Ella's First Easter

This is later in the week- Ella hanging out on vacation.

Grandpa Liss looking good in the hat.

Ella in her Easter dress

Her new friend from her Easter basket.

Watching all other kids outside on Easter Egg hunt. Next year Ella!

I am about one week behind because we were out of town last week on a relaxing little vacation. I will post Easter news and then do the rest of the eventful week in two other parts.

Ella met the Easter Bunny last Saturday for the first time. They wouldn't let me take my own photo so at this point I only have a hard copy. It turned out very cute. Ella wasn't even phased by the giant bunny whose lap she was sitting on. Actually, the bunny didn't even seem phased that it had a child on its lap...I had to wrap the bunny's "paws" around Ella myself and tell it to hold her tight....kind of scary. ha ha.

On Easter Sunday, Mike and I traveled with Ella to my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Judy's house on Easter where we had a lot of fun and, as always, ate delicious food. Ella got a nice Easter basket from Grandpa and Grandma Martin. Next year she will be able to do the Easter Egg Hunt with the rest of the little ones in the family.

We then traveled to Hammond to his Uncle Ed's house to celebrate with Mike's side. Ella was a hit in her little Easter dress and hat. We then left for our road trip at 5pm that evening. Much more to come on that and the rest of the week last week.

Beach Baby, Beach Baby...

"I could lay here all day"

Lovin' her new pan set.....looking in the mirror in the "pan".

"Oh, momma the sun feels nice!"

I am posting this a little earlier than usual. We have a very busy week ahead. Tomorrow (Saturday) Ella has pictures with the Easter Bunny. We are looking forward to taking her and experiencing her reaction.

Mike's Spring Break begins this week. On Easter Sunday, directly after our Easter festivities we are off on our first roadtrip with Ella. We are looking forward to it! We will be traveling to Oxford, Mississippi, a place Mike and I have visited a couple times before. It is a quaint, upscale town that epitomizes Southern hospitality and alluring architecture. This is the second Spring Break since we've known each other that we won't be spending in California (our favorite state to visit).

I will just briefly summarize our week thus far....this past Monday, I celebrated my first birthday as a mom. I had a nice birthday spent with Mike and Ella. We had a delicious dinnner of hamburgers from the grill...one of Mike's many culinary specialties! Also on Monday, I went shopping and bought Ella many new dresses for summer. I also found a sweet little Easter dress for her as well. It was great to get out and enjoy the day.

On Wednesday of this past week as you all know the weather was gorgeous! I actually took Ella down to the beach for the first time. I took some photos as Ella laid on the blanket and took everything in. She is definitely a beach baby!!

Thursday night Ella received a new toy from Mike's colleague. She loved her new toy- a little pan set. She loves looking in the pan with the mirror in it and then laughing at her reflection.

More to come soon on our adventures from Easter Sunday and the Deep South. Stay tuned!

Ella at 23 weeks-

Earlier in the week on March 22- all of the ice shelf that remained!

Ella visiting Grandma and Grandpa Liss

Ella just loves to sit and hang out in her stroller just like this :)

Hello everyone! Hope you are staying warm on this windy, blustery "Spring" day. The wind is howling here on the lakefront. The ice shelf finally melted away totally this past week. I keep promising Ella it is going to be warmer outside soon.

Speaking of warmer weather, Ella, Mike and I are planning a trip to Oxford, Mississippi next week for Mike's Spring Break. We can't wait. Her first long road trip actually. Mike and I love the town (been there twice already) and can't wait to share it with Ella. This will be our first of many travel adventures together.

I will digress now to the highlights of this past week. We are getting ready for Easter here. I have been shopping around for the perfect Easter dress for Ella. I have had no luck, but am determined to find one soon!

Today, we attended Mass in Beverly Shores. Ella received nice compliments from some parishoners. One man came up to Mike and I and said how he admired looking at Ella throughout the mass. Awww. She was such an angel the whole time-just laid in her carseat and smiled at people around her in church. We then traveled to DeMotte where Mike's mom and dad had an early birthday dinner for me. Yes, I turn the big 33 tomorrow! We all had a fun time in DeMotte and Ella was a delight as usual. The dinner was delicious. I told E that next year this time, she will be able to sample my birthday cake :) This next year will probably feel like it passed faster than this year, as E is growing sooo quickly.

