Ella's First Halloween!

Yesterday we had a great day. We started our day carving pumpkins. We gave Ella some pumpkin goo, she did not enjoy it at ALL and threw it on the floor. We also discovered that Ella has found where we "hide" her toys. It is no longer a secret.  We decided to do Ella's first Halloween with a party at our house. Her Grandpa, Great Aunt Pat, Grandma, Papa, Grandma Kathie came to see her. Our friends Jerry and Elizabeth (with their daughter Emily) and Cindy and Denelle (with his daughter Amaya) also came. We had a camp fire, roasted hotdogs and had smores, and just had a good time watching the kids interact. Ella was so exicted to see her family that she refused to take a nap, which meant that she only lasted about 20 minutes her in adorable lady bug costume. We are so blessed to have so many amazing people in our lives.

Ella's Great Aunt Pat and Elizabeth

Ella's First Time with the inards of a pumpkin!

I knew I had more toys somewhere.

Ella and her Grandpa

Jerry helping Billy with the fire.

Our little very sleepy lady bug.

Denelle, Jerry and Emily (aka Dorothy)

Scary (ok maybe not!)

Denelle, Amaya, and Cindy

Amaya

Ella's Papa, Grandma Kathie, Granpa, and Billy in the back

Great Weekend

This weekend was relaxing. We spent it mostly at home just spending time with Ella. On Sunday we found out that a little pioneer village was having a harvest festival. We enjoyed going through buildings that were a couple hundred years old. There was also a pow wow. Ella loved the drums and was even singing along with the Native Americans. One of the ladies at the "snack shack" gave Ella a spoon dipped in white chocolate. She loved it and got very upset when mommy and daddy felt that she had enough and took it away. It was so neat seeing our little girl in buildings that were 200 times older than she was. It was a beautiful day and we all enjoyed it very much!

Fall Fun

Fall is Lisa's most favorite season. With the season brings fall colors, piles of leaves to jump into and one of Lisa's best memories..making applesauce from scratch. Lisa wanted to pass this along to Ella. Unfortunately it isn't as easy as heading to Lisa's pop and gran's house to pick apples off of his tree...so to the orchard we went. Ella had a great time playing with the apple trees, pumpkins, flowers, etc. She was ok with the pig as well...until it rubbed its wet gooey nose on her hand...after she wasn't having anything to do with it. We bought a bushel of apples and we came home to a pot of veggie soup simering. Lisa has cooked and turned a half of a bushel worth of apples into homemade applesauce, which Ella loved. We can't wait to see Ella all dressed up for her first Halloween, eating pumpkin pie at Thanksgiving and opening presents at Christmas!

Wedding Weekend

This weekend Lisa's best friend, Cindy, got married. Lisa was a bridesmaid in the wedding. It was a beautiful wedding and we wish them a life time of happiness! Ella had a great time dancing and eating up the attention she was getting! She was a tropper and even fell asleep with the DJ blairing the tunes.

Fun in Atlanta

This past week has been full of excitement for our family. Billy had to work at a trade show in Atlanta so Lisa and Ella came along. On Monday Billy had free time so we all headed to the Atlanta Aquarium. Ella loved it so much that Lisa took her back on Tuesday and then followed up by going to the World of Coca Cola where Ella got her first tiny sip of coke..her face was PRICELESS! On Wednesday Lisa and Ella drove to South Carolina to visit Lisa's Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins. Lisa and Ella came back on Friday and headed to Imagine It, a children's museum. Today Lisa and Ella headed to the Atlanta Zoo then to Fox Sports Bar to watch the game. We had a great trip, but are ready to be home and in our own beds!

Busy Busy Busy

Things have been nuts around the Carlin household. Lisa has been putting in large amounts of hours at work and Billy has been preparing for a trad show. Ella is getting so big. Soon we are going to have to switch her from a infant car seat to a convertible car seat. She is long and lean. Ella's hair is getting longer as well and we can now put it in piggy tails. She has been crawling on all four for some time now and is now pulling her self up to stand. Two days ago she started to "side step" when holding on to the couch. Walking is soon to come. On August 17th we had a very scary day. Ella fell down a flight of stairs and we had our first major boo boo to deal with. A trip to Children's ER showed that she had two small bruises and no other injuries. It was scary, but also showed us how resilient kids really are. Ella talks often and her favorite phrase now is "da da da da..." She also says "hi." Although we know she doesn't know what it means it still makes us laugh. Ella has also started kissing us back by putting her open mouth on your cheek (and sometimes licking it.) It's sloppy, but we love it. This weekend was Ella's first OSU game. Billy was sooo excited to put her in her OSU onsie. We also recently celebrated Lisa's birthday and she got her first birthday card from Ella. Billy has to go to Atlanta on Labor Day for work so Lisa and Ella are tagging along. On Wednesday Lisa and Ella are driving to South Carolina to visit with Lisa's Aunt Joan, Uncle Jerry, and Cousin Jan. Ella will get to meet Lisa's family and play with Jan's children Kasey, Mackenize, and baby Jase. We are loving this stage and can't wait to see what Ella does next.

Moooooo and Extremem Building

Extreme Home Makeover is doing a build very close to our house. Yesterday was demolition day so we headed over to watch. Lisa, her friend Elizabeth, and her boss Lana "snuck" into the VIP viewing area and were able to have an up close and personal view of all the designers, TY, the house, the production, Kelly Pickler, etc. It was hot out but the show gave out free water and ice cream to keep everyone cool and happy. Lisa didn't come out completely unscaved however as her chest is very sunburnt. It was very neat to see how the show works and we can't wait to stop by several more times to see the progress. Lisa's sister Lori knows the family and is very excited that they are getting a new home.

Today is Ella's offical last day as a five month old. To celebrate we tok her to Young's Dairy for ice cream and a time to visit the animals. Ella loves all of the animals and we think she just might be a vetranarian some day.