My First Pony

After 2 years of waiting with no, little, or thin hair:

Ella's loving her pony tail!

Tutu's and Ties

Tutu's and Ties

Last weekend, Ella had her first "friend" party. We were just as excited for the party as she was! When all of her friends arrived (minus a few sick friends), they all suited up in their tutus and ties.

They looked so cute! It was hard to get a good picture, so here is the best one we could snap!

Most of the festivities were revolved around the kiddos playing, reading books, and eating. What could be better! It was so fun to see all the kids play and interact with each other. Here are some of our "best" pictures from the party that day!

Our birthday girl had such a great day!

Birthday Week

It's hard to believe, but this next Sunday is Ella's second birthday.  She has grown up so much recently.  It seems that each day she is learning a new song, phrase, or activity. 


We're late planning Ella's party, so we've got a busy week ahead of us.  If this afternoon's struggles with Photoshop are any indication of how this week's planning and organization will proceed Angie and I are in a lot of trouble!


We're planning to have family over Friday night, and some of Ella's friends are coming Saturday afternoon.  Ella's is so excited to hand out her invitations because she's fallen in love with her "fancy" skirts. Every morning the debate is whether she can wear her "gray fancy" or "pink fancy."


It was the gray one that made it onto the invite...

Dollhouse

This Christmas, I decided to make a dollhouse for Ella.  It sounded like a fun and special gift.  I think it was, but I should also caution that it was a lot of work!  


In the end, it was all worth it as I got to see the excitement on her face Christmas morning, and her continued fun these past days as her dolls have made endless treks up and down the dollhouse stairs.

Christmas Eve night, ready to go!

As she came out of her room Christmas morning she was very surprised to see the huge dollhouse sitting next to the tree.  She quickly got over her surprise and starting playing with her dolls.

  

After a long, hard morning of playing (and a late night of finishing for Angie and myself) yawns were commonplace Christmas morning.

Even though the project took longer than I had hoped and I had to stay up late the last few nights to get it ready for Christmas morning, I would do it all again in a second.  In fact, I think after Ella's Christmas haul I am going to be working on storage solutions for her room next!


Jared

Some quick pics from Fall 2011.

Resolution

We've made a New Year's Resolution, and may just start on it early. We've decided to resurrect our blog.

More to come...(hopefully)

Jared and Angie

Loveshugskisses

Love Hugs Kisses Valentine's Day 5x7 folded card

Unique party invitations and announcements by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Christmas Card

Holy Family Religious

Modern greeting cards and party invitations by Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Ella's First Christmas

This past weekend we celebrated Christmas with the Norberg side. We had quite a blast. Watching the kids play with their new toys was so much fun.

Ella received a wooden kitchen set with lots of food, pots and pans, a tea pot set, lego blocks and her first Cabbage Patch Kid-which we cannot leave the house without now. Here are a few pictures of Ella playing with her toys.

Walking!

So we are embarrassed that our last blog was when Ella first crawled. However, we can't promise that we will do more going forward. Chasing this little girl takes a lot of time, and we think it just got harder.

Check out what Ella learned today:

I can crawl!

This past weekend Ella started to crawl! At first it was one or two "steps" at a time, but by the end of the weekend she was having no trouble crossing a room.

Here is a quick video of her doing what she loves best: chasing Gracie and her tail.

Say Green?

Today Ella entered the world of vegetables. She had her first taste of green today and did not seem too fond of the idea. Here is her first time with green beans:

Cloth Diapering

So, it has been just over a month that our family has been cloth diapering. And, I have to say that we have enjoyed it (and yes, even Jared did come around). One tool that we have loved having while cleaning the poopy diapers is our bumGenius diaper sprayer. It makes cleaning the poop not so disgusting!

We have enjoyed the benefits of cloth diapering. The biggest benefit has been that Ella no longer gets diaper rash-which has to feel good for her. It is also a good reminder that natural is better. Disposables have so many chemicals in them that it cannot be good for babies skin. We have also enjoyed putting fun colors on her rump!

This past week Elegant Mommy (a locally owned store in Sioux Falls) had a fabulous sale on bumGenius 3.0. They were only $12, which is a great deal! They sold out incredibly fast. We wished that we would have bought more but were not sure if we would like them. But, we did!

The two types of diapers we have tried are FuzziBunz and bumGenius 3.0. I have to admit, I wish that we would have bought more bumGenius' than FuzziBunz. They are trimmer, more light weight, and easier to put on because of the velcro. This may not be an issue for some people, but Ella is a mover and a shaker so it tends to get a bit tricky at times when you are trying to snap her up and she is rolling around.

To any of our fellow blog readers who are going to have babies, we would suggest cloth diapering. The laundry isn't much more and it helps keep your baby rash free. It is an investment at the beginning, but the great part is that you can use the diapers for all of your kids and so it pays off in the end and within the first year.

A Morning Devotion

Awhile back, my mom gave me a devotional, Moments with the Savior: A Devotional Life of Christ by Ken Gire. I have began to make the devotional part of our morning routine. I know that Ella is too little to understand but she does have ears to hear :). Anyways, I was really struck by a devotion. It was the type of devotion that made the hairs on your arms stand up and that sent a shiver down your spine and that gave you goosebumps.

The scripture that we were richly blessed by was Luke 1:26-38. (This is the passage where Mary answers God's call to be Jesus' mother.) The devotion focused on Mary's response to God: "I am the Lord's servant." What an incredible response! As Ella sat in my lap on this particular morning, I thought very hard about Mary's response to God. And I have to admit, as much as I would like to say I would have had the exact response-I can't say with 100% confidence I would have. It made me think and reflect...a lot.

