Alcatraz trip.

Roaring Camp Railroad.

Grandma & Grandpa Robinson's visit!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We sure did. Ella got to meet her Grandma and Grandpa Robinson for the first time. It only took an hour or two and Ella warmed up to them and was showing off. She was running, lauging, giving kisses, and reading her books to them. And she loved the rocking chair that they gave to her as a gift. She climbs into her chair and reads her books while we watch TV. She has even found out how to rock the chair by herself.



Since Grandma and Grandpa were in town we decided to show them around and treat them to some beautiful California sites. On Friday we took a train ride through the Redwood forest, and Ella got to meet Santa Claus, then had a nap on my lap. That was my favorite part.

Saturday we took a tour of Alcatraz Prison and the rain cleared up just long enough to get some great pictures and keep us dry during the last portion of our tour. We had a great visit!!! We miss you Grandma and Grandpa! We hope to visit you in Maine soon!

Pictures are coming soon of our Thanksgiving weekend. The blog is not letting me upload them onto this post for some reason. Sorry ;(

Picnic with grandma

After our hike at Lake Chabot we ate our lunch on the grass. Ella
hates to touch grass. She even refuses to walk on it when she's
wearing shoes.

Grandma Macs visit.

We had such a great time with Grandma Mac last week. Just about every day we did somthing new. On the weekend we went to a pumpkin patch in Livermore. It did not feel like fall at all this day. It was in the upper 80's, and we did not bring the stroller so we were all a bit tired and hot. But it was worth it to get some great photo opportunities of Ella surrounded by pumpkins and to see her reaction to the farm animals. By the end of it she was exhuasted and passed out before we even pulled out of the farm. Later in the week we went into San Fran for the day. We walked alot, ate lunch and even did some
shopping.

Our little cowgirl!

So Tired!

The last day my mom was in town we took a drive to Half Moon Bay and showed her Mavericks beach , and then drove over the Golden Gate Bridge which was a first for Ben and I also. Although you couldn't tell you were even on a bridge since it was so foggy.

Ella and I were grossed out by all the seaweed bulbs on the beach.

We had fun Grandma Mac! We can't wait to see you for Thanksgiving next year!!

Rest of Birthday Photos

I know I said I would post these pictures yesterday but Ella caught a cold and was teething on top of being sick. So needless to say I was occupied.

Here is Daddy trying to help Ella open one of her gifts. She still doesn't quite understand gifts. She's rather find something thats available and out of a box to play with then sit and open presents. But Mommy always has a great time opening gifts, even if I'm the one that wrapped them.

Amelie enjoying some of the wrapping paper. Silly!!

Ella is enjoying some of her birthday gifts .

Ella got a little shy when everyone started singing.

Trying to get the girls to dig into the birthday cake. Ella had already been there and done that and she wanted no part of the mess. Surprisingly Amelie wasn't overly intrigued by the cake either. Normally she is the first to dig into something messy.

Happy Birthday Amelie and Ella!!!

On Saturday we had a combined birthday party for Ella and Amelie. It was a lot of fun. The girls ate cake, opened presents, played, and best of all, good friends (other then the babies) got together. Even though Ella's birthday was over 2 weeks ago I still can't help but get sentimental over all the milestones that were reached in the past year. The best part is ,the girls have reached them together. That means Amy and I have had each other to lean on through the thick and thin of parenting. I feel very fourtunate that we have good friends that we can share our parenting joys and woes with together. So even though it was a "Birthday Party" I feel it was more a celebration for the parents. In my mind the party was called, " I got through the first year party!". To be honest, I wasn't sure I could be a good mom. My doubts grew even more when Ben and I first got Baxter and he sprained his paw because he jumped out of our arms on night after getting a bath. I remember crying to Ben " How will I ever take care of a baby if I can't even take care of a dog?". But just 4 years later we have Ella ,who is a healthy and happy baby. No sprains or brakes..... YET! (She is part Ben so Im not saying it won't happen some day) So Happy Birthday Amelie and Ella. Congratulations Roebers and Glanvilles on a job well done. I can't wait to see what this year brings!!

I will post more birthday party pics tmw! ;)

Ella Walking!

