OK, so I skipped a month or two. And I don't know why, because I have had so many good pictures and things to report on. I guess I just need to motivate and more to the point, REMEMBER to get on here once in awhile. Anyhoo, fall is speeding by, and we have been having lots of fun. The Waldenbaby just had her first Halloween, and was cute as a button, or cute as a ladybug. Of course, she did not really enjoy the downtown "trick-or-treating" in the true sense of it, since she does not even know what candy is, but mom got to show her off and use it as a perfect photo-op. Ella was less than thrilled with having to wear something with wings and a hood, but she adaped quickly and decided to bear with me for a few hours until she was freed from her costume again. She got to play in her first pile of leaves last weekend while we were raking, and raking... and raking the yard, and seemed to like those pretty well, especially eating them. Leaves seem to be a popular item when it comes to Ella's cuisine preferences these days. Leaves and bathwater. Mmmmmm.
Ella also survived her first week long roadtrip, and did so well considering we were in the car pretty much all day every day! We made lots of stops to get out and take breaks, sightsee a little bit, have some meals, etc. We went through Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, and Nebraska. It was a LONG trip, but fun. Patrick was the officiant at Beckie Martin's (McEachen's!)wedding, and did a great job! The wedding was beautiful, and a great time... worth the drive!
In terms of milestones, miss Ella is just on the BRINK of walking... SOOOOOO close, but currently crawling at the speed of light. She stands without holding onto anything, surfs the furniture constantly, and even occasionally stands up in the middle of the room only slightly pushing herself up on something to get up. I'm certainly in NO hurry to have her walking, or running, through the house... but it is exciting to see her progress with each new day. Her two bottom teeth came in awhile back, and now the top two are halfway in! Makes her look like a much more grown up girl. At her 10 month appointment the other day, she was the 57th% ile for weight, and 94th%ile for height... so she's pretty tall!
Signing off for now.... but many things to report on in the near future! We are looking forward to many more firsts coming up in the next few months, incuding Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and a first birthday!

Summertime!

Well it's been awhile and I've been very bad, as per ususal, about posting. I think I should just plan to be happy if I get to posting once every month or two! We have been having a very nice summer here in La Crosse. Up until this week, the weather has been very mild (which I prefer) and so getting outdoors a lot has been great! Miss Ella has been the travelling baby this summer, with a trip to Redwood Falls, a trip or 2 to Duluth, a trip to New Ulm, and a trip to Pewaukee all under her belt in the past several weeks!
We enjoyed a nice 4th of July with Patrick's mom, and Ella got to see her first fireworks... I'm pretty sure by 10pm she was only half-concious towards the end of them, but she was a trooper nonetheless. We spent a weekend with the Walden side of the family in New Ulm and had a nice reunion and picnic of sorts, and Ella got to meet lots of new family members there! Ella got to spend some time checking out Lake Superior in Duluth for the second time, and we had a nice little trip to some new parts of the South shore there (except for the wood ticks that were stuck to us, and the huge snake Patrick almost stepped on, those were not highlights...). This last weeknd we spent the weekend in Pewaukee at my sister's house with her family and my parents, which was lots of fun. Ella got to take her first dip in the pool at Kim and Greg's house, and she splashed around to her hearts content, mesmerized by her cousins' advanced swimming abilities!
All in all a good summer thus far. Ella is starting to crawl around a good bit, mostly in circles at this point, but is on the verge of taking off across the floor at any second. Holding her own bottle and learning to clap are the two new tricks this past month... so fun to watch all these brain connections being made! Perhaps next week she'll be doing the dishes for me?? I won't hold my breath...
Hope all who follow here are having a great summer as well!
...and Happy Birthday to Ella's Grandma Coco today!

A weekend on Superior...

