Family Night

This past Friday night we had a family gathering at my parents house to celebrate Brad, whose birthday was Friday night, and my brother Ross and I, whose birthdays were on Saturday. It was a great night just hanging out outside and letting the kids play! It was a great way to celebrate our Birthdays!Ella trying to keep up with the other kids Reed, Kennedy & Carley racing their Gator and Jeep down the drivewayGirls Rule! (Bryan and Kooper taking up last place:))Ella loves my parents dog Josie - all she wanted to do was stand by the fence and pet herMy Mom and Dad (known by my nieces & nephews at Grandpa and Grandma Josie:)

Josie Mae Rotman

Ross and Kolter

Grandpa Rotman and EllaOur little family

Bye Bye Big Star

Labor Day weekend drew our summer up at the cottage to a close. It was an absolutely gorgeous weekend and we had fun doing our favorite things at the lake - laying out in the sun, swimming, playing with Macie (Betsy & Jake's dog), taking boat rides, napping, getting ice cream, reading, watching TV and just hanging out with the family. Although the relaxation factor of being up there was much different this year, it was such a blessing to have Ella there and watch her experience new things. We will miss being up there now that summer is over but we also look forward to weekends at home now! Ella and Lily playingAunt Kylee and EllaBrad found some old VHS's of cartoons and movies that he watched when he was young there so he and Ella were watching bits and pieces:)A little sunset cruise around the lakeIt was hilarious - Ella likes to sit by Brad when he is driving the boat and somehow she grabbed the throttle and the boat lurched forward a bit - she totally freaked out:) (For all you boaters safety people, we were riding during no wake time & she will not keep on a life jacket so just ignore the fact that she isn't wearing one:)Our last boat ride of the year - Ella enjoyed it until she zonked out on Grandma's shoulder"Bye Bye Big Star!"

11 months old!

September 3 marked 11 months since Ella was born. She is such an amazing gift to us. Every month has brought new experiences and joys with her and although it is bittersweet that time has gone by so fast, we are so thankful for our little girl and treasure these past 11 months. Her little personality is really shining through - very strongwilled (definately knows what she wants) but is very cuddly and playful. She is walking now which is so exciting! Although she can be wobbly and falls often, she is a determined little one and prefers to walk around whenever she can. To me there is nothing cuter than seeing such a tiny little person walking around like a little old lady. She is always full of smiles and continues her passion for squealing...very loudly:) Brad and I are convinced she is going to be quite a social butterfly someday because she is not totally content unless she can be in the midst of all the action, especially where other children are concerned. Her favorite things continue to be watching cars & people from the window, playing with toys (especially hitting things together), walking around the house behind her car/bike, being chased around the house by Brad & I, taking walks, squealing at dogs, waving at everything in sight and eating anything as long as she can feed herself and make a mess:). At this point she tends to be a mama's girl, but no one can make her smile and laugh like her daddy! This past month she was at the Dr's for some "poopy problems" so these are her stats as of 2 weeks ago: 22.2lbs (80th percentile) and 30 3/4 in (off the charts). Here are some pictures of her throughout the past month ...

Ella stuffing her face full of rice when we went to Kobe Steakhouse with Betsy, Jake & Lily. The Japanese restaurant was perfect for a night out with her b/c it was loud, there was entertainment (the chef) and food was great even for her!

"Uh-oh Cheerio!"

"I can do it myself!"

My sunscreen baby Einstein look:)

Duck watching at the park
Looking pretty with Daddy!

I love blueberries!

Playing in the sand at the beach

Watching Daddy mow...it was so funny...she would yell and giggle whenever he went by the window and break into tears when she couldn't see him...the cycle continued long enough so that I ended up just going outside the rest of the time he mowed to make her happy:)

"I think I can, I think I can!"
She loves to pick up every little thing she sees on the ground, especially in the driveway...we spend the whole time making sure she doesn't eat it all...woodchips, dead bees, bugs, stones - yuck!

Ella and Daddy
Lately she loves to play with hangers...gotta love the cheap toys:)

"I'm a big kid now!"Bye Bye!

Fun-filled family festivities

Time to do a little catch up what has been going on in our lives. The past couple of weeks it seems we have been doing some great family bonding - we are so incredibly blessed to have the family that we do. Here are some pictures showing what we have been up to!Ella with Grandma Koning...playing outside one day while she was babysitting

Ella and Grandpa Koning at the cottage taking a little dip:)
Auntie Betsy, Macie, and Ella enjoying a leisurely boat ride

A couple of Fridays ago we got to babysit our niece Lily....it was a fun experience for me to get used to 2 little ones at once (before Brad got home from work). It had a few "interesting" moments b/c Ella gets majorly jealous of me paying attention to Lily and Lily kept crying when Ella got to close...Ella can be just a bit of a bully-stealing her toys, inadvertantly pinching her (without meaning to of course). Lets just say at one point I was walking around the house with a child in each arm trying to keep them both happy:) Despite being a bit tricky - it was awesome having Lily over - she is such a doll and I am so glad Ella gets to grow up with a cousin so close in age! In no time they'll be in about the same stage and be the best of friends!

Brad's Grandpa and Grandma go camping quite often to the beach so we went to go visit for dinner and a stroll by the beach. It was a wonderful afternoon visiting with them!

One afternoon my cousin and dear friend Angie came over with her 5 1/2 month old little boy Andrew for a play date. He is the cutest thing! Such a little stud muffin already. Ella was up to her old tricks of stealing toys but he was able to hold his own:) It is so nice to be able to share motherhood with Angie since we have been close since we were their age.

Last week my sister in laws and their kids met up with us for a playdate. We had such a great time! We went to a local kids playhouse where the kids had a blast! It was fun watching them explore and be their little creative selves. Ella was all over the place wanting to get into everything...one of the greatest joys of being a mother for me is watching Ella learn new things. It was also awesome seeing all the nieces and nephews playing together...we have been wanting to do a play date for so long so it was great that we managed to do it before the summer was over!

Finding joy in the little things

Dress up time!

Little miss cowgirl

Kolter

Reed-o

Kooper, Reed, Kennedy & Carley playing dress up:)

Later that night we also met up at the fair with my siblings, their kids, and my Mom and Dad - we do this annually and this year I was pumped b/c we got to show Ella the animals. Ella is just so in love with animals so we could not wait to go and see her reaction to the barns full of them. Unfortunatly she was really tired and barely made a peep the whole night....she just stared and took it all in....I am sure she enjoyed it despite her lack of enthusiasm:)