A Visit From Nana & Papa

On Thursday, Spencer's parents came down from Kentucky to visit us. We were so excited for them to stay for 4 days!!! They arrived after Ella Ann woke up Thursday from her nap, so it was a fun surprise for her because we didn't tell her they were coming (or else she wouldn't have slept). I made dinner (manicotti) that evening and we watched Louisville play and American Idol. Spencer got off around noon on Friday and had the rest of the weekend off so he was able to enjoy the entire weekend with his parents.

Ella Ann woke up Friday morning and the first thing out of her mouth was, "Nana and Papa!!!!!" I got the same statement Saturday morning too and she was not at all happy that they weren't waiting for her in the living room! Fortunately, they were on Sunday because they stayed with us Saturday night. I ventured out to Wal-Mart and Kroger by myself (yeay!!!) on Friday morning and we all went to IKEA that afternoon because Gary and Gayla hadn't been and wanted to see what it was all about. There is so much to look at there, so it's always overwhelming! We all found some good buys, of course! You cannot go in that place without buying at least 1 thing! We went to Spencer and I's favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner and hit Trader Joe's after that, again new places for the grandparents.

Saturday was really fun because we all went to The High Museum, which none of us had been to before. It is free for Fulton County residents the first Saturday of every month, so only Gary and Gayla had to pay the entrance fee. Well, we really enjoyed it and it was a neat experience but it would have been nice to have left Ella Ann behind! A museum isn't the best place to take a toddler! We kept her in the stroller for a little while but since I wasn't allowed to feed her or give her anything to drink she got antsy pretty fast. She did really well, considering the circumstances and her age, and we got to enjoy most of the exhibits. I think the neatest thing we saw was the exhibit from the Louvre. It was all very fascinating to me because I really loved studying Greek history and mythology in college and several rooms were filled with such artifacts. Ella Ann had a good time at the children's learning center that Spencer took her to while the rest of us continued to explore. That afternoon we went to the mall and then Spencer and I went to the movies. We saw "The Other Boleyn Girl" and it was awesome! I really, really liked it and highly recommend it!

We went to church Sunday morning and ate lunch with Nana and Papa before they headed home. It was such a nice visit and we were so glad they come down to see us! Thanks again Gary and Gayla!

Ahhhhh...such fun at IKEA!!

Ella Ann got some blocks from Papa and Nana this weekend. Very fun for all of us!

In front of a sculpture outside The High.

Trying to keep Ella Ann in line at the museum!

She was not too happy about having to hold Spencer's hand. She wanted to run around in all the open space!

Before church Sunday morning.

The new playground at Centennial Park finally opened a couple of weeks ago so we walked down there Sunday afternoon to check it out. It was so nice and, needless to say, Ella Ann had a ball! Unfortunately, there were tons of kids so Ella Ann got mowed down a couple of times!

Spinning around in the flower pedal. It was funny to watch her try to walk when she got off! She has on her new Disney World t-shirt that Santa brought her. She loves that shirt and any time I ask if she wants to wear it, her face lights up and she says, "YESSSSS!"

They even have a fun little sway ride in which you sit down and rock back and fourth.

Well It's About Time

Yes! Finally Ella Ann has ridden her Power Wheel!!! We have had that thing for over 2 years and it has been sitting in Ella Ann's closet for that period of time because she has flatly refused to get on it! She has been wanting to pull it out and ride it for a few weeks now, but I didn't feel like bending over and steering it for her and plus we don't have anywhere for her to ride it except for in the parking lot. Next time we went to the park I had planned on taking it with us, but yesterday was a beautiful day to get out and we didn't have the time to hit the park so off she went in the parking lot! Ohhh she LOVED her Dora Power Wheel! She kept stopping to point out all the characters that are on it and was making sure I knew who everyone was. I made 3 laps with her in the parking lot and by the time Spencer got home I handed the steering position over to him b/c my lower back was aching! I soon took back over the position because Spencer's idea of steering Ella Ann was kicking the wheel back into a straight position, which really made her mad! :) Everytime we'd pass our front door, she'd say, "No go home! No go home!" I thought we'd be out there forever, but thankfully she happily complied to come back inside when I was tired!

We let her run into the curb a couple of times because it was really funny! She would just keep spinning the wheels until one of us turned her around!

