Summer Days

Ella has been a busy girl lately with her mom being home on summer break!  We have had so much fun taking weekly Waterbabies swim lessons, being in a stroller walking group with some girls from church, and going to a little gym class.

Ella seems to love being in the pool during swim lessons, practicing her new skills such as back-floating, and interacting with the teacher and other babies!

Our stroller group met at different parks around the Eastside and walked, talked, and let the babies play together.  I brought my camera to the last get together which happened to be at the KidsQuest Children's Museum due to another rainy Seattle day :).

 Ella and Genesis

 Ella's best bud Nate

Nate chasing after Ella

 Her favorite thing to do these days...crawl after balls

  

 Ella loves her little gym class.  There are different activities for the kids to do every week and Ella loves exploring the fun things to crawl on and play with.  She wears herself out and takes the best naps after her classes! 

 Playing in the balls with Nate

 Ella chasing after Nate

Summer has {Finally} Arrived...

...at least for the weekend.  We were granted a few summer days of warmth and sunshine over the weekend so we took every opportunity to get out and enjoy it while it was here!  It feels like we haven't really gotten a summer around here yet, but I'm still hopeful that it'll show up at some point - better late than never!  My brother David was in town this weekend so we met up at a park to enjoy the afternoon.  We finished the evening with Zeeks Pizza and Tom and Jerry's ice cream - a perfect summer evening with Uncle David!

Ella enjoyed cooling off the next day in her new pool :).

10 Months

Ella at 10 months old is all over the place and into everything.  It's crazy to think that just within the past month she went from just learning to crawl to being a very fast and mobile crawler!  We love you sweet Ella!

A glimpse of our 10-month-old:
- She can pull herself up on anything and prefers to stand rather than sit.  She is fearless when it comes to standing and has no problem letting go to test her balance (or lack thereof), which is evidenced by the bruises on her face. 
- Loves holding onto our hands and walking around.
- Has started cruising between different pieces of furniture/people.
- Is still our toothless wonder - not even a sign of any impending teeth.
- So far, she is not a picky eater and eats anything we give her.  Thankfully, she has no food allergies that we know of yet.  Poor thing still has to eat pretty mushed up food with no teeth!
- Understands "no" as in: "No, Ella, don't eat the dog food".  She did stuff dog food in her mouth once but has since left it alone (fingers crossed that continues).  While we're pretty sure she understands what "no" means, she doesn't always choose to listen :).
- Waves hello and bye-bye in appropriate situations.
- So far, has not shown any signs of "stranger danger" and continues to be social, outgoing, and super-smiley in new places and when meeting new people.
- Has started asserting her independence and likes/dislikes more and more.  She now arches her back and screams when she doesn't want to be put down, strapped in her carseat, etc.  This phase will pass, right?!
- Now that she's figured out she can stand up in her crib when she wakes up in the middle of the night, she prefers to be up and exploring her new skills rather than going back to sleep.  So far, this has only lasted a few nights and she's back to sleeping through the night.
- Loves sticking her tongue in and out.
- Has been sleeping in until around 8am (later than her usual 6:30am wake up) the past few weeks - I think she knows her mom is on summer vacation!

A few (okay, more than a few!) favorite pics from this month:

 Sorry Lily, your toys have been compromised

 First spaghetti dinner

Race Weekend

I did it!  I finally completed my first half marathon alongside my best friend!  As you may remember from a previous post, I had planned on doing a half marathon with Carly, Neal, and Cody back when they all did the Cinco de Mayo Run in May.  However, a back injury prevented me from running the race and it was so disappointing at the time.  Carly is an amazing friend who said she would still run a half marathon with me, so we signed up for the See Jane Run Half Marathon in Seattle (over 2,000 women running for champagne and chocolate!) and I was able to continue training after my back healed.  After training for essentially 7 months, I felt more prepared for this run and was so glad I had no injuries!  The course started and finished at Gas Works Park and went around Lake Union.  My goal was to run the entire thing, and I was proud of myself for accomplishing that goal.  Carly ran with me the whole time and we crossed the finish line together.  It took us 2:09 to run the 13.1 miles.  This was Carly's 5th half marathon (told you she was amazing!) and she continues to be my inspiration!  Thanks Carly for running with me - I couldn't have done it without you!

 So good to see Cody and Ella, Neal and the Pickering boys, and my parents at the finish line!

 After our race, we went home for a few hours and then headed off to Cody and Neal's race - the Warrior Dash.  This was the craziest, muddiest run I've ever seen or could have imagined.  It's a 5K run through mud and obstacles with a turkey leg and viking hat as a prize for all the "warrior" participants.  The guys had been warned that they would get muddy, but we had no idea that going with the kids would mean we would all  get super muddy.  The race was out in North Bend and they had you park at a farm and then take a shuttle bus to the field the race took place in.  After thousands of muddy people had already ridden the buses all day Saturday and Sunday, the bus seats were encrusted with mud and dirt and it was impossible not to get dirty :).  We loaded on the buses with all our strollers and kids and ended up having a great time watching the guys. 

Neal and Cody pre-race

 Our little spectators

 Neal crawling through the mud

 Cody at the final obstacles

 Entering the mud pit...

 See that splash of mud!?  Cody's fully submerged.  Note: they did not HAVE to do a complete head-dive...Cody is quite a warrior! ;)

 Scariest picture I have ever seen of my husband :).  Ella didn't know what to think.

 The masses of donated, muddy shoes

 Even though it was a busy weekend, we had a great time with the Pickerings and the kids were quite the troopers through all the craziness.  Thanks Carly and Neal for coming over for another fun weekend together!