Leinenbach Family

Ashley's First Day of Kindergarten

2009-01-12T09:00:00.001-08:00

At the beginning of September, the long anticipated first day of school arrived! Ashley had been counting down to this day for months and could hardly stand it when her first day of kindergarten finally came. She was so excited for school that she was all ready to go before breakfast, with backpack on and everything. The only problem was that she goes to the afternoon kindergarten which made for a torturously long wait!

Here is Ash all ready to go eating a little breakfast.

About a half hour before the bus was supposed to arrive I finally said we could go outside to wait for the bus. Here we are waiting...

and waiting (still so excited - there were lots of little squeals, jumps, and "Oh Mommy, I can't wait anymore! I'm soooo excited!")...

and waiting...

and waiting some more...

The bus ended up being really late - it finally showed up about 4 minutes after school started. We were on our way back home to get in the car so I could drive Ashley to school when the bus finally arrived.

The bus was the thing Ashley was most excited for.

Ella thought she was going to get to ride the bus too, so when Ash got on and she had to stay behind, she was a little sad.

Ella and I raced to the school to meet the bus and Ash. Here is Ashley sitting in her seat, still so giddy excited.

Ashley meeting her teacher.

Like a psycho first time parent should, I came back to the school when it was time for Ashley to get back on the bus, just to make sure she got on the right bus and that everything was okay. Sure enough, Ash was just fine and was still smiling from ear to ear. Kindergarten has been a huge adventure for Ash and thankfully she is still loving it!

Some more summer fun...

2009-01-11T23:17:00.000-08:00

This summer we really had a great time. Derek is in his forth year of medical school which means his schedule is really light in comparison to all the other years and we've been taking full advantage of it! Over the summer we did a lot of relaxing and little day trips here and there. The last three years have been pretty crazy, so I feel like our family deserves this year of playing. We've been loving it - life is good!!!

One day we decided to go strawberry picking. Way fun, but it was hard to pick the berries fast enough. Ashley and Ella decided it was way easier to just eat the berries right our of our buckets instead of picking their own berries to eat from the bushes.

We ended up doing okay though.

Ella and I enjoying our yummy strawberries!

This summer the girls also had fun riding around in their car. Ella has finally graduated to driving and is oh so proud of herself - Ashley is a little bummed though about now having complete control over the wheel anymore.

We all got to go swimming a few times too which is always fun.

We played at the park...

played with the slip n slide in the backyard...

and did some more swimming.

And yes, Derek was there with us on all our crazy adventures. I love vacation! I don't know what I'm going to do next year when Derek has to really start working again!

We also went miniature golfing...

Isn't it great when your kids are this age and everything is still fun?

Ella's 2nd Birthday

2009-01-11T22:58:00.000-08:00

Ella turned 2 years old on July 12th. She has been such a source of joy and happiness in our family. When Ella turned 1 I was convinced she was going to be a tough child since she was such a hard baby, but fortunately I was completely wrong. Ella has turned into an angel child! She still has her stubborn streak and definitely has an opinion about things, but is such a wonderfully fun and sweet child. We just love her more than we could ever say!

We had a great time on her birthday. We headed up to Lake Speelyai for a barbeque and went swimming and boating. It was tons of fun and Ella seemed to really have a great time. She even went in the water which was amazing for her. She isn't one who likes colder water, but she had no problem diving right in that day.

Ella and me on the boat.
Family shot with the birthday girl.

Both of the girls loved the tube!

Ella playing in one of her new presents.

Ella wanted a pink butterfly cake for her birthday so here she is with it showing everyone how old she is.

Of course Ashley loved the water.

Ella opening her presents.

Derek tubing with the girls.

The sisters just loving life!

Overall, I think Ella had a great birthday!

