The Holiday's

Sorry it has been so long. I guess we have been having to much fun and neglecting our friends and family! I can't believe how much Ella has changed in the last few weeks. We started her on rice cereal since she has been showing interest in eating what we are eating. She loves it but isn't sure what to do with it once it is in her mouth. It is Christmas break so we have been missing our friend Beckett. I am sure he is having a blast being home with mom though. Ella is also really reaching for toys which leads her to roll over on her belly (she doesn't care much for being on her belly that's for sure and she will tell you about it). She loves screaming-it is really cute for now, but we better be careful what we wish for. We have been getting a ton of snow and I am ready to go play in it! Ella doesn't seem to mind the cold especially with her little snow suit on everywhere we go.
We had a great Christmas! We spent Christmas Eve with our good friends the Pennies and Dawn and Vern (Robb's parents), and we had Christmas dinner with Beth and Eric. It was great to be with so many friends over Christmas and we will be heading over to Salida, Bailey, and Denver. next weekend to do Christmas with our families. We are so excited that our good friend Blair will be here next week. It has been a LONG time since she was here last. Well enough for now, we hope that you are all doing exceptionally well and have a wonderful New Year.

Thanksgiving and Family!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving! We headed over to Salida on Wednesday and Ella got to meet her Great Grandparents! She also got to see Aunt Bonny, Uncle J.P., Granny Dianny, and Grandpa Bill. Being the first grandbaby on that side she is spoiled with attention! I wasn't sure if Bonny was going to let us take her home. We also got to spend the holiday with my crazy family-Andy, Kasey, Viv, Tommy, Ryan, Linda and Mike. I love that we live close enough to see everyone all in one day. Ella also got to be in her first parade-she was a hit. The Block's had a float in the Salida parade to promote Monarch and all the fun things to do there. We rode in the truck while JP pulled Bonny in a wagon (he was dressed as Santa and Bonny was a reindeer-it was pretty funny. Fun times! After the parade we all rendezvoused at the Vic in Salida for a four generation picture at the local watering hole. All in all it was a wonderful weekend and we returned home to some snow finally! Bobby has been plowing ever since. As for Ella's latest tricks, she is mostly just talking up a storm in her own little language. She had A LOT to say to her great grandparent-she had to catch them up on the last four months. She has a little cold right now but other than that is one healthy little peanut. Well, enjoy the new pics-more later!

Well, things with the Block's are great. Ella is getting huge and is VERY talkative. She has to talk louder than everyone in the room. She has also started really grabbing for things and has found her feet. She continues to be a very good baby. I have started taking care of a little guy that is three weeks older than her named Beckett. He is adorable. They like to look at each other and have indepth conversations, usually about politics. Having two around is sure keeping me on my feet.

I got away for my first time this weekend. I joined a great group of girls on a trip to a hotsprings in New Mexico. We were celebrating my friend Laci's new adventures in life (marriage and baby). It was very hard to leave little Ella, but I knew she was in good hands with dad and Uncle Andy (Nandy we call him since he would make a great nanny). Well, enjoy a few new pics of the baby and her frind Beckett. I have a feeling he will be like a brother to her.

Halloween, Election, and First Snow!

Well, Ella had many first's this past week. Her first Halloween-we dressed her up as a pumpkin! It was a pretty uneventful day and for some excitement we carved out the inside of a pumpkin and put her in it with her pumpkin hat on. She didn't seem to mind it to much. We also had our first snow storm of the year. She really doesn't care for the snow suit that keeps her from sucking on her fists, but she is just going to have to get used to it. And the most important first for Ella this week is the amazing outcome of this years presidential election. It makes me so happy that our daughter can live in a country that has come so far. Besides being our first African American president, I truly feel that he will be one of the greatest. And some great news for our little town and my job, we passed a ballot issue that will allow the school to build an addition and I will hopefully have a classroom when I return to teaching (for those of you that didn't know, I was in a modular last year). So things are great! Lastly, Grandpa Don came up last weekend and spent some quality time with little Ella. He sure is good with kids. She just loved him and smiled at him all weekend!

