10 months

This past week has not been my favorite. It has been full of whining, screaming, crying, and other terrible behavior. Ella has started throwing tantrums at 10 months! She goes limp and then arches her back until I put her down so she can roll around while screaming at the top of her lungs. It is awful. I thought this started at around two?! I keep trying to tell myself that she is teething in hopes that this behavior won't last long, but there are no real signs of that. I think she is just being extra dramatic. What am I supposed to do? The worst part is that she really only does this when I'm around. Yolanda acted so surprised and just asked, "What is she doing?" when I went to pick Ella up on Thursday and she started throwing a fit while rolling around in Yolanda's living room. Gustavo always says Ella is great until she sees me. What thanks for all that I do for her!

Fortunately she isn't always acting like this. Sometimes she is really adorable. She still LOVES music and dances almost every time she hears it. This past week Ella has started to try more things. Instead of clenching her jaw and sucking in her lips when I offer her food, she has been at least putting it in her mouth before spitting it out. Yes, she is extremely picky. A few days this week she has actually eaten the introduced food. Here is a list of the things we have been successful with at least once in the past 2 months: boiled egg yolk, cheddar cheese, beans, corn, pears, carrots, wheat bread (not white bread though), dry cereal, pasta, peas, apple sauce, all types of treats including peppermint and swedish fish (she would try the candy, but not the diced tomatoes that looked identical to it- how does she know?). A lot of these foods have only been eaten once although they have been introduced a dozen times. She is so incredibly picky, but these last few days she has tried a lot more so I have hope that she'll continue to expand her pallet and become a healthy eater one day. Ella has also become a lot more interested in moving. The last few months she has been pulling herself around by army crawling. A few weeks ago she started adding a few traditional movements in with the army crawling, but this weekend she has been crawling around! She is trying to pull herself up on furniture, but can only get on her knees by herself. She loves to stand up and has a bit of a bruise on her eye from falling down while holding on to her changing table the other night. Yesterday she figured out how to get into a sitting position all by herself. It is exciting to watch her grow and develop even though I know with this new freedom to move comes a lot more potential for trouble!

For Sale

We've decided to try to sell our house. I thought we would live here for at least three more years, but Gustavo feels like we should try to buy a family home while the interest rates are low. Right now we are just trying to sell it ourselves and are asking $159,900. We put the sign out on Friday and made a flyer on Saturday. We have had one person call (we think it was a neighbor trying to size up the competition) and one couple from church wants to come look at it. If we sell we would like to stay in American Fork or move to Lehi since we both work there. We'll keep everyone posted on the process. If you know anyone who is interested send them our way (or to our listing on MLS or KSL)!

LONG day

At 9:30 Wednesday night I started feeling really nauseous. I very rarely throw up so I thought it was odd when I did at 10:00, but figured it was a one time thing. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. I spent the whole night throwing up every 15 to 30 minutes. I knew that I couldn't go to work or take care of Ella so at 5:45 I started texting and making some calls. My mom came up at a quarter to 7 and gave me some Finnegren and took care of Ella until Yolanda could come get her. At about 1:30 I figured that I should try to shower. That wasn't a good idea. Standing made me throw up. My mom told me I needed to call the doctor to see if they could prescribe me something. The nurse said I needed to find someone to get me to the Instacare right away. My mom got off work and Yolanda brought Ella back. We finally got to the Instacare at 4:15 and I was feeling miserable. They looked at a few things and decided that I needed an IV because I was so dehydrated. They also gave me some Zofran for the nausea. After all of that I was feeling a ton better, but they wanted a urine sample before letting me go. The urinalysis showed traces of sugar so they checked my blood sugar and saw that it was ridiculously high- 331. They were worried that I had diabetes and that all of my throwing up was my body's reaction. I was told to go to the ER right away to get it checked out. We put Ella to bed at my parent's house right after leaving at 7 and then headed to the ER. My blood sugar was down to 107 when I checked in, but they still wanted to do more blood work. I didn't get back to see the ER doctor until 9 pm. He wanted me to get another IV and more blood work. After 3 hours, so at midnight, the doctor told me everything looked good and that I just had a virus. He prescribed me Zofran and told me to stay hydrated. I was able to sleep through the night (well the 6 hours Ella let me sleep) and am feeling much better today which is a good thing since Gustavo comes home TONIGHT! I love teaching PE, but maybe teaching all the kids is exposing me to way too many germs. I have never been so sick in my entire life. Today is my 8th sick day since school began in August.