Fourth of July

2009-01-11T21:21:00.000-08:00

We had a really fun 4th of July! We started out the day by going to a parade and then headed off to the St. Paul Rodeo and carnival. Well, we actually didn't go to the rodeo this year. Instead we decided to head back after a long day of carnival rides and head over to Fort Vancouver to watch fireworks. BIG MISTAKE!! Derek and I decided that in years past we have been firework wimps so we were going to prove how hardcore we were by braving the billions of people at the Fort to see the best fireworks ever. WRONG! By the time we fought through all the traffic, found a parking space 20 blocks away, and hiked to the designated watching spot, the fireworks were about ready to start. The girls were already really tired from the long day at the carnival and weren't in the best of moods, but we finally got settled. The fireworks started and all of a sudden we realized there was a small forest of trees in the middle of this huge field that we hadn't seen since it was pitch black out. Derek and I grabbed the girls and started running through the crowd to find a place we could actually see the fireworks so the girls could have the complete experience. After missing the first part of the show we finally found a little spot in the crowd to wedge ourselves into. It's at this point that we realize the girls don't really care because they aren't even looking at the fireworks, but watching other people and trying to go to sleep. In case anyone out there is planning on going to the Fort next year to see the wonderful firework display...don't. Hey, at least we made a memory!

We started out happy. Here is Derek with the girls anxiously awaiting someone from the parade to throw them some candy.
Ella and Boppa (Grandpa) at the parade.

Ashley and Nanna (Grandma) at the parade.

I even had the chance to wedge my fully grown adult body into the tiny little kiddie roller coaster carts so Ella could go on the ride.

Ella thought it was great fun for the first part, but then decided she didn't like it anymore. Then when the ride stopped she started crying again because the ride was over. Our girls emotions are often a lot like this roller coaster!

Can you believe they let Ashley on this ride? Actually, can you believe I let her go on this ride? She was dying to go on it so I told her if the carnival people let her go on then she could. I knew she was way too short so I wasn't too worried, but the crazy carnival worker waved her through and then I felt too bad to back out! So here are Ashley and I on the free fall ride. She LOVED it!

Ashley had soooo much fun on these rides. Her cousins came too which just made everything that much more exciting.

Some more random pictures of the girls at the parade.

So we don't have any pictures of us watching fireworks because there wasn't any time to take any as we were running through the crowds. But here is the happy family at the beginning of the day at the parade.

And We're Back!!!

2009-01-11T20:41:00.000-08:00

Alright, I haven't posted anything since the middle of last year - where did the last half of 2008 go? Yes, we are all still alive and well, but time just seems to be moving along a lot more quickly than before. Anyway, since last June a few things have happened in our lives. Here is a brief recap of the first half of July:

My sweet Grandma passed away a few weeks after my last post. We were all so sad to see her go, but felt so blessed to have had her in our lives. Our family had a nice service for her and it was good to see everyone in the extended family again. Although it was very sad and hard, there were still a few good laughs. After the services were over, my mom put a few of the flowers in her trunk and my brother Chris decided it was a perfect photo opportunity. We all had a good laugh at it!

PS - My grandma really liked bright colors.

Derek and I had also planned our first ever family camping trip for the beginning of July. My grandma ended up passing away at the same time so while I was in California for my grandma's funeral, Derek and the girls ventured out into the unknown on the first "family" camping trip.

Ashley was a little tired, but supposedly both girls did really well with sleeping in tents.

We managed to sucker Derek's poor side of the family into going on the trip too. Sorry!

Ashley loved playing in the sand at the beach on the camping trip but...

Ella wasn't too fond of it. Ella must have a little Derek in her because she couldn't stand the feel of the sand on her feet. Too dirty, too ucky!

Overall though, they made some good memories and came home with a whole new appreciation for the comforts of modern living.

My sweet Grandma Corkill

2008-06-27T09:04:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't know my grandma is terminally ill with cancer. The real reason for my trip down to California was to spend one last weekend or girls night out with the girls in the family, including my Grandma Corkill. We were all planning on going to see Wicked together, but when that Saturday arrived, Grandma felt too weak and sick to go. We were really sad she couldn't make it, but I did get to see her the following Monday. We went over to my garndma's house and spent the afternoon with her. My grandma is an amazing and remarkably strong woman. She was born into very difficult circumstances, but worked hard as a child to support her family and continued to work hard throughout the rest of her life to provide a wonderful life for all her children and grandchildren. I have learned so much by watching her and from the amazing stories I have heard about when she was younger.