Weekend at the Grands!

We had a nice long weekend at the grandparents in Salida. Little Ella is quite loved over there. Diane watched her while Bobby and I got out on our motorcycles. Ella is getting to be quite the little noise maker-they are mostly happy noises. She is a super happy baby (except after I eat Mexican food). We also all (except Bill) got out for a hike and some arrowhead hunting. It was a nice hike, but we didn't find much in the way of arrowheads.

Starting on November 10th, I will be taking care of a little guy named Becket who is three weeks older than Ella. I am looking forward to that. Other than that we are just enjoying the amazing weather and waiting for the snow to start to fly. Hope you are all doing well!

Three Months Already!

Well, it is true, I blinked and the last three months have gone by. Ella will be three months tomorrow! She is doing great, her latest is that she is trying to laugh. It is hilarious! She just can't quite do it yet. Other than that she is just getting stronger and cuter every day. The weather has still been beautiful so we have been able to get out often. I had to bundle her up yesterday for the first time and the poor thing looked like the kid from A Christmas Story. I'll get a picture of that I promise. Lastly, her hair has almost all fallen out and is growing in blond. Here is a pic of her mullet she has going on. And of course, Happy Halloween! Ella will be a lion (pictures to come).

Fall in Crested Butte

We are all doing great, Ella is still very healthy and wonderful-she is a very happy baby. I got out for my first mountain bike ride last weekend with Andy, it was beautiful. We also took Ella for a hike last weekend up to Long Lake. Fall in CB is amazing! Here are a few pics to show you! More later......

Smiles

Ella is now smiling, especially when Bobby sings to her. We are loving being parents more than ever. Ella is a very good baby! She is even a pretty good sleeper. Avery even seems to like her, she gives her an occasional lick upside the head which I think is her way of saying she approves of her. Staying home is wonderful, I dread the day I have to go back to work. Well, here are a few pics of her first smiles.

The Pregnancy and The Birth!

I had a fantastic pregnancy, I was one of those people who enjoyed being pregnant (up until the last month). I found out I was pregnant in the first week in December. I asked Bobby if he thought I was late, he said yeah now that you mention it. I bought a preg test at Clarke's, took it right before Bobby's work Christmas party and sure enough. I had been pretty tired and I was a bit grossed out by a few foods, especially meatballs. We kept it a secret from everyone except Andy (he was staying with us) until Christmas. We gave the Block's and my dad a card with a picture of Bobby and I and I wrote "When you look at this picture, what do you see? Do you see two because there is actually three." They loved it. After that we figured out some fun ways to tell everyone else, especially baking pumpkin bread for the Pennies.

Ella Rae Block was born on July 31st 2008. She weighed 7 pounds and 13 ounces. She was very healthy and of course absolutely perfect. I was induced on the morning of the 31st and after about 6 hours I was already dilated to a 9..... but I ended up having a C-section do to the fact that she was sunny side up, wedged in my pelvis, and her heart beat was starting to go crazy-I didn't need any other reasons, that was plenty. The epidural was a blessing, the contractions were insane. We stayed three days in the hospital and it was all amazing. The nurses were fantastic! And the food was unreal-steak and shrimp one night! When we got home I had the worst headache I have ever had in my life-it turned out that when they gave me the epidural, they also gave me a spinal block and some of my spinal fluid leaked out causing something called a spinal headache. If I laid flat on my back I was okay-so that is what I did for four days waiting for the hole to heal itself. Well it never healed itself so I had to get a "blood patch" done. They had to re give me the epidural and patch the hole with my blood. It was immediate relief! Sorry if that was to much info-but it sure made for an interesting start to motherhood. After that I was cursed with some sciatic nerve problem that kept me from walking for about a week-I was really starting to feel like a hypochondriac. Finally I was feeling better and the c-section never was even an issue-very little pain. All that and we now have an amazing little person! She had a head of strawberry blond hair and big blue eyes. She has her dads feet for sure. We had a ton of visitors and it was great to see everyone and introduce Ella.