10 MONTHS OLD TODAY!

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Ella's 1st Christmas!

Today is Christmas Day and also a Sunday. we woke up and got ready and went to Church at Dennis & Louise's Ward. They were in charge of the Christmas Musical Program and it was so nice. Ella sang along under her breath and clapped after each song was finished.




When we got home we opened stockings and presents. Ella got a foam puzzle in her stocking and no matter what amazing pricey toys followed, no matter how many bells and whistles ensued, all she wanted to do was chew on the foam puzzle pieces.




We then had Christmas dinner. Matt made a Roast and the hericot verts and I made garlic mashed potatoes and 2 pies, a banana cream and a chocolate peanut butter. After dinner we took our pies and went over to Matt's parent home where we visited with his family and played games. we had a great Christmas!

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Christmas Eve 2005

My family tradition from the Stevenson side is opening a present on Christmas Eve which is always new pajamas and then you wear them that night. This year I went out and bought some really cute flannel on sale and tonight I made it into new pajamas for Ella. They were adorable! They are pink with little snowflakes and white trim and the top is a wrap-around. They looked a little bit Asain. She loved them and they fit her perfectly. The best part? I was able to make them without getting too stressed out...a 1st for me and sewing projects from patterns!




Then we told the Christmas story to Ella while she played with a little plush Nativity set we had bought for her. It was such a nice and peaceful Christmas Eve.

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A nudist is born!

Ella has never cared too much about wearing clothes or being naked, but this evening when we were letting her bum get some air to try to clear a rash she was frolicking like a wood nymph. She definately knew she was nude and was loving every minute of it!

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Sloppy Spaghetti

Can you tell I'm a new Mommy? Today I gave Ella her bath and THEN I gave her Spaghetti and Meatballs for lunch. She kept putting her hands in it and then rubbing her eyes and her hair. It took me about 15 baby wipes to swab down her hands and face. It was crazy! She, of course, was loving it and I was so happy she ate her little lunch I didn't care too much about the mess...next time I'll wait and give her a bath AFTER lunch.

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Curly Top

Today when Ella got out of her bath I rolled her hair in sponge rollers while it was still wet. She was so patient and didn't bother touching or ripping out the rollers. When they came out I couldn't help but laugh. Her hair really took the curl well and she looked like a little fluff-head. It was so cute and everybody loved it.

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MOMMY "MUST HAVE" RECOMMENDATION

I recently found a coupon for and purchased a Tide To Go stain removal stick. I was skeptical, but as someone who constantly spills food onto herself, I felt it was worth a try. Tonight during dinner I spilled au jus onto my PINK shirt. I decided to try my Tide To Go pen. I blotted it on the stain and waited. Now, my shirt certainly didn't dry as quickly as the magic-fabric shirts on the commercials, but hours later while I was washing my hands in the bathroom I realized that the stain was gone! A MIRACLE!

I am now recommending this to everyone I know. It doesn't claim to take out grease stains, but my au jus was a bit beefy and it took it all away. I keep mine in my diaper bag. I can only imagine how this will save my life when Ella is a toddler!





For more information and testimonials visit: http://www.tide.com/tidetogo/site_howtouse.jhtml

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Girl Talk

For a month or two whenever Matt calls from work on his break I would let Ella listen while he talked to her on the phone. At first she would get very still and listen quietly, then she started trying to look at the receiver to see where he was in there and this past week she has finally started babbling into the receiver back to him.

Then all day today when the phone would ring Ella says, "Hey Da-da!" It was so cute. We tried it again and again by hitting the ringer at odd times during the day. What a Daddy's Girl...I love it!

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"Oh, The weather INSIDE is frightful!"

Last night as we were heading to bed I commented to Matt that it seemed quite cold upstairs, we checked the windows to make sure they were all closed and then went off to bed. When I awoke in the morning I could see my breath in teh air...in my bedroom! Our thermostat had broken and we had NO HEAT at all. Thankfully, Ella's room has a space heater which we keep running since her room is a bit more drafty than ours anyway. She was, however, still a popsicle when I went to get her. The heating man said he could come to fix it at 1:00pm, so until then I dressed Ella in the (drumroll please...) Frumpiest Children's Outfit of 2005. It included the following:

1 longsleeved onesie
1 pair thermal pajamas
1 zip-up fleece romper
2 pairs of socks
1 sweater
and...1 knit piggy hat




I dressed similarly and we waited. The thermostat was actually fixed around 3:00pm right as Ella was going down for a nap. It took a while for the house to heat up, but when I went to get her from her nap she was bathed in sweat. I undessed her from her tomb of hot clothing and the heat has been fine ever since. What a day!

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First Snow!

Today when Ella and I went out to run errands it was snowing big, beautiful, soft flakes. Ella was enchanted! The moment she went outside she was reaching into the air to try to grab the snowflakes. Then, as I was unlocking the car door to put her in, she reached out to the car door, scooped a handful of snow off and ate it. She kept going back for more (yes, I DO know snow is filthy stuff) it was so cute.



The interesting part is that she instinctively held out her tongue to try to catch snowflakes on it...I was so glad I had the camera ready to catch the magic of her first snow day!

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STAND TALL!

Today when I went in to get Ella up from her morning nap she was standing up in her crib without hanging onto anything at all. I said, "Don't MOVE!" and ran to get our camera. When I returned she was still there and when I began to take pictures she started clapping and bobbing up and down a bit and still no fall. It was so weird to see her standing up because she seems too little!

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On the move!

Finally, after months of contemplation, Ella has decided to crawl. Once she got how it worked she was off like a flash! I have had to vacuum our downstairs carpet twice a day and she still manages to find microscopic bits oif danger to eat. I can't just sit her on the bed while I take a shower any more. This is the dawn of the age of calculated showering...naptime only! What a little monkey she is. She's into everything!

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