No Crying, Big Girl!

We had another busy week this week.
Wednesday Ella, Chris, Dad and I went to the pool. This is Ella sporting her itty bitty, teeny weeny, red polka dot bikini, that she wore for the first time today (aka last Wednesday).

Thursday night Jann, Mom and I all got pedicures. Friday morning, someone felt a little left out without a fresh pedicure, so she decided to take matters into her own hands! I found her just before the hallway carpet was about to be painted "ye-oh!" (translation: yellow -everything is yellow) Notice also the streak of black across her forehead! :) Love this girl!

When she noticed that she'd gotten paint on her arm she started to cry. :(

The Sprugel family reunion was this Saturday. Aren't these kids cute? That is my Grandma Allie (second from the left) with all of her siblings.

Those adorable children grew up and had adorable children of their own,

and those adorable children had these adorable children and grandchildren.

Here are the Sprugel relatives (with only a few missing) at our reunion last weekend.

Other photos from the reunion:

Alice's girls: granddaughter Amy, great-granddaughter Ella, daughters Jann and Diane, and granddaughter Rachel.

Ella went for a ride on the tractor with Daddy and cousin Sam.

We had to take Jann back to the airport on Sunday. We miss her already!

This week before Ella's dance class we talked about what was going to happen.
Me: Do you want to go to dance today?
Ella: Yeah, tutu on!
Me: Can Mommy dance too?
Ella: No, window.
Me: That's right, mommies have to sit outside and watch through the window.
Ella: No crying, big girl.
Me: That's right, you are a big girl!
When we got to the studio Ella walked right in, ready to dance, no tears. The teacher left the door open, just in case. A few minutes into class the other little girl in Ella's class (who had also not let her mother out of the room until that night) announced that she was going to close the door. I thought this would send Ella back into tears, but she looked at the window (which is one way, so she only sees a reflection of herself) and turns back to listen to the teacher. Yay Ella!!! That was a big step!

Ella is the one on the right. She listens to everything the teacher says, but doesn't do much of it in class, she's too busy taking it all in. But then randomly during the following week, she will out of the blue do something from class, proof she actually is listening. :)

Fireworks, BOOM!!!

It has been a busy couple of weeks at our house! Lots of things to do and people to see.

Ella has been enjoying her swing this summer. She loved her baby swing when she was tiny, but she hated this swing last summer. She loves to swing now. She will request "push, please," and "unyedoc," (which translates to "underdog").



I was able to sit in the doorway at Ella's 2nd dance class without her crying. Maybe next time I'll be able to leave the room! :) Ella is a big fan of large open spaces, and she just LOVED running around the studio during class.








After dance Grandma Donnie took Ella for a ride on the "round and round."





Chris and I celebrated our 6th Anniversary on Saturday. The traditional/modern 6th anniversary gifts are iron and candy/sugar, so Chris got me 6 packages of Double Stuf Oreos (iron and sugar), and I got him 6 packages of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups (Chris' favorite candy). We also bough ourselves a new clothes iron. Aren't we romantic? Chris also gave me roses and we ordered a cake to share at the Ose reunion that also took place on Saturday. It was a beautiful day for a family reunion. The custard eating relatives all rejoiced at watching a new generation enjoying a cup of custard. Every bite that Ella took was followed by jubilant cheers. I wish Ella had such a wonderful cheering squad for every meal!



Ready for a post custard swim.



Cecilia, Monkey and Ella playing with a chicken.



Better than knee high by the 4th of July.



Ella and Great Uncle Jerry




One of my teacher friends was looking for a home for a litter of kittens this week, so we arranged for the kitties to go to my aunt and uncle's farm. Ella loved the kitties! Millie does not let Ella get close enough to pet her unless Chris is holding Millie, so Ella was very excited that she was able to hold these kittens. Thankfully she didn't squeeze any of them too tightly! :)





We went to the Iowa City fireworks on the 3rd. We gave Ella a sparkler, which she loved at first, but then a spark hit her, and that was the end of that! Ella was scared of the fireworks at first, but when she covered her ears and snuggled in with me she did feel safe enough to watch the fireworks with one eye from under her blanket until she fell asleep. Baby was awake and moving throughout the fireworks show.



On the morning of the 4th, Ella woke up saying "fireerks, BOOM!" (translation: fireworks, BOOM!) complete with hand gestures to represent the firework shooting into the sky and exploding. :) We went to the Coralville parade. Ella waved at every parade entry, and she filled two bags full of candy and beads. It was HOT! Ella had a great time and was very focused on collecting every piece of candy that was tossed her way. After the parade was over, if you looked to the left and the right from where we were sitting, there was still candy to be found in the street, but the ground was completely candy free where Ella had been sitting.








While I was at work Chris, Ella, Grandma Donnie, Papa and Aunt Jann went to the pool for a quick swim to cool off.



That evening we went to Coralville's fireworks. Ella watched Mommy and Daddy do sparklers from what she considered to be a safe distance. As Ella fell asleep during the fireworks for the second night in a row, Baby woke up and was very active.




When we got home we found that Ruby (who we'd left closed in our bedroom, like we often do) had gotten scared of the sounds of neighbors' fireworks and tore up the carpet behind the door. The floorboard was drenched in drool. There were only a couple scratches in the door, which may have already been there, but the drywall was untouched. That would have been an easier fix.



I was able to sneak out of the studio during Ella's 3rd dance class! It only lasted a few minutes until she noticed from across the room that I had left.

