Grandparents Night at Parents as Teachers

Tonight our Parents as Teachers group had a Valentine's Day party and asked us to invite our kid's grandparents to come if they lived close. That exempted Brent's mom, although I'm sure she would have loved to come. My parents drove up from Moberly and we were glad they could come. There were many activities, including making the beautiful heart mobile you see above.

It was a really great evening, because Brent is never available on when these nights pop up, but for some reason he could come tonight. He spent some time reading to Ella...and some complete strangers who just like to be read to.

Gracie got to make a few valentines to give out to special people in her life.

Ella couldn't really participate in any of the crafts, so she spent a lot of time cruising around the room and reading books on the mat. Thank goodness she loves books!

Gracie made a family tree with hearts that had family member's names on them. She came home and taped it on her wall, so I think she was proud of her work.

My parents and Ella

This was "wiggle time" where the kids were given various instruments and ribbons to shake and move around while music was playing. I didn't see Brent doing much wiggling!

A good time was had by all, although you couldn't tell it by this picture. Gracie had just been scolded by her daddy for running around the room, so she chose to pout for the picture. Ahh...4 year olds!

No comment necessary! Nana just loves holding little Ella.

Thank Goodness for Nice Weather!

I'm sure everyone can agree that the weather we had this weekend was a welcome reprieve from the cold winter weather. Our family certainly enjoyed spending as much time outdoors as possible. We had to keep cotton in Gracie's ears, but other than that it was great. Ella enjoyed her first experience "playing" at the park. It was very much against my nature to put her down on the ground and let her explore, but I have to do it eventually. She enjoyed feeling all the different things she could find on the ground.

Gracie was like an animal unleashed. She was almost giddy, she was so glad to be outdoors.

I should have taken a picture of the girl on the swing next to Gracie. She was probably 6 years old, the temperature was 68 degrees, and she had on a t-shirt, shorts and no shoes. I tried hard to not be judgemental about the mother that sent her to the park dressed that way, but it was difficult.

I'm pretty sure this was sign language for 'get me out of here, Mommy.'

Not A Fun Friday

Tuesday of this week Brent and Gracie both had appointments with an ear, nose and throat doctor. He looked at Brent's ears, said they were terrible and that he should have had tubes as a child. He even recommended that Brent gets tubes now. When Gracie sat down in the same chair, the doctor said her ears are a younger version of Brent's and that she was destined for problems. I showed him the results of her hearing test and he actually thought her ears were worse than the test revealed. His recommendation was tubes in order to prevent further damage. He wanted us to come back today, Friday. We decided there was no point in putting it off, so we scheduled for today.



We had to be in Moberly at the Surgery Center at 6:45 a.m. this morning. Gracie wasn't scared at all, but I didn't give her full details on everything that was going to happen. I just told her the doctor was going to try to help her ears feel and hear better. Everyone was very kind to us and the procedure didn't take longer than 20 minutes. The worst part was Gracie waking up with a horrible headache from the anesthesia. She was very tearful as she woke up and I had to hold her for about an hour. The staff finally felt like she was OK to go home around 8:30 a.m., so we headed to Macon. Halfway home, Gracie got sick and she ended up vomiting several times on the way home.



After we got home things seemed to get better quickly. We pretty much loafed around today and I did a proper job of spoiling her. Ice cream for lunch and later in the day for a snack. I think Gracie earned it! She was a real trooper and has made little comments here and there about things sounding "different" now. Hopefully we will alleviate the ear infections and notice her talking more quietly.



Probably the funniest part of the day was when the nurses were all trying to help Gracie feel comfortable shortly after our arrival to the Surgery Center. Ella was in the waiting room with my dad, and the nurses kept telling Gracie that her little brother was really cute. Gracie said, "That's not my brother. She's a sister." They all apologized and wanted to know her name. Gracie said, "Her name is Ella. But actually, she has a second name. Paige." One nurse said, "Ella Paige...how pretty." Gracie quickly said, "It's Eleanor Paige." The nurse didn't hear her and said, "Ella Paige" again. Gracie said, "Well actually it has some 'nor' in it." It was so cute!

Ella vs the Crayons

The above picture shows a common battle in our home. From the moment she laid eyes on it, she has loved the crayon box. We are constantly telling her "no, no" about putting the crayons in her mouth. Until recently we just tried to keep it out of her reach so she wouldn't dump them out, but it is officially time for her to start trying to make marks with crayons. That means the crayon box is fair game, we just have to get her to understand that she can't eat the crayons.

