Meeting New Friends

We had an action packed weekend and a lot of fun! Friday, Lynn, Steve and Caroline came to visit us. We haven't seen Caroline since she was 6 weeks old and now she is 5 1/2 months and is so big and adorable! Caroline and Ella loved to stare at each other and were fascinated with each other! Caroline was also very fascinated with Dakota, I think she might need a puppy at home!

On Saturday, we had a big Octoberfest party in the neighborhood and our old neighbors, Brooke and Michael that moved to Boston came back so it was great to see them again and hang out with all the neighbors. We are lucky to live in such a great neighborhood with great friends and lots of little kids.

Caroline and Ella hanging out together! Notice how they are both lounging, too cute! The funny thing is that Ella is actually longer than Caroline even though she is 3 months younger.

This pic was too funny, Caroline flinched and Ella gave her the funniest look! Lynn and I have been friends since elementary school so it's really neat that we each had daughters and only 3 months apart. They will be great friends, we only wish they lived closer.

Daddy dressed Ella on Sunday, notice the "beautiful matching outfit!" I guess Ella liked it though because she was very happy:)

Fun Filled October

Hi Everyone! We are having beautiful fall weather here in Charlotte and we are enjoying every minute of it with lots of walks and playing outside. Here are a couple of recent pictures of our little munchkin and a video of her playing with her Baby Einstein activity mat. She loves to "sing and dance" to the music and stare at the big star that lights up. We have a big weekend this weekend with Lynn and Steve coming to visit and Caroline and Ella meeting for the first time and then a Fall Party in the neighborhood on Saturday so will have lots of pictures to share next week.

Ella's favorite hour is happy hour! (Oh wait, it's Mom and Dad's favorite hour!) Cuddling with Dad after a hard day.

She still loves the swing and usually falls asleep and will sleep forever in there.

Out for a walk on a sunny, warm day!

Let's Go Yankees! Ella sported her Dad's original yankee outfit from over 30 years to cheer them on. As you can see, she was very into the game. (I swear I am there also, Mike just got in all of these pictures!)

Ella has her Halloween costume and is all set for the big day but the blog followers will have to wait and see those pictures after Halloween!

2 Months Old

Ella is growing up so fast! This week, she turned 2 months old which meant another trip to see the doctor. This time came with some shots which she is not a fan of and we like even less but she did great! She gained another 2lbs and is up to 11lbs 3oz and grew another 2 inches to 24 inches long! She is in the 96% percentile for length so she is a tall one right now! Some of her pants are starting to look like capris on her. She is also doing so much better with sleeping at night and the past couple nights has slept between 7-9 hours at a time. We hope it continues like this because it is so nice for Mom and Dad also! Here are some recent pictures and as you can see, she is smiling a lot more but it is so quick, it's hard to capture with a camera.

Big Smiles!

Ella sporting some cute new outfits, she is quite a fashionista! She likes them so much, many times will go through several outfits a day.

She loves playing on her back with the toys (that is when Dakota is not trying to eat them!) and getting ready for her big doctor's appt, she had no idea what was ahead.

U2 Concert

Mike and I had our first night away from Ella on Saturday when we went to the U2 concert in Raleigh with Erin and Jeremy. My parents and grandmother came to babysit so we could have an "adult" night! We had a great time and the show was incredible and did not disappoint.

Erin and I before the show and our view of the stage before the concert. We had great seats!

Bono and the band

We also lucked out with perfect weather since it was an outdoor concert.

The crazy claw stage they built.

Video of One they played during the encore.

Seabrook Trip

Last week we spent some time down at Seabrook with the family and Great Grandma Ange. We had perfect weather and a great time. Ella has now been to the beach twice and is only 7 weeks old so she is a lucky girl. Ella is growing so much these days and really starting to focus and see more things each day. She is also sleeping a lot better and three times has slept for 6 hours at a time which is a great treat for us! Last night, she slept from 11:30-6:00 which was great but also a little scary and I ran into to check on her once but she was sleeping away. She still loves to be held all the time and was very spoiled at the beach with lots of hands to hold her. She is such a fun little girl and we love her more and more each day. Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Ella takes after her Mom and Great Grandmother and is quite fashionable and even has matching stripped socks!

Everyone loves the beach, especially Dakota! Mike and I attended the new island club gala. It was fun to get dressed up and have a night out while Ella stayed home with Great Grandma.

Ella enjoys the beach so much, it puts her right to sleep.

Look at me and my big blue eyes. Ella meets her Great Grandmother.

We had unbelievable sunsets!

Ella and Dee Dee watching Kristin beat up on Mike in beach tennis (that is when Dakota didn't steal the ball. She was a great ball girl!)

We rented kayaks one day and went out and explored the ocean.

Court and Jennifer getting X-treme.

We even got Grandma in the kayak, haha!

Happy Hours on the back deck, not a bad view!

Ella even put on her new beach dress for the photos.

Life is good! A perfect sunset and a glass of great wine.

The beach babe and her guard dog watching over her.

Ella with her Papa and sleeping right through the sunset.

Dakota with her Uncle Court and Papa. Dakota had a great time and definitely didn't want to come home.

Ella getting lots of love.