Ella might need a puppy.

She was mesmerized by Bacon, Rachel's dog... although we didn't let her meet Rocky, their 90 pound Boxer puppy. Probably a good call. It is awfully cute to see babies playing with dogs.

Houston is WONDERFUL! It's been rainy all week... but I'm still wearing shorts, it's nice and humid. And of course, my family is great. More later.

Groundhoggers.

Why, may I ask, does the entire country rely on predictions made by one groundhog in Pennsylvania? Because I did a little shadow-checking myself this morning, and let me tell you, there were none. For those of you who have not already realized, it is impossible to see a shadow without the Sun. And while we must assume that the Sun continues to make appearances in other parts of the country (Punxutawney, PA perhaps), I can be certain that no Idaho groundhog saw any shadows today. In all reality, they probably didn't even want to check, which may be a whole other prediction unto itself. So join with me in my rejection of the Punxsutawney prediction. I and my native groundhogs must agree that there are no shadows in Idaho today. So bring on the next season, we are ready!

We lost the camera...

And so last week when Paul, Ella, and I bundled up to build a snowman, all we got were pictures on our phones :) On the upside, I have a really cute phone wallpaper now. So, let's just pretend that I took a picture of this HUGE snowman, about five and a half feet. With racquetball balls for eyes, a carrot for a nose, and a UT baseball cap. Hook 'em Horns. The snow last week was perfect for snowman building, nice and wet. Usually it is pretty powdery out here.

Today Ella tried to pull herself up on a laundry basket. She did pretty good, actually. She stayed up for about three seconds before tumbling back down. Someone needs to tell her that you are supposed to crawl BEFORE you start pulling yourself up on things! For the love.

Crawl Coaches Anonymous

Well, I have this confession to make. I like to put Ella into the crawling position and coach her on crawling. So far I have had zero success-- she still thinks that she should be able to move both legs at the same time and it effectively propell her forward. But relentlessly I prod each leg in turn, hoping she will pick up on the concept; I crawl all over the place, imparting to her the wisdom of age. She is not very interested in my wisdom.

Last weekend we were visiting Richard and Jess Christensen, and they had a friend over who witnessed my Crawl Coaching demonstration and asked "Don't babies usually figure that out on their own?" How right he is. So I'm throwing in the towel and trusting Ella to find her own unique crawling rhythm. Say it loud and proud, Ella: "I am a strong, confident woman!"

Here is her progress so far:

Spring has sprunk.

Wednesday afternoon was beautiful here in Idaho Falls. And by beautiful, I mean there was no cloud cover, so we actually witnessed the Sun... it's still there for those of you who were wondering. And it was in the mid to high-30s. I cannot describe to you how warm that feels after teens and twenties. I also spent the afternoon shopping for Spring clothes for Ella. And we spent the morning basking in the light coming through our windows. (When in doubt, always enjoy the sunlight from inside during these frigid months.) So throughout the course of the day, my subconscious mind began formulating a little idea. In it's beginnings, it was just a glimmer of a thought; nothing worth notifying my conscious mind about. But cautiously it gained strength, even hope, until one magnificent moment, when it emerged glorious and powerful in its implications: Spring is almost here! For an instant I embraced it, and smiled in blissful anticipation. And that's when my conscious mind kicked my subconscious mind in the groin: It's only January. Spring won't come for another four months. And that's only if you are lucky, you optimistic fool. Yeah, it was about that harsh. My conscious mind is cruel, but correct. And so I will continue to enjoy the sunlight (when it occurs) from my living room windows, and just tell Ella about the things I dream of, and hope that one day, she can experience them too.

Fashion Show

Old Navy was having a 50% off of clearance sale today, and since Ella only has clothes appropriate for the arctic tundra, I decided to invest in some clothes that would serve her in weather that is typical, for, say,

Arizona and Texas in February. Well. When I get new clothes, I like to try them all on at home

and have a mini-fashion show. So naturally, Ella would also like this approach... NOT! But too bad for her, she grows too fast for me to buy clothes without trying them on first, so she had to suffer through.

