Wicked

Last night, Eric & I went to see Wicked! Eric had his last football game & then a pizza party after so we were a bit crunched to get out the door. We got to our friends' house where Ella was staying and realized we had left the diaper bag at home!!! It had a fresh bottle, pj's, diapers, you know...EVERYTHING she would need! So, Eric jetted home and got back and we left (putting us 20 minutes behind schedule!). Of course there was traffic and we were SO anxious the whole way...Eric was a stress case. But, we made it there and in our seats with 2 minutes to spare! Whew! Thank the Lord! And, it was SOOOOO good! I can't believe we hadn't seen it until now! The talent and work those performers put in every night is so amazing. What was really cool about our night was our seats! We had heard of this educators discount for 45% off orchestra seating that expires today! Anyway, Saturday we decided to go Thursday night and I went online Sunday to get the tickets and they were sold out. I was SO sad! At the same time I checked Tues and Wed...all sold out! On Monday, I looked again and Wed & Thurs were still sold out but Tues had opened up with REALLY good seats! So, I thought they must open some up as the show nears. So, Tues night I looked again and sure enough, tickets were available for Thursday night...8th row, center! It was awesome and such a great deal! We would NEVER pay for that great of tickets but they were only $55! That's what you would pay for balcony seats! Anyway, that made the experience all the better...what an amazing show!

AND, to just brag about a friend for a minute...Alli (the one who was in Cry Baby and performed on Regis & Kelly), just got the role of Glinda in New York! I'm so excited for her and I REALLY want to go out to see her do it. Isn't that awesome?!? She's so famous! Anyway, if you haven't gotten a chance to see it, I (along with the rest of the world), highly recommend it!

Pumpkin Patch #2

This Saturday, we went to the Irvine Regional Park with our friends Keith & Carmen and their son, Lucas. Lucas is exactly 6 weeks older than Ella and they are already best buds! :) It was a warm day but we still had lots of fun going through the hay maze, the haunted house, riding the train, and taking LOTS of pictures! We got some good shots though and definitely started a tradition!

Ella & Mommy all ready to go in the new off-road stroller from Auntie Jill!

The good witch with her little cat!

SCARY!!! Carmen, Keith, Eric, Me

I LOVE this picture!

I think this is my favorite from the day! They are just such sweeties!

Thanks Witts for making such great memories with us!

This Week...

Ella tried rice cereal! She did NOT like it one little bit! We were going to wait until 6 months but decided to just try rice cereal now because sometimes she seems SO hungry. I think it was just a couple day growth spurt but we'll keep trying it every once in a while to get her used to the taste...she seems to be doing well with just milk so no need to really enforce it! It was fun though and made for some cute pictures! Here's the order of events...

Step 1: The pre-rice smile

Step 2: Baffled

Step 3: Ewwwww!

Step 4: NEVER AGAIN!!!! Where's my milk?

Earlier in the week, Cheryl & her mom stopped by to hang out for a while! It was so fun to catch up and we had some fun watching some old college videos! Man, we were dorks! But those were SUCH fun times! Anyway, here's a picture of our little girls about 3 1/2 months apart...

Aubrie & Ella

Pumpkin Patch #1

Last Saturday, we went to a pumpkin patch with Eric's sister, Karen, and her family. The pumpkin patch itself was a little disappointing but we all had a fun time...especially Kaitlin because she got to ride the helicopter ride with her daddy! She was VERY excited about it! We did manage to get some very cute pictures of our little pumpkin admist the pumpkins!

John, Kaitlin, Karen

I like this family pic!

Our sweet girl sitting up so big!

My favorite pumpkin is the one in the middle!

What's this pokey stuff I'm sitting in?

It was a fun, spontaneous evening and I'm glad we went!

This & That

It's a been a while so here's a summary of what's been going on in our lives! Last week I had a 3 day work week and my parents came out to watch Ella on Wednesday. Our FABULOUS babysitter, Judy, just has Ella Monday and Tuesday and now each of our parents' are taking Ella once a month on the Wednesdays I work...it's usually just 2 a month! It's so awesome of both of our parents to be willing to do this! Thanks! So far, each set has had her once and it's been smooth sailing! On Thursday, the 7th Grade team of teachers had to dress up like The Wizard of Oz, so Eric was Scarecrow. We copied Grant's Halloween costume from last year and it turned out pretty good! Those teachers seem to have so much fun...those students don't know how lucky they are to have such fun teachers!

