Rockin and Rollin All Night Long!

Well, not really all night long, but Ella has finally learned how to roll over. She did it for the first time on Wednesday morning while we were playing in her room. I had her on her back on a blanket on the floor. I went into her closet to get something and heard a thud. I figured she had kicked something over, since I was emptying a suitcase of toys and reorganizing her room. I turned around to look and found her on her tummy off of the blanket. I was so excited, but sad that I didn't get to see her in action! I turned her back over and put her back on the blanket. She was so proud of herself.

I then turned her on her tummy on the blanket and she pulled up on her arms (something she hadn't done before b/c she HATED being on her tummy). I turned away for another minute to continue organizing and looked back to find her on her back. I couldn't believe that she had rolled over twice and I missed it both times! Of course, all the videos I took were on the Blackberry so the quality isn't that great, but at least you can sort of see what's happening! Tom did get some video with the video camera last night. Hopefully, we'll have some time this weekend to download those so I can put up some real footage!







In other news, Ella had rice cereal for the first time last night. She wasn't really into it, but I think that may be partly due to the fact that she had just eaten a bottle about 20 minutes before we tried to feed her. I'm going to try again later today to see if she'll eat any of it. Pictures and video of that will be up soon!

A Very Special Post

We lost a very special person last week. My grandfather, Jerry Brass, was truly a remarkable man and is already missed by many people.

Grandpa was always there for all of the major milestones in our lives and that did not change with his great grandchildren. I am very thankful that he was able to make the trip to Atlanta for Ella's baby naming last month. He got to spend some quality time with Ella that weekend and we will cherish those moments forever.

Here are some of the pictures that were taken with Grandpa/Great Grandpa that weekend. We love you very much!

Happy 4th of July!

Ella really seemed to enjoy her first Independence Day. We met up with our friends Steven and Brandi and their two daughters at Wills Park for the evening. We arrived around 4:30 PM, set up camp in a shady spot and enjoyed our afternoon/evening. Ella was fascinated by everything around her. She hasn't really spent that much time outside all at once before, so it was a new experience for her. We got some great photos of her at home in her first outfit and some others at the park in outfit number two. You didn't actually think she only had one 4th of July outfit, did you? She is my daughter, after all! Seriously though, all 3 of her Grandma's bought her adorable outfits for the day. One is still a bit too big on her, so she'll be wearing that one on another day.

Ella actually did really well the entire time we were in the park. She played for a few hours and even went to sleep about 30 minutes before the fireworks began. Of course, the fireworks did startle her awake, but she didn't cry. I took her out of the stroller and held her in my lap so she could watch. They were really loud, so I covered her ears, but she was mesmerized by the show!

Since we had the camera with us anyway, I figured I might as well get a rare shot of Tom and me in here, too!

Catching Some Rays

Monday afternoon was so beautiful that I took Ella out onto our deck to enjoy the weather. Here is what she had to say about her getup...


I also got one cute one without the sunglasses.

New Milestones Caught on Video

I mentioned last week that Ella laughed out loud for the first time. She hadn't done it again since that first time until yesterday. I had Tom grab my Blackberry so I could catch it on video. Again, not the best quality, but really cute!



She has been cooing for quite some time now, but Friday night, started to really talk up a storm. I had to get this on film, too! Tom took out the real video camera last night to charge the battery, so hopefully, we'll be able to get some better quality videos up here soon!

Ella is Three Months Old Already!

Tom got the best Father's Day gift ever yesterday - his baby turned three months old! Neither of us can believe that she came into our lives a whole 3 months ago. The last 3 months really have flown by! We cheated a little and took her official Gator chair picture on Saturday since she was all dressed up for Temple.

What a Weekend!

We had a very eventful weekend with lots of family visiting. On Friday, we met up with my Mom, Robin, Debbie, Mark, Stacey, and Danielle at the bowling alley. The kids had a great time, Ella slept most of the time we were there.





That evening, we had dinner at Robin and Mike's house. The kids made the brownies. Surprisingly, they were pretty yummy.


Saturday was Ella's big day. We went to synagogue where she received her Hebrew name. Ella's Hebrew name is Chavah Shoshanah after my Grandma Eva (Chavah is Eve in Hebrew) and my Great Gram Sadie. We sponsored the kiddush luncheon at the temple following the morning service. The food was really good and the cake I ordered from Kelly Kakes in Roswell was fantastic! My Aunt Barbara took some pictures of the family, the food, and the cake so I'll post those once I get them. Here are a few that we took ourselves and one that our friend Lauren took of Tom and Ella.




Saturday night we grilled out at Robin and Mike's house. We didn't take a whole lot of pictures, but I did manage to get one of Ella with her Uncle Brian.


Sunday, we had brunch at our house. Everyone came over to celebrate Father's Day and say goodbye to the family members that were heading home to Florida. Mark really enjoyed playing our Wii games and even got on the Playstation 2 for a bit to try Guitar Hero Aerosmith. Aunt Barb took some pictures of Ella and of Mark and me playing Guitar Hero. I don't have those pictures yet, either, but Tom did take some pictures of Ella in the bumbo seat. She's not quite ready for it yet (notice my hand holding her head up), but she is almost there!