Except in this case, where I decided, they probably fit. I was done fighting.

Do you hear what I hear?

Well, the update on Ella's new sleeping arrangement is this.
Night One: Ella woke up as we were getting in bed wanting to nurse. (I thought her own room was supposed to prevent that!!) So I laid down on the bed in her room and nursed her... until we both fell asleep and didn't wake up until Paul got up to get ready for work. So, that wasn't exactly what I had in mind.
Night Two: I successfully slept in my own room! For two hours, where I woke up, I swear, every fifteen minutes wondering if Ella was okay. So, more sad news, Ella sleeps better in her own room than I sleep in my own room. :) Finally, (two hours is a LONG time when you're trying to sleep) I just got up and slept in the bed in her room again. Baby steps, right?
Tonight (night three) the plan is, bring the baby monitor in our room (even though her room is only ten feet away from our bed, and I KNOW I can hear her) and turn it all the way up and leave it right next to my head. Paul laughed at this idea, but I asked him very nicely if he would just feed my neurosis for a couple of more nights, so that maybe I could permenantly transition into having my own room again.
I never, ever thought I would have this problem. Remember the days when I swore I wouldn't be one of those "obsessive moms"? Yeah, I'm eating crow.

Christmas is over.

And our tree is waiting in the backyard for Paul to send it home to its maker. It left us its own kind of gifts, however, and I am still finding pine needles everywhere. :) Thanks for the memories, Tree.

Well, tonight Ella is sleeping in her own bedroom, for the first time ever. And I am a little nervous, but I think it will stick, because we had to take the crib apart to get it out of our bedroom and into hers, and I'd have to be pretty desperate to do that again. She had a little trouble falling asleep in her new room, but she is sleeping soundly now, so I am hopeful! In some ways, I am sure that I am a bad parent, because babies want to be close to their parents and maybe even snuggle with them at night. But we tried that, and she doesn't sleep very well in our bed, and we wake her up every night when she sleeps in our bedroom. (I used to think that she just got hungry every night at ten or ten-thirty, but then I realized, even if we were quiet as little churchmice, she would always be "hungry" right when we went to bed.) So I guess separate rooms are just right for our family-- but I'll let you know how it goes in the future.

And on the food front, here is another update:

Yummm. Blueberries.

So Many Options!

Here I am, alone in my own home for the first time in weeks! Mom and Archie came out for Christmas, and then we had Richard, Jess, and Laurel here for New Year's and then came Todd and Lisa's wedding. So now, Ella's napping, and the opportunities are limitless! I could clean, I could read a book, I could sleep, I could turn up the heat and Paul would never know.... I have had a 100% BLAST in the last could of weeks, but I have to admit, it sure is nice to have the quieter options available. :)

More fun news: Ella started solid foods over Christmas. We got some fun footage of that :) But life is basically just good here. Maybe I'll even start blogging regularly again!

Aunt Laurel and Aunt Rachel

After church on Sunday we decided that we needed to take more pictures of Ella, to celebrate her cuteness. I must admit that you would be hard pressed to convince me that there isn't an appropriate time to take pictures of Ella, in honor of her cuteness, or for most any other reason. Besides, Laurel in her black dress, and Ella in her polka-dot dress-- it was just too good to pass up.

Laurel actually ended up spending the whole weekend at Mom and Archie's with us, and then I drove down with her Sunday and spent the next two nights sleeping at her place. It was a blast. I haven't had such good quality Laurel time in SO SO long!

I love it when Ella holds her hands together. I feel that she looks like one of the Von Trapp children, preparing for a concert. You don't get quite the full effect in this picture... but you get the idea.

Rachel and I also got to spend lots of time together this trip. We (Rachel, Mom, Me, Ella, Mitch) met for breakfast one morning at IHOP-- delish. And then I spent another afternoon with her at her apartment, which was just so nice. There's just never enough visiting time when I visit Texas.

Ella has a foot fetish... only her foot, though. At this moment she is nursing, I am typing with one hand, and she is grasping her foot as close to her face as she possibly can. Her foot is only safe when it is in her mouth. I can understand that. I often feel that way, too.