Silas is 1!!

Chris' older brother and his wife Ping have an adorable son who just turned one! This week we got to celebrate at his birthday party plus we got to have him over to play one morning. We also found out this week that Ping's mom got a visa and will be able to visit from China for the birth of their second child in a couple months! An exciting week for that branch of the family and we're thrilled for them :-) Bring on cousin #4!

Ping and Aunt Amy setting up for a Chinese traditional ceremony at the birthday party

Each object represents a career and whatever Silas plays with the longest will be his career! The results: an athlete! He really might be an NBA star if he takes after his dad's height-he already weighs only 3lbs less than Ella and they are THREE years apart in age!!

Believe it or not, this was the best pic from our playdate :-)

Isn't he adorable??

Can't stop saying "amazing"

You know when you have one of those once-in-a-lifetime type experiences where you feel marked by it and so thankful to have been a part of it? I had the privilege of having one this week when my looooooong time friend Holly, allowed me to join her mom and husband in the delivery room for the birth of her son! He was born on Monday evening after about 10 hours at the hospital and it was am amazing, joyous event to be part of! I can't say thank you enough for inviting me into your family for this special moment. As Holly commented when I thanked her, "you've been part of the family for a long time!" I guess after being close friends for 15 years we have become more like family than anything else. Well, welcome to the family beautiful baby Grant!

One last only-child-smooch for Hope before Grant

Post delivery, Dad got to hang out with Grant while he got poked and measured

Holly finally got to hold her baby boy! So exciting!!

I took the other pics with their camera but this one was with my cell phone and it's my favorite! Love at first sight! Thanks again for letting me be in on this amazing moment.

Future DDS?

The other morning I was doing something in the kitchen and realized Ella had myteriously disappeared and been awfully quiet for a while. Since she can't turn on the TV by herself yet I was concerned that I was about to discover her painting the walls or unfolding all the laundry or some other disaster. Here's what I found.

Yes, she's flossing. Our dentist would be proud.

Here's why I LOVE my family

So, we're sitting at the dinner table tonight chatting about our days and to give kudos for something Ella did well today Chris offered her a fist bump and she started to move towards him with her fist balled but then stared at his fist, paused, pulled back, hesitated then said "Hey! Ms.Tiffany (her preschool teacher) says that's another way to say the letter A!!" It took Chris and I a second to realize she was talking about the sign language alphabet and she was completely right!
This began one of the most adorable, amusing dinners I've had in a long time. Chris proceeded to ask Ella if she wanted to learn the next letter and she was thrilled to learn B, then C, then D. I also was so impressed that Chris knows the entire sign language alphabet that I was on he edge of my seat to be reminded of each one. We also started occasionally requiring Ella to eat a piece of chicken or a green bean or a bite of her "burrito" (really a potsticker but she insisted it was a Chinese burrito) to get the next letter. 20 minutes later Ella ate ALL of her dinner (virtually unheard of here) and we all learned to sign all the letters! At some point in the middle I was saying something to Chris and Ella interrupts us to say "Dad! Dad! You are FABULOUS at the alphabet!" My heart really melted to see all of us so excited to learn together and just be together and enjoy each other. At least for now, I REALLY love my little 3 person family. We're a perfect fit for each other.

Another First...

So, Ella's discovered meanness and it's breaking my heart. Last week her friend L did something with her toy that she didn't like and she told L "I don't want to have playdates with you anymore." And L burst into tears. Ella looked kind of shocked and I honestly feel like it was the first time she's said something to a friend and produced that kind of reaction. She doesn't have the filter for her thoughts and feelings that us adults have and it's beginning to be a bad thing!

We've had many conversations since this event about how words can hurt feelings and other ways to handle it if someone does something you don't like. I hope she catches on but it's not looking great so far. We got home from a date last night and the babysitter said Ella told her "I don't love you anymore and I don't want you to babysit me." Ahhhhhh!!! Grace is super sweet and wasn't offended but this is NOT the kind of comment I want my kid making! Part of me has enjoyed the unfiltered brain-to-mouth content of Ella's speech. It's so innocent and until recently, mostly very sweet. However, the same simple logic that causes her to want to bring me bandaids when my stomach hurts (soooo cute) is now causing her to "unfriend" people who do something she doesn't like. It's simple enough-you're mean, so I'm done with you. I'm sure she'll "get" social mores at some point but this meanness is I new milestone so I thought, for the sake of honesty, I'd record not only the first haircut and first time writing her name, but also the first bits of nastiness. Guess this whole sin nature thing can sneak up on you. Happens to the best of us.

