YES, we are alive!

Ok, I know it has been forever since we posted. I have to admit I have gotten very lazy with it. I think its time to get back on it again!! I am going to try to combine as much as possible without going on and on too much.

Well we are still here in Nashville (snowed in today) and really LOVING it. We have been here for 2 yrs now and I feel like its truly our home now. Eric is still working for ADP. He stays very busy since he is the only Regional manager in his office now but is always so good about making time for me and Ella. He is such a great husband and father. He and Ella are Best Friends for sure. I think he has had more tea parties with Ella than I have ha!! Eric still keep up with his buckeyes! We actually even made it to a game this yr. It was my first time to Columbus. We had a great time and I have to say (being a gator fan) those buckeyes know how to PARTY! As far as me, I am still working from home and loving it. I am very BLESSED to have the opportunity to stay home with Ella and have my job that I truly love. I always say I have the best customers out there and I do! They make this job everything it is. I am also very involved in MOPS here. I am on the steering team and love being with such great women of God. Its a nice break from life and a time for Ella to have fun with other preschoolers. This has given me such a great chance to meet more people and I have!! I have a lot of friends here and love that when I am out and about now that I can actually run into someone I know ha!! I have also picked up COOKING!! I know you are all laughing your heads off right now. I have graduated from the El Paso taco kit FINALLY!!

Now for the most important update ELLA!!! She is doing wonderful. She will be 2 next month and I can't believe it. She just amazes us more and more everyday with new things she learns. She is a walking and talking machine to say the least. She is now going to school 2 days a week and loves it. She is learning so much but most importantly she is interacting with other children her age. She is such a social butterfly so being here everyday with me can get old. Ella loves to dance and talk on her "cell" phone ha!! If she hears music she is shaking her hips and getting down. When we went to Jamaica last summer she was the show!! Literally!! They had a great band and Ella was the only dancer until she met her first "vacation" boyfriend (we all had those) Caleb. They would dance the night away. Eric already set all the boyfriend rules after that vacation ha! Ella has hit the "baby doll" phase for sure. She LOVES her babies so much. She reads to them like she really knows the words! She has a great imagination, which I feel is great. Ella has blessed us in so many ways and we can not thank God enough for her. The love of a child is priceless. I can see why the Dugars have 19 kids, well maybe not! LOL but the love she has taught us is unbelievable. She is definitely the sunshine in our day. We do have some cloudy days ha!! but for the most part she is such a fun and loving child!

So all in all we are doing great, no complaints here! We are looking forward to what God has in store for us in 2010! So as the saying goes I guess we will just sit back and enjoy the ride. Please come visit us. We would love to see you!!

Its Been Way too Long!!

OK, first of all sorry I have been MIA on the blogging. I do realize (Ashley) that Ella has been a year old since Feb. ha!! I guess I have so much to update everyone on. Well Ella is now almost 16 mths old. She is a walking/talking machine and doesn't stop unless she is sleeping. She gets her energy from her daddy for sure, I only wish I had half her energy. Ella's favorite past time is DANCING. She LOVES to dance. She will dance anywhere she pleases too!! She doesn't even have to have music around. I think that saying "dance like no one is watching" came from Ella. Ella is now 21.32 lbs and 31 inches long. She is still in the 25% in weight and 75% in height. The Dr said from what she can tell she is always going to be petite. I guess there is nothing wrong with a petite girl. As far as her height she said she will be able to tell more about that when she is 2 yrs. We are VERY blessed to have a healthy, happy little girl. Ella will start school in September. Hallelujah!! Oops did I say that........... No I am just kidding but I think this will be GREAT for her as well as mommy. I am still working from home. It is going GREAT and I still LOVE it but its becoming a little bit of a juggling act. So she will be going to a Mother's Morning Out up at the church Monday and Wednesday from 9:30am to 2pm. They have a great program there and I know she is going to be so happy there.