Not Too Much

This weekend we were kinda lazy. Spencer had to work Saturday morning, but was off the rest of the weekend. I was sick on Thursday, and evidently passed it on to Ella Ann. She doesn't act like she feels bad and just has some congestion, but that hasn't slowed her down one bit! Yesterday I took Ella Ann to story time at Barnes & Noble and that afterooon the 3 of us made our weekly trip to Trader Joe's and ordered pizza for dinner from one of our favorite spots. After church on Sunday we stopped at Starbucks and Ella Ann happily sat at the table and played with a straw while Spencer and I read some of the newspaper! What a treat! This afternoon we would like to go to the park but I don't think the weather is going to allow that so it may be another lazy day spent indoors. I'm soooooo looking forward to spring! Thankfully I think it's on it's way because the Red bud trees here have already popped! Maybe we will sell our home soon and can finally move into a home with a yard instead of a parking lot where we can really enjoy Atlanta's long warm months! Ahhhhhh everyone keep praying! Until then, the park is where we can be found!

Here are some pictures from our weekend!

Santa brought Ella Ann a horsey backup in case something ever happened to her current beloved horsey. I put it up in case of a dire emergency, but since we do not allow her to carry her bobbie/horsey out of the house most of the time, I thought we may as well give her the new one. After looking at these pictures you can see why! That poor little horsey on the right! Ella Ann has matted that hair down like crazy! I've even washed it but it remains a shade of dull gray. When she saw the new one she quickly exclaimed, "New horsey!!!!!!" She has said that no less than 25 times so far today. We have now put the tired horse to bed, but I'm sure she'll have the new horsey down to shreds soon enough!

Lovin' the new horsey!

Here are some pictures of Ella Ann with her new train set that I mentioned in a previous post. This is her daily routine now: 1) Get out of bed, 2) Ask to listen to "Silly Songs With Larry" (Veggie Tales), 3) Get out da trains, 4) Play trains with me Mommy and/or Daddy!!, and 5) CD ends and Ella Ann demands to "turn it back onnnnnnn!!!" If I have to listen to Larry (who is a cucumber) sing about water buffalos, cucumbers, and loosing his hairbrush (hence the title "Silly Songs") one more time I may slit my wrist!!! Believe me, Spencer feels the same! :)

She will also sit and read books when she tires of the trains.

Friends

Today Ella Ann and I joined a few of our friends at Andria and Diego's house for a lunch playdate. Ella Ann was sooo excited to go! We had such a good time chatting and eating good food! Below are some pictures from our morning. Thanks again, Andria!

The girls and our kids: Ella Ann and I, Ruth and Anjuli, Jana and Mara Kate, Megan and Luke, and Andria and Diego. Diego has a little sister, Alexia, but she was napping.

Last night Spencer and I stood outside for a little while and watched the lunar eclipse. It was so neat! Spencer tried his best to capture it, but as you can see the picture didn't quite turn out but I'm posting it anyway!

This is how I found Ella Ann the other day on our couch! Snug as a bug in a rug!

Sorry

I apologize to our blog visitors for not having posted in quite some time...I have gotten a few complaints! The reason I haven't posted is because we haven't done anything fun lately, Ella Ann hasn't done anything that is worthy of being photographed, I have been really busy with work, and our computer crashed last week so I couldn't upload any pictures.

I will post some pictures tomorrow because we are going to a friend's house for lunch. Until then, I'll just update you on what we have been doing lately. Ella Ann has been just fine and has been my little shadow...as usual! We finished our Music Class sessions yesterday, but we are going to start going to a toddler music class that a girl that used to attend our church is starting at the church she currently goes to, which just so happens to be within walking distance from our home! It's also half the price, 1 class longer, and Jana and Mara Kate will be there! We are looking forward to it! We have had our friends over to play a few times over the past week, which has been fun. We bought Ella Ann a train set at IKEA last week and she is obsessed with it. It's such a basic toy with no bells and whistles, so Spencer and I are loving that! I also went out and bought her a CD player to keep in her room because we are beyond sick of listening to her music over our laptop or TV! Let me tell you that was the best $20 I've ever spent! She asks to listen to her music from the minute she wakes up (it's usually on before 7:30 a.m.) and plays throughout the day while we are at home. She will sit in her room and entertain herself for over an hour when that music is playing! We got her 2 Veggie Tales CDs and she refuses to listen to anything else! She has become a Veggie Tales fanatic for sure and her favorite character is Pa Grape because she has a book about him that I bought for a quarter at a consignment store! The book goes with us on many errands and outings because she always asks for Pa Grape!

