Summertime Fun

The whole gang. The Gettler cousins.

Busy girls. Cousin Addisyn and Ella.

Ella and Addisyn hanging around....

"I will get that sand off you, Ella".

These two always look like they are up to something. :)

Gator ride....

Ella and her Bardot after swimming.

Mike, Ella and Bardot.

Ella looks so tiny here.

Just wanted to give an update for those of you who have been wondering what we have been up to. I haven't posted anything since mid July (where is the time going) so here goes.....

Mike and I drove to Fort Wayne at the end of July to visit our friends, the Sparks (Bardot, Wade and the boys) who were in from California. We had a a great time at Bardot's parent's house. Her parents live on a farm with a beautiful swimming pond, and cabins surround the pond and property. We rode the gator (Baby E too), and Mike took Ella swimming. She loved it!

Another event that occured in late July was our Gettler get together. All the Gettler cousins (my mom's side) got together on the beach. It was the first time in a long time so many of us were together. It was great to see everyone. A big thanks to my cousin Janet and her husband Eric for coming up from Indy with Addisyn. Addisyn is 5 weeks older than Ella. They played so nicely together. It was the first time the babies met each other. It was cute to see them together, especially on the beach.

Since then, we just been hanging out and enjoying summer. Mike and I are having so much fun watching all of Ella's new developments! She can say "dog" in her own little version ("og"). She loves to dance by the radio and is clapping her hands now all the time. Seriously, she would hang out by the radio most of the day if she could. She also loves to unpack boxes/bags that are packed full of clothes or other items. I discovered this the other day as she "rearranged" a bunch of organized clothes packed away. She is getting so big and crawling all over. Life is a different story now that she is mobile and moves everywhere. Can't believe she will be 10 months soon already!

We hang out on the beach quite often and she loves to crawl in the sand. She is getting better about leaving the sand out of her mouth. She does love to splash in the water. Definitely a water baby.

Ella: 9 Months Old

Cousins! Sarah, Ella and Libby

Lovin' their time together....

Libby holding Ella

Sarah and Ella (matching)

Ella in Grandma and Grandpa Liss' backyard

Ella turned 9 months old today! She is getting so big and exploring everywhere now. Today, I found she loves to crawl up into her changing table and grab anything with a tag on it. She is on the move and it's a whole new world for her.

I also found out how much interest Ella has in stop signs for some reason. I have no idea why, but when we walk past the stop signs she starts kicking her feet and reaches up to touch them. When I let her touch them, she starts banging on them and squeals. Another goofy thing she is into now is fake coughing. Sometimes she thinks it's funny if someone coughs and will mimic them. This is kind of comical when we are in church and she does this.

This past week, our nieces (Sarah and Libby) from Massachussettes were in town. They hadn't seen Ella since she was 2 months old, so to them she has really grown. They had a great time playing with their cousin this past week. We all had a nice time visiting and the week went by very quickly. Actually, to me the past nine months went by rather quickly!

July Festivities

"Princess Emily" after she helped dress "Princess Ella"

At Will's 9th Birthday Party. A proud Princess Ella.

Mike and Ella after the tour. Ella is still going strong.....

Me in front of the Dana Thomas...and in seventh heaven!

The incredible 12,000 SF Dana Thomas House.

We had another fun week. My cousin Sabrina traveled out to see us and we hung out on the beach and biked the lakefront to Michigan. Very fun. On Wednesday night, we attended a Rail Cats game compliments of US Steel (my client). Rusty the cat, their massive mascot, even came to the skybox to visit Ella. She didn't know what to think of this. I still haven't seen the pictures yet. Ella was too intrigued to even look at the camera. I will always remember that look on her face. Priceless!