Good job, Ella! I think she finally understands that she should mark with the crayons, not put them in her mouth. Yea!!!

Maybe not! I think there will be many "no, no's" in the days to come as this stubborn little girl continues to try to mouth the crayons.

It's Rough Being One

I don't have to own a crystal ball to see that Ella will be our handful in the future. I suppose things could change, but right now she holds the title for being the most defiant baby we have ever raised. The word "no" doesn't faze her much. Her current activity that causes her to get in trouble is unloading the wipes and sucking on them. I am constantly finding her on the floor surrounded by wipes with one in her hand.

This is Ella's favorite activity at night. When I tell her it's bath time she will come to the bathroom with me and act like she is going to comply, but then as soon as I strip her down, her naked hiney turns the other way and crawls away as fast as possible. It's too cute for me to get upset, so maybe it's more of a game than an act of disobedience!

I only posted this picture because I thought she looked like a dog panting. I can hardly take Ella's picture these days because if she sees me with the camera, she comes crawling at me and tries to play with it.

Ella is a very smiley child and is enjoying all of her new birthday presents very much. She is becoming quite the dancer and regularly shakes her booty!

It was shot day, with four shots being delivered today and two more to come in the next month. They don't give more than 4 in one visit, so we will have to go back for the remaining two shots. It is rough being one!

Life in 3-D

When I was at the store buying Ella's birthday supplies, they gave me these 3-D glasses for the Super Bowl commercial and Chuck the following day. Well, we don't watch Chuck, but we tried them out during the Super Bowl. Personally, we thought it was a wasted effort, but it did make for a funny picture of the fam!

Ella's First Birthday

Today was our sweet little Ella's first birthday. People say this all the time, but it really is so hard to believe that the year went so fast. She has been such a joy and a very easy baby, in my opinion. We had a fairly small party with just family attending. My parents, Grandma Kaser and cousins Todd, Dawn, Amber and Taylor came from Moberly. Brent's mom, Grandma Eileen, Uncle Brad, Aunt Brenda, Jaden, Mason, Lucas and Kalyn and Uncle Eric, Aunt Rhonda, Sydney and Madison came from Unionville. That makes 23 people if you count us.

Ella got a lot of nice gifts. This picture shows the ball activity center we gave her. She likes it very much as she is already an avid Dora fan and it has Dora on it.

Ella wore her tutu with her onesie that says, "When God Made Me He Was Showing Off." She also was having a bad hair day which included a little Alfalfa sprout. No amount of mommy-spit could tame it!

Big sis really wanted to help with opening up the gifts, but Ella really didn't appear to need much help.

Brent's mom gave Ella a new swing for us to put on the swingset. Gracie and some of the other neighbor kids had worn out the baby swing.

This picture shows Ella loving on her first Precious Moments figurine. Brent's sister has given each of the kids one on their birthdays in honor of Papa. This year they all got one that says "Forever In Our Hearts." Ella promptly kissed/licked it on its head.

Ella wanted to share the balls with everyone who couldn't fit in her new toy.

Just a shot of the whole activity center. It has holes you can push the balls through, a big ball in the center that you can punch and it makes noise and little windows you can peek out.

This little toy generates some static, so Ella had spikey hair when she went in for very long.

Ella peeked out her windows so her adoring fans could take some pictures.

Ella's cake ended up being a gigantic cupcake. My boss's wife had just purchased this adorable cupcake pan and she loaned it to me. It ended up being really cute and I was pleased that I made Ella's first cake. I usually ask Brent's sister to do it, because she has real talent. I just got lucky with a cute cake pan! This picture shows the birthday invitations I made for the party as well.

A better shot of the cupcake. I kind of ran the cupcake theme into the ground by making Ella an oversized cupcake for herself and then a cupcake tree also with different flavors of cupcakes for those that didn't like chocolate cake. Yes, there are some of those people in the world!

The big moment finally arrived. Ella didn't cry when we sang, she just sat there eying that yummy looking cake. The candle was barely blown out when she got her hands into it and started chowing down. There was no stopping her from that point.

My favorite picture of the day! It didn't take long for that sugar high to kick in. Ella got pretty funny after a little cake got in her system.

Did I mention that Ella enjoyed her cake?

The birthday girl had to leave the party and take a bath at this point. It was such a fun day and we appreciate everyone who was able to come. Oh, in case you are wondering, Ella slept all night despite a stomach full of cake. Like I said, she's a great baby.