Build A Bear before Omaha

We went to Build A Bear for the first time today. The lighting there is awful and everything is yellow so it doesn't result in the best pictures. Ella picked a hot pink valentine kitty. I really thought she would be one of the Chipmunks.
Waiting in line to get her kitty stuffed

Picking out a heart for the kitty

They then have you put the heart on your head so the kitty is smart, hold it to your knee so it is fast, put it on your belly so its never hungry, put it against your heart and make a wish, and give it a kiss.
Then she put the heart inside the kitty

Pressing the peddle for the stuffing

And fluffing and scrubbing her kitty when it was all done

She picked out Hello Kitty underwear, shirt, and slippers for her kitty. She named the kitty Zoe. She came up with that name completely on her own.
On the way home with the finished product

Well tomorrow I leave for my two weeks (possibly three) in Omaha Nebraska. We have been talking to Ella about it for the past week. Everytime we talk about it, her response is, I will miss you and Grandma Joyce, Jo Jo, and Leslie will be coming while I stay home with daddy. Today when we talked about it, she started sobbing and saying that she would miss me so much. It breaks my heart. She has also asked multiple times if I will stay with her or if she can go on the plane with me. The blog will probably be pretty quiet the next couple weeks. I am not taking my good camera with me (GASP) only my point and shoot. I have asked Tom to post Ella updates on the blog; however, this is unlikely with him playing full time employee, part time student, and full time dad. Here to safe travels and hopes that the next few weeks fly by

Blowing Dandelions

I meant to share these photos quite awhile ago. Then the holidays came and I got tied up with the festivities and slacked on the blog. In early December, during a bout of nice weather, Ella and I spent the morning at the park. Walking back from the park, she noticed hundreds of puff balls left from dandelions. She was on a mission to blow every single puff ball off of every single stem in the patch of grass. We must have spent thirty or more minutes clearing out that patch of grass. Of course I took tons of pictures while she was on her mission

Week off

 Last Friday was my last day at Cincinnati Children's. I leave for Omaha Nebraska on Sunday for training for my new job. I took this week off work to be with Ella before I go. It is going to be so difficult leaving her. I cry each time I think about it. I have only left her three times since she was born and for no longer than two nights. I know she will be in good hands with Tom and help from my mom, his mom, and our sitter but still it is going to be rough on both her and I. We have been cramming in tons of fun this week. We have gone to gymnastics, Chik Fil A playland, Run Jump, and Play, the library, etc. Today we went to The Museum Center.

She cracks me up....She will actually smile these days for the camera but a lot of the times she is randomly looking off to side or up

Final holiday post...

Over the holidays Ella made her first gingerbread house.....

Decorated Christmas cookies....

And tried her first hot cocoa....When asked at the coffee shop if she would prefer marshmallows or whipped cream, she chose marshmallows....

Out with the Old, In with the New

And Ella helped clean up the decor

Hello Snow.......

And then she told Tom to throw a snowball at her face, which he did lightly, and this was her reaction

And one second later she was fine

Recap of 2011

I cannot remember a year ever going by this quickly. I guess it really is true that time flies when you are having fun. It's amazing looking back through all the pics (literally thousands) from the last year and seeing how much Ella has grown and changed. We experienced so many fun and wonderful things this year.....lots of trips to the farm, pool, and park....trip to the beach, gymnastics, swim lessons, trips to the museum, Ella's first time riding a horse and first time swimming on own with floaties, potty training, Tom and I finally found time for ourselves a big two times this year! The list goes on and on. This truly was the best year of my life. I am looking forward to 2012. There are lots of big and exciting things that await us in 2012.