I have also been busy getting Ella Ann enrolled in a preschool. I am going to spare ya'll the entire preschool drama that I encurred and will make a very long story short and say that she is enrolled in a preschool but I may switch her to another school depending on several factors...that I also won't get into. I'm just happy she's at least going to go!

So after my preschool drama on Tuesday, our computer crashed as I sat down to do the ton of work for my job on Wednesday during Ella Ann's nap! Fortunately, it was just full of viruses and The Geek Squad was able to get rid of them and all our stuff was saved.

The excitement of the week so far was Ella Ann pooping in her panties last night 2 seconds after I lifted her off the potty then she pooped in the bathtub (she has never done that before) after I had just filled it with water and toys. I then had to take her and all the toys out, sanitize the bathtub and draw the bath again and fill it with more toys only to have her poop in the bathtub once again!! All this while Spencer was at work! It was beyond disgusting!

Ella Ann has been cracking us up with the funny things she says nearly every day! The other day I was answering a question she asked me as I was swallowing my yogurt so she told me, "Don't talk with your mouth full, Mommy." Boy does she know how to turn the tables! The other night she ran into my bathroom as I was washing my face and said, "Mommy Katie!!! Come play with me!" She then turned to Spencer and says, "You're Daddy Spencer!" I guess Spencer and I are going to have to start calling each other Mommy and Daddy, which we can't stand! :)

Well, that's really about it! Sorry, kinda boring! I promise to be much better in the next few days and post some pictures!

A Boring Post

This weekend Spencer went to Toccoa to work while Ella Ann and I stayed behind and just hung out. The reason we didn't go with him was because he wasn't leaving until 5:30 a.m. Saturday morning and we would've come home that evening, so it was too long of a drive in one day. Anyway, since we didn't have much to do on Saturday, I made sure we got out and about so we wouldn't get bored! We went to a children's consignment sale on Saturday morning. It was half price day so we got some good deals, but most of the clothing in Ella Ann's size was not cute by then! I did manage to get one cute outfit for $2.50 and 9 books....my total was only $8:00! Yeay for bargin shopping! I let Ella Ann pick out a book all by herself and the one she picked out was the dumbest book imaginable, one because it made no sense and two it has a huge stuffed duckhead on the cover and throughout the pages that has a little tuft of hair on it's head. Now you can see why she picked it! She carries it everywhere and sucks her thumb while holding the tuft! After that we hit up Trader Joe's and then to story time at Barnes & Noble. After her nap we walked to the playground downtown and organized Ella Ann's closet once we got back home, which is about all we did that was remotely worthy of picture taking.

We have started keeping Ella Ann with us during the singing at church on Sunday mornings and taking her back to the nursery once the sermon begins, which she has done great with. She loves the singing! In fact, today we sang her favorite song, "God of Wonders," and Ella Ann sang right along with the rest of the congregation. She asks to sing that song every single day and by now knows all the words! Anyway, as soon as the song ended Ella Ann screamed, litterally shouted, "YEAY!!!!!!!" The ENTIRE congregation turned around (we were in the back row) and started laughing hysterically at us! Some people even shouted an "Amen!!!" to Ella Ann's "YEAY!" Ohhh it is a moment I will never ever forget! I know my face turned bright red (I was holding her while we sang), but it was the funniest thing to date that Ella Ann has done! I think she made everyone realize they should be more enthusiastic about worship! :)

"Hey Boy! Get back down!" This was what she was saying as a boy was trying to climb up the slide!

She started running around in circles after she saw a couple of boys chasing each other! She told me, "I want to run around in circles! Those boys are so funny, Mommy!"

Ohhhh I know! Look at this closet!!!! It is just terrible! This is life in a condo with a toddler! Just too much stuff and no place to put it except up, up, up!

So I went to IKEA twice this week, once to return something, and bought a couple of hanging organizers (one is in our closet for my sweaters). This little shelf, although it doesn't look like it, has helped out tremendously! Our baskets of toys are smaller and stuff is up off the floor!

Seth Turns 1!!!

