Ella Bella and her tutu

So I got this tutu the other day and love it so I just had to post some pics!




Also, Melissa tagged me to do this so here it is:

8 things I did today: (well we'll do yesterday since its 7:15 in the morning and I haven't done 8 things today)

1. went to church
2. fed Ella
3. changed diapers
4. got Ella dressed for church
5. Ate some wonderful Thai food for Mr. Calebs birthday
6.took a 2 1/2 hour nap while grandma JUJU kept Ella (man, I haven't done that in MONTHS!!)
7. watched the Cowboys play
8. Went to bed at 9:30


8 of my favorite restaurants:

1. On the Border
2. Chicken Express
3. Cilantros
4. Taco Villa
5. The King and I
6. Rosas
7. Chic-fil-A

8 shows I watch:
(I don't have 8 shows so I'll just post the ones I do watch)

1. The Hills (I'm obsessed and can't wait for The City!)
2. The first 48
3. The Biggest Loser (Season Finale tomorrow night!)

8 things I wish for:

1. for Ella to sleep all night
2. to go see Taylor and Audrey in London next summer
3. our economy to get better
4. to be my pre-pregnancy size again
5. a swimming pool in my back yard
6. a self-cleaning house
7. Christmas to be here already
8. a new kitchen

8 things I look forward to:

1. Going to see Taylor and Audrey in London
2. Ella sleeping all night
3. seeing family at Christmas
4. Christmas in general
5. Meeting miss Hailey Price
6. Snow
7. Watching Ella grow up
8. Taylor and Audrey having kids so Ella can have cousins on my side (hint, hint!)

So now I'm supposed to tag 8 people but I don't know 8 people with blogs (We're a little behind the times here in DC) so I'll just tag Rachel, Kami and Julie

A wonderful husband and a three month old Santa baby

Have I ever mentioned how great my husband is? Well yesterday Jim was running late from work and when I finally called him about 5:30 he said he had gotten hung up and was on his way home but, very unusually he wouldn't tell me the story and instead he said I'll tell you when I get home. So, when he got home my wonderful husband had stopped to get me a surprise. Can anyone guess what it was?..............



Yep, beautiful roses. It really made my day!! What's kind of funny is that the last time he brought me roses he was late from work and I called him then too. So, he says that he can't ever surprise me because I catch him. But I really was surprised.

Another great thing that happened yesterday besides it being Ella's 3 month birthday is that she rolled over for the first time. Of course Jim and I were in the kitchen so we missed it. Ella makes loud grunting noises when she plays on her stomach and we heard her doing it so Jim went to check on her and there she was. But, she's already done it three times today so I got to see her. It's really amazing how quickly they learn things and as soon as you think they haven't done anything different in a while they do something like roll over. It's so much fun!

At Thanksgiving Gran (my mom) gave Ella this really cute Christmas outfit so I just had to share a few pics! Oh yeah, she really likes to chew on her hands too.

What makes you smile?

So I saw this commercial the other day and loved it. It just made me smile! However I have NO interest in going to McDonalds and getting a McRib. Anything that is made of "restructured" meat really grosses me out! But this commercial just made me want to dance. I love the man dancing around with his sandwich. It really made my day so I wanted to share.

It made me think what really makes me smile?

Here's my top five:

5. Warm summer nights
4. Christmas morning
3. Good music
2. Hanging out with family and friends
1 Of course: Jim and Ella


How could that not make you want to SMILE!

Prayers for little Ella

So when Ella was born the pediatrician heard a heart murmur. She said that it was no big deal that when babies are in the womb they have a valve in their heart that bypasses the lungs because they don't use their lungs inutero and when they are born the valve closes off to push the blood to the lungs, pretty incredible! Anyway, she said that it should clear up in a few days. Well, by the time we left the hospital Dr. Camp couldn't hear it anymore. So, today we went in for our 2 week checkup and besides her weighing 11 lbs and 12 oz and being 23 inches long, yes that means she grew 3 inches in 3 weeks, she's trying to catch her daddy, Dr. Camp also heard the murmur. She said that she didn't think it was anything to worry about and that it should close on its own but that we should probably check with the pediatric cardiologist to make sure there wasn't a problem that needed fixing. I am very optimistic as Dr. Camp said that she thought it was a murmur that is very common in newborns and clears up well. Our appointment with the cardiologist is October 16 so please just pray that our little ones heart is OK. That's a road I don't even want to think about going down!!

