Monday, September 18, 2006

Stories from Ella




Autumn has not officially arrived, but we are having beautiful weather here in Chicago. We hope it will be nice in two weeks when we're having Ella's birthday party outside! Our travels are over for now and it's good to be home, but hard to adjust to small quarters after visiting so many suburban size homes. We had an eventful return from California that included a 5:30 a.m. wake-up call, alot of cancelled flights, a $160 - 75 minute cab ride (thankfully paid for by American Airlines) to the Palm Springs Airport, a 5 hour wait at the Palm Springs airport, and then about a 4-hour flight home that included more delays and holding patterns. Let's just say it was a long day.

Ella's language skills are developing rapidly and she has finally mastered the use of pronouns and first person. We were getting tired of hearing her refer to herself in third person all of the time, so it's nice to hear her say "me" and "I". She doesn't miss a word of any conversation going on around her, and she has an amazing memory--often recounting stories and events in great detail from months ago. Two of her favorite stories to tell over and over again are "Pa's card" and "Gracie fell down". Her mind is truly like a sponge that absorbs whatever it is exposed to and we are trying hard to make sure she soaks up only good things.

A bittersweet story from this morning: Ella was climbing on the hope chest at the foot of our bed. And as always, I had to remind her not to do this because it is a very special piece of furniture. I said, "remember this trunk is very special because it came from Grandma Earnhart." Ella promptly replied, "it came from heaven!" I assume this is because we talk about her Grandma Earnhart and her Great Grandma who are in heaven with God. I thought it was a beautiful reminder of how much she really understands and does not understand.

Later today we will make a trip to the fabric store. I have enrolled in a basic sewing class and will attempt to learn how to sew some basic garments. Wish me luck!

At the end of the week we will have a visit from my Aunt Faith, Jesse and their son Caelin. Ella is excited to see them and have them visit us in Chicago. It's not often that any of our family come visit us, and we love it when they do. (YES THIS IS A HINT!)

With our camera basically out of service, I was only able to take about three or four pictures in California, some of which didn't even turn out. We're trying to work a new camera into the budget, so hopefully pictures will be more frequent again. I will post the few I have for now, of Ella wearing her sunglasses, jammies, and beach shoes inside on a rainy day, Ella and July the cat in California, and Ella showing baby the Chihuly sculptures at the Palm Springs airport last week.

Hope to see and hear from you all soon--as always feel free to leave comments. I will try to e-mail this post to alot of people, as I've been told by many they thought our blog was over because of my problems.




Saturday, September 02, 2006

We're back!














































Yes--our blog is still active!

I just successfully logged into blogger AND my blog actually showed up on my dashboard--the first time in almost 30 days!!!!

So here is a quick post (written a few days ago) and some pictures from our recent travels to Connecticut. We had a great time visiting the Bell's and seeing their new baby. Ella liked going to the Dairy to have ice cream from their creamery. (and so did I!!) She also liked Lucy the dog by the end of our trip, and learned all about "princess things" from Laney and Olivia! The bad news is that I dropped our camera in Connecticut and am without one right now. Hopefully Marion will send me the electronic picture files that I took on her camera while we were in St. Louis a few weeks ago. We visited Grant's Farm where Ella got to feed the baby goats a bottle. And of course saw all of our family as well.

We're headed to California next week for a last pre-age 2 flight. Ella can't wait to see Nana and Pa and her cousins again. Ella just turned 23 months and can't wait for her birthday party. Save the date-Saturday 09-30. Details to follow soon!

David and I, along with several friends all went out Sunday on a group date without our kids. It was a great time--we went dancing at the outdoor Chicago summer dance which was Tango and other ballroom lessons with live music and then out to dinner. It's amazing how refreshed you are after just a few hours away from your children.

Please keep my cousin Raney and her new baby boy Conor in your prayers. She had a very problematic-unusual-uncalled for delivery on Sunday and she and the baby are both home now, but we won't know their health status for awhile. She is hoping to find some new Docs to help both of them after their traumatic experience. We're thinking of you Raney and Chris.

We are glad to see the sun this afternoon after 2 straight days of rain and clouds. Ella is exhausted from playing with her friend Braden this morning so is sleeping well. I saw a new specialist Dr. today about my neck and he seemed to think he knows the problems, etc. and has sent me back to RIC for my therapy, but instead of physical therapy this time I will be with a chiropractor-- he has promised it won't be a "forever" chiropractor committment. I just hope to be pain free soon and also hope Humana will cover chiropractic care since Ella and I have to switch to David's Humana insurance in two week's when our Cobra runs out.

Hopefully my blogger problems are over and you will see more posts again soon.