Mommy, This Isnt Funny Anymore....

Ella has never been a daring child. She is actually very cautious. She never climed on furniture or jumped from high places until she knew she could do it. When she wants to do something that she is not sure about, she will always look at me or hubby with that look that says, "Can I? Huh? Huh?". I feel lucky in some ways that she is cautious because I havent had to be so worried that she would do something dangerous. But now that she is growing bigger and at that stage between the kiddie playground and the toddler playground, it is getting somewhat frustrating. We will tell her to climb up on the big slides or the ladders and she is constantly saying, "Hold me, Hold me". So at the park yesterday, she wanted to climb this rope wall and I was all for it. I stood behind her, just barely holding her butt. She got this high up and I said, "Wait, let me take a picture!" I made her look at me and this was the face she gave me. Once I put the camera down, she told me she had had enough. On to something else.


I love her for the person she is. She is a very strong minded child and knows what she wants and what she doesnt want. I guess I should be happy she is cautious at this age. I am sure it will be a helpful quality for her when she grows older. We can all benefit from throwing caution to the wind sometimes.

Finally, A Beautiful Day

The last couple of weeks have been the gloomiest days I have seen in a long time. We have had one storm after another including tornado's, hail, strong winds and just down right gray and cloudy skies.

Today was beautiful. I decided to take Ella to the park at the Dam nearby our house. She played on the playground and then we walked along the Mississippi River, just enjoying the weather. I at least got to take a few pics.


This was a dead tree laying by the side of the river. I thought the lines and texture was so cool and the way it curved.


I notice every one's blogs have pictures of flowers that are in bloom and it seems mine are a little slow this year. Our lilacs were planted maybe 3 years ago and they have grown to be enormous, like 10 feet tall, but they seem to be late bloomers. The buds have finally turned into beautiful flowers.

Show And Tell With Mel

Here's my add for this week's Show And Tell.

Got yourself one of these puppies yet? Yes, this is my one and only, boughten on Ebay, Fertility Goddess. Prior to doing IVF for Ella in 2004, I was THAT desperate. Desperate enough to believe in voodoo. Desperate enough to believe that some wooden statue that was probably made by some man who lives in the mountains of Montana, was going to bring me the hocus pocus magic that I needed to have a successful cycle.

I should have tried to figure out how to feng shui it and all in my house as to bring it's maximum potential to my needs at the time, but I didnt. I set it up in my living room so I would see it everyday. I think its actually kinda cute. I rubbed its belly a few times, if you must know....but other than that, it just sat there staring at me.

Now I dont know if it's hocus pocus voodoo magic was actually the reason that I got pregnant on my very first cycle of IVF and actually gave birth to Ella. It could have been the mother and child pendant I was wearing that day, or my lucky underwear.....but the fact is I am glad I have it.

I have since repositioned it in my living room, and since had 2 failed FET cycles. I cant help but wonder if I feng shui'd it correctly in the first place. But in any case, it just goes to show the things we will believe in in order to get a BFP!

Got any funky stuff you've tried?

When Quiet Time Is Over....

Ella rarely naps anymore. I mean VERY RARELY (once every month or so). I didn't think that time would come so soon, but its been happening for a good 6-9 months. So I still put her down for a nap everyday (because I need a break). We go through the motions of putting the diaper on, laying her down and giving kisses and saying goodnight. But it never fails, within 15 minutes I hear her rummaging through her toy box. I used to fight with her and try to put my foot down to make her go to sleep, but finally came to the conclusion that it just wasn't worth it. I would get all stressed out and miss my chance at alone time, and Ella would be over tired and cranky for the rest of the day after exerting the energy from screaming and crying. So, we now call it 'quiet time'. It is still 'nap time' before and while I am trying to put her down, but if she starts talking, I remind her its 'quiet time'.

After an hour or and hour and a half, she will open her door and ask if she can come out. Depending on what I am doing I will say "yes" or "not yet". But when that magical moment comes that Mommy says she can came out of her room and quiet time is over, the glee in her voice refreshes me all over again. "Okay", she says. "Here I come!"


The best part though is what the room looks like after quiet time and what or if she is wearing anything. She has been into dressing like a princess since Christmas. She says she looks like a "pretty lady".


Yesterday, she came out of her room with her Minnie Mouse ears on (from our trip to Disney World in April) and a backpack on. I am always surprised at what meets her fancy each day...underwear on the head, tank top pulled up over her shorts, socks on her hands. Who knows what goes through that little brain of hers. She thankfully climbed up on the chair in front of the window and allowed me to take pictures of her. A good time was had by all.

A Contest With A Great Prize

I was introduced to this new website called The Secret Is In The Sauce through DC. They are having a contest with prizes that you just can not pass up. A digital camera, a new blog layout, digital voice recorder and more....

The deadline is tomorrow, so go over and enter now. What have you got to lose?
To enter the contest, click here

For The Love of a Child

So Ella is turning 3 in a few weeks and god help me if I dont feel like throwing a big hoorah! Why is it that when she gets to the age that she could finally appreciate having a birthday party, I dont feel like throwing one? I am not much of a host. Actually it gives me anxiety. The thought of setting up food and drink, making sure everyone is having a good time, all the kids are safe and sound....and all that goes along with it.

She's like a 30 year old. I dont know how it happened. Her vocabulary skills practically match mine...or do mine practically match hers? **Hmmm, something to ponder** I can remember her doing the "army crawl" across the floor before she started walking. Skipped crawling all together. Seems like yesterday. Her personality is like a 1000 watt light bulb and her heart is as big and bright as her eyes. She is so caring and concerned with other people it just melts my heart. I can not wait to see what she blossoms into.

So when I look at that little face and see the excitement in her eyes when she is having fun and interacting, how could I turn down an "Ella Day" (thats what she called it on her second birthday). She is growing up so fast and who knows if we will be able to even have another one. So I will suck it up for one day and enjoy the delight in my child's face and try to make it the best "Ella Day" possible.



See more "Time" photos at The Land of K.A.

Show and Tell w/ Mel Sunday (a little late....)

I used to blog about a year ago and had posted these guys up when I found them (so sorry if you are seeing these again for a second time for anyone whose stayed with me), but I thought it was a good SHOW AND TELL, and I deleted my previous blog, so I dont have my old posts anymore (dummy me).

In any case, when I found this first image, I was having a bad day. I went out onto the deck and my eyes just sorta glanced over. After 7 years of living in my house, I had never noticed he was there. It was one of those warm, fuzzy moments. The ones that say, "everything will be alright".

The second image of the "3 stodges", believe it or not is on the back door of my bathroom. Guess when I found that? Needless to say I have searched the rest of my house for anybody else watching me (since there ARE people watching that I wasnt aware of as noted in a previous post) I have since unplugged all of the baby monitors and am getting used to figuring out what Ella is doing by either sound or if she has turned her light on when she should be sleeping.

So anyways, I wondered if anyone else can find any images in thier wood?