Ella Turns Two!

I got Ella to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" for the camera in the car this week. She was a little distracted, but she's still pretty cute. I'll keep working on getting her to sing "Bow-Wow" for the camera.


The night before Ella's second birthday Chris, Ella and I were all looking at pictures from the year before. We talked about how Chris and I couldn't believe how much she had changed in a year, and how a year ago she gave up drinking baby formula from bottles and that since she's a big girl she likes to drink chocolate milk from sippy cups or cups and she likes to eat M&M's. We asked if Baby would be able to drink chocolate milk from sippy cups and eat M&M's when s/he arrives, to which Ella replied, "No, baby." Somehow the conversation moved onto binkies and Ella decided that since she was a big girl and was going to be two the next day, that she could give her binkies to "Baby Bow-Wow." She went around the house hunting for all of her binkies and taking them into her room and lining them up in the crib to give to Baby Bow-Wow. When she couldn't find any more binkies to give to Baby Bow-Wow at our house, we went over to Gra Dondee's and PopPop's to see if we could find any old binkies there. She found one and placed it in their crib to leave for Baby Bow-Wow.

We weren't sure how well this was going to work out as she was pretty attached to her binkies. That night when I tucked her into bed she mentioned her binky on her checklist of things she likes to have at bedtime. I asked her what she had done with her binkies, and she replied "Baby Bow-Wow!" I asked her if she still needed her binky, and she replied "No, big girl." She seemed happy with her decision, so I kissed her goodnight and went and sat on the couch outside her room figuring that she would be in tears within 5 minutes. I was wrong! She actually fell asleep without her binky. I sat there for a while waiting, thinking there was no way it could be that easy for her to give up her beloved binkies, but she stayed asleep. I asked her about it the next morning, and she was so proud to tell me again that she'd given her binkies to Baby Bow-Wow!

The birthday girl with her tutu on!

Ella and I had lunch downtown with Gra Dondee, Papa and Uncle Eric. After lunch Eric and Ella played a few duets.

Ella and Grandma Donnie wrote on one of the Book Marks.

On the way home we made a stop at the mall for a ride on the round and round.

Later we went swimming at City Park Pool.

Ella played on the slide in the park.

We had dinner at Texas Road House.

Then went home to open packages...

and have birthday cake.

 I don't know why Grandma Dondee, Ella and PopPop are blue.

On Saturday Ella helped make the cake for her birthday party

and went on the merry-go-round with Grandma Mary.

Ella loves merry-go-rounds, or "round-and-rounds" as she calls them, so this was the theme for her party. This was her invitation.

This was my first project in digital scrapbooking. Chris has been very patient helping me learn how to use photoshop. I used Scrap Orchard's Mr. Kite Mini Kit to create this invite.

The weather on Sunday was awfully hot. I thought I would save some time and finish decorating the cake when we got to the park, this was a mistake. As you can see the green on the bottom started melting off as soon as I put it on, so I stopped decorating there and called it good enough. Ella's favorite part about this cake: "Round-and-round!" My favorite part of this cake: I could place the candles in the center of the cake, where the horses block little hands from grabbing them. No repeats of last year!

 Getting ready to blow out the candles (even though the breeze has already extinguished them)

 She didn't want to wait for us to cut the cake, she wanted to just dig in!

 Thanks everybody for braving the heat to come help Ella celebrate her 2nd birthday!

Jana & Aaron

Grandma Dondee & PopPop

Ed & Kathy

Aunt Hallie & Uncle Eric

Grandma Mary & Grandpa Mike

Jen, Clark & Colbin

Ella opened her presents, then we walked over for a ride on the round-and-round.

 The birthday girl with Daddy.

 The birthday girl with Mommy.

The a/c in the car didn't even come close to helping us cool down, so Ella, Gra Dondee, Pop Pop, Chris and I decided to go to City Park Pool for a swim. This is one of the pools that Eric and I used to work at. This was Ella's second time visiting this pool, she was 8 weeks old the last time we took her here. She enjoyed it much more this time around!

I have a fun pregnancy related story from this week to share, but go ahead and skip ahead if you are eating while reading this update, it's not really a pretty one, but we've been laughing about it all week. Mom, Ella and I went to Noodles for lunch for the first (and possibly last) time on Monday. I ordered the macaroni and cheese to share with Ella. Ella and I really enjoyed it. Baby, not so much. I made it to the back of the restaurant where the bathrooms were, and even into the bathroom and into a stall, but unfortunately, not over the toilet before it all came back up.  If loosing your lunch was an Olympic event, I would have easily taken the gold that day, with extra bonus points for coverage. There was vomit EVERYWHERE! Not much in the toilet itself, but on the toilet, the floor, my shoes and three out of four of the walls of the stall. I was quite thankful that nobody else happened to be in the bathroom at the time and quickly cleaned it up as best I could with toilet paper and paper towels while I prayed that Mom and Ella were making a mad dash for the getaway vehicle so we could escape quickly without notice. I was so embarrassed when I had to go tell the hostess that they really needed to spray down the women's bathroom with bleach water. We were out of there in a flash. Somehow I'd managed to keep my clothes and hair clean, but we had to stop by my house to pick up some clean sandals and then stopped for gas before we headed up to Cedar Rapids. As I'm walking out of the gas station, I hear someone say, "hey, weren't you just at Noodles?" Seriously?!? Some guy in a truck had been at the same restaurant that I'd just vomited all over and then driven to the same gas station in the next town and recognized me from across the parking lot? That's really quite fantastic and not embarrassing at all!  It will be a while before I feel I can show my face at either the restaurant or the gas station again.

Ella's last dance class of the summer was this week. She was late because I couldn't get her out of the swimming pool! As soon as we got to dance, she and Gra Dondee ran ahead of me into the studio. By the time I got across the parking lot Ella was already in her class, with the door closed, no tears! Woohoo! :)

After watching her really enjoying the last two classes, and showing off her skills at home, we've decided to sign her up for more classes this fall.  I'm glad to have found something that she can do without me, and with other kids her own age!

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? :)