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.



What? You mean we all have to look at the same time? I think only Amber got the memo...



Now we're back at home (yay) and not going anywhere any time soon. What have YOU been up to?

Dirty Dishes

First, I want to share this picture of Gretchen's new obsession. Dishwasher:



Now for the rest of the news...

Gretchen has learned how to climb on the top of the kitchen table. First she hauls herself on top of the chair, hoisting her little belly with very un-babylike grunts. From there she can easily crawl on the table. When at last atop the table she does a little dance. It would be so cute if it weren't terrifying for her poor mother.

Gretchen has learned how to climb on top of the toilet. And put all the toothbrushes in her mouth. (No, we don't keep the toothbrushes on the toiled. Gross. They're in a storage shelf/basket thingee hung above the commode.) One more reason to keep the bathroom door shut. Also, she like to go in & get TP to blow her nose with. And that's why there's little shredded pieces of TP all over the house. Awesome, right?

Gretchen has learned how to "Rocking Chair Surf". Directions: Climb on top of rocking chair using lower support bar too boost baby belly onto seat. Stand. Rock back and forth with arms held out. Fall, but only backwards.

Gretchen has learned how to crawl into Ella's booster seat/highchair. And then stand on it. And then laugh. Mom found a new gray hair yesterday.

Gretchen has learned how to climb down the stairs. Phew. That one, at least, is progress toward a "safe" behavior. Not the slightly suicidal things she attempts every other 5 minutes...



Ella's Message To Her Cousins: I love my cousins. When I see them again I want to play with them and I want to have fun. I will play nicely. That's all that I want to say.
kkkkkkkk

rhkl;utq12sddfghjuiopmjklopiuytrewqaszxcvbnmiduyuhukhggbjiuutifbjityghjuiioiobvghfgrewqazxcvnmjhghfhtyjjggjk

oikimgij.,jnnn mfryyyuiopj,mmm bvcfguiopllkkjhgffttyyfgffdddfbfgjjjkkklljbhbggujhghhhjmmm

Here is the "PlatinumPrincess"

Here are a few pictures of Kaitlin!! I'm sure Meg will post up some more later.

Ella Won!

Did you hear about the new baby? She's cute. You should ask Tyler & Meghan to put pictures up. You know, when they remember how to function as normal people again.

We're well back in the swing of things, and 99% recovered from our whirlwind holiday extravaganzas. Back in our routine, including Library Story Time on Tuesdays (Ella & peeps like to take over the "dress up" section).



Ella won a medal at gym class. Well, really all the kids did. But it's nice to see our gym-class tuition going to more jewelry...

Here's Miss Katy handing out medals & her class lining up.



I WON I WON I WON!



SEE? I WON!



The fun didn't end there, last Saturday Auntie Amber & Auntie Krista took the girls on an outing. Yay Pet Store & Book Store!



The girls had matching pig tails for approx. 2.8 seconds (till Gretchen pulled hers out).



And we gave Gretchen spaghetti for dinner. And then a bath.



Ella likes to take pictures of her baby sister with my camera. My favorite part of this photo is Ella's little feet with her toes curled.



Gretchen gives Ella all her best smiles. Look at how cute that baby is. You'd never guess she's been whining for the past 20 minutes!



The End!

Christmas Highlights

Of COURSE the most impressive thing to happen this holiday is the birth of Samantha Skye. But we'll let Shea & Angel fill you in on that. Here's our version of the Holidays...

The Christmas Season started out with Gretchen's FIRST BIRTHDAY. (FYI - she likes cake)



We were very excited to have snow AND Britton & Matia the week before Christmas. We had lots of fun hanging out and playing.

Here's Matia & Uncle Shea trekking up the sledding hill, & Ella THRILLED to be a big girl that can go down by herself:



Gretchen didn't recognize her daddy & was very sad & cold. Krista took her to the car shortly after this (after a single tear slid down her cheek. Very pitiful. Poor baby).

Christmas Eve was spent making gingerbread cookies. (It's like we're in a freakin Norman Rockwell painting. We know.)



Don't worry, Ella & Matia made princesses. Phew! We thought someone would forget that ALL THINGS MUST BE PRINCESS.



Uncle Ian flew in Christmas Day. We celebrated by stealing the Massa's Wii & playing Guitar Hero (if the mic looks familiar, it's because it's from Ella's High School Musical Karaoke game. Sweet.)



Grandpa took the kids out for some wholesome activities (pelting small children with snow).





We did take a family picture (Tyler & Meghan will be photoshopped in later), but you'll have to ask Shea to post that. Till then, this should tide you over:


Then we said, "Forget the snow, we're going to the beach." And because we're awesome parents, we let Gretchen run around in her diaper. You can't see the other beachgoers in this pic, but they were all wearing winter coats & caps. Nerds!


Then we took our monkeys to see the Monkeys at the San Diego Zoo.



Ella braved the polar bear exhibit (she was really worried they'd be walking around & eating children. But they weren't.)



Then we rode a fancy sky basket across the zoo & spat upon the people below us.



Grethchen wasn't too impressed.



So we made her pose for this picture:



We had SO MUCH FUN staying at Uncle Aaron's house. Look at all the cool toys they have (she's a Princess Storm Trooper!) "Oh Darth, you're HILAROUS!"


Lets plan to take over the universe together! But first, a little quiet time...


We heart Auntie Autumn! Gretchen is saying, "Yay! Thanks for driving down to the OC (don't call it that) to see us!"



Poppa Randy & Nanna Joy made us brunch. (Dude, this is why we come visit. Free food.)



And fun in the playpen in the closet!



And really, words are not necessary for how awesome visiting family is:


And after that, we were tired:


So now we are home, the car is finally cleaned out, and we're ready to Rock 2009. Thanks for being awesome, dear family of ours!!!

Ella's special message: ftyuigvbncgttttttklmbvcxzaqwsedfrhgjkloiuughnhtygbvcxzgtg5hjjbggt6jkdfhjmnffdr5tyuilpo

Interpretation: All will be anyone knows that be in force will be nobody's answer.

Interpretation Of The Intrepretation: Ella likes to pretend to type.

PS - 10 points if you can find the Arrested Development reference.

What We Did In California

You know, save the universe & stuff...