Well this weekend we took Ella on one of her first real vacations... short but sweet, we were only there for 3 days, but we had a great time. We rented a cabin just north of Duluth MN for the long weekend, it was small and cozy but big enough for a few days. We spent time Friday in Two Harbors walking around town, on the beaches looking for some Lake Superior agates, and we cooked our breakfast and dinner "at home" in the cabin. Saturday we got up early and went up to Gooseberry Falls for a hike at the falls and through the woods. We went to the beach on Superior there in the state park, then headed back to the cabin. Later in the day we went down to Duluth to spend some time with Patrick's good friend Wendy and her daughter Brittney... did a little shopping at the Fitger's building and had a nice dinner there. Later at night we went back to the cabin and had a bonfire out on the rocks overlooking the lake. It was amazing weather that night, starting with rainbows over the lake and ending with a bunch of thunderdtorms that seemed to move north and south of us but never raining on us! We had some spectacular lightning shows out over the lake. Miss Ella even stayed up with us until 10pm out by the lake, content as could be! (Which is indeed impressive with her usual 8pm bedtime). A good time was had by all, and we were a little sad to come home, but happy to rest in our own beds last night!

Well I think it's become clear that I have a hard time remembering to get to this... or maybe it's a time issue, I don't know. But anyways, the waldenbaby is keeping me busy!! :) Ella is almost 5 months now, wow how time really flies by! I can't believe how fast it has gone. Things are getting really fun right now. Ella is starting to actually EAT some of the food I try to feed her instead of tounging it all back out of her mouth at me, which is a new accomplishment! We are not on a regular feeding schedule just yet, but have been trying some basics, including rice cereal, bananas, apples, and pears. So far she likes them all. She likes to take walks with her nanny during the day, and has been an overall happy and good girl these days. We plan to take a trip up to the Duluth area in the coming weeks, so Ella will take her first ride in the backpack for good hike! Pics to follow. We went to "baby animal day" at the Cameron Park Market tonight, so I'll post those pics in a bit, once I get them uploaded. The baby goats were so sweet! At home we have been geting Ella's swingset set up so that we can at least let her swing in the yard... the rest of it won't get good use until next summer, but that's ok. Hope you all are having a good start to the summer! :)

Why we walk...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbxMCXlFFPM

Sponsor Me at March for Babies!

Transition time...

Oh my, I'm getting so bad at updating, my apologies. Where does the time go? Am I now suddenly living in a vaccuum? This parenthood thing, it's insanity. The time just goes away... a then before you know it your newborn is 3 months old and huge! Ella is growing like a weed as they say (though it seems something like "growing like a flower" would be prettier...) and is thriving! She has been doing all the great things that babies should do at this early age, which is really only exciting to the parent. truth be told, no one else really gets worked up over your kid cracking a smile for 3.4 seconds, or holding her head up off the ground, or sleeping more than 3 hours at a time... but as her mom I most CERTAINLY appreciate all of the new little things that keep happening with increasing frequency day by day (especially the sleeping part...). I must admit I am finding myself conflicted, as I love the little babiness of her, but am also excited for all the good stuff coming up... the babbling, the eating 'real' food, the sitting up and crawling, and the sleeping through the night! This whole infancy thisng is hard work, but I try to remind myself at 3am each day that there will come a time someday that I will miss this part, and so it's all just fine for now. We were actually falling into a pretty good schedule, but the I went and messed it all up by heading back to work last week, and Ella decided she was not onboard with that decision. Sleeping was messed up, eating was messed up, but we are working our way through the transition period and I think making some headway. Ella's got a nanny named Olivia who started with us last week, and has been doing great with her so far, and has been staying the course through this transition time despite Ella's occasional grumpiness. We are so blessed to have found reliable childcare that we can trust and feel good about each day, as I don't think there is anything as hard as starting to leave your own child with someone else when they are still so small.
Anywho... here are some pics from yesterday... i TRIED so HARD to get some smiling pics, but it seems that by the time the camera actually 'clicks' ... the smile is gone and has turned immediately to fascination with "what the heck is that flashing silver thing in front of me??" Oh well... just another fun thing to look forward to ... a baby that follows commands! (Yeaah, I know, it probably never happens...). I swear (like I always do) that I'll try to update again soon.
Also, on a side note, anyone inclined to help me with a small donation to my March of Dimes walk ... please see the link on here or on my Facebook page ... even small amounts help! We only have a month to fundraise as I started this team kind of late, so anything is appreciated! XOXO