My grandma took me on a trip to Europe when I graduated from high school and it will forever be one of my favorite memories of all time. We were roommates for two weeks and went everywhere together - we laughed, played, shopped, and did pretty much everything possible together. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life! I had so much fun with her! We have been so incredibly blessed to have this amazing woman in our lives and I am so grateful I got to see her one last time. I love you from the bottom of my heart Grandma and will be eternally grateful for all the things you selflessly did in my behalf. Thank you for being so wonderful and for loving me the way you do - I will love you forever!!!!

I have the fireman blood in me too

2008-06-27T08:50:00.000-07:00

We thought this was funny - everything in the station is made wheelchair accessible and all the signs have brail on them. How many blind wheelchair bound firemen are out there? I don't know of any.

For those of you who don't know, my dad and my brother are both firefighters for LA city. While we were in California we stopped by my dad's new fire station so my dad could show us around and my sister and I decided to take a whirl down the new fire pole. My mom was freaking out, trying to tell me to be careful because I had 2 kids at home. We've been doing this since we were little kids but for whatever reason, Mom decided to pick that day to get all panicky. She was fine when we were younger, but now that we're adults she gets all nervous - silly mom! Anyway, here is a picture of me sliding down the pole.

Wicked

2008-06-27T08:35:00.001-07:00

All of us outside the theater (me, my dad, my sister Sarah, my Grandma Lillenberg, Mrs. Saggiani, Marisa Saggiani - my soon to be sister in law, and my mom).
Sarah and I outside Wicked.

Sarah and I by Billy Joel's star in Hollywood. Okay, so I'm not a dye hard Billy Joel fan or anything but I had to take a picture by a star to show where I was and Billy Joel happened to be the lucky star.
My Grandma and I outside the Pantages Theater.

While I was in California my family and I saw the Broadway play Wicked. It was so fun! The play was so adorable and just an all around good, clever show! The music was so incredible and the actors/ actresses were just as amazing! Whenever I see a Broadway play I always leave thinking, "Why can't I sing like that?" Their voices were soooo good! Now I can't wait to take Derek to go see it when it comes to Portland in March.

My California Trip

2008-06-26T17:54:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had my trip to California - ALL BY MYSELF!!! It was amazing! Everything I did was so simple and relaxing because I didn't have any kids with me. I love my girls do death and wouldn't trade them for anything in the world, but I have to admit that traveling is not my favorite thing to do with them. The airplane ride was so relaxing and easy and when I got in a car, all I had to bring was myself and my purse - incredible! I wasn't packing around diapers or wipes, no sippy cups or snacks, no books or toys to keep kids entertained with. All I had to worry about was little old me. I highly recommend any mother to do a get away by yourself if at all possible. I can't even say how wonderful it was. I have to admit though that part of the reason it was so great was because my girls were having the time of their life at Nanna and Boppa's house with Daddy while I was gone. Thank you so much to everyone who made this trip so smooth and fun for us all!!

Me and my brother Josh.

My mom, sister Sarah, and me at the Grove (this ritzy outdoor shopping mall in Hollywood).
My dad, mom, soon to be sister in law Marisa, Josh (he is holding the cardboard cutout of my little brother Chris that we used in my sister's wedding last year because Chris was on his mission), brother in law Ryan, Sarah, and me.

It was so fun getting to see everyone! I had such a great trip and absolutely loved being able to hang out with my family and relax for a weekend. What a lucky girl I am to have such an amazing family who I love so much! Thanks guys for a great weekend!!!

I did it!!!

2008-06-26T17:27:00.001-07:00

I finally did it! I took the plunge and chopped off my hair. I was a little nervous about doing it, but I have to admit that it has been really nice not having to take care of so much hair - and plus it feels so much cooler! So here is how it went...

I started out with this...

Then took off a little of this... (a 14 inch pony tail plus another 3 inches or so and then massive amounts of razoring)

And ended up with this... (yes I know I look really funky and weird in this picture)

Crazy! I still can't believe I did it! I'm not quite sure how to do my hair yet which is a problem, but hopefully that will come with time. I guess we'll all see!