9 months

I took Ella to her 9 month appointment today and here are her current measurements:

Length: 29.5 in - 97th percentile

Weight: 19 lbs. 11 oz. - 75th percentile

Head Circ: 46 cm - above 90th percentile

This month Ella has discovered the mirror.  She LOVES to look at herself.  When she catches a glimpse of herself she gets really excited and scoots over to the mirror as quickly as she can while squealing.  Once she gets there she kicks and hits the mirror while talking to herself.  She even gives herself kisses. 

If Ella is sad or whining I just put her in front of the mirror and she lights up.

really?

This morning I was driving down Main Street in AF on my way to work.  When I was stopped at the new light on 300 West I noticed that a police car was behind me with its lights on.  I pulled over as the light turned green while trying to think of any possible reason I was being pulled over.  New registration stickers were on the license plate and I'm always really conscious of my speed.  I rolled down the window and the officer greeted me by saying, "I clocked you at 41 mph in a 30 zone two blocks back at about 100 West."  To which I asked, "Where the speed limit changes to 35?"  The officer stated, "1 block before."  ONE BLOCK BEFORE. While he took my information to write up a ticket I couldn't believe it.  The speed limit changed 10 seconds (yes, I went back and counted) after he clocked me so I would have been going 41 mph in a 35 zone.  I had tears running down my face when he came back to give me the ticket.  While I was signing it he said, "You need to slow down."  Seriously?  Did he really need to say that?  I can't believe that he ticketed me for speeding one block before the speed limit changed.  I always try to drive within 5 miles of the speed limit.  I've never been pulled over for speeding and now I have to pay almost 200 dollars. It is honestly $90 for the ticket and $100 for traffic school.  I can think of so many better ways to spend that money.   What bad luck.  I can't stop thinking about it...

halfway

Hi Daddy!  We hope you had a great Veterans Day.  You'll have to tell us all about Gettysburg.  We love you and are so happy that your training is half way over!  We can't wait for you to come home.

swinging

She is way too cute.

hilarious

On Halloween we were able to visit some family.  Ella got her first sweet treat from Abuela when we visited her at work.  Ella has been an incredibly picky eater, but she didn't even hesitate with this cookie.  How do babies know about sugar before even trying it?  She wouldn't let go of the cookie and successfully gnawed away at it until she ate the top corner.

Christopher & Ella

Eva, Ella, and Elena

Ella is figuring out how to move.  She isn't crawling, it is more like she is doing the worm. She gets up on her knees or her tippy toes and then throws her whole body forward and flops down.  It is pretty funny.  You can see the messy cookie residue all over her costume.

Eleanor had the best costume BY FAR.   Can you tell who she is?

EDWARD (from Twilight)  in the Sunlight

HILARIOUS

goodbyes

I hate goodbyes.  I always have and always will.  Sunday we dropped Gustavo off at the airport and said goodbye for 3 weeks.  Yuck.  I hate that we will be apart for so long, but I'm sure we'll be fine and it will go by quickly.  He's happy about this new job and the opportunity to do something different at work.  He's been translating for almost 6 years and now he'll be analyzing.  He's still working at the same place, but this job has a lot of perks.  Including the fact that they want him to be at home so he shouldn't be deployed, which of course I love! We are so glad that he'll be back just in time for Thanksgiving.

Happy Halloween

Our Little Stinker

wants to wish you

(and yours)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

DIY

Before:

After:

We have obviously needed to make the change for a long time, but I bought a programable thermostat last week and installed it today... by myself!  Although I did check my neighbor's, call my dad twice, and call Honeywell once.  

Here's to being more energy efficient and hopefully saving a few bucks!

8 months

Ella's first school picture

Time is flying by and my baby is already 8 months old.  I really can't get over how fast this whole growing up thing is happening.  Here are some of the exciting things Ella is up to:

• She rolls all over the place, but still isn't crawling.  Ella gets up on her knees and not only rocks back and forth, she also shakes her little booty in a circle.
• Ella loves anything that makes noise.  She entertains herself with measuring cups, wrappers, boxes of candy, and anything else she can get her little hands on.
• Ella dances!  When music comes on she starts dancing- I think this is my favorite new development.
• She is quite a talker.  Ella babbles and says lots of sounds, including mama and dada.
• Ever since Ella threw up she refuses to eat solids even though she used to love them.  When I put the spoon by her mouth she turns her head and pushes it away regardless of what is on it.  If I force it in her mouth she gags and tries to spit it out.  We are starting to give her some finger foods and she likes them.
• Ella has 2 teeth.
• When we read Ella one of her favorite stories, "That's Not My Monkey" she kisses the last monkey's fluffy tummy.
• She loves to jump whether it is in her jumper or with us.
• She thinks her daddy is hilarious.  She laughs and laughs when he jokes around with her.  
• Unfortunately, she is a whiner.  She'll get over that though, right???
• Ella loves to push buttons- literally.  She tries to play with our computers and loves to eat our phones.  She has her own phone now though since she ruined mine a few weeks ago.  I guess all that slobber isn't good for electronics. CRAZY
• Ella is still taking 3 naps a day and sleeping from 7 pm until 7 am, occasionally waking up once in the middle of the night. 
  
