Happy Easter

We spent Easter weekend in Florida with Grandma and Grandpa Burnell.  There were many firsts...

First time on a plane...

First time meeting Kari and Will...

First time at the pool...

Happy 60th Uncle Howard

We took a trip to DC to celebrate Uncle Howard's 60th bday - Ella got to meet the rest of the family (and most won't forget how she kept them up all night!). 

 Happy to say 

she's feeling 

better and back to normal. 

Above: Guest of honor Uncle Howard (the Hulk), Great-Grandma (4 generations were there), Cousin D(avid - she liked his hair),  Howard and Grandpa, Cousin Britney, Aunt Ellen, Britney and Lori. (sorry Rachel and Marty-no pics)

Ha

Ella has started laughing, which makes us do really stupid things to try to get her to laugh...see videos below

Even though it rained all weekend, we still had a great visit... Ella got to meet Lyndsi and Grandpa Homer for the first time, and was happy to see Grandma Debbie and Uncle Trevor again.

Ella has lost some of her hair so we are calling this the "Grandpa Burnell" cut...

Meet Priscilla

This is Priscilla, Ella's nanny - she has 2 daughters and 2 granddaughters (ages 10 and 13), so she has a special place in her heart for little girls...Today was their first full day together.  Priscilla left a detailed note telling us how many sneezes Ella had throughout the day (7). She already feels like a part of the family.

Cereal

The first try at eating cereal with a spoon - not well liked at first (we didn't post the video of her screaming) but this little one likes to eat, so I don't think it will be long...She's now 10lbs13oz and 22 inches long (she's almost tripled in weight in 4 months!)

Bumbo

We thought we would try to see if Ella was ready for her bumbo chair.  She may not be quite there yet, but we did get some cute pictures...

This week's latest...

This week we started getting real smiles - it's nice to know she recognizes us (but at this point she'll smile at anybody!).  She's also started "talking" but you can see for yourself in the videos.

2/1/09

The cheeks just keep growing...

First smiles? (We wish)

Here are a few pics from this week.  We are dying for Ella to smile at us, but I think we will have to wait a few more weeks.  Although she does show some half smiles in the pics...

(it's not all fun and games...)

Recent pics

(this is not a staged shot, I swear)

Grandma and Grandpa Garrison came to visit...

First snowstorm...at least she's got the cheeks to keep her warm.

Will try to post every Sunday if we can...

Happy New Year

Happy New Year - thought some of you (grandma's who keep bugging us to post things) might like the video of Ella playing on the mat. She is slowly becoming more alert (however no smiles yet, and still awake at all hours of the night...).

We had a great time seeing Uncle Tom and Aunt Kelly who came to meet Ella:

And because Tom says we are ignoring Desmond (not true) we will give him some time too...

Christmas Eve

Today, 12/24 was supposed to be Ella's "real" birthday...So on her bday she is weighing in at over 7lbs 2oz. Hard to believe she has been here over 2 months already, but we are happy she continues to do so well.

Here are some pics from her first Christmas. The Grandma's came down again and brought some presents. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everybody!

Somewhere in Michigan...

...Ella has a calf named after her:In honor of the calf Ella's mom bought her a new outfit.

Week 2 at home

Sorry for the delay - the little one has decided it is better to sleep during the day and be up at night. Not much new to add so here are a few new pics. Ella is outgrowing some of her preemie clothes already (but the newborn sizes are still a little too big).