Derek's pretending to be a radiologist

2008-06-13T23:33:00.000-07:00

I gave you all the update a few weeks ago that Derek is finally in his fourth year and life is good! Most of you already know that Derek wants to go into radiology and right now he is taking a radiology elective. Derek comes home every day all excited because he is reading and dictating CT scans and occasionally other doctors mistake him for a real radiologist. It has been a nice change from the usual abuse he recieves as a lowly med student. In March we find out where we will end up for residency - the fun continues on...

Stranded

2008-06-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday morning I threw the girls into the car and was about to race off to go workout when all of a sudden the car wouldn't start. I thought maybe it was just out of gas, but then it still didn't start even after I put a little gas in. Here we are on Friday and our car is still sitting in the garage. Hopefully soon we'll figure out what's wrong with it and we will be on our merry way, but until then, WE'RE STRANDED!!! I have to admit that you don't appreciate having a car until it's gone. The first day at home felt a little weird because I knew we couldn't go anywhere even if we wanted to, but since then I've used the time to be productive. It's amazing how much you can get done when you don't have any interruptions - well at least not running errands interruptions. The girls are still alive and well so they are still meeting their quota of interruptions every minute! Here is what we've been up to since we fell off the face of the earth:

We made bread and the girls loved kneeding the dough and getting to make their very own loaf. Most of the dough ended up in their mouths instead of the pan, but that just made for an easy lunch!

Another day I cleaned out and organized the garage food storage and the kitchen pantry. I don't know why but our pantry is always in chaos - I can never keep it organized!
I even organized the linen closet. I should have taken a before picture because it was really embarrassing. It was to the point where you would just open up the closet to throw something in and then close the door before everything came falling down on you.

I finally (now that the season is almost half over) planted our little garden - and when I say little, I mean little. Our garden consists of 6 plants! It's better than nothing right? Ella was all excited to help me, but when it came down to it, she was very disturbed that her hands were getting dirty. She's a little bit of a neat-nick (Derek's genes coming through).

Here they are - all 6 plants!
Our little girly girl Ashley loves worms! Even from the time she was a little bean Ashley has been fascinated by wriggling worms. Here is a picture of her pet worm she found while gardening. It was a good squirmy worm that she held onto for about a half hour until it finally stopped moving and Ashley pronounced it dead. She then quickly threw her pet (which she had named Saphira only minutes before) on the ground and stepped on it. So much for loyalty!
Sahpira only moments before her final death!

While we were gardening I put down some snail bait and was explaining to the girls that they weren't allowed to touch it or play with it because it was poison. Ashley went on to explain, "Yeah Ella, don't eat that because it's poison and not even true love's first kiss can bring you back to life!" Gotta love the princess fairytale comments from Ash - I hear them all day long and love it!

I'm a painter...kind of

2008-06-03T10:07:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know you all could paint these with your toes while your eyes were closed, but for me this was a big feat! I am not an artist by any stretch of the imagination and can barely eek out stick figures, so actually painting something on canvas was a big accomplishment for me. I was trying to think of a cheap way to decorate the playroom (who wants to spend tons of money on a playroom when there are much more important areas of your home that could use attention - i.e. my bedroom!) when I ran into these canvases onsale at craft warehouse. I decided I would try to paint some simple design to use in the playroom and it actually worked! I know they're not anything spectacular, but I was still happy I had something cheap and fun to put on that vacant wall. Plus, like my girls would even be able to tell the difference between something that actually took skill verses something I made! And they even got to help me make them!