Mike, Ella and I traveled to Springfield, Illinios later in the week. We toured Frank Lloyd Wright's Dana Thomas House. This was a very exciting trip for me as I have toured almost all of his structures in the Midwest, and out East. This was Mike's 3rd Frank Lloyd Wright structure he toured. The first two were with me, so I made him a fan :) Ella was so good on the tour even the guide commended her at the end. She went through the whole tour (1 1/2 hour) without a peep. She loved looking at all the interesting things in the house. We then spent the next day visiting the Lincoln Museum. It was very interesting, but I think I have had enough Abraham Lincoln to last me quite a few years. ;) My favorite part of the museum was Lincoln's hat...complete with marks from his finger tips from tipping his hat to people over the years. We had to hold Ella throughout the entire day as stollers weren't allowed through the exibits. Again, she was very good. She had a good time just looking at all the people. Mike read her all information about the exhibits so she got the most out of her trip in terms of historical information. (That's the history teacher in Mike).

This weekend we had our friends Chuck and Amy out for dinner on Saturday. We hadn't seen them in quite awhile so it was a good time. We also attended my cousin's son's birthday party this weekend. He (Will) turned 9 but has two younger sisters (Hannah 6 and Emily 4) who adore Ella. Emily couldn't help but dress up Ella in a princess dress (as she was wearing one too). They all had a blast and it is always so cute to see Ella interacting with them.

Fourth of July Weekend

Ella hanging out with Sabrina.

Sunset in Beverly Shores

Mike and Ella in St. Joe, MI (love this one)

Sun and more sun.

Ella on the Nina.

"Oh mom, this is so much fun".

We had many activities planned for our weekend of the Fourth of July. On Saturday we toured the "tall ships" at the Hammond Marina. The Nina and Pinta replicas were on display there. It was very warm that day but we beat the heat. Ella loved the balloons at the Yacht Club at the Marina. And Ella was a hit among the people there.

On Sunday, July 4th, we took a road trip to St. Joseph, Michigan in the morning. We love that town...so vibrant this time of year. I highly recommend a visit if you are ever in that area. On the way back, we grabbed a burger at Redamaks before heading to Crown Point where we were going to watch the parade in the afternoon. It was sooo hot outside that I decided it would be best not to subject Ella to the heat. We drove to Long Beach at night to see the fireworks. Ella was wiped out from all the action!

Father's Day 2010

I just wanted to post a couple of pics for Father's Day in honor of one of the greatest new dads..

We enjoyed a nice day while visiting Ella's grandparents in Crown Point and DeMotte. It was a sunny beautiful day!

Ella at 8 Months old ~ June 18th

Ella with her cell phone. :)

"Hi mom"

It has been a little while since my last post. Life is busy, but good. Since the last post, Mike and I celebrated 4 years of marriage (on June 17th). Ella turned eight months on the 18th of June.

We are out on the beach almost everyday enjoying the sunny weather. We had a couple of storms but nothing too bad. Mike is completely done with work for the summer so we are enjoying a perfect summer of relaxation. I am so glad he is home with us everyday! What a great help to me ;) Mike loves to take Ella out and do shopping and run errands with her, so this gives me "my time". All mothers need this!
Ella is almost crawling. She is in position but just has to coordinate her arms and legs. Crawling seemed like an eternity away about 8 months ago! How fast time goes.
Ella is gaining quite the social attitude...since last post she has started waving! I first noticed this as I stood by the window with her as we watched Mike walk up from the beach. She immediately put her little hand up and started waving to him. So cute that she recognized him. This is the first time she did it on her own.

She had another appointment to follow up on her hips...doctor said they are fine now.

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

First week of JUNE......

Ella asking Clare to borrow her comb. :)

Clare says, "Ella does your mom ever put that camera away"

Ella's unmanageable comb-over blowing in the wind. :P

"Hold on Clare, let me get the sand off your back"....

The first week of June and we are busy planning summer festivities here. I am looking so forward to enjoying the dog days of summer with Mike and Ella. Mike will be out of school for the summer soon. Yea!! This school year seemed to fly. Mike had a pretty easy year in terms of work. He took off 6 weeks to help me after Ella was born, then had Christmas break soon after. It seemed in no time at all his Spring break rolled around and here we are already in June. He is looking as forward to summer as I am :)

Ella and I did a little beach time when weather permitted this week. Our friends came out to hang out on the beach on Thursday. The weather was great. I also did a photo shoot of my friend's baby on the beach. Baby Ella and Baby Clare were definitely cute lil beach babes.