More Conversations...

We were talking in the car about why I gave money to a homeless man
Me: Some people don't even have a place to live so we want to share some of what we have
Ella:Yeah. But there's one thing we don't give away.
Me: What?
Ella: Money. We save it in the bank.
Me: But we also give it away to people who need it.
Ella:Well, I'm going to save my money and buy us a house with stairs and a basement.
Me: (chuckling) Ok.
a minute later
Ella: Mom? You're right. We have a lot of stuff and we just keep getting more! I think we have enough now. We should share.
Me: I agree.


At lunch with my sister
Ella:Ok, who is one of my favorite people, who lives with Abuela, who is very funny?
Marissa and me: (laughing) ummm...we need another hint
Ella:ok...oh! He loves diners!
Us: Popeye!!
Ella: You got it!! Let's play again!
(she had just invented this game and we kept playing for a while and she was always surprised when we guessed right!)


In the car after picking Ella up from school
Ella: Mom? Does God ever tell you stories?
Me: Ummm...what do you mean?
Ella:You know, I hear God tell me stories all the time!
Me: Really? What does it sound like?
Ella:I dunno
(then I tried lots of voices but none of them sounded like God apparently)
Me:What kind of stories does he tell you?
Ella:ones like the kind Daddy makes up
Me: Oh! Those are good ones. When do you hear Him telling stories?
Ella: all the time! Like when mommy or daddy aren't talking to me...
Me: You hear it in your head when you're by yourself?
Ella: yeah, or when it's night time. He just tells really good stories.


After my dad read her bedtime story when he was over for dinner
Ella: Mom, Popeye is one of my favorite boys. He's great. He's so great at reading books and everything. He's my favorite boy. And I really like Daddy too.

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.

Helping Daddy

Ella has been helping Daddy a lot with outdoor tasks since it's gotten warmer and they have a lot of fun together (mostly while mommy is writing papers--booo).


My two favorite gardeners!

Washing Daddy's car (yes, in an Easter dress)

Laundry, Big Girl, Daddy Time

Life continues to be hectic now that I'm in the clinical part of grad school so blogging time is hard to come by. However, I'm trying because I really don't want to forget what Ella was like at this age! So, here are some random pictures I've taken over the last few weeks that tell you a little about what she's up to and what she's like :-)


Ella was watching Imagination Movers (her current favorite TV show) and I came in to fold laundry and found her quite comfortably watching her show on top of the mountain of clean clothes! She continues to be totally mesmerized by TV so it's usually a privelge she gets only after rest time in the afternoons if she has good behavior. She likes Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, NiHao KaiLan, and new LeapFrog DVDs we got that help with learning to read!

Ella is REALLY into how big she is. She refuses to be called a baby or even small and constantly reminds us that she's a big girl now. This is her showing us how long her arms are now-she can touch both sides of the doorframe! It's adorable to watch her marvel over how long her legs are or get SO excited when she can reach the occasional light switch or sink. It's definitely bittersweet to see her growing! People have been commenting a lot lately on how tall she's gotten! I got all choked up the other day buying her new pants in the "girls" section, not toddlers. It's going so fast!

Ella's had a bunch of nights home with Daddy now that I'm working. Monday nights they hang out from about 4:30 pm on and play all kinds of games and go on long walks which they both seem to really enjoy. Chris has always been a SUPER involved dad but he has stepped up even more now that I have more going on outside of the house and from what I can tell, they have a ton of fun together :-)

Dad wins again

I came into the kitchen the other day to find this. Wow. Dad is way more fun that Mom. That's all I have to say.

A "Gwowling" Tummy

The other morning I awoke to the daily, sing-songy voice of my toddler yelling "Mommmmmyyyy, I have to go potty!"  I was especially groggy and not feeling well so I woke Chris up and asked him if he could get her and I'd be there in a minute.  Being a super-loving husband, he obliged and I rolled over for another minute of rest.

A minute or two later I hear them in the hallway
Ella: Daddy, I'm really hungry for breakfast.  My tummy is gwowling!!
Chris: Ok! What would you like?
Ella: How about pancakes?

***I interrupt this story to tell you my thoughts at this moment "ugghhh, I'm going to have to get up now because it's a work morning and we never cook hot breakfasts on weekdays...Chris is going to say "Well, how about we get mommy"  Not because I'm the pancake maker (that's Chris' specialty) but because then I could break it to her that her choices were cereal or a frozen waffle." I took a deep breath and listened to the rest of the conversation...***

Chris: Sure!

That's it.  No "we don't have time" or "Daddy has to work" or "how about a waffle, that's like a pancake!" or even "let's wake mommy up to help us."  I totally underestimated the complete sweetness and devoutely loving nature of my husband.

And it gets even better.  Here's what I came out to find about 15 minutes later.

I live with the best two people in the world.

Random Fun

I love this picture Marissa took of Ella eating a popsicle at her house. They watched The Little Mermaid that day and Ella LOVED it. We sing "Under the Sea" and she wants to read her "Ariel" book all the time. On one occassion of reading it, Ella pointed to King Triton's chest and said "Mom look! He has weally big nickels!" Ahhh from the mouths of babes.

Marissa's friend Nora pulling Ella up and down the long hallway of Marissa's apartment! She had SO much fun.

Ella put on this dress up outfit by herself (complete with little chinese slippers that look like cats) and then came out and asked me to take a picture of her. Of course I obliged. She's never asked for that before-she usually runs from the camera!

Lunch with my dad, Marissa, and GG. Ella's first outing in underwear! (too bad if that's too much information, it's a big deal around here)

My niece Hannah on her 2nd Birthday!!!

Beach pics to come soon...