Half a year gone by...

Carter is 6 months old today and I can hardly believe it. It feels like it has gone by so much faster than Ella. He sure is a split personality. Most of the time very sweet and snuggly, but don't put him in the car or make him wait for even 1 second in the middle of the night for food! He screams SO loud in the car and also in the middle of the night. Even once I am in there to feed him he screams until he is eating. The rest of the time he has the kindest nature I have ever seen in a baby. He LOVES his jumper now that he has officially figured out how to use it well. He almost flies right out of it due to his jumping so high. He can sit up unassisted and has been eating solids for almost 2 months. He is beginning to move himself around on the floor pretty well (which is a bit scary). He is working on getting up on hands and knees now (we are in trouble soon I can tell). He can no longer sit in a bumbo (apparently just crawls out gracefully) or his swing (just sits himself right up and nearly flips over). It is pretty much the floor these days, which he seems okay with. He loves his big sister and she loves him equally. If he cries, she gives him his binkie or a toy to play with and she is right there to greet him happily each time he wakes up. She sure is a good big sister!

Parks and Rec

Well we set out to hit up a duck pond yesterday with our old bread (since we found Grandma Sycamore's we no longer needed the other brands). After finding all of the ducks fly south for the winter here (oops didn't think of that) we headed over to a place called Jenkins Estate. It's supposed to be gorgeous in the summer and is quite pretty in the winter as well. Here are a few pictures from the day. Stay tuned for the best ending ever...

Ella at the duck park...she was very bummed that there aren't ducks to feed. Oh well, moving on...

The forest are of Jenkins Estate. Mostly covered in moss this time of year turns out.

This is in front of the old stable.

She loves dancing with her shadow. Cheap entertainment. =)

The tea area.

Just some really pretty trees.

This tree was so pretty. Especially since it had flowers in the winter.

Ella loved the forest.

Carter and I wasting time while Dad and Ella found a potty.

And yes, he is as big as her almost!

Okay, here is the end to our fun day. As we pulled in to the park earlier, there was a sign that said, "This entrance closes at 3pm". We thought, okay no biggie we will just be done before then. As we walked around we found a sign that said the main entrance was open until 6pm so naturally we thought, we will just use that one instead. Around 3:15 we are playing at a park they have inside and there are a few other families there as well so we weren't worried. As we go to leave around 3:30, we realize we are the only car left in that particular parking lot. We drive around back toward the exit to find it of course, closed. So we turn around to find the main entrance to exit there. After looking for quite a while and finding that we were driving in circles we realize, we are stuck! We are locked in! There is no connection to the main entrance and we are stuck inside. We drive up to the office (on what looks as if it may or may not be a private road) to find it closed. We are about a mile from home, know NOBODY and Brady turns to me and says, "Well, we will just have to walk home." =( I am refusing to walk home with NO STROLLER (we of course forgot that)!! So, we had to hang our heads low and call the emergency phone number written on the closed fence. It sends us to the Parks and Rec department who knows exactly where we are (apparently it happens a lot) and they say they will send someone to let us out. After sitting for about 2 minutes, three of the workers walk out (to let themselves out on foot) and let us out. We called the Parks and Rec department back to tell them we got out and they said to call back anytime. I sure hope to never call from inside a locked park again! All in all, awesome end to an awesome day. =)

Ella-isms

Our little girl is growing up so fast. All of a sudden she looks more like a little girl and less like a baby. She says the funniest things. I wish I could remember all of them but there isn't enough time in the day. Here are a few of the recent ones...

While we are sitting at lunch on Saturday, Brady and Ella have this conversation.

Brady: "Ella, may the force be with you."

Ella: "May the force NOT be with me."

Today, when I am prepping Ella for the fact that she will be having a nap so we can go to the store when she wakes up.

Me: "We will take naps, then go to the post office and the grocery store."

Ella: "Ok, we will go to the post office, then Albertsons, and then Roberts!"

Me: "What is Roberts?"

Ella: "Come on, you know what store Roberts is!"

Who knows what Roberts is, but apparently I should.

Yesterday, I said something to Ella that she didn't know what it was. She proceeded to tell me, "I don't know what that means" over and over as I explained. That's what I do to her when I don't understand what she's saying. =)

"Carter, I will call you Boo-Boo." Apparently she has given him a nickname and it is one in the same with Elizabeth's.

Last night we ran to Taco Bell for dinner since we were out of food, and as we pull up Brady realizes that the sign says they temporarily only take cash. As you know, we never have cash so we had to move on. Ella really wanted a cheese roll up so she said asked why we were leaving.

Ella: "I want a cheese roll up!"

Me: "They only take cash and we don't have any. We have to go somewhere they will take our card."

Ella: "But I have cash!"

Me: "Ella they don't take imaginary money so we can't pay for it. What do you want from Wendy's?"

Ella: "A cheese roll up...and I HAVE cash!!"

Bless her heart she really wanted to pay for dinner so she could have her cheese roll up. =)

After getting after her for days about being quiet while Carter is sleeping she tells me this.

"Stop hammering Mom, Carter is sleeping!" Oops.

A couple of evenings ago we are sitting playing and Ella says,"look Mom, I have Jeff and Martina on my back and I am flying like Dumbo!" Do you think she misses Disneyland? =)

Yesterday I am sitting on the floor playing with Carter and Ella jumps on my shoulders.

Ella: "I'm a magnet man!"

Me: "What's a magnet man?"

Ella: "You know cause I'm stuck to you. I'm a magnet man!"

And the most frequent.

"Come on, lets go upstairs to take a nap" (or anything upstairs she doesn't feel like doing).

"But I can't, my legs are broken!" =)

She sure keeps us laughing. It is a good thing because these two's definitely are terrible at times. =)

Goodbye old house...Hello new house!!!

Well we said goodbye to our old house a week and a half ago. The drive was LONG and exhausting. We were very lucky to have the help that we had. Don came down and drove with Brady in the truck and my dad and Cass drove with the kids and I. I am pretty sure our car got the short stick. Ella was over all pretty good. Nana made a bag of surprises for her to get each little while and that kept her quite entertained. My mom also got her a couple of new movies and a ton of new books for the ride. In the grand scheme of things, she didn't complain a whole lot. I ended up sitting in the back quite a bit, switching with Cass every little while. We were in between two car seats, getting the screaming in stereo. It was awful! Turns out Carter cries EVERY time he gets put into his seat. Nice. I have plans of staying home the rest of my life. Thank you to all that helped. (And to Cass and my dad for not leaving my kids at a rest stop). =) As for the new house, we LOVE it. It is so big and there are so many places to put things that I cannot even find things to fill some of the cupboards. It is only a few years old so everything is really new. Ella loves running through the house and really enjoys her new room and own bathroom. As for Brady and I, we have our space back! We have a walk in closet and our own bathroom! The garage will be nice once our stuff is all out. =) We love our new ward and are settling in nicely. We sure miss all the friends and family down there though. Here are a few pics. More to come.

Ella and Lexi. Ella sure will miss her best friend and neighbor. =(

Carter and Jaxon. Didn't really get to know each other much, but they were friends. =)

Here's Ella on our drive enjoying one of her new surprises!

Take a look. He is not crying in the car for once!!! I know, weird.

Grammy and Papa donated their playhouse to Ella. It's in our yard and she LOVES it. Thank you!

The day we dropped Papa off at the airport. Sad. =( We miss you!

Now that is my cute little guy with his normal (non-car) demeanor.

This is pretty much a whole lot of what Ella has been up to.