As far as Eric and I we are doing GREAT. Still loving Nashville and hope/plan to stay here for awhile. I guess you never know where life will take you though! We have met some really great people here. We are VERY VERY sad but our closest friends Karen, Jon and Audrey are moving. They are like our Nashville family and we are really sad to see them go. We wish them the best, but we know we will stay in touch. Eric is still working for ADP and working very hard. He is taking a break from management and going back into sales until the economy turns around. He is actually looking forward to it and I know he will do GREAT. He always puts 110% into everything! Eric still enjoys doing yard work and planting flowers. I know that sounds a little strange but its VERY true. I will take pics just so you can be amazed a man can do such a GREAT job with flowers. He takes much pride in our yard. I think that is a good thing b/c if I was single our house would not have one flower planted unless I hired someone to do it. Me and yard work don't mix.

As far as me (mommy) I am doing great. As mentioned, I am still working from home and loving it. June was 6 yrs I have been at Pinnacle. I love it there and the people are just wonderful. I am very blessed to have such great co-workers. I miss them like crazy. Trust me, we talk a lot if not more than when I was there!! I have also gotten very involved in MOPS (Mother's of Pre-schooler's). Its a great program. I encourage every mom to find one in your area and get involved. Eric and I have also become very active in our church. We have the toddler class once a month in "God's Garden" AKA Sunday School. We are not really sure what message God was sending to us to but we took the message and ran with it. So to say the least its been interesting. ha!! The kids are a lot of fun but its also a "friendly" reminder to take my birth control ha!!

Well we are headed on vacation next month (4th of July) to Florida for a week so I am sure we will have tons of pics to post of Ella at the beach. We are looking forward to seeing MiMi and Pop Pop and all of our family. We get to meet our new addition to the family Miss Riley. We are so excited. In August its off to Jamaica with Eric's family so we have a very busy Summer ahead. Hope all is well with everyone. I promise to get better with my updates. Love you all!!

Ella is ONE!

Ella turned 1 yrs old on the 27th of Feb. I can't believe a year as already passed by us. It was a WONDERFUL year and nothing I ever expected it would be. Children are an absolute blessing from God and we are so blessed to have Ella in our lives. She is such a happy little girl and as parents that makes us VERY happy too. Ella is officially walking now. She will still crawl but I would say she walks 80% of the time and crawls when she is feeling lazy ha! She is talking more and more everyday. Its more Ella lingo but we are trying to learn what she is saying. We took her to the Dr last week and her visit went very well. We are now on whole milk and LOVING it!! Eric says we got a raise!! I am so glad I breast fed for 8 mths b/c formula is expensive. She is now weighing in at a BIG 19.8 (25th percentile) and 30 inches long (75th percentile). Looks like we might have a model on our hands long and trim!! We go back when she is 15 months.......... We are also looking into Mother's morning out programs for her next year. We found one we really like so pray I can get in her. It will be two days a week from 9am-2:30pm. We feel this will be GREAT for her as well as MOMMY!! I am still working from home and its going GREAT but she is at the age now where she requires more attention and we feel this will be perfect for her. I will know March 3oth if she is in for the next school yr. I will keep you posted. All in all Ella is doing wonderful. We have so much fun with her and she just continues to amaze us. Her are a few pics from her bday party. Her bday was a HIT!! She did so well and LOVED her cake. I guess she gets her sweet tooth from me! Thank you for everyone that made the trip we know its always hard from people to travel especially with children. Ella is so blessed to have wonderful people in her life. We love you all and hope all is well.

4 Steps!!

Well today Feb 10th Ella took 4 steps on her own. We were playing on the floor together and she just started walking. It was CRAZY. She acted like she knew what she was doing and just went for it!! I was so happy for her!!! I tried to get her to do it again, but she didn't do it. I guess this is just the beginning then!! Just wanted to share it with everyone. I don't have any pics or video b/c I wasn't expecting it so my camera wasn't around. I am sure she will do it again and I will be sure to capture the moment. Hope all is well with everyone. Please keep Eric's family in your prayers. His Uncle Bob passed away yesterday. He was a great guy that could always make you laugh. He will be missed. We love you Uncle Bob.