It is truly amazing how easily those words can come out, "I am your servant," but do I mean those words with all of my heart? What would happen to my life if that was my daily prayer and I meant it whole heartedly? Not would it change how I treated people, but how would it change the way I treated people? Not would it affect my thoughts and feelings, but how would it affect my thoughts and feelings? How would life be different if I truly gave God everything and abandoned my own desires and said, "I am your servant."

At the end of the daily devotions, there is always a prayer and this is where God spoke to me-arm hair standing, goosbump giving, and shivering words that went right to my heart. I would like to share the words of Ken Gire with you (hopefully it is legal to copy this down-but I did credit his book and the page numbers :) ...

Dear Jesus,
What a remarkable person she was, your mother. So highly favored. So greatly blessed. Mary, Mother of God. Help me to hear beyond the liturgical familiarity of those words to their far-reaching implications. Mother of God. Who could be equal to such a task? Who, in any stretch of the imagination, could be qualified
The honor bestowed on her was staggering. So was the responsbility. To be the one not only to bear you but to protect you, raise you, teach you.
I pray that even across so many centuries she could teach me too. There is so much I could learn from her. What wonderful things would be birthed in my life if only I could learn to pray, "I am your servant. May it be to me as you say."
If that were my prayer, how would it affect the thoughts I think, the plans I make, the words that come from my mouth? If I read my Bible this morning with such a response, how different would this afternoon be? How different this afternoon would I be?
"I am your servant." The words seem so religiously correct. But are they really true? Am I really your servant Am I willing to submit to whatever plans you have for my life, regardless of the risk, the cost, the consequences?
"May it be to me as you say." I can say the words so easily. But can I say them honestly? Say them and mean them? Live them?
For years she taught you, Lord, with so many word and in so many ways. It's sad so few have been saved for us. But thank you for saving the words, "I am your servant. May it be to me as you say." If I learn nothing else from her, those words have given me a model not only how to pray but how to live...
(pg. 27-28, Moments with the Savior, Ken Gire)

An Unexpected Phone Call

If you are like me, when the cell phone rings and an unknown number shows up, you ignore it. I hate answering phone calls of unknown numbers because it is usually some sort of solicitior. Now most people would probably have no qualms with listening to a complete stranger on the other end, but I do. I am not good at saying no to unwanted things, or saying no to making donations, or meeting with people for whatever reason.

Today was an exception. I had decided when the number showed up on my phone that I would call the unknown subject back if that person had left a message and today a person did. So, when I listened to the message I was super excited to find out that Robbi was in town and I was lucky enough to get to spend time with her.

Robbi and I have many memories together which began with being co-RA's together in beloved Grand Island Hall. One memory, that will go down in hisotry is when we had to do our first write-up. However, we never could actually do the right up because we could not find the male who was hidden in a GI closet. It's amazing how that door was jammed! Anyways, today more memories were added. We had a few good hours of conversation and then time at the pool with her and a few others.

I love knowing that even though Robbi and I haven't seen each other in at least a year or so that it was like we had never been apart. We just picked up where we left off and it was wonderful. So, thank you Robbi for calling and spending part of your day with Ella and I. Thank you for being the person I was lucky enough to get to call back. It was a delight and you made my day!

Father's Day

Sunday was Jared's first Father's Day. His one request was to have a relaxing day at home and so that is just what we did.

The day started off with Jared and Ella looking at the Sunday Ad's online. He is already teaching her the importance of frugality and she too seems to enjoy it.

After the ads had been looked at we got ready for 8 o'clock church. It was nice to make it to the early service and see friends and family. When church was finished, we headed to Kaladi's to get our favorite breakfast: waffles and a carmel steamer. Then, we headed home and watched Ella jumparoo, which she thoroughly enjoys! The afternoon then consisted of a family nap and a trip to Lowe's and Sonic (happy hour from 2-4) and Jared reading his newest Lee Child book.

It was a wonderful day for a wondeful husband and father!

Zoo Trip

This afternoon we met some of our good friends (Allison and Eliza) at the zoo. It was a beautiful day to be out and to enjoy the weather. Our trip lasted almost two hours. It was filled with great conversation and enjoyment watching the kiddos interact with the animals. Well, I guess you could say Eliza did most of the interacting and Ella chimed in a time or two at the goats. Those seemed to be her favorite. They also wore her out because she spent the remainder of the trip sleeping!

Here are a few more pictures!

Fire in the Hole

This summer one of our goals as a family was to not go out to eat-especially on the weekdays. We are on a frugality kick to accomplish some goals we have for the future. Every week, we cut coupons and plan out lunches and dinner for the nights.

Tonight, we were having marinated chicken, rice, and vegetables. So, I started making the rice on the stove. I added my two cups of water and was waiting for the water to boil. I walked out of the kitchen to check on Jared and Ella. From the living room, I thought I heard the water boiling over. I was thinking that was not possible since it was only two cups of water. It is a good thing I walked into the kitchen when I did, because I managed to start a fire!

Out of habit, I turned on the front left burner. Unfortunately, that was not the burner with the rice on it. Instead was our wood cutting board - which had burst into flames. Luckily, I had a pot of water right next to the flame and was able to douse it out!

I've decided to make the rice in the microwave tonight.

Sleeping Beauty

This summer, one of our favorite things to do has been to take an afternoon nap together. However, on this particular afternoon, I could not sleep because I was too busy watching her sleep!

McKennan Park

This week, Ella had her first outdoor swimming experience. We went to McKennan Park with Jenny, Logan, and Grammy. She loved the water and loved playing with everyone as well as watching all of the other kids. I thought I would post a picture of her in complete swim gear. I am biased, but I do think she looks pretty cute!