Parenting Skills

2008-06-03T09:55:00.000-07:00

So Derek and I have been working with the girls on not pouting when they don't get their way. We've let this bad habit develop when we say no to something Ashley will go sit down on the stairs and do a sad, my life is so hard, pouty face. Ella unfortunately has quickly caught on to this so Derek and I decided we needed to nip it in the bud before it became too deeply rooted. Anyway, the funny thing is now that we've had a few talks with Ashley about the reasons we don't pout and how we need to behave, she has taken it upon herself to teach Ella when she starts to pout. Ashley is putting my and Derek's parenting skills to shame! On Sunday Ella was told she couldn't do something so she went on over to the stairs to do her usual pouting session and Ashley walked over there and started talking to her. This is what we heard from the other room - "Ella, hey, hey, the way you are acting right now it not okay. You are being very difficult and it is not okay to pout when you don't get your way. Do you think people will want to be around you if you are pouting all the time? Next time I want you to say 'Okay Mommy' instead of pouting, okay? Now you need to go over and tell Mommy and Daddy sorry and then I want to see your happy face." Ella hopped right up and ran over to us with a big smile and said, "Sorry!" And then ran off happily to play. Derek and I were shocked! If either one of us would have tried to go over and talk to Ella it would have ended in a time out or more pouting or something like that, but Ashley totally fixed the whole situation. Now Derek and I are trying to keep an eye out for when Ashley parents Ella so we can get some good pointers!

A little fun with my missy moo goo

2008-06-03T09:49:00.000-07:00

A few days ago the sun popped out for a few minutes as Ashley was eating some yogurt at the kitchen table. There was actual sunshine on her face (something that has been rare around here lately) so I had to take a few quick shots. I love that goobery silly face!

One more year down

2008-06-03T09:46:00.000-07:00

Yeehaw!!! Derek has officially finished one more year of medical school! He started his fourth year yesterday and it feels so good to finally be in our last year of school! Of course he still has a lot more work to do after medical school is over, but it still feels good to be getting closer to that graduation date - go hubby go!

What should I do with my hair?

2008-06-03T09:33:00.000-07:00

Okay, I've been considereing cutting my hair. I'm not sure still if I should, but I'm just getting so sick of how long it takes to wash and dry it. I'm not one of those lucky people (like my gorgeous sister) who can just let their hair air dry and have it look good. My hair turns all frizzy and crazy! Anyway, everytime I workout it's a big ordeal to wash all that hair and dry it - I'm just sick of it. I was thinking of cutting my hair pretty short, but I'm afraid I'll go into shock once it's done. I've had long hair most of my life except for a few times that I've cut it to my shoulders. I'm not sure if I should do it or not. Part of me thinks, just do it because hair grows back and it might look good, but another part of me is afraid of the melt down that might occur post cut. Any opinions or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I was thinking of getting my hair cut like this picture, what do you think?

Preschool Graduation

2008-06-03T09:15:00.001-07:00

Ella enjoying some of the graduation treats!

Ella and I with the graduate!
I thought these graduation snacks were just too cute! I don't think the kids really got it, but I thought it was great!

Ashley getting her diploma.

My sweet little Ash growing up...too fast!

Ashley had her preschool graduation last week. She was pretty excited about the whole thing. The kids all walked in to pomp and circumstance with their little caps on and then each came up front and got a diploma. After the "ceremony" they made these adorable photo albums with all the pictures the moms had taken during the school year - Ashley looks at it every day and tells me over and over again what is going on in each picture. After their craft they had an adorable snack with little diploma cakes and alphabet cookies. We have pictures of Ashley when she was 1 year old with a little cap and gown on when Derek graduated from BYU. She has seen a lot of those pictures so she had a good idea that when you graduate from school and wear a graduation cap, that it's a pretty big deal. It was a good day and Ashley felt very important. Now Ashley is dying for kindergarten to start. She already had her kindergarten orientation and is counting down the days until she gets to ride the school bus and go to her own class. Our little peanut is growing up!!!

Deep Conversations with Ashley

2008-06-03T09:05:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks Ashley has been very interested in whether or not Heavenly Father brushes his teeth. One afternoon Ashley said, "Mommy, does Heavenly Father brush his teeth too?" I thought about it for a mintue and told her that I wasn't really sure, but that if I had to guess I wouldn't think so because he has a special body that doesn't get sick and I thought that covered cavities as well. She seemed satisfied with my answer and then about a week later I overheard her explaining to Ella, "Heavenly Father might brush his teeth, but probably not because he has that special body, you know, that can't get sick or anything. But we still have to brush our teeth." We have such deep conversations in our home!

