Does this baby make me look fat?

So a lot of people have been asking if I am showing yet - well you can decide for yourself.....

(Picture courtesy of Ella)

Ella the photographer

So Ella has always loved the camera - especially if she is the one taking the pictures and she is actually getting really good at taking pictures that you can tell what they are :) She has been sneaking the camera  lot lately here is some of her recent work:

Self portraits

Coloring time!!!

They are so cute when they are sleeping...

Yummy pizza :)

my recent creations







Make a funny face mommy :)

Our new little one :)

So to date we have had 3 ultrasounds - I guess that is just one of the joys of having a high risk pregnancy (okay the only joy besides still being pregnant)
Here is our little one at 7 1/2 weeks:

Here is our little one at 11 weeks:

 

While this has been a rough pregnancy - not even remotely like being pregnant with Ella - and definitely very nerve racking we are looking forward to our new little addition joining our little family.
I have been on Lovenox (blood thinning shots) for 7 weeks now and while I am sick and tired of stabbing myself every day I know that they are the reason this baby is still here :) We are just excited that this little one is doing well and growing big and strong!!!
Ella and I will be back in Utah (for good) on the 10th of April. Matt will be in San Diego where his ship is stationed and will be in and out to sea the rest of his enlistment (with at least 1 more deployment sometime during the next 14 months) and then he will be joining us at home in Utah :)

Happy Anniversary

Today is our 6th wedding anniversary. It doesn't seem like its been that long my how time flies. Today however we won't be able to celebrate together though since Matt is deployed. So Ella and I are going to go to the cheesecake factory for lunch - and hopefully next year Matt and I will be able to be together for our anniversary.

Long time no blog....

So I've kind of been avoiding the blogging. I've been busy with school and playing single mommy since Matt is deployed and I have been sick which really doesn't help. I am on the mend - I think and school is going well and while it has been incredibly hard with Matt gone we are surviving. I will only be in Virginia for about 6 more weeks and then my mom and Jennie are flying out to drive back to Utah with me. I'm not very excited for the drive back - 5 days in a car is to much for me I can't imagine how it is going to be with Ella!!!! It will definitely be an adventure for sure!!! It will be good to be back in Utah with family though - and Ella will have lots of cousins and aunts and uncles to play with and adore her. I am going to attempt to start blogging again on a consistent basis - but no guarantees :) We will see how it all goes from here.

Hunt Club Farm

So Megan and I took the kids to hunt club farm on thursday afternoon - (our ward and Norfolk 1st had a combined play group) it was a BLAST!!!! Ella loved the hay ride (only it was straw not hay) and as we were walking into the petting farm she saw the huge pile of straw in the middle and went charging for it! She crashed into it and then climbed up the straw and then slid down it like it was a slide - and then back up and down again. She saw an oversized wagon and proceeded to put more straw in it and then pull it around. Then it was over to the pygme goats pen where Kaitlin, Logan and Meagan were - they actually had it set up so you could go in and be right next to the goats. The kids had a blast playing with the kids (pun intended). They got to brush the goats and pet them and of course they were running around like crazy!!!! They were so fun to watch. There were also a couple of chicken coops in with the goats and they thought it was hilarious to chase the chickens - I kind of felt bad for the chickens - kind of. Then they played on the swing sets they had - and if someone didn't go down the slide fast enough Ella was kind enough to help them - so she ended up getting pushed down the really big curly slide :) She was not happy about that one - and kept saying 'pushed me :(' Then they went over to the chicken pen (seperate from the goats). Ella was trying to catch a chicken - but wasn't having much luck - she could get her hands on it but couldn't figure out how to actually pick it up - but she was determined. After a while she came over to me and said 'mommy help me' so I caught a chicken for her - Ella and Kaitlin both loved being able to hold the chicken. After that we went over to the pumpkins - we picked out 2 big ones to take home and then Ella picked out a little one. I was thinking we would carve them - but I think it might be better just to draw on them - Ella isn't allowed to use knives yet - even though she thinks she is :) It was a great day - and so much fun. I love watching Ella play and have fun and how she interacts with everything around her. She has so much energy - now if only I could get some of that energy so I could keep up with her all day long :)

ALL GIRL

So Ella is definitly a girlly girl. She has been asking to get earrings for the last couple of months and I have been reluctant to let her get her ears pierced. Well Tuesday afternoon she started asking again only this time she was almost begging - so we talked about getting earrings. I told her that it hurt and even pinched her ear with my nails to show her and then asked her again if she really wanted earrings her response: YEAH!!! EARRINGS!!!! I guess that means yes. Matt said it was fine with him - I still wasn't sure about it. I knew it would hurt her - it didn't really hurt me when I got mine - but she is 3 (almost) and for a 3 year old it would hurt. She still wanted them wednesday so while we were out running errands we stopped at Claire's in the mall and she got her ears pierced. She did fairly well - when the lady doing it told her she was going to wash her ears she freaked - she really doesn't like her ears getting wet - or anything else from the neck up really. Amazingly she did a lot better having the earrings put in than she did having her ears washed. She was a little upset that we hurt her - but after a little bit she was really excited that she had earrings now - just like mommy.

What a Cheese ball!!!!!

Such a beauty