Crazy Storm

Last night we had a TERRIBLE storm. It started around 10:00 and blew through very fast. The wind was crazy. They said on the news the largest wind gust was around 75mph. I was scared to death. We unfortunately lost power from around 10:30pm until 10:00am. If you didn't know, I am terrified of the dark. Thank goodness Adam was not in Terre Haute last night. 

 It was a very long night. Ella woke up around midnight, and I put her in bed with me. I am not a fan of doing this, but our house was pitch black. Eventually, the boys made there way into the bed too. Adam decided to sleep on the couch, because he was supposed to get up at 5am to go to Terre Haute. He was crazy to think he was going to get any sleep! We were up until 3am. We finally decided Ella needed to go back in her bed, and the boys had to go back in the laundry room. We got a few hours of sleep, but it was hard when you are used to a fan blowing on you. I was also worried I would not hear Ella, because there was no baby monitor.   I was so happy when the electricity came back on this morning. 

On our way to Target Ella and I drove around to look at some of the damage. I could not believe it. There were huge trees uprooted everywhere. We are so lucky that we were safe and nothing was damaged at our house!

I am prepared for next time! One for us and one for Ella!

28 months

Ella is 28 months old today!

I can't believe she is almost 2 and half years old. Time is just flying. She is getting to be such a big girl, and she is becoming so independent. She wants to try to do everything herself. Her attention span has improved so much in the past month or so. She will sit and play by herself for long periods of time. She concentrates really hard when she is trying to figure something out. She reminds me a lot of Adam when she is trying really hard to figure something out. She gets this determined look on her face just like he does!

Her vocabulary is growing daily. I love to hear her talk. She repeats almost anything you ask her to say. She is counting and knows some colors. She can repeat all the letters of the alphabet, but she can't sing them yet. She knows all body parts, and she will point to them on someone else's body too. If you ask her to do something she knows exactly what you are talking about, and she will do pretty much whatever it is. She knows lots of things, but she just can't say all of them yet. I have a feeling she is going to be quiet just like Adam and I are. 

Ella is such a fun little girl. She wakes up everyday with a smile on her face ready for a new adventure. She makes me laugh all the time with stuff she says or does. She loves the outdoors, always has! She could stay outside all day and all night if we would let her. She loves to do anything adventurous.

Ella is such a sweet, kind little girl. I hate to think that she is growing up so fast, but I know that is just part of life. She brings so much joy to our lives. I love reliving my childhood through her. I live to see a smile on her face. Adam and I both never realized we could love something as much as we love her. She is the light of our lives and always will be! 

Weekend

We have been pretty busy the past two days. Saturday morning was our neighborhood yard sale. Even though it was rainy there were still quite a few people out. It was definitely not as huge as our fall sale, but I was still able to find a few things for Ella. 

I thought this little shopping cart was adorable. She really loves it! 

 I had been thinking about getting her a new outdoor chair so I had to grab this one.

 A talking Elmo that is just like a Mr. Potato Head. This had Ella written all over it! 

The rain let up for a little bit so I was able to plant a few new bushes out front and lay down our new mulch. I love the look of new mulch. I wish the front of our house could look like this year round! 

Sunday morning Ella and I headed to a baby shower for Adam's cousin, Allison. She is pregnant with triplets, two boys and one girl. I can't even imagine. She looked so good, and it looked like she got lots of stuff for the babies. 

She was all about the cake!

Allison and her mom opening gifts!

Ella heading down to steal a balloon;) 

My parents came over for dinner this evening. My dad brought his fishing pole, because Ella loves fish. When she sees his fishing pole she knows exactly what is going on. Unfortunately, the fish were not biting today, but Ella had a fun time trying to reel one in. 

I am so sad to see this weekend go, because that means Adam has to go to work tomorrow. Boo! It was so nice having him home all week, but all good things must come to an end.

Nashville Zoo

This past Tuesday Adam, Ella, and I headed to the Nashville Zoo. Since we aren't going on our annual Florida trip this year I wanted to do something fun for Ella while Adam was on vacation. Since Nashville isn't that far away, and Ella enjoys going to the zoo, I thought that would be a perfect little day trip. 