Grapenuts

2008-06-03T08:52:00.000-07:00

You'll never guess which cereal Ashley and Ella are loving these days...GRAPENUTS!!! What kid loves grapenuts?! I mean, I like them but I'm an adult and it seems to fit - but a 4 1/2 and a 1 1/2 year old? I can't complain because that's about as healthy as it gets when it comes to breakfast cereal. I guess they're just making up for the lack of nutrition in their diet during the rest of the day! Oh yeah, and they decided they like to snack on shredded wheat (the whole wheat kind) during the day and Ashley recently didn't eat any of the cupcakes we made because they were "bad for her body" - we threw away the whole batch! Where is this coming from? Derek and I haven't really been talking about anything health related lately - I'm sure this stint will end quickly so I need to enjoy it while it lasts!!!

"Mommy I Can't Wait to Get Married!"

2008-03-20T15:14:00.000-07:00

I was out shopping with the girls in Fred Meyer and as we passed the jewlery department Ashley said, "Mommy I can't wait to get married!" I asked her why she was so excited to get married and she said, "Because I want to wear one of those rings!" The girl already has her eye on the kind of diamond ring she wants. I explained to her that when she gets married she won't live at home anymore, but will move into a different home with her husband. Ashley made a dissapointed face and didn't look too excited by the thought. I told her that I would be sad if she left already because I would miss her too much. She decided she'll stay for a little while longer.

The next day Ashley was asking Derek to tell her all about the hospital and what happened during his day. Derek told her about the things he did and then told her that some of the people in the hospital aren't very nice to him and sometimes even say mean things to him. A minute later dinner was ready and Derek said the prayer. After the prayer was over Ashley said, "Daddy you forgot to ask Heavenly Father to forgive those people who were mean to you in the hospital." I thought it was a pretty sweet thing to say and it definitely made Derek and I think twice about what she said.

A Couple Recent Pictures

2008-03-20T15:08:00.001-07:00

As many of you know, my girls and I have been taken turns being sick since Christmas. Every time I get the urge to take more pictures I look at the dark circles under my girls eyes or the dead expression on their face and decide I had better wait until later. Yesterday I finally got to take a few pictures of them. Even though neither one of them were very happy about having to sit still long enough for me to snap a few shots, I managed to get a few keepers. Hopefully we'll stop getting sick and I can start taking pictures a little more frequently.

Pillowcase Dress

2008-03-20T15:04:00.000-07:00

So I mentioned how I've been on a sewing kick lately...well, this is another one of my projects. My friend Ashlee showed me a cute picture of this online and I decided I needed to make one. Who knew a pillowcase could be so cute? Now I'm on the hunt for cute pillowcases - let me know if you see any!

Easter Dresses

2008-03-20T14:34:00.001-07:00

As you can tell, Ella was thrilled to be wearing her new easter dress and have her picture taken.

I have been on a bit of a sewing kick lately. The funny thing is I don't really know how to sew - I can barely get my machine threaded properly. Despite this, I decided that I was going to make my girls easter dresses this year. I was a little afraid I was going to completely ruin them since I have no idea how to read a pattern (yes even the very easy Simplicity ones), but I some how managed to do it. It probably took me about 10 times longer than the average person would take, but it worked out! I was so proud of myself for figuring out how to do this all on my own - it was a big moment for me!

Sisterly Love

2008-02-28T20:08:00.000-08:00

This one perfectly captures Ella's hugs which can be somewhat painful at times!

I was cleaning the kitchen the other day and Ashley and Ella were over in the corner giving each other kisses and "big daddy" hugs (that's Ashley's phrase meaning the biggest thing in the whole world), and laughing hysterically. Ella thinks Ashley is the funniest person to walk the face of the earth, and Ashley loves the fact that Ella thinks she's so funny. They have their moments of fighting, but overall they really are each others best friend. It is so fun to watch the two of them play together because Ella copies exactly whatever Ashley does and Ashley loves bossing around her little toadie. I'm so glad we have our two sweet girls!!!

A Few More Fun Ones...

2008-02-10T23:33:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more pictrures of my sweet girls - gotta love them!

Just Some Fun Pictures...

2008-02-10T23:28:00.000-08:00

Here are just a bunch of random pictures I've taken of the girls lately. You know they just have to LOVE having a mom who's trying to practice her photography skills!!!