11 Months

Ok, so I have been working on this since Tuesday!! Its been a long week and a busy one at that!
Wow our little Ella is 11 months today (the 27th). I can't believe how much she has grown. Just the other night I was looking at old pictures of her and she doesn't even look like the same baby to me. She is truly the love of my life and makes me so happy and proud to her mom. She is still not walking, but I know its just a matter of time. She can stand tall for long periods of time and cruise from one thing to the next but she just won't take that step. I am on pins and needles b/c I know its just a matter of time. She is still talking all the time and some words I can make out, but the rest is all Ella lingo! Her new obsession is Woody from the Toy story. Our nephew Dylan had one at Christmas and she was always playing with it. So MeMaw (Eric's mom) found her one and sent it. Woody went everywhere with us. He went to Kroger, Church, dinner you name it he has gone. Well one night at dinner he was left and they couldn't find him. Its a good thing she is still too young to understand b/c it was like he was never around in the first place. Out of sight out of mind. As parents though you feel like you have to replace it b/c she loved him so much. Well we called around and looked on the internet for some reason woody is a HOT comity. Well MiMi (my mom) found him in South Florida. It was more to ship him here than the actual cost of the doll. Well Woody is back!!! She is so happy with him again. The new rule though is Woody doesn't leave the house. He has to stay here!!


Ella had her "real" first playdate today (Tues). It was at 10am so I knew she wasn't going to last long b/c that is typically around her morning nap time. She had a GREAT time and played with all the other children. She was the youngest but she LOVES other "little" people so she was in her glory. She lasted about an 1hr or so and she ended up taking a nap at their house ha!! Only Ella. I guess she gets that from me. When I am tired I will sleep anywhere at any time!! So Sara set up a pack and play and Ella was OUT!! She had a great time and we can't wait to do it again.

Another thing Ella is doing and probably shouldn't be is standing in her grocery cart. Her Aunt Julie and Uncle Ryan got her a Fisher Price sing along grocery cart. Instead of playing with all the "groceries" that go in it she takes them all out and sits it. Here are a few photos we took of her. She is a mess!! Each day is something new with her. We hope everyone is doing well and your New Year has started of great!! My pics are soon to come! I haven't downloaded them yet.

Ella's 1st Christmas

Ella's 1st Christmas was a BLAST!! She had a great time. I know she didn't understand what was going on but when you have children it gives Christmas a whole new spin. We had Christmas with Eric's family this year. We rotate every year since our family's live so far apart. We went to Jasper, Indiana where Kari (Eric's sister) and PawPaw live. We came in on Christmas Eve. That day they had a cookie decorating contest. Mine was picked by Dylan (our nephew) for Santa to eat! You can tell a child did the judging b/c it was not a pretty cookie. We went to 5 o'clock mass, which Ella did very well. I was nervous she was not going to make it b/c at our church she is always in God's Garden, a.k.a daycare. Thank goodness for Cheerios!! That night we played games and waited for Santa's arrival!! Christmas morning we watched the kids (Dylan and Ella) open their gifts. Santa was very good to them so I assume they were very well behaved this year. I also had a great Christmas. Santa was very good to me too!! I got a new watch, diamond necklace and a food processor ha!! I got a few other items for the kitchen as well. I am taking the hint I need to get in the kitchen more!! I will let you know how that goes. We had a great Christmas dinner and Wii for dessert ha!! The theme of the weekend was Mario Cart. The guys were addicted. I have to admit the bowling was VERY fun too!! Ella had a great weekend with Dylan. She loves to play with other children. We had our 2nd Christmas this past Friday when MiMi and PopPop sent their gifts. Ella LOVES her new giraffe with tags!! Ella has always been obsessed with tags. If something has a tag on it she will find it!! Thank you to everyone for making Ella's first Christmas so wonderful. I know she will never remember it, but we will and we can share the stories with her oneday.

All in all we were VERY blessed in 2008. Our move to Nashville was a great transition for our family. We LOVE it here!! So come visit. ha We were blessed on Feb 27th with Ella Marie and life has not been the same since. She is our pride and joy!! I truly love Eric but you when you have a child you fall in love all over and even harder. We have met some great people here and found a church we really enjoy. God has been so great to us and we are very thankful for that. We love you all and wish you the best in 2009.

Minnie Mouse

Here is a recent picture of Ella. She went to a Birthday here in Nashville and as you can see the theme was Mickey Mouse!! She loved her Mickey ears. Hope everyone had a great Christmas and Happy New Year. She is talking to us about how much fun she was having!! She is always talking!