We had another appointment with Dr. Minyon yesterday. Baby is still head down and doing well. After the appointment we scheduled the rest of our appointments, including one after the due date, which made September look a whole lot closer than we realized! Yikes! So much to do, so little time! When I was pregnant with Ella I didn't have much to do that summer, except to get ready for her. Now it's much different. I'm working part time and tutoring, and playing with Ella, so I don't feel like I've done anything to prepare for this new baby. I've mostly been focused on getting Ella ready for Baby's arrival. I wonder when/if the nesting will begin. It needs to, but it all sounds overwhelming. Do you think there are nesters out there for hire? :)

Here we go!

Wednesday, first thing Friday, same thing, right? :) Gotta start somewhere!

We had a pretty laid back Father's Day. Ella got to spend time with Daddy, Grandpa Mike, and Papa all in the same day! She could not have been happier. Ella, Chris, Grandma Donnie (aka Grandma Diane), Papa and I all went to the swimming pool so Ella could show off her swimming skills. As we pull into the parking lot, Ella shouts "SWIM SUIT, ON!" as soon as she spots pool. This is her way of letting us know she wants to go swimming, it is often one of the first phrases out of her mouth each morning.





Grandma Donnie bought this swim outfit for Ella. Ella loves it, and would wear it all the time if I'd let her, especially the flip flops, which Ella refers to as her "buzz shoes."





Notice the 12-18 month size swim suit pared with the 4T/5T hat? :) Here is a picture of Chris and Ella last year on Father's Day, and this year.





Can't believe how much she has changed! This girl has no fear of the water whatsoever. She likes to jump into water that is over her head, and after we catch her she insists that we put her down, even though we tell her she cannot touch the bottom there, she continues to say "down, Ella do it" in her French accent until you let go of her and she sinks below the surface of the water, where she then proceeds to smile up at us, so proud of herself for being underwater! I'm sure the lifeguards love it when we come to the pool. At least they can't complain about the child to swimming adult ratio of our group! Besides jumping into the pool and being under water, Ella also enjoys blowing bubbles, kicking her feet while on both her back and her tummy, playing in the fountains, playing motor boat, bobbing in the water, and watching Daddy go off the boards.

I had the last of my monthly doctor appointments this week. Now we begin going every two weeks, how can this be? The second trimester of this pregnancy just flew by! We listened to Baby's heartbeat again, which is still Ella's favorite part of the whole visit. I've managed to gain 14 pounds so far with this pregnancy, that's after the 10 I lost in the first trimester, so I should be right on track to reach 25 by early September. My belly is measuring right at 28 weeks and Baby is currently head down and kicking up a storm. I passed the glucose test, but my hemoglobin was half a point lower than they'd like, what else is new? I'll pick up some Double Stuff Oreos tomorrow, that should take care of it. ;) I also got my RhoGAM shot, Chris was sure the needle was big enough that it would go in one side of my arm and come out on the other side! It's probably a good thing we didn't catch a glimpse of the epidural needle when I had Ella! Ella informed Dr. Minyon that we will be having a boy and that we will be naming him Bow Wow. Dr. Minyon thought that was a very fine name for a baby. :)

Ella started her first dance class this week. Since she doesn't go to daycare I have been looking for activities for Ella to be involved in where she can get used to spending more time with kids her own age without Mommy around. I took Ella with me when I signed her up about a month ago and she got to watch a class of older girls dance. She loved watching them so much that when I pulled her away from the window, she wouldn't go without kicking and screaming all the way to the car. Since signing up every time we drive by the dance studio Ella points out the window and shouts "DANCE!" When Ella woke up on the first day of class, the first thing out of her mouth was, "Dance, tutu on!" She was so excited. There are only 2 other little girls in her class. Ella walked right into the studio after the teacher, and only started to cry after she saw another girl crying because her mother was leaving. The tears did eventually stop and Ella warmed up and was soon exploring the studio on her own, hanging from the barre, running around in circles in front of the mirrors. It was pretty funny to watch. Her future kindergarten teacher will have her hands full with this one!









Ella and I started our second year of Kindermusik classes this week. We started taking classes last summer and I wasn't really sure she liked it at first. I only signed up for the fall semester only because it got us out of the house, Ella got to be around other kids and I got to be around other moms. A few weeks into the spring semester Ella was singing along to the kindermusik cd in the car, and now she will randomly sing the songs out of the blue and we can tell what songs she is singing, even if she doesn't have all the words right. Chris and I are working on getting her to sing for us on camera. I will be sure to post the footage as soon as it becomes available.

Lets try this again...

Well okay, so if you followed our baby website when we were pregnant with Ella, you noticed that we stopped posting not long after she was born. Sorry about that, I know a lot of you loved the updates! The program I was using ended up being too time consuming with a new baby to keep up with, so I'd write posts, but they would never get uploaded. Facebook was just easier/faster, so I quit using the website. Last year I started this blog and included all the non-published posts from the year before, but no new posts, and I didn't tell anyone about it, which is fine, because I haven't done anything with it since, and continued to use Facebook. Lately I've been enjoying reading others' blogs which has inspired me to give the whole thing another shot. Third time is a charm right? Lets see how far I get with this newest attempt at sharing our world with you. The name I've chosen for this blog, "Amy's Weekly Wednesday Update" is not a promise, it's more like a goal for me. I hope to post at least a little something every week. As some of you may remember, I used to send out Weekly Wednesday Downtown Updates, which turned into Weekly Wednesday Westside Updates and so on as I moved around. I think I was fairly consistent with these updates, as well as the pre-Ella posts on the baby website, so I know it is possible, and I think this time I may just have the motivation to get back in the habit. So today is Monday, not Wednesday, but hey, it's an update! Let's just call it a head start for this week, rather than an overdue post from last week, or last year, or 2009... :)