Tap Dancing Girl

2008-02-10T23:23:00.001-08:00

It has been ages since Ashley has been in kind of classes - we had her in three classes

a week at one point because she loved them so much, but it ended up burning me out. She has been begging me for a long time to sign her up for more classes so we finally did. This time she decided on a tap dancing class and she is absolutely loving it! It is pretty cute to see all those 4 year old girls running around with their tap shoes on, dancing their little hearts out!

Aren't We Stylin?

2008-02-10T23:13:00.000-08:00

Ashley has been having a little trouble grasping the concept of modesty lately. There have been reports of Ashley at Nanna and Boppa's house randomly stripping off all her clothes because she was "too hot". Plus there are the occasional answering the door in undies and other events that have brought to our attention the need to explain exactly what modesty is. Anyway, I came up with a family home evening lesson to explain all of this and part of the lesson was a game where we had to put on a bunch of clothes as fast as we could. Ashley beat Derek and Ella and I tied. The modesty issue has been getting better, but I think we still have some more work to do. To all of you who live close to us, please be understanding when you come to the door and it is answered by an undie wearing princess!

I Think My Ella Bella Might Be Back!

2008-02-10T21:49:00.000-08:00

Ella has been going through a phase where she is just unhappy no matter what I do. If she's walking around she wants to be held, then when I pick her up she's mad because I'm touching her and wants me to let her go, but then when I put her down she's mad again because I'm not holding her. Needless to say she's been a hard child to please for the last 2 months. Anyway, I took this picture recently and everytime I look at it I'm reminded that there is still a sweet little girl in there somewhere. I think the teething thing has been the culprit. Actually, it has been getting better over the last week so I'm really excited to have my Ella Bella back!

Yes we're still alive!

2008-02-10T21:29:00.001-08:00

Okay, it has been almost three months since I've posted anything at all! I don't know how the time has gone by so quickly, but here we are mid February. I need to start somewhere so I guess I'll start where I left off right before Christmas.

Every once in a while Ashley wants to "make a restaurant" and surprise Derek when he gets home from work. She gets all into it and tells me what needs to be on the menu and how much everything will cost. She always insists the name of our restaurant should be Veggies (which I think originated from Chevy's because she thinks it is called Vechies - now our restaurant has made one more morph to become Veggies) and loves being the waitress. She takes waitressing very seriously and knows all the lingo and everything. I have to say the whole thing is pretty cute. Here are some of the pictures from one of our "Veggie" nights.

The beautiful entrance to our restaurant (yeah, these pictures are old - can you tell by the Christmas lights and wreath).

Ashley bringing Derek his food after seating him.

This is the menu we came up with.

Our cute little waitress bringing Derek his dessert.

Holiday Decorating

2007-11-26T19:14:00.001-08:00

Derek had the whole Thanksgiving weekend off which was really fun. We were able to just relax and spend time together as a family - it was so nice! One of things we did was get our Christmas tree and decorate the house. In classic Ashley fashion, she helped decorate in her swim suit...one of her most beloved items of clothing no matter the season. Also another classic (at least in our family) was when I was video-ing Ashley and Ella putting ornaments on the tree to capture this wonderful family bonding time and within 10 seconds of me recording, Ella dropped one of the ornaments and it shattered all over the floor. After we recovered from that, we all had a lot of fun and the girls were so excited to have the house all ready for Santa. It's going to be hard to wait the 29 more day until he comes!

Poor Tired Child

2007-11-26T19:00:00.000-08:00

Ella has done it again! Ella is not big on sleeping (which is unfortunate because I am), so I was really suprised when she fell asleep while eating lunch the other day. On a normal day there is a lot of random screaming, throwing of dishes off the high chair, and a number of other loud activities going on while eating lunch, which means I'm usually well informed of what's going on, even if I'm not in the room. I got Ella and Ashley all situated with their lunches and then ran upstairs to switch out some laundry. I was only up there a few minutes, but noticed it was entirely too quiet downstairs so I stopped what I was doing and went down to check on the girls. I was so surprised to see Ella sound asleep with a mouthful of food! I guess I used to routinely fall asleep, face first, in my dinner a lot when I was Ella's age, so maybe it's in my genes somewhere. Who knows, but I thought it was pretty funny!