Ella took her first steps while Ben was out of town last month but since then she has really taken off! You can tell she really wants to walk, and really enjoys it too. She becomes real focused right before she takes her first step and after she has walked a few steps and lands on her butt she usually claps her hands as if to say"Im so poud of myself!".

A Cool Gift From Aunt Culla and Uncle Dave

Ella at the park

I really enjoyed the swing

Birthday Girl!!

Happy Birthday to our little muffin!!! A year ago today at 7:12 pm
Ella made her entrance into the world. What an exciting year it has
been!!! We love you Ella Bella !!!

The Highland Games.

Sunday we went as a family to the Scottish Highland Games. Ella learned alot about Grandpa Mac's side of the family, and even saw some bagpipe bands for the first time. She loved it! Here in the video you can see her dancing and at points it looks like she is conducting the band. Mom and Dad had a great time too. The games were fun to watch, we ate some Haggis with gravy, and even got a history lesson. We can't wait to go back next year!

I hope the video works. I've had a difficult time uploading it and it is small because I took it on my I-phone. Enjoy!

Daddy is home!!!

Ella and I picked Daddy up at the airport Saturday night. It was a
long 5 weeks, but we all made it through and we are happy to be home
as a family again.

Our friend Brad Roeber enchanting Ella with his guitar, she loved it.

Sunol Train Ride.

Last week Ella and I rode a historic disel train on a very well known and historic railway in Sunol County. We went as a group with the Moms Club as shown above. We had a great time and the weather was perfect. Just cool enough to enjoy being outside. I even got a couple of shots of some old buildings that are probably as old as the train itself. I love old buildings. I could have spent all day in that town. They even have a steam train that they decorate during the holidays. Maybe Daddy will go with us next time.

So as you can tell Ella and I have been keeping busy. Ella has been busy learning new tasks as well. She is now able to walk behind her push toy with out assistance the full length of the house. She is also starting to communicate by sign language now, which I'm really excited about. Her favorite sign is "more", and "milk" . Sometimes she uses " All done" but I have to coax her. And she is able to let go of an object while standing and balance without arms for several seconds. She likes to clap her hands after she has done this cause she knows Mommy gets excited when she stands by herself. Ben will be amazed at all the new tasks Ella has mastered in the short month that he has been gone. I can't wait till he comes home so he can witness it himself.

Tilden Park

So a week or two before Ben left for New London we went on a family hike in Tilden Park. It was about a 40 min drive north of us, and well worth it. They had a paved trail that went along the mountain ridges so you could see the valley, the bay and a beautiful lake. It wasn't a challenging hike but tiresome just the same due to its length and the chilly weather. They had a beautiful historic carousel that was built in 1902, so we decide to give Ella her first ride. She wasn't overly thrilled with it but she was a sport and hung in there for the whole ride. As you can see below after it stopped she was done with the ride and wanted out of there! Im sure we will be taking more trips to Tilden as they have a petting zoo, a steam train, and plenty of picnic areas for us to enjoy in the future.

You can tell Ella had her fill of the carousel.

Wed, 18 Aug

Ella doesn't always like when Baxter gives her kisses, but today she
was very amused by him.

Making friends.

Today we went to a place called Superfranks. It's almost like a chucky
cheese except it's clean and the food isn't gross. So Ella is of the
age I have to let her explore,and play. So that means exposing her to
germs too. I hated letting her touch these community toys but she had
fun. She even made a new friend. She couldn't stop laughing at this
little girl and even reached for her hand a couple of times. It was
neat to see her interact with older kids. And she had her first French
fry at lunch!

Mon, 09 Aug #3

So earlier before I took this Ella stood up on her own without pulling
up on anything and stood for a few seconds without any upper extremity
support. Here in the video you can see she let's go of the couch and
is able to stand without her arms again. She is really getting good
at balancing.

Thu, 05 Aug #2

Playing with Baxter !!

Culinary adventures!

While Daddy is away I decided to make a new recipe for Ella....and
me. Ben hates salmon so that's why he doesn't get to share in this
recipe. I was really excited to be making something both Ella and I
can eat together, and interested in how she would handle the more
solid texture of the food. Well as you can see by scrolling down it
did not go over well. I thought it was pretty good but I guess that
will be the last time it's made for awhile.

