THE END OF THE FIRSTS!!!

The Birthday Girl

 

Kayt getting in on the cake action
 

Yummy Cake

Ella and Grandma Erickson

Sweet Cake

Ella's first birthday breakfast!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLA-BELLA

It has finally come, my baby is one year old.  I just cannot believe how time flys. There were so many moments that I just wanted to hit the pause button and enjoy my little Ella.  I just feel like there is so much I have already missed.  So many little things I have already forgotten.  I was talking about this with a friend and she thinks we were be able to have all things brought to our recollection, not just the things we have done wrong but the good memories too.  I am banking on that with my little Ella.  

Ella, has been a blessing from the start.  She was baby brough by faith.  I was very worried about what having another baby would do to my RA.  Would it make it flare again, would I be able to take care of Kayt during the pregnancy and after, would I be able to take care of either of them once she came, how long would it take to get it under control again, how would I switch doctors in the middle of it all, what about my running?  and on and on and on.  

The timing had to be just perfect, so my body would be healthy enough to get pregnant but all the harmful medicine would be out of my system.  I was so nervous about having another baby that I couldn't sleep at night.  Scott gave me a blessing just before I went off my medication.   After that, I knew whatever happend was supposed to.  This may seem a little dramatic but there were a lot of unknowns and according to past experience, I was giving up a lot of what I loved, ie being active and taking care of Kayt.  But I knew it was time.  And thus began my baby of faith.  

Ella came around just before my window of opportunity was up.  We were so excited.  I almost couldn't believe it was true.  My next two doctors appointments were amazing.  My RA doctor was stunned.  The disease was in complete remission.  I felt better than I had in months.  

I still remember the first time I felt Ella kick.  I was laying on Kayt's floor while she was going to bed.  And there she was, Ella making her presense known.  

The next test for Ella was to come at just the right moment.  She couldn't come to early because it was tax season and Scott's graduation.  As April approached Ella was the reward at the end of the list/crazy semester.  

Ella arrived on April 18th at 6:30 am.  3 days after tax season ended and a week after graduation.  She was perfect from the beginning.  Her thick mop of crazy dark hair and her bright blue eyes.  She weighed a healthy 8 lbs. 3 oz.  My RA is still in remission 1 year later.  

Ella won our hearts from the beggining with here sweet, quite little cry.  She was so content to just be around. She still is.  

I am going to write a letter to Ella, because it is easier to talk about her that way:

My sweet little baby girl.  You are so grown up now.  You are cruizing around like you own the world, sometime I think you really believe it.  You have such a determination about everything you do.  You struggle and grunt and try again until you get what you want.  

You are such a tease already.  A favorite game it taking a toy Kayt doesn't want you to and while she struggles to take it back, quickly grabbing another.  I eventually have to rescue poor Kayt.  You have very quick hands.  

You love to talk.  I love just listening to you, when you don't think any one is.  You can say a few words already:  Kayters, mama, dada, oughtohh, momomore, bye, hello, wauwau, ball.  I really can't believe how fast you are growing up on me.  It's like April 18th was the magic day.

You love playing hide and seek, peek a boo, and chase.  You like to draw, and read stories.  Especially the Elmo book, touch and feel einsteins, moo baa la la la.

You have the funniest cheesy smile that you do when your being funny.  You do things just to be funny, already.  You love to lounge in comfortable chairs.  You love to dance and shake it.  You love talking on the phone and saying Hello!.  You love cheese.  You love standing at the front door screen and yelling wuh wuh wuh as the dogs pass by on their way to the park.  You love going to the park and swinging and sliding.  You are an outside girl!  You have to have two binkys to go to sleep at night.  

You are such a pretty little girl.  So many people comment on your beautiful blue eyes.  I was sure they would turn green but they are blue as blue. You have the funnest mop of hair that you hate having done.

You love to be in the middle of everything and just to have fun.  You are so happy all the time, laughing and smiling.  I just squeeze you until you popped.  I wish I could hold on to each moment with you.  But, you keep on growing by leaps and bounds.  You are a special girl little Ella Bella. I am so happy to be your mother.

Happy Birthday Ella Girl!  You truely are my miracle.  

Happy Easter

 HAPPY EASTER!!!