September so far...

Here's a little of what we've been up to lately...

A LONG Crab feast at my Aunt and Uncle's Bay house-SO tasty

We took Ella to a "Paint your own Pottery" place and she LOVED it! She now has her own self-designed hot chocolate mug for the winter :-)

Ella started school! This was her first moment in the classroom (I snuck in) finding a seat with her buddies from last year. I totally cried once I got in the car-SO hard to watch her grow up and become independent.

Ella and her buddy entranced in the circus

The tight wire guys were incredible.

And of course, elephants :-)

And here's a crazy video of the motorcycle guys who started off the show. Enjoy!

Oh how the years pass...

Oh yeah-I'm 30! Happy Birthday to me!

I got to celebrate with friends, family, Japanese Steak House fun, sushi, green slime (only family will get that), lots of cards, gifts (Chris-MOST thoughtful present EVER), a nap, lots of phone calls from friends, and pizza. Lovely weekend of celebration and great beginning to the next decade! Thanks everyone!

From Tires to Tiaras

We had a really fun day last Friday-first playgroup at a Tire Playground that I had never been to (and it's $2 and 20 min away-awesome!) then went to a special Princess Storytime at the Library where the kids could dress up! Great times with friends and I had a really good time enjoying Ella and all that 3 1/2 means. SUCH a fun age.



I got to play with a friend's baby-she's SO adorable!

Ella was quite the adventurous climber!


Sadly, right at the end of the playdate, Hope got stung by a bee :-( SO sad to see her in pain but she recovered quickly-kids are resilient!

All dressed up and ready for some stories!



After storytime we got to help the kids make tiaras. Here's Halle sporting her finished project.

All the girls finished and posing! Super fun day! I LOVE having a girl!

*Thanks Esther for the awesome pictures!!

It's that time again...

Every once in a while I get completely freaked out that strangers can read my blog and get concerned about our privacy and Ella's safety. Even though I try to be discreet about where we live and our last name, there's still a lot of info out there for anyone in the world to read. I know God is the ultimate protector of my child and I'm praying through my worries about her safety but also trying to do my part to keep her safe :-) So, it's that time again! I'm pretty sure I'm going to make this blog private. So, I'm posting so that any of you who read and want to keep reading know:

1) I'll need to add your email to a list for you get to the blog so if you want to be added (and aren't someone I know reads regularly), don't be shy! Email me and I'll add you. I'm fine with lots of friends reading, just not strangers.

2) You'll need to log in to get to the blog- Just a few more seconds of your time to keep the creepy people away :-)

2) There seem to be technical difficulties when people try to make this transition so if you can't get to the blog, just email me and I'll do what I can. Thanks for understanding!

Cruise Day 4-At Sea

So, Day 4 of the cruise was the final day and our "at sea" day where we slowly made our way back to Miami from Cozumel. It was kind of a crazy day because THOUSANDS of people were all on the ship looking for things to do. There were 1001 random events scheduled all day and we created some of our own :-)

We made it to breakfast! This was the first morning we woke up early enough to go to the formal dining room for breakfast :-) (Well, to be honest, we made it because it was open later because it was an at sea day :-) )

We went to an ice carving demonstration. This guy had skills. He turned a 300 pound rectangle into an intricate carving of birds in 20 minutes.

We went to our second art auction of the week! Ella really wanted us to buy this Minnie painting but it was WAY too expensive. An auction was another fun first for Ella though and she sat through most of it the first time around (not so much the 2nd time). Chris and I both really like watching (and even bidding on some of the cheaper things!) and getting a lesson in collectible art. For instance, everyone should own a Peter Max, he's the most sought after, famous living artist of our time :-)

We found a nice little spot to sit and watch the ship sail past Cuba :-)

This spot also allowed us to play some Zingo (a family favorite), teach Ella Uno (she was pretty good!), and color together.

Then we got bored. And Ella got antsy. So we let her run up and down the halls until she was tired enough to sit and watch a cartoon for a little while :-) Oh yeah-the child care "Camp Carnival" was a bust. Not because of the camp itself (though it did randomly close during the day at annoying times) but Ella refused to play. They did all kinds of fun things (painted t-shirts, made instruments, had story time etc.) and the two times we took Ella she sat in the corner by herself and watched the kids. This is SUPER weird for her. She said she wasn't sad, she just didn't want to play. We left her for an hour on two different days and she just sat in the corner so we didn't take her back anymore. Oh well. Dinner alone on our anniversary would have been nice but it was ok. Lots of family togetherness!!