We headed out around 8:45 and made it to the zoo around 11:15. Ella did really well the whole way there. We didn't even have to stop. Unfortunately, as soon as we stopped the car Ella made this coughing/gagging sound, and I knew what was coming. I jumped out of the car as fast as I could and got her out of her seat. The poor thing started throwing up as soon as we got out of the car. I felt so bad for her. She kept following me around so I had to keep dodging her. I brought extra clothes for her but none for myself. I had a feeling this could happen. It made me think of the next 10-15 years of car sickness we have ahead of us;) I think I got car sick on EVERY family vacation we took from the time I was 3 or 4 until I was a teenager. Now I know what my parents went through with me! 

Once we got Ella cleaned up and changed she was good to go. I had never been to the Nashville Zoo before. It was so pretty, and you could hear some of the animals from the parking lot. We later found out that what we heard were the Gibbons. They put on quite a show while we were there. 

At the entrance of the zoo were these beautiful Macaw's. They were noisy too!

The next animals we encountered were the Meerkats. I could have brought one of these little guys home with us. They were so entertaining to watch. 

Soaking up the wonderful spring weather!

Next up, we headed over to the zebras and the ostrich. This was my first attempt at a picture with Ella. She was NOT having it, and neither was her daddy;)

After we ate lunch we headed over to see the flamingos. Ella had had about enough of her stroller by this time so we got her out to walk. She actually did pretty good out of her stroller. It still amazes me that she is old enough to walk around instead of ride in her stroller the whole time. It's just another reminder that she is growing up. 

She had to climb on every big rock we walked by!

In one section of the zoo there was tons of bamboo. It was so pretty. Ella quickly discovered that it was light enough for her to shake. 

Obviously up to no good!

Another failed attempt at a good picture. You can't really tell, but she was trying her best to get out of my arms!

Daddy being silly as usual! Ella brings out the best in him:)

Checking out the Koi fish...

Once we made it past all the rocks and bamboo we headed to see the alligators. They were just lounging. Lounging was a common theme amongst all the animals that day. I was tempted to find a nice patch of grass in the shade and lay down on it by the end of the day too!

On the move again!

Ella's favorite animal in the whole zoo.. the bobcat! ;) 

She stopped when she saw this thing, started clapping, and smiled. She loves heavy machinery!

This picture was taken about an hour past her nap time. She had to refuel so she could keep up!

We also got her some cotton candy. The more sugar the better right!? 

 After the cotton candy we moved on to the indoor part of the zoo. This is where all the fish, spiders, bats, turtles, snakes, and other critters are housed. This is when things started to fall apart. When Ella gets really tired she starts getting crazy. We could barely keep up with her. She was stumbling around on steps and going from one thing to the next in a matter of seconds. She threw a MAJOR fit, because she didn't want to leave the fish. That was to be expected though since she was tired. 

We knew we were on limited time so we decided to go see the giraffes and elephants, and then finish up at the carousel. Unfortunately when we came around a corner we saw this...

and then we heard, "ride, ride, ride." We were able to stall her for a little bit while we went to look at the farm part of the zoo. There is a story that goes along with this whole part of the zoo, but I was too busy chasing Ella around to read the signs. I think the people that lived in this house donated it and the land to the zoo. 

My last attempt at a picture with Ella. She was thrilled!

After this part we couldn't stall anymore so we went to ride the carousel. I knew after we rode it would be all over, and I was right! Ella got to ride two times. Once with each of us. She does not quite understand that once the ride is over you have to get off. She threw a fit each time. 

We were able to catch a quick glimpse of the elephants while Ella was screaming "ride" in our ears. She was DONE! Adam and I decided we needed to get out of there ASAP. Ella cried the whole way to the car. Luckily she stopped as soon as she hit her seat. I thought she might sleep the whole way home, but she was a trooper. It was an exhausting day. I never realized before Ella how exhausting it would be to take a child somewhere. It's a lot more work, but it's worth it to see Ella have fun!