Ella-isms

The things Ella says make me smile. Sometimes I imagine blogs will be our kid's baby books in the future. Blogs are a cool way to stay in touch with family and friends and record things for posterity. Maybe one day I'll print some of the posts and put them in a book. On a side note, don't you also love all of the positive interaction and affirmation that goes on with blogging? :0)


Here's a few Ella-isms I wanted to share:

* "Whatcha wanna make?" (While playing kitchen)
* "Ella got a burpy!" (Always funny for her)
* "Sweet dreams, Daddy." (Even if mommy is putting her to bed).
* "Ella wants _ "(She often refers to herself in third person)
* "Big girls don't go poopy." (We're still working on this one. Big girls don't poop in diapers. Kind of an important distinction).
*Yesterday, we made peach milkshakes. We're sitting together at the table and she starts talking shapes with me. I thought, "this is random." She told me how she liked circles and squares, but that "milk shapes" were yummy.
"What color do you want?" (Often, my first crayon choice is unavailable for some reason, so I have to select another)
*Ella has a long memory. Sometimes she'll tell me about how Westyn hit her or Jaxton ate a sandwich. Who knows when that happened.
*"I got another one! I got another one!" (When catching something)
*"Come on, Mommy!"
*"Wanna play, Mommy?"
*"Play hide and seek, Mommy? You hide!" (When she counts, it's to a quick 3. When you count, it's to 10)
*"Play monster, Mommy?" (Monster comes after me.) "Don't be scared, Mommy. The monster won't hurt us."
*"I want to ride in the red cart." (She is obsessed with store carts that have the little cars in front)
*"I wanna help!"
*"Where's Daddy?" (I don't even have to answer anymore and she tells me) "Daddy went to work."
* "I'm scared." (She has a funny obsession with scary things, but doesn't wake up in the night scared or think there's monsters under the bed. I think it's just a fascinating emotion).
*"What's wrong, little guy? It's okay, Ezra."
*"Ezra's messy." (She likes to help with feeding solids by cleaning his face after every bite)
*"Let's watch a show!"
*"I like him." (About Ezra)
*"What happened to Ezra?" (Whenever he's down for a nap)
*"I want to hold his hand." (An obsession with Ezra. Even if I'm holding his hand, she wants to have it)
*We're learning the first article of faith. She knows "We believe in God the Eternal Father" and is working on the rest.
*She likes to help pray now. It's easy to see who's currently on her mind because she'll often mention a friend or family member's name several times.
*"Big girls (insert something we want her to do here)."
*'Daddy's a big boy."
*"Mommy's a big girl."
*"Ezra's just a little guy."
*She's also reached the "please may I" stage, which I love!
*She has an current interest in tree climbing and wants to climb every tree.
*I love it when she "helps" with something like weeding and grunts while she pulls at a big weed.
*Ella still loves to "read" to us and now knows quite a few lines from books. I especially love this with "If You Give a Pig a Pancake" and "Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?"
*"I don't want to (insert sleep, eat, go to the bathroom) anymore!"
*Oh, and the classic "What's that?"

Obviously, I could go on and on and I seriously doubt any casual blog reader has even made it to the end of the list. Needless to say, having a toddler is a true gift - challenging, rewarding, perplexing, enlightening, delightful, frustrating, exhausting, and invigorating. I can't imagine my life without our Ella.

We're Related

I looked through our "digital library" of Ella photos the other day and thoroughly enjoyed reviewing the images of our little girl over the last 2 1/2 years. She's brought so much joy to our lives and truly helped me to understand the meaning of family. Now that we have our little Ezra to add to the library, I can't help but compare their photos. Tim always disputes that Ella wasn't as chubby as Ezra, especially because it's so difficult to remember now that she's such a thin girl. She might not have been as long as Ezra, but she certainly had the belly and big, adorable legs! I took some photos of Ezra on the changing table to try and do a side-by-side comparison of the two. Here it is:
Round Cheeks
Chubby legs
Birthmark between the eyes
Big Belly

I think they're related!

Big Imagination

Ella is so imaginative these days. It's such a treat to witness her mind at work as she takes in the world, imitates what she sees and hears, and uses all she learns to play, play, play. All day long I hear, "Come on, Mommy!" Tonight she announced that she wanted her Daddy to help her build a robot (We've done this before after watching Curious George create one). Dad's cool because he's got the tools and they made this:
After she put the box on, she said, "I need a hat!"

It kept falling off, but she managed to maneuver well enough to pick it up.



I feel kind of mean about this last one, but it was such a classic moment. She yelled from her room, "The robot fell down!" and I had the camera in my hands, so...I took a picture, then helped "the robot" up.

We also had a nice afternoon in the backyard the other day enjoying the sun and playing. I love sunny day pictures of kids!
Playing "Where's Ella?" with her hat. She loves hats.
"Here she is!" (Sorry about the snotty nose, but I love her enthusiasm)


I don't know why, but I have an obsession with his dimpled, chubby hands and feet.

This is a Wonderful Time

I found this quote recently that I absolutely love. It encapsulates my view of the world so well. So, I wanted to share it, along with a few fun pics of the kids from Sunday.

"This is a wonderful time to be living here on earth. Our opportunities are limitless. While there are some things wrong in the world today, there are many things right, such as teachers who teach, ministers who minister, marriages that make it, parents who sacrifice, and friends who help.
We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues."

- President Thomas S. Monson

Joy

This morning, I started thinking of how I've found that joy in life comes from many unexpected (and expected) places. Things that bring me joy (and they didn't always):

- Eating leftovers (saves money and time)
- Saving to buy something big (rather than using credit)
- Saying no to instant gratification - and then occasionally treating yourself. It's so much more delicious this way!
- Eating lots of fresh fruits
- Sticking to a budget
- Listening to the promptings of the Holy Ghost
- Holding my tongue
- Admitting when I'm wrong
- Asking for what I need
- Saying "I love you" often
- Hugging my children
- Baking something from scratch - and sending some with Tim to share with co-workers
- Finding ways for Ella to "help" with everything - even if it takes extra time
- Dancing with my daughter
- Smiling at a stranger
- Kissing my husband
- Listening to the Prophet
- Reading to my children
- Talking with my mom
- Teaching
- Learning something new
- Cooking dinner and seeing my family enjoy it
- Spending time with a friend
- Laughing out loud
- Praying
- Dinner with my family each evening
- Apologizing (and then moving on)
- Trying something new
- Smiling at Ezra - and watching his face light up in return
- Library toddler time
- A little facebook time
- Eating in instead of out - eating out becomes such a treat and it encourages you to be more creative about eating in!
- Listening
- Making new friends
- Sharing my testimony
- Realizing that I'll probably always be working on something
- Looking for the best in others
- Erring on the side of hope
- Stopping what I'm doing to play with the kids - I'm going to do that now. :0)

When did they get so big?

I had a classic mommy moment yesterday. I looked at Ella and Ezra and thought, "When did they get so big?!" I'm amazed that my little girl is nearly 3 and will be attending preschool in the fall! When I look at Ezra, I remember how chubby she was with big cheeks and big eyes. Now, she's tall and slender with gorgeous brown eyes and wild hair. She constantly surprises me with her vocabulary, imagination, and energy. Ezra is tall and chubby and cheerful. He stares people down wherever we go until they look at him and smile. He's always taking in everything around him and especially watching Ella. Soon he'll be rolling and crawling after her!