First Solids for Ella

Ella

It's a week of firsts...the biggest being our last-minute decision to start the boys in two mornings a week at preschool!  I wasn't planning on them starting until they were three, mainly because the preschool Chloë goes to is pricier than we'd like....but it's SO worth it that we can walk there.. we justify it by keeping in mind that it's only temporary.  When the boys turn three Chloë will be getting ready for kindergarten so we will no longer have to pay her tuition.  Tuition x2 is much better than tuition x3...HOWEVER, we have worked out a pretty good deal with the preschool for the boys to start now...so here we go.  So starting FRIDAY (in two days!) I'll have three kids in preschool!!  The boys will only go two mornings a week.  Chloë will continue to do 3 mornings.  Anyways, this blog post is supposed to be about ELLA...not the boys.  So I'll update more on them later.  

Today, Ella had her first bite of solid foods!  She is 5 1/2 months and definitely seemed ready.  She's always watching us all eat and staring at our foods.  We started her with sweet potatoes!  Apparently, rice cereal is no longer a MUST for a the first food.  That's what all my other 3 had as their first food.  Ella got sweet potatoes.  She wasn't so sure about it....as you can see by her face!  

Chloë got to deliver the very first bite.

Owen and Chloë both shoving spoons at Ella.

Owen feeding Ella's eye

There's her mouth!  Much better!

Pop gave her a bite, too.

July in a Nutshell

It has been a FULL summer and it's not even August yet!  We have been so busy (am I ever NOT busy??  Is anyone?) that I have just found no time at all to post, though in my head I'm blogging all the time.  I always want to share what we're doing in our day-to-day lives...if, for nothing else, it can be a keepsake/memory book/ a kind of time capsule for me, Myke and the kids.  Something we can look back on...because I'm pretty sure that these years will be a blur when I look back on them (see a couple posts ago).  Time is zipping by and my babies are growing older, bigger, faster, stronger by the minute. Chloë is practically a teenager already!  At least she ACTS like one.  You should hear the things that come out of her mouth.  It amazes me.  She is definitely a firecracker.  A non-stop firecracker.  I love her to death:)   She exhausts me.  She makes me laugh.  She is four-and-a-half going on 14-and-a-half.  She's the best big sister you could ask for...SO good to Owen, Eli and Ella.  She just adores them and is always looking out for them, helping them on the playground, getting them drinks at meal time, etc.  She's amazing with them.

Owen & Chloë both love to hold Ella.  Here they are holding her in her room after her nap.  

It's so cute.  When they hear her fussing they all three yell "Ella!!" and like to run to her room, climb up the side of her crib and reach in and unwrap her if she's in a swaddle.  All three just adore their baby sister.

In other news, we had Owen baptized on July 7th.  My best friend since the 3rd grade, Crickett, and her family (finally!) came out to visit us here in San Diego for a week earlier this month.  We had asked them nearly 2 years ago to be Owen's godparents and we finally worked out a time for the baptism that worked for all of us.

How we met: 

The summer before I was to start the 3rd grade my family moved to a new neighborhood and my brother and I were going to start at a new school.  My mom had to find a before-and-after school babysitter for us and it ended up being Crickett's mom, Jackie.  Jackie ran an in-home childcare and when we went to check it out Crickett and I hit it off right away.  Well, I remember it that way.  She and her sister remember it differently.  Apparently, Hale and I "messed up" their Barbie house by rearranging the furniture, etc.  Anyways...26 years later and we are still great friends...even though we haven't lived in the same city since high school.  You know a person is a great friend when you can go months without talking and when you get back together you can pick up right where you left off, as if you see each other all the time.  

First day of 3rd grade (and first day of kindergarten for Hale)!

This is us waiting for the bus.

I was a tall cup of water (not sure if I still am really)...and so was Hale (and still is)...and Crickett was a shortie (and still is).  

Here we are almost exactly 26 years later!  

Baptism Day

Owen & the Stocker Family

Katelin, Megan & Chloë (pushing Ella) heading into church

The baptism ceremony

Owen's cake

Myke's parents came arrived in San Diego in time for the baptism as well.

We had a great week with Crickett & JT and their girls.  Chloë was in hog-heaven having an almost-6-year old and 10-year-old to play with every day.  These girls are FISH.  They were in the pool every single day!  

4th of July neighborhood party

Katelin & Ella

Megan & Ella

the girlies

The Stockers spent a week with us...and a what great visit it was!  Hope they'll come again!  After they left, Myke's parents moved in and are here for another week now (month total)  We've been having a great time with them, too!  It's nice to be able to go out and enjoy San Diego with them and the kids- something that's difficult (ie nearly impossible) for me to do on my own when I'm alone with the 4 kids.  It's also great for the kids to get to know and bond with their grandparents like this...something that probably wouldn't happen with only week-long visits.  

Okay, I'm getting tired so it is time for me to close up....even though I have so much more I could ramble about.  Sleep calls.  I'll end with some photos:  

Eli & Owen in their chairs from Grandpa

Eli & Owen...in a rare dressed-alike photo

Heading to a play-date with the a twins' playgroup we sometimes meet up with.

Two Cool Dudes!

Ray Charles!

(Or Eli...who refused to remove his sunglasses for the first hour of the playdate)

Maureen & Ella enjoying the pool

Ella & Eli

Ella loves to bounce!

Sisters in matching PJs!

Mom-Mom (Maureen) and Chloë and their plum stand

We have a plum tree in our backyard that has SO many plums on it we

don't know what to do with ourselves!  We've given away BAGS and BAGS

and we still have TONS more on the tree.  It's amazing!

Alvin & The Chipmunks

Took the kids (all 4) to see a movie today (no, I'm not insane...we had a babysitter come with us).

It was the first movie theater experience for Owen & Eli (and of course Ella, but not sure this counts since she slept through most of it) and the 2nd movie theater experience for Chloë.  A cinema near our house has $1 movies for kids on Tues & Wed  mornings.  Kids three and under are free.  Nice!   Then a HUGE bucket of popcorn was $4 with free refills.  What a deal!   The kids really had a fun time and sat through the entire movie.  My babies are growing up so fast!

Summer is in Full Swing

Wanted to throw in a quick blog post between sets of visitors.  Last time I wrote we were awaiting Myke's sister's arrival.  Now they have left and we are gearing up for the next guests!  It is one after the other it seems (it IS) but we are having a really fun time!  Myke's sister and kids arrived last Wednesday from Northern Virginia and stayed through the weekend.  She has three kids but only brought the older two, which are Declan (age 6) and Mira (almost 4).  The kids all had a great time together, which was definitely a relief.  Having six kids ages six and under in the house who did NOT get a long would have been a nightmare.  Chloë and Declan did have a couple bumps in the road when they tried to be room mates at night, but I'm chalking that up to them being overtired from all the activities they had been doing in the day.  We all kept busy swimming in the pool, going to the beach, going out for pizza, picking apricots off the tree out front, etc.  And just playing.  The kids just played and played.  It was fun to watch and so nice for our kids to get quality time with their only first cousins.

Owen hugging Mira 

(or tackling her for her Abby doll)

Long-haired girls!

Chloë & Mira 

Bedtime story

6 kids in the sand

(Myke & Marifran were parking the car so I had them all on my own...felt like Octo-Mom)

Digging

I took a bunch of photos with my good camera but (due to lack of space on this laptop) I can't upload them yet.  So these are just the ones from my phone.