Ella at 22 weeks

Ella is 22 weeks today. She is gaining more of a personality! For the first time today, she acted "fiesty" when I took something away from her to give her another toy. I took her little puzzle piece away as she grabbed it and tried to chew on it as I showed her the picture on it. She really likes to look at her puzzle pieces with different objects of the alphabet (a lovely gift from Aunt Dolly). She kicks her feet, waves her hands and starts to "pant" with excitement as we study them. She especially likes the picture/puzzle piece of the ball. She reached for the piece in my hand and since I didn't want her to chew on it, she cried when I took it away from her. She usually prefers things to chew on that aren't very condusive to chewing. Very ironic, I know :)
She is starting to reach at objects from a distance. Another new development this week. She is also grabbing her bottle and putting it in her mouth herself. She figured it out!
It was a busy week for me. Saturday was the first time I was actually away from both Mike and Ella for an extended period of time. I hosted my sister's bachlorette party Saturday night and it was fun meeting up with everyone. I had a great time but I missed Ella like crazy though.
Mike and I also went to see Norah Jones in concert this weekend at the beautiful Chicago Theater in Chicago. The tickets were an early birthday gift for my birthday. A complete surprise! The show was amazing (as always). We saw her there 3 years ago. While we were there, believe it or not we both missed El so much we looked at a little pic of her Mike had in his wallet while waiting for the show to begin. She is such a part of us that we miss her sorely when we are away from her! One of the songs Norah sang was Jesus, etc. Sometimes Mike mixes up the lyrics and sings that same song to Ella ("Ella, don't cry, you can rely on me honey"), so it was great to hear Norah sing it. The song is actually a Wilco cover. Sidenote: Wilco is one of our favorite bands!
Ella's Grandpa and Grandma Liss came to watch her while we attended the show. They had a delightful time with her.
I took Ella out for the first time this year in her stroller along the lakefront the other day (when it was nice out). We can't wait for more days like that! Welcome Spring!!

Ella is 5 months old today- March 18th

Ella turned 5 months old today and tried oatmeal for the very first time. She absolutely loved it and ate it all up excitedly! One year ago yesterday, (March 17th, 2009) I saw little Ella for the first time (on the ultrasound). I remember like it was yesterday so it's hard to believe a whole year has passed. Her little heart was beating against what appeared to be a little spec of dust. She really was only a small dot on the screen. I remember how touching it was to see her for the 1st time. I also remember telling Mike how proudly the little heart was beating for me! The last 5 months have went by so fast.
Since the weather is breaking, we are all ready to get outside and play when it gets warm enough!

Ella is 21 weeks on March 14th

"Coffee filters make great baby hats". "Thanks a lot mom".

"Grandpa, you gotta admit, I look better in this thing than the coffee grounds do"

"Do you mind, I am trying to read here"

Ella with the newlyweds, Dan and Kristen (Mike's cousin)

Hello again to all you Ella fans ;) You make my late evening spent doing this make this well worth it so thanks for reading! Spring was definitely in the air this week! The daylight is lasting longer and longer! Yay! We can't wait to take E out in the stroller for walks along the lakefront.
This past Saturday Ella attended her first wedding. It was the wedding of Mike's cousin, Kristin. All the excitement absolutely wore her out. She loved the crystal chandeliers, lights and music. Sunday, she took a 3 hour nap to recover from her long night out.
Ella is growing so fast. In the coming week, she will be 5 months old! We can hardly believe it. She is becoming interested in things others do. For example, the newspaper intrigues her. She loves playing and "reading" the newpaper. She loves interacting with our daily routine. You will see her sporting a coffee filter as a hat in one of the photos. She was mezmerized by the coffee filter for some reason. I thought it made a great little hat. Maybe we can predict she will be a morning person who loves a good cup of coffee and a newspaper. ;)
Her personality growing as fast as she is. Ella loves "patty cake" and doing the "chicken dance" with Mike. She squeals with excitement even if she is just laying there getting a diaper change. She is one happy baby. She even laughs in her sleep which is so cute. Mike and I call her "easy-going E".

Ella is 20 weeks today

Ella and I at the shower.

Sadie teaching Ella the importance of good manners around pets.

Ready to go!

Hi everyone! Thanks for your interest in yet another exciting week of Ella Liss :) Although I guess a better adjective to describe this week would be "somber". Last Tuesday, I was supposed to meet with a dear friend (and former professor of mine at Purdue Cal). He and his wife were going to meet Ella for the first time on Tuesday. Plans were made on Monday for this. I recieved a call Tuesday morning from his wife that she had to cancel our plans that day due to the fact he passed away the night before (suffered a heart attack during an evening nap). Ironically, I was on the phone with her (when he was napping) when he passed, unbeknownst to her. This was very sad news for me knowing I lost a great friend and also knowing he never met Ella. I did email him photos religiously though. He was a tremendous man who was really happy for Mike and I as we were expecting Ella. He was so interested in our new life with Ella. He will sorely be missed. Ella, Mike and I went to his wake on Friday evening.

On a happier note, Mike and I had a good evening out with friends while attending the Humane Society Spring Fling on Saturday evening. My parents (Ella's Grandma and Grandpa Martin) came by to watch her for a few hours. The event was at the Blue Chip Casino. It was a great excuse to get dressed up and the food was amazing.

So excited to have 5 days of sun this week. It was great. Spring is around the corner!

Today, Sunday (3.7.10) my little and my only sister, Sarah had her wedding shower. I can't believe her big day is almost here. Where is time going? Ella accompanied me to the shower. We ran a little late due to Ella filling her pants just as we were going out the door. We definitely went out with a bang today. ;P Since I put her in a little dress, this means I have to take her brace off when I change her so it's time consuming. I do have to mention that I am glad her plumbing is working. ha ha!

We had a great time at the shower. Aunt Sarah was happy Ella came. Ella was one of the highlights of the party. Many thanks to my good friend Tara who held Ella while I helped my sis open her gifts. For the shower, Ella wore a little pink courdoroy dress. She is always cutest in pink in my opinion. Sarah's wedding is April 10th. Can't wait to go dress shopping for Ella for the wedding.