Sk-ELLA-ton

I'm not going to lie, my neighborhood is a little scary. However, it seems that on Halloween the gangsters and drug dealers let go of their wild ways and take their kids out for free candy. We had so much fun passing out candy-Ella really had fun dropping candy into other trick-or-treaters' bags. In fact, she would drop a few pieces into a bag and then chase the princess or ghoul or monster down to give away a few more pieces! Sometimes she even got as far as the end of the driveway trying to give out more candy!
This was also our first foray into going house to house, begging for candy. I have not always been a huge trick-or-treat fan, until we lived in Pleasanton, that is. Apparently, when we lived in Pleasanton, we lived on the most trick-or-treated street in all of history-seriously 20 bags of candy. But even in our neighborhood now, we had a good time. Ella definitely had a great time and got so many compliments on her skelleton costume (lovingly made by hand by ChiChi-Adele Wimmer, and previously worn by Cousin Annie). By the end of the night, all the candy was gone and Ella was exhausted. We tried to keep her up for an extra hour for the time change, but we weren't able to do that. We had a great time and we can't wait for next Halloween. MUAHAHAHA! (that is my evil laugh!)

Beachy Keen

Mema and Papa's house is one of my favorite places of refuge. I even lived with them my first summer after graduating from high school, and worked in Port Aransas at Pat Magee's. While in college, I would drive the 2 1/2 hour drive in my sweet Cougar and hunker down for a weekend to rest and work on homework. Mema and Papa are my dad's parents and they have always provided me with comfort and love, despite their awesome craziness. Ella was born almost 18 months ago and had never visited my second home and I thought it was important to get her there soon. So, she and I had our first official mother/daughter road trip.
The drive down was difficult. In the 3 years since I last headed down to the coast, there have been some major highway "improvements." But, after some crying and cursing (under my breath, of course) we pulled in to that welcoming driveway and were greeted by some very excited octogenarians! Papa built Ella a giraffe that is also a coat holder that stands about 4 feet tall. It is special because he also built Kyle and I each one when we were young. For an eighty-something year-old man to do word work the way he still does is amazing to me. We spent the next couple of hours catching up and playing with Ella in the back yard. The memories I have of playing in that yard with Kyle are vast; climbing the monstrous oaks, catching lizards, and building treehouses. They all came flooding back in. Ella had a great time smelling flowers with Mema, although she never quite got her nose on her flowers-just leaves.


Running and playing!

Smelling the flowers.

First encounter with fragrant Rosemary.

We rode the ferry over to Port A at about 4:30 because, let's face it, old people eat early. I think Ella was even like, "Didn't we just have a snack?" After dinner, I talked them in to joining me on a trip down memory lane...aka..."the beach." Papa had actually had a couple of Shiners with dinner and did not feel like getting out of the CRV, so he stayed to make sure I didn't get a ticket for not having a beach permit. Mema loves to walk on the beach, and I could tell she was itching to do just that with her great-granddaughter. We three ladies had a grand ole time walking on the beach, and Ella made a mad dash for the water. I was afraid she would be scared, but she absolutely loved it! I am so excited because this gives us another reason to visit them more often.
We were all pretty tuckered out at that point and decided to call it a night, especially Ella, who fell asleep on the ferry.


Nice view of the beach.

Ella wading in the water.

Ella loved watching her feet sink in the sand after a wave passed over them.

The next morning was great as well. Papa made his signature pancakes and link sausage (a breakfast that he made for me every Sunday morning when I lived with them that summer). Ella enjoyed them so much she screamed a scream of joy! We didn't make it much longer, Ella's naptime came fast and I wanted that to happen in the car, so we said our goodbyes and hit the road. She fell asleep before we turned off their street and I didn't get lost on the way home. I can't wait for the next trip down...ready to hit the Corpus tourist traps!

Here are a couple of videos from the trip. The first one is Ella smelling the leaves in Mema's flower bed and the second one is Ella dipping her toes in the waves. I had to hold onto her and my phone to get that video, so it isn't the best quality.

