been to the doctor just yesterday and they still recommended these products which were recalled on Friday!!!

http://www.mcneilproductrecall.com/

Here is the link for more information. It's all of the products I am sure you will find in your home! Children's Tylenol, Children's Motrin, Children's Zyrtec! Please check your cupboards and dispose of these medicines.

Busy Busy

Well just wanted to give all my followers an update. Sorry it's been so long since I blogged. Last week we went on our first "outing" together without Ella! We had a fundraiser for Junior Achievement in Bloomington. Angie and Pat Grant babysat Ella for us! Ella gave them a little run for their money. She is in the mommy and daddy stage so she got "mad" a few times for them.... overall though she was just fine and snuggled and slept on Angie to keep her warm! :) "uncle" Pat however wasn't as lucky....Ella didn't want any Pat time on Friday.... Poor Pat!!

We spent the weekend at my Mom's cabin in Minong! Ella first trip there - it was great. She got to meet lots of new people. Great Uncle Mike and Great Uncle Nancy came to have supper with us. It was the first time Mike had met Ella! Then on Sunday she meet my mom's friends and cabin neighbors Karen and Huck. It was so relaxing to just hang out and watch movies instead of paint!!

This week at work has been a blurrrrrr - Monday was dentist appointment for Rob and then Tuesday was super booked at work with Quality audits and meetings. Today will be busy too! Then I am off to Cresco IA on Thursday for my corrugated Auction! Friday I had a seminar planned but it got bumped by major meetings....whew can't wait until Sat to relax....oh wait! It's opening of fishing!! YEEEEHAW!!!!


On a positive note Ella has been doing AMAZING with sleeping. She has been putting herself asleep and sleeping almost all night!!! YEAH!!!!

Painting

Well the painting is finally done. We worked all weekend to get the foyer finished we painted that green,then I painted the doors down there a brown. We painted a dark brown wall in the living room then repainted our "red" wall with the dark brown. Looks much better! On Sunday Rob and I tackled the living room by ourselves. We painted it Sienna Dust....which is tan! :) Don't you just love the names they give these colors. Our green was called Cactus garden. I will have to get some pictures uploaded to the blog so you all can see.

We have a busy week this week. Ella was cranky at daycare yesterday, not sure what that was all about, she took a quick 30 min nap when she came home and then was SUPER happy the rest of the night. Moose got to have a play date with the neighbor puppy Skyler. Abby barked and chased them for a few mins then gave up and came in the house to lay down. Too funny! Moose and Skyler ran in the backyard for almost an entire hour! It was good exercise for both of them.

We bought Ella an activity center this weekend in hopes it would keep her busy a little longer while we painted. It did work for a few mins. She really liked it last night though. She is not tall enough to reach the ground yet but we put a pillow under her and she bounces away! I think in a couple of months she will REALLY like it. She almost rolled over last night too. She was playing in her little gym and she was all the way on her side but didn't completely roll over. How exciting huh??

We have a Junior Achievement bowling function on Friday from 5-7pm. Ella is going to go over and hang out with our Neighbors the grants while Mom and Dad bowl. It will be our first outing without her if you don't count work! I am nervous but I know she will be fine with Pat and Angie I am just being selfish about not seeing her ALL day on Friday because of work then this bowling thing.

On Saturday we are headed up north for the weekend. It should be fun, the whole family. Puppies included.. It will be nice to relax and not PAINT! :)

Better night

We finally had a better night of sleep last night. Ella still woke up several times between 9-11 pm but then slept until 2 and after eating at 2 is still sleeping! Yeah! It felt good to miss the waking up at 3:30. Rob was home and has tomorrow off so he took the 2 am feeding and I feel so refreshed!

It's a grandma day today - My mom will be down early to watch Ella so Rob can go look for antlers. Hope the weather holds out for him. I am also looking forward to getting home and seeing Mom to talk about paint colors. I think she is going to come down this weekend one day and help out. That will be AWESOME!!

We have another social worker visit on Sat our 2nd of 3 visits. I am really looking forward to it! I can't wait to show Tracy all the stuff that Ella is now doing.

I am loving spring all the flowers that are out and about. My office at work looks out onto some Georgeous purple flowers and that makes me smile each day.

Home Projects

This weekend we went to visit some friends in their new house. They purchased it back in Sept 09 and have been diligently working to paint and remodel to their liking. It was amazing. We absolutely loved it! That got us thinking about all our white walls in our house and how long we have lived there without painting them or putting up pictures. So they kind of motivated us.....

Yup you guessed it - we dived right in this weekend. Sat we had to get medicine for Moose because he got kennel cough while boarding at the vet over Easter. Poor guy!! Then after that we had a ton of shopping to do - mostly for Ella she was in need of everything from formula to diapers. Rob wanted to stop at Home Depot and I didn't know why but while we were there we decided to pick out some paint colors and buy some supplies! Talk about spur of the moment I didn't know walking into Home Depot we were going to be painting this weekend and we left with paint for almost the entire upstairs!

We started on Sat night with prepping some of the walls and just some general cleaning of the house that seems to never happen during the week anymore. :) Then Sunday we woke up and hit it hard! Well Rob did - I was mostly taking care of Ella although I helped when she slept!

Rob started by painint my chalk board wall. We had that paint since last year! I have a wall in between my kitchen and living room that we painted completely with chalkboard paint. I can't wait to draw on it! Then we moved on to the foyer that is being painted cactus garden it's a nice green color. The walls in my house are huge we have a split level with vaulted ceilings so you can imagine our fun as we tackled the biggest wall in the house yesterday! Needless to say we stopped painting at 10 pm and still didn't have the foyer done. It looks amazing though I am glad we are painting. I need to pick another color out for the living room though, and I am still looking for anyone who wants to paint or watch Ella while we do - I expect we have about 2 full more weekends of painting!!

