I stole this from catizhere, hope she doesn't mind. I thought it was cool:



Not much else going on here in the land of Ella. Still trying to get her on a schedule. I don't know how people do it. I've tried and failed and tried again. It would be so nice to know when she will be taking a nap, getting hungry, ect. It would make going out of the house a little less stressful for all parties involved.

Over the weekend, we went out to dinner with some friends and I actually had to leave the restaurant because Miss Ella was throwing her first ever temper tantrum!! It was not pretty.

To all you "experienced" parents, when do you start disciplining your child? I don't mean, grounding, spanking or that sort of thing, just simple "No, Ella we don't spit" or "No, Ella we don't stick our fingers there." Do they understand that word yet? Is that why "NO" is a lot of kids first word?

Today is nasty and cold AGAIN!! I've got a pot of chili bubbling away on the stove and cornbread in the oven for later. I'm so ready for spring!!

I've got a bunch of pics of Miss Ella to share, check out the rest on her website:

Mommy and Ella at the park

Ella trying to make a phone call to Aunt Jen...Playing with Grandma and all her Mardi Gras beads, notice Ella is more interested in the bagNot sure why my child is trying to eat the stem of the banana,

Is it wrong for me to want to tie Ellas hands behind her back when I'm trying to feed her?



The child wants to feed herself, which is fine, except she doesn't understand that the spoon, full of food, goes in her mouth and not her _________ (insert body part besides her mouth).

Guess who just woke up from her nap? Gotta go!!

I should know better than to try to take Ella out to dinner after 6pm. But, against my better judgement, Mike and I packed her up and went to meet Dave and Emily for dinner around 7:15pm. BAD IDEA!! She was pretty good until 8pm hit....BEDTIME!!!

Ella wasn't happy with anything, didn't want her bottle, didn't want to sit, she wanted to sleep and NOW. When the child is unhappy and screaming, Mommy gets a little stressed.

Why? We have all been in the store, restaurant, ect and heard the distinct cry of a very mad baby. I know I always think to myself, "the poor little thing" or "man, I know how the mom feels". I hate it when she crys in public. I feel like I have to silence her at once. I don't want to make other people mad because my baby is crying in Target, Applebees or wherever. Why do I feel this way? Everyone else is probably looking at me, thinking about how crazy I look. Babies cry, I know that. I just don't want mine crying in public. It makes me feel like a bad mom, one who can't control her baby.

Trying out box sizes for shipping: I've been threatening to ship Ella to my Mom when she is bad, so we were trying out box sizes. (Don't call the CPS on me, I'm just kidding. I would never ship her in a box, I would at least put her in a crate, so she could breath) (Again, just kidding)

Ellas first craft project:For all of those that have received or will be receiving their Valentines Day cards from Ella, she wrote her name in all of them. She is soooo smart!!
We even colored on the table for a few seconds while Mom was looking at Daddy!! Just a little extra something for Mom!


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Mike is never going to come again for lunch. Today, within 10 minutes, Ella pooped and puked on him. Lovely isn't it? She is worse than having a dog in the house. There was poop and puke on the carpet today. This is why I'm getting hardwood put in!

I've been trying to get Ella to fall asleep on her own for her naps and at nighttime. So far nothing has worked. So today I tried the Ferber method. The first night you attempt the Ferber method, you put your child to bed as you normally do. Your baby should be tired but still awake when you put her to bed, so that she is left to fall asleep on her own. After you leave the room, the baby will inevitably start crying. Allow her to cry for about 5 minutes, then re-enter the room to console her. It's important that you stay in the room for only a short time - even if she is still crying - and that you don't pick her up or rock her. This second time you leave the room, wait 10 minutes before returning in the same manner. The third time wait 15 minutes, and set this as a maximum wait time for the rest of the night.
Every time thereafter, enter the room briefly and then allow your child to cry for 15 minutes. Eventually, she will fall asleep on her own during one of the 15 minute intervals in which you are out of the room. The second night, you should begin with a 10 minute wait before re-entering the room, followed by 15 and then 20 minutes. In a similar fashion, increase your initial and subsequent wait times by 5 minutes each night.

Hopefully this will teach Ella to learn to go to sleep on her own. The hardest part is going to be listening to her cry. We tried it at nap time today and it worked well. She got a bottle and then closed her eyes. I knew she was tired so I took her to bed, gave her a kiss and told her that I would see her in a little bit.

It only took 20 minutes and she was out. I can't wait to try it tonight and see if it will work. She is waking herself up in the middle of night and doesn't know how to get herself back to sleep.

We will see how it goes.......


PS. HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

The poor baby girl is sick!! She woke up last night around 3am and ate her normal 8oz bottle and then puked it up all over Daddy!! She did that once more and finally fell asleep in Daddys arms on the couch. Poor little thing is all congested and has been running a fever all day!

It's so hard to see your baby not feeling well. I just wish she could talk and tell me whats wrong!

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Funny story behind this pic. Last week I took these pictures and sent them off to Walgreens to be printed. When I went to pick them up, they accused me of violating the copyright law and were not going to give me my pictures. After telling them that I would bring in my camera with the pictures still on them, he finally gave in and gave them to me (with a warning that he better not go to jail). Maybe I should go into business......

It has been so freaking cold here in St. Louis that Ella and I haven't been out much this week. Yesterday, before the POOP incident, we were in a pretty good mood so I decided to take some candid pictures of my very cute daughter:

(the POOP incident involved one very poopy girl, one poopy diaper, one poopy onsie, poop on the floor, in her hair and all over her backside. It also involved pee on the floor). VERY, VERY, bad day for MOMMY!!!!