Fashion Diva's

2007-11-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

Ashley has been really getting into creating her own outfits lately. Usually, she will put on a fairly resonable outfit and then accessorize with anything sparkley. As you can tell, she is also very into belts. Ella has started getting into the action as well - she has just begun doing her own hair! Here are just a couple of the latest ensembles.

Santa Claus is Coming To Town...

2007-11-18T21:32:00.000-08:00

We were at the mall the other day and there was Santa sitting out in front with some of his reindeer. He was an awesome Santa too! Since it was so early in the season, there was no line at all and Santa had lots of time to talk with Ashley about what she wanted for Christmas. Ella wasn't too sure about Santa, but allowed him to talk to her a little.

After visiting Santa we all rode on the carousel and Derek even got in on the fun -yeehaw!

Chirstmas is coming and we're excited!!!

~ Ella's First Haircut ~

2007-11-18T21:19:00.000-08:00

Our good friend gave Ella her first haircut the other day. Ella's baby-mullet was getting a little out of control, so we had to trim it up a bit. We bribed her to sit still with a cookie and it worked like a charm! I can't believe she's old enough to get her first haircut already - she's getting too big too fast!

Trick or Treat

2007-11-02T15:39:00.001-07:00

Derek was supposed to work all Halloween night, but he was able to sneak away for an hour so he got to come trick or treating with us. The girls had a lot of fun but Ashley definitely doesn't have the same trick or treating genes that Derek and I have. When we were kids we would race from house to house getting as much candy as we possibly could and only stop when our parents would tell us it was too late to keep knocking doors. Ashley on the other hand enjoys the first 10 doors, but then starts to fizzle and would rather go home and look at her candy. Maybe it's something you acquire with age? Either way we had a lot of fun and still have way too much candy in our house.

Happy Halloween!

2007-11-02T15:18:00.000-07:00

It is a tradition in our family for Derek to pick a hard intricate picture to carve in his pumpkin and for me to choose one of the simplest designs possible - since I have no skill! Part of the tradition is for me to finish my pumpkin in 20 minutes and for Derek to spend an hour carving his, but then swearing that that is the last time he will do a time consuming pumpkin. We'll see if next year he keeps his promise. This year Ashley and I carved a puking pumpkin and Derek did a spider. Ella helped out by squishing the guts in her hands and then smearing it on everything within reach. You gotta love carving pumpkins!!!

All Tuckered Out

2007-10-25T14:32:00.000-07:00

Today Ella fell asleep in the car while we were running errands. Usually she wakes up as soon as the car is turned off, but today I was able to carry her inside and lay her down in the family room with her still being asleep. She slept there on the floor while I brought in all the groceries and put them away - a little tender mercy! It was only 10:30 AM so I don't know why she was so tired, but it sure worked out nice for me. They always look so sweet when they're sleeping...and then they wake up!

2007-10-24T08:17:00.000-07:00

You gotta love the eyes in this picture!

My new lens

2007-10-24T08:07:00.000-07:00

For my birthday I asked for money for a new lens for my camera. It finally came last week and I've been having tons of fun playing with it. My poor girls are getting a little tired of me taking pictures of them though. Ashley was a good sport when I took these - Ella just put up with me.

Pucker Up...

2007-10-24T07:58:00.000-07:00

Ella has officially made the transfer from giving little baby open mouth kisses to big old puckered kisses. She is ready and willing to lay one on anyone, so be ready!

It's about time!

2007-10-23T16:38:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! My mass emailing of pictures was getting a bit out of hand so this will be a much easier way of sharing our family's photos. Ashley and Ella are getting excited for Halloween - Ashley and I frequently talk about our favorite part of Halloween or what we think Halloween night might be like. We are very into the anticipation of holidays. Here are some of the pictures we took in our backyard of the girls in their costumes. It is almost impossible to get the two of them to sit still long enough to take a picture together...even when being bribed with candy! We're going to have to work on that!