Homecoming in Williamsburg!

We went to William and Mary for the weekend and had a really good time (sleeping hysterics aside)! Most of my friends weren't able to make it this time but I ran into Katybeth and we had dinner with Matty Lehman. Good times. Here are some pics... the sights should look familiar to you W&M folks...


Part of the entertainment in the car was playing "instruments" to a kids music CD, lots of fun

Chris "playing" his instrument

Chris and Ella playing with leaves



Mommy and Ella in front of Crim Dell before an IT show


Chocolate Chip Pancakes at one of the many Pancake Houses on Richmond Rd.

Trying on a colonial hat on DOG street

She LOVED the toy store in CW and she doesn't understand that you can bring those things home so it's perfect!

Just before Ella stepped in a dog's water bowl outside Aromas in CW

Sleep Alert....

Chris was out of town for two of the last three weeks and Ella is getting 4 teeth. Those things combined have caused some never before seen insanity in our house. For 4 nights in a row Ella refused to lay down in her bed and only screamed hysterically until we came in and held her (and even then continued to cry sometimes). The only way to get her to sleep was to let her fall asleep on us and then sneak her into bed which took hours some nights. She napped once during that time and went to bed close to 11pm for 3 nights which means she was sleep deprived and not so nice to deal with. She was back to her normal self after a weekend away and went down just fine last night and this afternoon. Then, I met a friend for coffee tonight and Chris tried to put her to bed and it took an hour and a half. I still have high hopes that that was a fluke and she's back on the going-to-sleep-like-a-sane-child-bandwagon. I hate to even speak of these things but I want to have it in writing so when I'm freaking out if this happens with another child in the future I can look back at this blog and remember that 1)It was wretched and 2)It did end.
I came to a conclusion today when a friend and fellow-toddler mom texted me to ask "Why isn't it bed time yet and why don't I have a full time maid?" (I ask myself those questions relatively often). Basically, toddlerhood is kicking my butt. I LOVED the baby stage but watching my previously angelic-seeming child chase a kid today while holding him by the neck of his shirt in order to snatch his toy away is really no fun. She really is a good girl most of the time but I'm scared of what I'll be apologizing to other parents for in the future as the terrible two's set in. It just comes down my perceived loss of control over her behavior...having control at all is a misconception anyway so it's just a matter of getting on the same page as God about this and realizing Ella is His and He is in control and has been all along. Ok, I promise the next post will be on a lighter note.

Ren Fest 2007

The Renaissance Festival is a Heiliger Family tradition. I've been invited to come along for many years, well before I was a Heiliger myself, before Chris and I were even dating. It's always a fun, other-worldy experience-lots of food on sticks (steak, strawberries, mac-n-cheese, cheesecake, you name it), real live jousting (you don't see men and horses in armor running at each other every day), glass blowing, a beautiful woodland landscape, and lots of medieval style corset cleavage. I gave up trying avert Chris' eyes from the cleavage years ago, it's just too plentiful to avoid. Anyway, Ella had a great time this year seeing elephants, horses, a sword swallower, playing on their playground, and riding on Uncle David's shoulders. This year was Ping's first ren fest experience so it was lots of fun to see it through her eyes too-I'm pretty sure she had a blast. Lots of fun was had by all.

Shoe Independence and Fire Pits

Chris and I were talking yesterday about how if we ask her, Ella can go get her shoes and put them on (if they're crocs) and is ready to go out. Not sure why this seems like such a milestone to us but we we're pretty excited :-)

We hung out with the Christy's this weekend and made some s'mores around the fire pit. Ella now thinks a fire pit is called a "don't touch!!!" Here are some pics of the adorable dads and kids :-)

Big Talker!

Ella has started talking a lot!! The phases have gone like this:

1.Signing
2.Jibberish
3.Using a few words
4.Few words plus new jibberish
5.Lots of words
6.Lots of words plus new jibberish.

She just started #6 this week. I had gotten used to understanding most of what she said but now there's a lot I don't understand. It's exciting though because all of that will turn into real English if the trend continues.

It's been a big week for her. She has started singing songs for the first time. She'll sing along with CDs and also sing to herself while playing (recognizable songs!!). It's SO cute to listen to! She's also started to kind of verbally summarize things she hears. If I'm reading to her and the page says "Elmo ran into the house as fast as he could" as soon as I finish she'll say "Elmo house fast." She's also been picking up books to "read" (which she's done for a long time) but she points to the words and pictures and says things that make sense! She's learning so much so fast!


My favorite things she's saying right now are...
"Hew-oh" (Hello)
"Honan" (Hold on)
"Honan a mini" (Hold on a minute)
"Eya Hode it?" (Can Ella hold it?)
"cholit mi?" (Can I have chocolate milk?)
"coo" (cool)
"hee-ya-go" (Here you go)
"hey-now" (playground)
"eena" (music)

Not sure how the last two fit but they really do sound like the real words if you say them enough times. Apparently "approximations" are all that is expected at this age so I'm enjoying this fun phase of Ella-ese. I'm hoping to get some videos posted here of her talking so we'll never forget how cute her "learning to talk" period is!