This weekend we traveled to Tennessee to attend Seth's first birthday party. We can't believe he's already one! Time has flown by! He loved all the attention of family members, as did Carter and Ella Ann! Ella Ann got to play with Seth and Carter's other three cousins, two of which are a little older than her. She would just plop down in Kennedy or Payton's lap and demand to be read to! Seth got lots of fun toys and the rest of the kids enjoyed playing with them and helping to open them! We all enjoyed the good food that Mandy made and the awesome cake! Seth ate a little of the cake, but didn't dive in or anything!

It was a short trip, but we had a really good time! Here are some pictures from Saturday.

All the kids surrounded Mandy as she tried to let Seth open at least one of his presents!

Eating some good food at their own table!

Once again, Aunt Kasey was suckered into reading to Carter, Seth, and Ella Ann! Poor Seth, he tried to get up on the couch to read but gave up!

I love this picture!

Kennedy reading to Ella Ann!

The birthday boy and his own little cake!

A family picture.

The Jensen grandkids.

For Your Viewing Pleasure

Changes

Since Ella Ann is on her way to being potty trained we no longer need our changing table. The awesome thing about her furniture is that it is all convertible! Spencer simply inverted the drawers last night and flipped it over and now it is a dresser. It's so pretty that way and I'm glad to be done with the changing station and have more space to put up Ella Ann's pretty pictures!

I changed some of the pictures after this and replaced one of her newborn ones with one of Ella Ann and Mara Kate at the park.

Of course I had to take a picture of Ella Ann during all my reorganization because this is what she looked like!! A very kind woman I work for gave Ella Ann the red boots because they were too small for her granddaughter. They are a little too big right now, but Ella Ann insists on wearing them at least once every day around the house! She is also wearing her new training underwear that keeps her from going all over the floor! I bribed her with new stickers today and she peed on the potty! We have still been having success with her pooping too! Yeay! Please take a look at Elmo in this picture because she put her favorite hat on him and began reading to him in the chair! She is a nut for sure!

I also wanted to post this cute picture of them that I took last night. Ella Ann loves the pockets on those pjs! Spencer is obviously sporting a new look, much to my dismay, and wants the world to see his beard before he shaves it off...which won't be soon enough for me! :)

Yeay! Grandpa & Mimi!

This weekend my parents came down for a short visit. Ella Ann was really looking forward to them coming, as were Spencer and I, and when she woke up Saturday morning and I told her they were coming over she was thrilled! Unfortunately, my Dad came down with an awful cold so he wasn't able to spend as much time with Ella Ann on Saturday. Poor Dad couldn't even join us for lunch or dinner!

We went to Trader Joe's on Saturday morning because my parents like to stock up on their $2.50 bottles of wine and unique foods. Ella Ann loves going too because she always gets a balloon and sometimes some drive-by samples and I get free coffee! My Mom, Ella Ann, and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, once again, for lunch on Saturday. We housed our usual entrees and Ella Ann even stuffed herself silly with black beans, rice, and chips!! We hit the mall for some fast shopping during her nap, came back and played at our house (thankfully my Dad felt a little better and was able to join us), and went to a yummy Thai restaurant for dinner. Ella Ann had such a good time with her grandparents and Spencer and I loved the company.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad, for the visit! Hope you are feeling better now, Dad!

Ella Ann loves her Mimi, and vice versa!

Playing with some stickers with Grandpa.

Showing Mimi and Grandpa her new dance moves from The Music Class!

Showing off a new outfit for the spring that Mimi and Grandpa brought her. She wanted to wear it to dinner! She's also sporting some oven mitts, obviously, because her and Mimi were playing in her kitchen!

On Friday we attended a birthday party for Ella Ann's friend, Diego, who turned 2. We had so much fun at the party! Ella Ann got to eat lots of yummy treats, and since she won't eat pizza or cake, I got to eat her share of that! Diego loves Thomas, so there were Thomas decorations everywhere, which the kids really enjoyed. Ella Ann even got a Thomas tattoo on her hand, which she has yet to let me wash off! She loves it! She also got a goodie bag filled with fun toys and it has gone with us everywhere we have been this weekend!

Enjoying some good food at the party!

Sticking stickers on Thomas.

All the party-goers - Luke, Ella Ann, Alex, and Diego! Yup, Ella Ann was the only girl, besides the two babies there that were a little too young to play!

Showing off their Thomas tattoos!