Easter Pictures

Rob and Ella with Daddy's find from a couple of weeks ago...Look at those BIG smiles... I love this picture - those cheeks just won't stop!

Mom had to try the piggy tails...not quite long enough hair though they kept falling out.

Another Family shot - Easter in Freeport IL

Ella just chillin' on Grandma's lap

WOW it's bright out here... are we done with pictures yet??

Grandma and Grandpa giving Ella all the attention she deserves...

Look what the Easter Bunny left for Mommy!!!

She was such a good girl for us...she just sat there and let us do this for 20 mins!

Wow big eyes.... seriously what are you thinking Mom!

Mommy's the best

I think Ella is entering the phase of Mommy and Daddy are cooler then everyone else! I was sick last Friday and still not 100% all weekend so come Monday I was not in any condition to come to work. I worked from home that day so we didn't drop Ella off at daycare. Yesterday however she did go to daycare and was really cranky! She hadn't been there since last Thursday she had 4 straight days home with Mom and Dad!

I feel bad that she was cranky for Quincy however I have to admit it was totally awesome to have her instantly smile and be happy for me! She has been doing this more for me when I pick her up too. For instance this morning she was crying and I picked her up and she calmed down. I put her down to change her and she fussed a little but not much and then completely stopped fussing and was content while I made her bottle since I was holding her. Ahh there is nothing better then when your child snuggles into you and sighs with contentment! Just fills your heart up and runs right over with love!

We are getting ready for our BIG Easter trip! We leave tomorrow for IL. I am no where near completely packed but I have made my anal excel check sheet to make sure we don't forget anything! Everyone has a column, Ella, Mommy, Daddy, Dogs and even Cash! I will be sure to take lots of pictures and get them posted so everyone can share in Ella's first Easter!

PS - She will be 3 months old on Easter Sunday! WOW does time fly or what???!!??

Almost the weekend

I am looking forward to the weekend, truth be told I am SUPER excited for our Easter trip and am very much looking foward to gathering up all of Ella's stuff and packing a little bag for her. It's so fun to have a little one to bring along and share trips with! The dogs are going to be at the kennel from Thursday through Sunday so they are not looking forward to Easter but we will spoil them when we return.

I think we will get over to Jim Falls tomorrow so Ella can see Grandma and Grandpa before Easter. Then hoping to catch up with some friends at Texas Roadhouse on Sat...after all that bumming we will be ready to just stay home on Sunday and cuddle.

Somewhere in the mix we need to make another Sam's Club run for formula, we go through that pretty fast now that we are eating 4 oz + each feeding! Last night Ella drank 5 oz both bottles for me! WOW! That is going to help her grow. She also slept 3 nights this week 8 hours straight! That's my girl.

Busy Busy...

Well my week if flying by - before I know it Easter will be here! Yesterday Rob and I had our health screenings for our new life insurance policies. That was really no big deal. I hate giving blood though!

Rob had to work overtime so Ella and I ran him supper at 5:30. That was really nice. Rob got to show off Ella to his friends at work and we were able to enjoy his company for a quick supper. I think Ella and I should do that at least once a month. Rob and I don't get to see each other during the week so even a 20 min lunch would be great. With the nice weather we were able to sit outside on the picnic table. :) Great times...

It's a Grandma day today. Ella and Grandma hanging out. I bet they go for a walk.

Great Weekend

Good Morning everyone! The Leiby's had a great weekend. Zack and Brady's birthday party was fun. It was great dressing Ella up in her dress and tights. Everyone was fighting over holding her and how long! I didn't get her at all unless she needed to be changed! Mom still gets that duty. It was nice to see everyone wanting to spend time with her though and I can tell you it was AMAZING to finally have a child to bring to a family function. It was rough for years to show up and watch other families and friends bring their kids who were getting bigger and the centers of attention. It was so nice to have a little one to share with everyone.

She is loving her time at home with Dad during the day. You just say Daddy and she gets a big smile and giggles! Just warms your heart

We bought her The princess and the Frog this weekend - she watched it for almost a half an hour! Just amazed at the music and contrasting movements and shapes. It is a really good movie that has a nice message for kids. I am looking forward to watching it like 100 times! :)

Ella and I also had a twlight party just me, her and Abby on Sunday! We watched the first movie Twilight and then New Moon. It was fun! I love those movies - can't wait for the last two to come out!

Wishing everyone a fast week! Looking forward to our Easter travel next week.

Finally Friday

Well it's finally friday. I think I am getting the groove of this working Mom thing enough to survive now! Last week was hard because I wasn't in my comfort zone at work. I didn't know what was going on I wasn't up to speed and I don't like that feeling! This week I am back in control caught up and knowing what I should be working on. It also helps that Ella seems to have adjusted really well to her new routine. :)

I am looking forward to dressing Ella up for Zack and Brady's birthday party tomorrow. I will be sure to take some pictures and post out here over the weekend or Monday morning. Other then the party we don't have anything planned - I am not looking forward to the colder weather coming - it sure was cold out there this morning! Maybe we will need a family cuddle day on Sunday on the couch! The entire family all snuggled in watching movies. Ah sounds nice...and I think I will take a few naps this weekend too I am sure tired by the end of the week.

Wishing everyone a wonderful Weekend!

Other fun pictures

Just playing dress up last weekend! She is going to wear this one to Zack and Brady's birthday party. Second dress we tried on- too cold out yet for this one!

Our first family walk! Mom, Ella, Moose and Abby! Daddy was taking the picture.