  
Easter at our house was very eventful this year.  As we have done with all of the holidays since August, minus Christmas, we celebrated with just our little family.  It is funny how you cometo  expect certain things with holidays, tradition etc.  that with or without a lot of family around, you have to do or wouldn't be the holiday.  That being said, there are two such events at our house. The first is the Easter Egg Roll.  I am not sure how long this has been a tradition in the Flamm (my mom's side) family but we have been rolling eggs since I can remember.  At home my Grandma and Grandpa Flamm would dye beautiful eggs with each persons name on them.  (I still do not know how they get their eggs so dark.)  On Sunday we all find our egg and get down to business.  We square off by age, youngest against youngest and so on.  Two people get down on their knees about 10 feet from each other and on the count of three send their egg rolling toward the other.  When the two hit, usually after two or three trys, the one that cracks is out.  The winner moves on to the next round.  There is not a prize for winning, in fact the sooner you lose the sooner you get to eat your beautiful egg, but there is great joy in it.  I can recall winning only two times.  

  

Kayt found her Egg Roll egg

This year we were sure that each of us had our own special egg to roll.  We made a few extra for our friends, the Lowry's, that spent Easter with us.  I am proud to say, I won this year!!  

Our other tradition is reading the scriptures that talk about the Atonement.  Scott's sister Cassi made us a set of plastic eggs numbered 10-12.  Each one contains a scripture and an object the coincides with the scriptures.  For example, a small nail for the nails they drove threw Christ's wrists or a chunk of soap for Pilot washing his hands.  We usually do this at the end of the festivities to refocus on what the holiday is really about.  

It was so great to watch the girls find their baskets and eggs.  They both really go into this year.  Kayt got an umbrella she has wanted for a year now and was elated.  Ella got some balls, and is now saying the word!  

 

As an added bonus, Ella took her first steps on Easter.  She wanted an egg I was holding.  All it took was the right motivation I guess.  Go Ella!

  

It was a fantastic holiday and we were so glad we got to spend it with our friends, Blayne, Katie and Ava and their willingness to go along with our traditions.

Duckling Days

Another one of the many reasons we love Columbus is the fantastic public library.  I have gone to this library more in the past year than I did my whole life in Rexburg.  The library their was just not so appealing and there was always something else to do I guess.  

Well, one of the great events at the library here is Duckling Days.  They have done it every year for like 20 years.  We found out about it at story time and picked up our sweet duck costume packet.  They have kids walk, ride, crawl whatever they want in a parade that wraps around the library and down two blockes of Columbus's main street and then back to the library.  Kayt was so excited that she got to be in a parade!!  Scott helped here fashing a sweet duck costume the night before the event.  

After the parade we went into the library for some fun crafts and a puppet show.  It was a great day!
 

Kayt and I in the parade

Ella loving Scott's mask!

  

My Beautiful Girls

We were playing one day and I thought my girls were just so cute I had to take some pics.  Kayt and Ella make me happier than I could possibly express.  I really don't know how to express how much love I have for these two.  It almost make my heart hurt.  If that makes sense.  They are such a joy.  Kayt is getting so big now.  She and I have the funnest conversations.  She is so curious and asks why about everything.  It really makes me think sometimes.  I decided I am going to just list some of the things I love about Kayt and Ella so here it goes.  

KAYT:

says thankyou all the time

tells me she loves me whenever she feels like

expresses sincere appreciation for a good meal

"dinner is delicious, Thanks mom"

"this is my little sister Elwa"

"these are my elbows"

"The bug is not in my tummy anymore mom!"

"look at this pineacle (reffering to a pinecone)

"I love wood peckers"

dances so expresively

blessed grandpa to do okay with his chemo (how did she pick up on that?)

loves to sit, literally, in the shower

loves to dance cwazy to the music

loves to look at the stars

has picnics with her prince in the back yard

loves to play at the park

is so snuggly and loves to cudle and read books

has the best crusty face ever

loves playing pretend

has such a sweet testimony and tells me about Jesus and Heavenly Father often

makes up her own songs

loves helping in the kitchen

gives me private ballet recitals

gets so exited when she does something on her own she didn't think she could do

plugs her nose when she goes poop!  the apple doesn't fall far from the tree

"mom I smelled ella's bumb and she doesn't stinks" 

she is very sensitive to smells

bargains with me all the time

is my little princess through and through

ELLA:

the happiest little girl I have ever seen

loves to swing

says ah-oh

talks on the phone

loves to play peekabo, chase, anything

gets very excited and tenses up when someone is chasing her

give wonderful Ella snuggles

teases Kayt

laughs at herself

sings when there is music

has the most sing-song inflection in her voice, I could listen it for hours

loves to stand at the front door and look outside

tries to dance like Kayt

THE ELLA SHUFFLE!

loves dogs and say WUF WUF whenever she sees one

signs please when she wants water

loves cheese

says NA NA for a snack 

Smacks her lips when something is really good

loves to read books, epecially Elmo puppet book (she grabs his hands and hugs her face with them)

loves to do patty cake, especially rolling it

loves looking at pictures of family and gets so excited each time she does

loves to play in the bathtub, gets excited with the mention of it

So curious, always in the middle of everything

loves KAYT!!!