Fun stuff going on...

It has been forever since I have posted anything here, so here is a quick catch up. I felt so blessed to have so many great family members come to my aid while I was healing after surgery. Mom would come and go, Dad came to help for a little while, and my Max's mom, Adele came all the way from Denver when I was starting back to work! What a blessing! I started back to work in Seguin for another year of teaching English, and Ella went back to daycare, which she loves. She can even say "school" and says it as soon as we turn on to that street. She is amazing. Her vocabulary is growing every day. She says Mommy, Daddy, Nanny, Dadoo, Chi-Chi, Uncle Kyle (sounds like Kycle), shoe, banana, milk, juice, bath, stairs, ball, baby, car, bird, just to name a few. She is soon to be 18 months old and I cannot believe it! We just can't imagine our lives without her.

In the last few months, we have taken her to a UT game, she and I (along with Mom) drove to Ft.Worth to vistit Nanny Muleshoe, and were also able to meet up with one of my best friends, Mark. Just this past weekend, I took her to the coast to visit my Mema and Papa. They were thrilled when Ella ran to the ocean and waded in, laughing as she went (pics and vids to follow). What a joy it is to have such a wonderful, loving family.


Ella in my classroom, checking out my textbook.

Ella with Mark in Ft. Worth

Sweet little UT fan!

Precious girl at a city park in Bastrop, TX.


Ella and Max cheering on the Longhorns!

Spoiled Ella

With me being down, Ella is spending a lot of time with Nanny and that means she is getting pretty spoiled. Nanny and Pops (Mike and Terri) bought this little swing and slide while I was in the hospital. Ella loves it and wants to outside all of the time now. This morning I was feeling well enough to sit outside with them for a little while.

Surgery Sucks

On Monday, I went to the hospital to have Alfredo removed. Alfredo (lovingly named after a student I could not stand) was a large fibroid on the outside of my uterus. I was told it would be a laproscopic outpatient surgery. Well, Alfredo was bigger than expected, in a bad position, and he was not alone. I ended up having to be cut open and three fibroids were removed. It sounds terrible, but I was in quite a bit of pain, I was bitchy, tired and hungry all of the time because of them. It is going to be so much better without them in there.
However, now my recovery time has gone from what would have been 1-2 weeks to 6-8 weeks. This means I cannot play with or hold or carry Ella for quite some time. It wasn't so bad at first. Now, she is wanting me to pick her up and I can't-and that leaves us both crying. It is so much worse than I thought it would be. I can handle the physical pain, but not the emotional. That being said, I am so lucky to have my mom here with me. Ella is getting super spoiled and so am I!! Mom had the Merry Maids come to clean the house yesterday and they will be back for the next 4 Thursdays!! I also know that I have some great friends willing to help if necessary and my favorite mother-in-law doing what she can to get here to help out.
I am continuously overwhelmed at how many people have sent well wishes, flowers, and cards! I am so lucky and I am grateful for everything everyone has done for me and my family during this time. I wanted to share my lovely flowers with everyone! Enjoy, and thank you all again for everything.


From Skiles Farms

From The Wimmers and The Peragines

From The Cranes, Wilsons, Dales, and Aunt Janie

From Kyle and Christi

Pajama time, oooh yes, it's pajama time...

Yesterday was payday! HOORAY!!! That gave me a chance to go to San Marcos and visit that outlets. Ella has finally run out of all her gifted clothes. All of the wonderful clothes we received at baby showers are all now too small. I am sad about it because I loved them all so much! The good thing is that running out of clothes means we need new ones, and it is time to shop, which I hate with a passion...JUST KIDDING!! The Carter's outlet is great. I was able to buy Ella some much needed PJs and they were all on sale. The more I watch her, the more I think she is going to be a girly girl. She likes to sit in my lap while I put on make-up, she loves wearing dresses, and she really likes jewelry (although, I think that last one really applies to all babies). So when I saw these pajamas, I had to buy them for her.