At dinner on our last night the wait staff got a litle jiggy wid' it. It was hilarious. We enjoyed getting to know the other people at our dinner table all week. There was a mom there with her daughter who was exactly Ella's age, a Mom with a her teenage daughter, and a family of 4 with a 10 and 16 year old. They were all really nice and Ella got pretty attached to them. She's ask during the days "when are we going to see our friends again?" and get super excited if we ran into them on the ship anywhere. It was kind of like the last day of camp having to say good bye!

This was Friday morning at breakfast-Ella slept through getting dressed and all of breakfast in the formal dining room. Guess going to bed at 10 caught up with her.

Our last glimpe of the boat as we disembarked in Miami. Really, a safe, healthy, relaxing, fun trip. We are so thankful to have been able to go!

Cozumel-Cruise Day 3

We docked and got off the boat in Cozumel around 1pm and headed off to find a good deal on an excursion with locals. We had great success with this on our Alaskan cruise a few years ago so we chose not to book any (overpriced) excursions through the Ship and just bargain in Spanish instead :-) It worked out well and we paid about half the price for a glass bottom boat/snorkeling trip!


This picture totally doesn't capture how AMAZINGLY blue the water was-truly spectacular to look at-it almost seemed fake but I was reminded that untouched nature, God's best work, really is that amazing!

The fam, going about 60 mph on the tiny motor boat!

Here's a little video to give you an idea of what it was like on the boat.

Chris and I took turns jumping off the boat to snorkel. It was AWESOME. Seriously. Everything we saw in the aquarium the day before was inches away from us snorkeling in 3 different coral reefs. Ah-may-zing. It's so quiet and peaceful when your ears are under the water and it felt like a private viewing of these amazing creations. LOVED it. Definitely buying an underwater camera next time!

This was how Ella felt about snorkeling. She got in the water once but inhaled some salty ocean water and was DONE. She sat quite happily in the boat and ate cheetos and watched fish through the glass floor of the boat :-)

Being silly at lunch


I carried crayons and coloring books everywhere on this trip. A cantina in Cozumel was no exception :-)

Just too funny not to share

We shopped and walked around a bit in Cozumel also but Ella was losing her ability to behave well so it was nice to be able to take her back on the ship to rest.

Ella took this picture while we were relaxing on the boat that night :-) We also went to a big song/dance production that night called "Spirit of America" which was quite the spectacle and a first for Ella. She enjoyed it though and Chris and I had fun debating who in the show was good enough for American Idol and who'd get booed off ;-)

Onle one more cruise day left!

Key West! Cruise Day 2

When we woke up Tuesday morning we were in Key West! Good times ;-)

Before we could venture off the ship, Ella needed to get clean and there are no bathtubs so, Ella took her first shower! She was scared at first but then loved it!!

Off the ship and ready to explore!

Had to try the Key Lime Pie. It was good if you like that kinda thing (not my cup 'o tea).


Had SOOO much fun at the aquarium! We got to see and touch so many things. I am a touching-creatures fanatic so I was thrilled that this place was heavy on getting really close if not touching everything! Even sharks! Ella and I both held/touched
-a baby nurse shark
-a horseshoe crab
-a sea cucumber (which Ella later told someone was a "sea squash")
-sea urchins
-starfish
-conchs
-dead fish to feed the big fish

SO MUCH FUN!

Here's a little feeding the shark video for your enjoyment :-)



Next it was off to lunch. We wanted to go somewhere with a good recommdation so we tried a place Bobby Flay liked (according to foodnetwork.com anyway). We shlepped all around to find it and here's what we found...


This. Is. The. Restaurant. And I use that word lightly. "shack with some burners in a tree and rusted out truck" is a more apt description. We decided to take Bobby's word for it and tried out
Bo's Fish Wagon. (That's really the name)

The fish was pretty darn good. Super fresh and tasty. The Conch fritters are a Key West specialty but I must say we were not fans. Overall, it was a good meal at a consumate dive.

Ella loved this pink and blue house

There was lots of funky, odd art all over the place. Like this enormous dancing couple. And the guy in the green shirt who is taking a picture of it? Also a statue. Odd.

We came home to our nice nightly towel animal which I find adorable and Ella enjoyed destroying :-) Off to Mexico next!