I am so lucky.  Heavenly Father has blessed me more than I can express.  I love being a mom!

Fun Pics Jake took of the Girls

Jake took some great pictures of the girls while he was here.  He really is quite artistic.  It was so much fun to have him here.   He is so fun and funny and you see things with a whole new eye when he is around.  We are going to miss him so much when he goes on his mission in May.  He will be such a good missionary though.  We can't keep him just for ourselve forever I guess.  Thank you for coming out buddy!  We love you.
 

I love Ella's Blue Eyes

Kayt Dancing

The Classic Crusty Face

 

Fun at the Zoo

Vist to Washington D.C.

So we took advantage of Scott's spring break and headed to Washington D.C. to do some site seeing and find some potential places to live.  My brother Jake flew out and came a long.  It was so fun to have him with us.  Jake just has an energy that is contagious and made the trip so much more fun.

We started the seven hour drive a little later than anticipated but were still able to see the beauty of West Virginia for the first time.  It really is a beautiful state.  It was fun to see it through the eyes of those who have never seen the trees of the East.  It really is beautiful.

The first night of the trip started off a little crazy as we tried to figure out how to squeeze 5 people in one king sized bed.  The awesome(?) hotel decided a king bed was okay for 3 adults and 2 children and didn't have anything else available.  Jake, bless his heart, ended up sleeping on the padded bench with some sheets and pillows.  The next morning, while Scott and I were getting girls bathed and ready I went back into the main part of the room and found Jake sprawled on the bed, dead asleep.  The bench just didn't cut it I guess.

Thursday we looked at different apartments and worked our way closer to downtown.  By Thursday night we were all pretty beat so we just went swimming and fell asleep to The Office.  Friday morning started off with a tour of the Capitol building.  It was, as always fantastic.  It was so fun to be there with someone who had never seen it before.  It makes you realize how incredible it really is.  

We then hoped on a trolley and hit some more sites.  Kayt loved the trolley ride.  She felt it was her own personal parade.  She waved the whole time.  It wasn't to anybody in particular, just waving.  We had to constantly remind her to keep her hand in the window so it didn't get taken off by a passing car!  Friday we did the memorials, Arlington National Cemetery, which is always a sobering experience, and went to the National Cathedral.  While at Arlington we were also able to see the changing of the guard.  

Jake almost got beat up by a homeless guy he accidentally bumped in to.  Okay not really but we were both a little nervous as the guys stared Jake down.  All Jake could do was smile at him.  It was pretty funny.  

We went to the National Museum of Art and saw some fantastic artwork.  We saw Monet, Degas, Van Gogh, da Vinci, Van Eyck, Renoir and on and on.  It was beautiful.  Of course all security eyes were on me.  I gave them their most excitement for the day I guess.  A women with two kids are a super threat apparently?!

The trolley took us through Foggy Bottom and Georgetown and we were really able to get a feel for the city.  

It was so much fun.  I am going to just throw the pictures up and write what each is.  Enjoy!!

Kayt and Jake had a great time in the back seat!

  

Lincoln Memorial

 

WW II Memorial and Washington Monument

 

Arlington National Cemetery and Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of The Unknown Soldier

  

The White House

 

Dinner in Union Station

 

Korean War Memorial

 

The Jefferson Memorial (my personal favorite)

Iwo Jima Memorial (memorials are the best seen at night)

  

The Cherry Blossoms  Lunch in the Park (we threw a piece of bread in the are for a seagull to snag which it did, and some cranky men got mad at me.  It was pretty funny.  I almost threw a piece on their table as we were walking by, but decided I wasn't that immature.

  

The National Cathedral (it was a favorite for everyone)

Smithsonian Museum of Natural History (one big Whale)

 

Kayt being Cute Cute Ella

 

United States Capitol