Stott Family Blog: Oh My Gosh It's Already March

Wasn't it just Valentines Day like, a day ago? Where did the time go? Oh yeah. Here's where it went...

Ella's Reno BFF has an INDOOR POOL. I know. And we've been over there twice in the past few weeks. Gretchen has no fear & is totally fine with walking off the edge of the pool into the water (what a surprise, right?)

With the example of her friend, Ella finally decided she could be brave enough to swim by herself if carefully ensconced in a floatie. Notice that she is still hanging on to the bar though. (To her credit, she did jump right in last time we went. Well, I mean, she carefully floated right in...)

ALERT: THIS IS THE MOST AWESOME PICTURE I MAY HAVE EVER TAKEN
I've told y'all that Ella likes to dress herself, right? Yeah, this is after our trip to Target. She got new sunglasses. I know. I KNOW!!! So awesome.

I left Ella at home with Colby for 8 whole days while I went to Washington to see Lismarie & "help" while she had her 4th baby. Hooray for babies! I let Ella give me a makeover before I left town. Shout out to my wonderful husband Colby for keeping her happy, fed & busy while I was gone. Also, shout out to Sue for watching her Tuesday & Thursday.

Gretchen got to come with me. She & James are kindred spirits. Here they are hamming it up in the back of the Volvo (this is BEFORE the infamous finger biting incident. We will not have James & The Gretch in the back of the car anymore...)

Awwwwww!

Not only did I get to see Lismarie & spend TONS of time hanging out and talking and never running out of things to talk about for 8 whole days, but I also got to go to Seattle & visit Janeece! Hooray for me! She threw a fabulous brunch so I could see all my Seattle friends.

Gretchen enjoyed the Brunch.

Thanks Janeece! You're so so SO SO SO AWESOME! Also, I miss you so much!

Also, your house is really cool. Also, Lucy's baby has the coolest hair I've ever seen on a baby. You can't see it in this picture, but she's got this patch of hair on the side of her head that is beautifully thick & curly. And about 2" in diameter.

Oh man, I miss all my Seattle friends.

I didn't get to spend nearly enough time with Janeece, and we didn't get to watch TAL, make crafts, OR watch any "My Sweet Sixteen". But it was still wonderful.

We left early Monday afternoon to head back to Lismarie's. Gretchen & James celebrated their reunion by jumping on the bed.

When we finally got home to Reno, Gretchen got to dig into the SUITCASE full of clothes Lismarie sent us home with. This is her "Trying Out For 'Fame: The Movie' Audition Outfit". Did you know you could get high heels for babies? Yep. We've got 2 pairs now. She kind of looks like Miss Piggy in them.

Gretchen showed me yet another cool trick. She can fit in the dryer. Awesome.

Ella showed her friend how much fun Red Lipstick is.

And, because we can't sit still for more than 5 days in a row, we had a road trip to Utah last weekend. The new Stott babies got blessed last weekend, so the whole Stott family got together for the event. (Also, I don't recommend driving anywhere over 4 hours with Gretchen).

I got to meet two of my friends from my online book club, Britt & Becky. Brittney is a genius & came up with this book club where a group of 4-5 people get books, mail them to each other & write their comments in the books in different colored ink. So at the end you get your book back with everyone's thoughts written all & OMG so fun. You should totally join it. But we're on hiatus till Britt's fetus lets her read again. Becky has been in my group every time I've participated, and not only does she have impeccable taste in books, but the best comments ever.

Ella had fun playing with Becky's son & they got to go on the carousel together.

We took advantage of having the WHOLE FAMILY together by forcing everyone to take family pictures at Wheeler Farms. I think there were about 5 other photo shoots going on at the same time. And then 2 random people actually there to enjoy the farm. Below: Gretchen communing with The Sheep.