Ella's First Year

I often think about how many people told me to enjoy Ella as a baby because in a blink of an eye she would be grown. At the time, I didn't think too much about it but now the reality of what they said has set in. I find myself saying all the time, "I can't believe Ella is already a year old!" Not only is Ella a year old, but Cory and I have been parents for an entire year! If I could only put into words what this first year of parenthood has been like. She has brought new meaning to our lives and to who we are as people. This first year has been challenging and frustrating at times, but has been the most rewarding experience we could have ever imagined! She makes us smile when we are having a bad day, love with all of our hearts, overlook the mess that needs cleaning up when we can play instead, appreciate the small things in life that money can't buy, and most of all thankful to God for the gift he's blessed us with!

Here's what's new with Ella...

~Ella is constantly making us laugh with her new expressions and her own little language she
speaks. She talks non-stop about something...if we only knew what she was saying!
~She loves pointing her finger to show us what she wants or to fuss back at us. We're trying to
teach her "NO" and every time we fuss at her she responds by jabbering something back and
shaking her finger at us! It's hard to discipline her because it's so funny!
~She loves Baby Einstein and The Wiggles (Daddy refuses to watch The Wiggles...ha ha!)
~She wrinkles her nose when she smiles big! I love it because her happiness shows on her whole
face.
~She LOVES blueberries! Nana & Paw-Paw have blueberry bushes and Ella has figured out how
to pick her own.
~She loves playing with puzzles and can actually put the pieces and shapes where they belong.
~When she's sleepy she starts pulling at her hair. Sometimes she gets a hold of mine instead and
pulls a handful out...OUCH!!
~She wiggles and squirms making it extremely hard to change her diaper! Often we end up
changing as well!
~Her favorite things are: ice cream, mac n' cheese, white grape juice & Paw-Paw juice (AKA
Pepsi--only when Mommy isn't looking), singing silly songs, swinging on her swing set,
swimming at the pool
~She's much happier in her car seat since she can face forward. She points at the DVD player
now when she gets in Daddy's car. Instead of the radio, we get to listen to classical music from
the Einstein DVD collection. I think I now know every song Bach composed!
~She puts the telephone to her ear and says "Hey!" She's 100% girl :) She's also managed to text message several of my friends while playing with my cell phone! We're in trouble since she's
starting at such an early age!
~She kisses with her mouth open and gives big slobbery kisses :)
~She likes to walk on her tip toes like a ballerina
~She has a temper (like her Daddy...ha ha!). I never thought such a sweet little girl could raise
such a fuss! :)

Everyday is a new adventure with lots of new discoveries both for Ella and us. It's so much fun watching her grow and discover the big world around her!

Here is a collection of some of my favorite pictures of Ella throughout this first year. I'm working on copying all my picture files to CDs and an external hard drive because I've already used up all the memory on my computer! I couldn't believe it but I have over 4,o00 pictures on my computer!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com