Ella is getting SO close to sitting up! I can put the boppy behind her and she pretty much just sits there with hardly any support from it, just there in case she falls backwards! She was 5 months on Thursday and I just can't believe how quickly it goes! She is truly more fun every day and I'm so extremely thankful for her! Everyday I feel like I am so incredibly lucky to be her mommy! Her latest favorites are sucking on her toes, sleeping on her side (and now even sometimes her stomach!), sitting in her bumbo, playing in her excersaucer, having daddy bounce her up and down, and putting anything and everything in her mouth! She also smiles and giggles so much now! Here are some pictures from the last week...

When Ella was 11 weeks, we took her to do her hand and footprints in ceramics. I got to pick it up this week and I absolutely LOVE it!

On another note, I would like to recommend a grocery store! There's a Fresh & Easy by our house and I go there sometimes to just pick up a few random things I need. It's kind of a different store, doesn't have EVERYTHING a Stater Brothers or Albertsons might have but they have really good prices overall. Not only that but they ALWAYS have $5 off coupons of a purchase over $20. Their milk is the rBST free kind and is definitely better priced than in the grocery store. Things like Campbell's Tomato Soup is only $.71 a can and pumpkins were only $3! All the checkouts are self-checkout and self-bagging but I don't mind that too much, the prices are worth it! So, if there's one near you, check it out!

3 years!

Today is our 3rd Anniversary! In a completely good way, it seems like we've been married way more than 3 years! I LOVE that I get to spend every day with Eric and I am SO lucky to be his wife! There is no one else I can be completely myself with, in every single way. There are often moments one of us does something completely off the wall and we look at each other and say, "I wouldn't act like this with ANYONE else!" That's how it's supposed to be though and I am so lucky to have that in my marriage! In case you don't know, Eric and I met on a blind date, were engaged 4 months later and married 6 months after that. We just clicked right away and we still click today! He is my perfect match and I thank God every day for giving him to me! It's been so fun to see him now as a dad! Seeing him with Ella melts my heart! Anyway, here's a snapshot of some of our adventures throughout these 3 years.

Wedding Day

Honeymoon in Jamaica

Disneyland

The Central California Coast

Europe

4 Corners...we're each in 2 states

Last Christmas

Wedding up in Arroyo Grande

Thanks for a wonderful 3 years, Babe! I'm so excited to spend the rest of my life with you...I couldn't have asked for a better partner to go through it with! I love you (and thanks for the flowers!)!!

Fight On!

At school on Friday, one of Eric's student's asked him if we wanted his family's tickets to the USC game Saturday! Ummm....yes!!!! So, we went! We took Ella to her very first SC game! She did SO great! The first half was wonderful. I fed her at half time and then it started to drizzle. It was just a mist but she was getting tired, it was damp, and she was getting a bit tired of being held so I walked with her and got her to sleep and spent the rest of the game under the bleachers watching the game on the jumbo-tron! Eric's friend Jeff came with us and I felt bad making them both leave the game early. Anyway, we were pleased with the success but we might leave her home for the next game! I just didn't really get to enjoy it and I do enjoy a good football game!

A quick tail-gate before the game

The family

The littlest fan!

How in the world could she sleep with so much noise????

One very exciting event was that Ella did make it on the jumbo-tron! We are so sad we didn't get a picture. The people a couple rows behind us won the "best seat in the house" upgrade and they were being shown on the jumbo-tron. So, Eric held her up and there she was, right in the middle of the big screen! It was awesome!

I'm baaaaack!

Sorry it's been a while! Our internet was down for a week and I have felt SO disconnected from the blogging world! Anyway, here's a run-down in pictures of what we've been up to! Last Friday, Cheryl & I drove out to Kelly's and met Emily there for a playdate. Unfortunately, we did not get a picture of all the kids together due to different naps and such but we at least got one of the 4 of us! We all became friends our freshman year of college and lived across the hall from eachother our Sophmore and Junior years (Cheryl & Emily were roommates and Kelly & I were!). It's so great to still get together with them and stay in touch!

Cheryl, Emily, Kelly, Me

On Saturday, it was back to Redlands for a shower for Jani and Tessa. It went well and it was fun to see some people I hadn't seen in a while! Eric and I stayed the night Saturday night which my parents love! It was really nice to not have to rush around and see everyone or feel the need to pack up and head home so quick. It was also nice to go to church with them Sunday morning and introduce (and lets be honest, show off :) ) Ella to some of their friends!

Ella with Grandpa...she was so sleepy

Sweet, sleepy girl

This week, I had a 3 day week and it went well. Yesterday I had my moms group which was nice but working on Wednesday makes it a little more tough to go! I just want to stay home. I was glad I went though and enjoyed it! Today, we just stayed home and I did laundry and a little cleaning! While I was washing the dishes, I had Ella in her bumbo chair (thanks, Jill!) and we did a little photo shoot! She is getting so big and more and more fun every day! I cannot believe how quickly she changes! I am just so in love with her!

Good-night!