My little ballerina princess



She likes to touch the lens.



Notice her drinking milk from a sippy cup! NO MORE BOTTLES!!!!!!
She is getting to be such a big girl. We do not use formula or bottles anymore. She is eating at the table with us, not always what I'd like her to be eating-- she is super picky, but feeding herself none-the-less.

Yay for ChiChi!!!

Last Tuesday, ChiChi (Max's mom, Adele) flew down from Denver to hang with us Texans for a bit. We had so much fun! Unfortunately, I was still in school and since Max has a newer job, he didn't feel he could ask for time off, so we didn't really get to see her much. We did make a trip to Sea World, we three girls spent some time downtown at the Market, and had a nice time here at the house. It is always hard to see Adele leave because she and Joe and Chrissy, Jay, Annie and Thomas live so far away. We feel like we never get to see them, so when we do have the opportunity to spend time with them, we enjoy it to the fullest.
Ella is a Sea World princess. She loves the Dolphins and the aquarium tanks, but she also took in her first show there. The sea lion show is the best-I think it is better than Shamu, because the Shamu show is so cheesy and emotional. The sea lion show is fun and upbeat. I don't think she really "got" it, but we like it.

Ahhh. Discovery.

Ella loves when the fish swim really fast by her face.

At the dolphin tank.

"What is this, ChiChi?"

What a little cutie!

Kyle and Christi: The Wedding of the Century (May 30th)

Wow! Kyle and Christi: The Wedding of the Century took place May 30th. It was beautiful, I made a fool out of myself by crying uncontrollably at the drop of a hat, and my little brother is now married. And, might I add, to an intelligent, loving, wonderful person. I couldn't be happier and I love her like a sister and I have since close to day one. Enough with the mush. These are only a few of the pictures from the rehearsal dinner which was held at The House of Blues in downtown Houston. I do not have any pictures from the wedding, but I hope to have some soon. I wish I had tons more, both nights were uproariously fun and spectacular.

Ella's first beer. Just kidding-obviously it is Max's beer.

Great old friends-they are like brothers to me-Mason and Michael Dan

Mom and Dad enjoying a slide show.

She made it the whole night and crashed in the car before we even left the valet booth!

Kyle and Christi: The Wedding Shower (May 17)

The Wimmers

Kyle, Christi, and some Muleshoeites

The proud sister/sister-in-law

The Happy Couple

It is always nice to go back to Muleshoe for a visit. I love the fact that I grew up in such a tight knit community and I desperately want that for Ella. Kyle and Christi were given a wonderful wedding shower and they received some awesome things. We were lucky enough to get to be a part of that shower and visit with some old friends and amazing family.

Ella's First Birthday Party-May 16th (Her birthday is May 19th)

Ella wasn't really sure what to think about her cupcake.


Opening presents


Mommy and Ella and that great Panhandle sky!


What a cute family!


Daddy and Ella-look at that smile!

Ella's first birthday party was held in Muleshoe with all of the Cranes and some of the Hahns. It was a great way to spend her first birthday. I cannot believe how much she has grown in one year. What a big girl she has become. Her vocabulary is growing-she can say "banana," "night-night," "Dada," "that?" and "thank you." Of course, you have to really be paying attention to tell what she is saying. She dances and snaps her fingers, plays peek-a-boo, and even walks occasionally. Crawling is much faster, so walking is really not one of her priorities, but she can and does walk, which is amazing! We are so lucky to have such a precious, healthy girl.

Mother's Day

My first official Mother's Day was great. We actually did not do anything particularly special, but that is what I wanted. I did have some great breakfast tacos for breakfast and a special treat later in the day-a blended Coke float from Sonic!! I also received a sweet little pink Moore Maker pocket knife-exactly what I wanted. The big event of the day was getting Ella into the pool for the first time. We were super excited because her swimsuit is so cute! She did not like the pool at first, but when I got in with her, and helped her get used to the cold water-along with some serious splashing-she had a great time.