Our new bundle

So Miss Ella is HERE!! On Sunday morning around 8:00am I went into labor. However, being the stubborn one that I am I decided that I wanted to go to church. So, as Jim and I sat through Bible class I realize that my contractions were getting stronger and closer together. Which, we also had to drive 90 miles to the hospital. So, after talking with Jim's aunt I decided that we should probably go. We got to the hospital about 1 pm and I was only dilated to a 1 so they made me walk around for about an hour and a half. After that the Dr. came in and said I was a two and that they would admit me to the hospital. Anyway, I won't bore you with the entire labor details however, I had decided to do this birth naturally with no pain killers and I did! 30 hours with no pain killers! Then after 2 hours of pushing the Dr. says "she's not coming out this way, we need to do a c-section." Although I was thoroughly bummed that I had to have a c-section, if I had one more contraction I was seriously going to hurt someone. So very quickly and efficiently they wheeled me into the OR and only when she came out did we realize why she wasn't coming out. She weighed 10 lbs. 11.5 oz. and was 20 inches long- big baby! But she got here safely and healthy and that is all that we care about. I got released from the hospital on Thursday and we are settling into home life quite nicely. Here are some pics of our new bundle!!

I'll tyr to explain a little about each one- they're kind of out of order:

1. Here is Ella as they weighed her- Dad got a good shot of the scale, I think he was a little in shock also.

2. This is the most recent picture- one I took today

3. Here is Ella with her great-grandparents, Jim's dad's parents, Ella is named after this man's mother.

4. This is a lovely picture of me and Ella right after she was delivered

5. Ella and her proud dad!

Still no Ella

So I just got back from the Dr. and I am still only dilated to a 2. No more progress. She said that at this point she didn't want to induce because it would only increase my chances of a c-section. So, I get to go back to Lubbock tomorrow for some Fetal Monitoring. What fun! She did say however, that if I get to be two weeks outside of my due date they will go ahead and induce because that increases my risk of a c-section anyway because of the babies size. But there is still hope, I am only two days out of my due date. Keep praying that she'll be here soon. Mama's ready!!

A Fun Day with the Tbo family

So most of you know that I was adopted. Well, when you're adopted you don't know anyone that looks like you unless of course you know some people in your family, I don't. So, when I married Jim first of all I thought it was so cool that Jim actually knows and is friends with his dad's cousins kids. He grew up with them going to Camp Blue Haven. But not only does he know them, they all look alike, especially the Turnbough boys. This is so intriguing to me, as funny as it sounds. So, since I love event planning and Jim's family is a very good family-family then I have been planning their family reunion for the past two years. Jim's great-grandmother Ella "Granny" Turnbough, yes who we are also naming our child after, passed away about 10 years ago and at that time she said that they better not stop doing the family reunion. Well, of course they did because no one would take it on and everyone got scattered as kids got older and married with their own kids. So this year we had about 40 people come from all over to Lubbock for a day of fun at Buffalo Springs Lake. It's a great place to get together and the kids can swim which is a huge blessing because it keeps them occupied. Needless to say, I was especially exhausted by the end of the day and was having contractions so I thought Ella might decide to make her appearance but no, they were just "you've been on your feet too long" contractions so when I finally ate and sat down they stopped. Here are a few pics from our fun day with the Tbo family.

The life of a pregnant lady

So when you're this pregnant you get to go see the Dr. once a week. It may not seem like that big of a deal but I have to drive 90 miles to Lubbock to do this and at this point pretty much every week is the same. You're blood pressure is good, is the baby moving?, let's hear the heart beat... Same ol same ol. So what was different today? NOTHING. I was totally expecting to be at least a little more dilated but NO, Miss Ella seems to like it a little to much in there. There are days that I think she won't ever come out. Who knows, but for today I was truly bummed when she broke the news. Oh well we always have next week!

Self Portraiture

So Rachel talked me into blogging for Miss Ella. Today I was in the studio and decided to do a little self-portraiture. I will be officially 39 weeks tomorrow and I am so ready. I went to the Dr. on Thursday and she said that I could go into labor at anytime. All I need to do is dilate. Jim makes fun of me and says that I try to coax her out. Well, maybe I do! That's one of the beauties of pregnancy that it truly is a surprise as to when they will arrive which we really don't have many true surprises anymore. We are really looking forward to welcoming our baby girl!