I'm a big kid now...

Owen and Ella taking a tub

We had to lower the crib

My pearly whites

There she goes...

"Look at me... I'm a big kid now"

"I will never stay in one place again."

Accomplished !

Summer is coming to an end, and Ella is only getting bigger and bigger.  After she started crawling she decided that she knows it all and started climbing up stairs, chairs and mom and dad.  Ella is also getting very experienced with bumps and bruises.  She doesn't realize yet that with the exploring and climbing, it is bound to happen.  There is nothing I love more than when she gets mad or tired and crawls to my feet and just drops and puts head down and just cries waiting for me to pick her up.  It is very hilarious to observe.   Since the beach, her bottom 2 teeth broke through and now we are patiently waiting for the upper tooth to come in.  They are starting to break through.  As of the 24th she is now 7 months old.  I can't believe she is growing up so fast.   

I am not missing teaching.  In fact, I still feel like it is summer and everyone is still on summer break.  It has been fun the last two weeks just being with Ella and not worrying about school.

Where is time going.

I can hardly believe that it is mid-August and Ella is already 6 1/2 months old.  She had her 6 months Doctors appointment and she now is 27 inches long (94%) and 16.4 lbs (48%).  As you can see, she is a growing girl.  Ella has also picked up a new trait since we have been back at the beach.  Yep, our little girl has begun the dreaded crawling stage (or so I hear of its dread).  She is now into everything.  I feel like I need to pick up everything off the floor and vacuum twice a day.  She has fallen off the bed twice. Needless to say, I have learned my lesson and she is only on the bed with an adult.  One other indicator that my little bundle is growing, we have to move her crib down to the second notch.  I can't believe it, where is time going?

Here she goes...  Crawling all over the place...

Ahh, the beach...

Ella's beard

  Hmm... Good stuff

The Grandkids

Ella loves her cousin Anna

Cousin Owen and Princess Ella 

Crazy Face!

Just like the rest of you, Brennan, Ella, and I went on a family vacation.  Every year, the Swensen family heads down to Newport Beach, California.  We go down for 2 weeks and get to enjoy relaxing, reading a good novel, the water, soft serve, strolling down the boardwalk, and Charlie's Chili.  We get a little piece of heaven for 2 weeks!  It was a lot of fun having Ella there.  It is very different having a child, but we had a ton of fun.  Ella loved the sand from the start.  She is very tactile and so feeling the texture of the sand must have made her day.  She also didn't mind having her face in the sand.  When it came to the water, it was a different story... She did not like it.  Whenever Bren or I tried to put her feet in the water she would lift them up.  It was a very funny site.  When we made her stay in the water she just cried.  It must have been the cold water.  Brennan had a great trip.  We bought him his 4th and 5th surfboard (one is a softy, the other is a fish tale)  The waves were BIG the first week and part of the second so, Brennan got to play on his new boards.  Needless to say it's like a little kid in a candy store.  I enjoyed running in the morning, a great book, and some of my own shopping (H&M).  We had a lot of fun with my family and we are so grateful that we get to go each year.  Enjoy the pictures.