Last pic with Daddy...

For a month that is. Daddy left yesterday morning to go to the Coast
Guard academy and to visit grandma and grandpa Robinson. We were all
sad, but I'm sure the month will fly by because Mommy is making all
kind of plans to keep us busy and entertained. Thank goodness for
the moms club and the fellow coastie wives on base. Eat a whoopie
pie for me daddy!!! Mommy says bring he some Maine lobster and
blueberry pie!

Tue, 20 Jul #2

Ella shakes her head no whenever she hears the word no from anyone
even if it does not apply to here or if she doesnt like something.
Here she is eating bueberries and bananas! Yes...I said bueberries
that was not a typo.

Downtown Napa.

On Saturday we decided to get out of town for the day. Napa, AKA wine capitol of the US, and culinary heaven(in my opinion), is only an hour north of us. So we left early in the morning which we thought would help our drive time but in CA there is no telling what that traffic will be so our hour drive took close to an hour and a half. And poor Ella is still working on those two front teeth and was screaming the whole time. Hence the puffy red face she has in the picture below.

Once we got to Napa everyone calmed down a bit and we were able to enjoy a nice walk around the shops and resturants. The weather was beautiful. Warm with a cool breeze coming off the bay. We ate, drank a couple of glasses of wine, shopped, and walked till our feet hurt. As you can see Ella was exhuasted and found a comfortable place to take a nap as been and I sat in the shade of a church in a historic neighborhood. It was a great day. We love going out on our little day trips in CA. There is so much to do and see. We can't wait till the next one!

End of the day.

Look at me surrounded by babies! Never in my life have I thought I would ever be comfortable surpurvising 3 infants. After pool time was over we gave the babies a bath and put them in their PJs. We let them play a little bit more before heading to bed. Ahhh...... finally I could enjoy the hot tub.

Pool time with Daddy! 4th of July.

Love the new hairdo Ella! Thanks to Daddy.

4th of July !

Here are some of the 4th of July pics that I promised to upload. We had a great 4th of July with our friends the Roebers, and Tiffany and Charles with their daughter Riley. We spent most of the day in the pool and grilling out. For the most part the babies did really well in the pool. Ella was just starting the teething process for her two front teeth so her mood was up and down through out the day, but the pool kept her distracted from her pain. We were exhuasted the next day from all the fun.

Wed, 07 Jul #2

Ella laughing at her favorite show, Yo Gabba Gabba.

Infant Playgroup.

Last week I hosted the first infant playgroup through the moms club. It was so fun to see all of the girls interact with one another. And yes I said girls, there is not one boy in the group yet. Left to right the babies are Kate, Samantha, Emma, Ella(ofcourse) and Amelie. The playgroup is going to meet weekly. Although Ella and I did not attend today since I've been feeling under the weather, and Ella has been super fussy since her two front teeth are coming through.

Not only is Ella getting her two front teeth but she is learning new tasks everyday. The day of the playgroup stood up all by herself. She hasn't done it since but she has been practicing. Another thing that she has picked up is shaking her head No. So all the work I have put into teaching her sign language feels useless now. But I still use try hoping she will catch on. And she continues to shake her head No to everything. It's actually quite funny and cute when she does it but there are moments when it's not as entertaining. For instance when she needs a diaper change. She will shake her head then violently thrust her legs back and forth to try and avoid me from taking her diaper off. Maybe she doesn't like a cold butt? But no one likes a stinky butt. It's bath time now so I have to cut it short but more pictures to come soon of our 4th of July.

Infant playgroup.

Showing off.

Every month on base someone is awarded "Yard of the Month" and this
month we won. This picture was taken by one of the gals who works in
the clubhouse to put in our community newsletter. Unfortunatly that
lawn care service cut some of our greenery right before the pic was
taken. Just two weeks ago they were blooming with big yellow lilies so
it looks a little sparce now. But thanks to Ben our flower boxes have
huge flowers in them that make up for it.

Ouchy!

Mommy wanted me to share the news with everyone that my two front
teeth are coming in! I've been real fussy all weekend and tonight
because of it. Mom tried to get a picture of it but I'm too busy
shoving random objects into my mouth.