Growing Up!

It's hard to believe that it's been almost six months since we brought home our tiny little girl.  She went for her six month checkup with the pediatrician on Tuesday, and she only weighs 13 pounds and 7 ounces.  What a dainty little thing she is!  That made me think about how much she's grown, and I started to look back through our pictures to see the changes.


 This was taken the day that she was born - so teeny tiny!

And this one was after she got her first bath at the hospital - in her new nightgown.

A couple of weeks later, we took her for some formal pictures, and she was already holding up her head!

What a sweetie this girl was....so interactive.

The next month, she started to play with us a lot more.

She loves a good laugh!

In May, we took her to the beach, and she loved to watch the waves...

We even took her to watch her cousins play mini golf.

Beach portrait...

In June, the giggles ripened into full-blown laughter.

What a sweet little snuggle girl.

She started grabbing silverware and trying to eat adult food...

What a goofball...

In July, she also started working on her crawling.  

She also started eating solid food!

In July, we did a new photo shoot with Aunt Meghan,  and Ella sat up for the occasion.

I love how she stares intently at her world...

She also started sitting in her Bumbo seat!

In August, she started talking more!

Those big blue eyes are so sweet, and her hair is getting longer and curlier!

James and I took her to her first gun show, and she had a great time giggling at all the men behind the booths and looking at the stuff on the tables.

This month, she also started to be big enough to sit in the big-girl stroller!

What an adorable face!

Soon, I will post pictures of her first tooth, which broke through the skin yesterday!!!  What a big girl.  I wonder what the next six months will bring!

Home Competition - Please Vote!!

Hey Everyone,

I've entered a picture of James and Ella into a photo competition, and if we win, we get a prize!  If you've got a second, please click on this website and vote for Kristen Sagar:

http://loquaciouslady.com/2010/08/25/your-home-themed-pictures-vote/

Thanks!!!!  If we win, I'll update and let you know!!

Here's the picture that I entered:

It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Hello Friends. I bring you glad tidings of great joy.

It's almost time for UGA to start playing football again.

Just thought you should know.

Apple Pie Trials

There's something that I've been trying to do for seven years, and I still haven't been able to do it...I have thus far been unable to make an apple pie like my mother-in-law makes them.  It's not for lack of effort - I've made dozens of pies.  But somehow, they just aren't the same.  Here are a few pictures of my latest effort, which my husband graciously ate, even though I know that it was yet another disappointment to him...

Saturday Fun

We had a lot of fun last weekend!  This post is going to be about what we did on Saturday, but first, I wanted to put up a few pictures of the adorable little outfit that Ella wore on Friday.  My mom bought it for her, and it's a little smocked pants suit with tiny blue sailboats all over it. The front has a little sailboat, palm tree, and sunrise over the ocean on the bishop collar.  Ella LOVES it, and she's so cute in it!  Here she is, playing in her play gym on Friday night, before she got dinner and her bath...

She got curious about the camera and came in for a closer look...

Playing in her Exersaucer...

Okay...So on Saturday, we decided to go out to Bass Pro Shops so that James could look at the stuff featured in their Fall Hunting Classic.  On the way out there, we encountered a surprise - the St. Louis Gun Show was being held across the street!  Of course, we had to stop in and take a look. 

Like father, like daughter - Ella was fascinated by all the colorful stuff on the tables. 

She especially liked the big plastic boxes.

Then, we headed to Bass Pro.  James compared their gun prices to those at the gun show.

We also wandered outside to the ATV exhibit. 

They had an obstacle course set up, and of course James had to take one of the machines for a spin. 

Getting his instructions...

Releasing the brake!

There he goes!

Ella was worn out from the gun show, so she passed on the ATV exhibit.

Once we headed back into the air conditioning, she woke up, ready to go again!

We went to a restaurant nearby for hamburgers, and she decided that she was a big girl, who should get a sip of Daddy's coke.

So she went for it...

But unfortunately....

She doesn't know how to use a straw or drink out of a glass...

So all she could do was lick the condensation off the side.

Maybe next time, I suppose!