• Ella loves to pull down the CDs and DVDs.
• She rolls over while we change her diaper which can make things a little difficult.
• The easiest way to make Ella smile is to give her kisses.  She loves them!

football

Isaac is number 58. The closest defensive player on the left.

I seem to be surrounded by football.  Football isn't even Gustavo's favorite sport, but I do believe it is all he does in his spare time these days.  He plays flag football with the ward, plays NCAA football on the Xbox 360 (he has created an intense excel worksheet to keep track of his recruiting- CRAZY), and he watches football games anytime he isn't playing.  While he is playing he usually has at least one game recording on the DVR.  It is crazy.  I like football, but not like that.  We haven't been able to go to any BYU games together this year.  He went to last week's game with Em and Cory and that might be the only time one of us goes to Cougar Stadium this year, but I'm sure we'll watch every game on TV.  We did go down to Nephi to watch Gustavo's little brother Isaac play though.  Although I don't like being cold, there is something very fun about bundling up and watching a football game. We had fun and were happy we had a chance to see Isaac.  We took some cute pictures of Ella while we were out.

All bundled up with Grandma Liz

If you look close you can see her two bottom teeth

October

It is definitely feeling like October around here.  I can't believe September went by so quickly, but I love fall so I'm happy.  

throw up

this is all the stuff she got- luckily you can't see how dirty it all is

Sometimes I use the terms "throw up" and "spit up" interchangeably.  On Sunday the difference became very obvious.  My cousin was being blessed up in Bountiful at 1 o'clock so after Ella's afternoon nap we jumped in the car.  I was nervous she would be hungry so I thought I'd try to feed her on the way up.  She ate a little, but soon became disinterested and spit it all up within minutes.  This left her slightly damp.  When we got to my aunt and uncles ward I explained that Ella's bottom was a little wet because she had thrown up in the car.  Right as the meeting started I was holding Ella as she faced me.  All of the sudden she threw up on me.  I asked Gustavo to get me a burp cloth as she proceeded to throw up at least 2 more times.  He just stared in disbelief while my sister Emily handed me a receiving blanket to try to clean myself up.  I couldn't believe that much could be in Ella's tiny stomach.  I excused myself during the opening hymn and tried to mop myself, but there was no use.  I was drenched from the bottom of my hair all down the front of my clothes.  It was disgusting.  Ella and I sat in the foyer so we could at least hear baby Elliot's blessing.  Gustavo came out during the sacrament hymn and I told him I thought maybe we could stay long enough to partake of the sacrament right as Ella threw up 2 more times.  We knew we needed to leave so we quickly went back to the car and I sat with Ella in the back seat.  She continued to throw up on and off in the car and even when we got home.  It was so sad, but she didn't seem to be in pain just incredibly tired.  I put her down for a good nap and she hasn't thrown up since.  We are glad she is all better and I don't think I'll use the term "throw up" lightly... at least not while Sunday is fresh on my mind.

family time

On September 19th we went down to celebrate Gustavo's dad's birthday.  After eating a delicious dinner Liz wanted to take a group picture.

Liz also took some cute pictures of Ella and Gabe.  

They are so adorable that we couldn't help taking a lot.

Gustavo, Shevin, and Isaac started throwing a football around.

It wasn't long before Lazaro, Gustavo's dad, joined in to show the boys up.

Then they gave the babies a turn!

It's all in a name

I am one of those silly people who has had my life planned for as long as I can remember.  Of course that includes the names of all of my children.  Over the years the names have changed, but when I was about 18 I decided that I wanted all of my children to be named after family members or people who mean a lot to me.  I have 4 incredible sisters who have been wonderful examples and great friends to me.  Ella is derived from my little sister Eleanor's name and her middle name Marie comes from my older sister, Megan Marie.  I love all of my sisters and want Ella to emulate them in many ways throughout her life.  Each of my sisters has a strong testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  They have all followed my parent's examples to value education.  Each of us have chosen different fields to study, but everyone has been very driven in obtaining as much education as possible. Two of my sisters have already earned graduate degrees; Erin has her PhD and Megan has her master's degree.  My three older sisters are all married and raising their children.  I look to their examples as mothers regularly.  They are all very talented women.

When I think of the true characters of Megan and Eleanor, the two sisters whose names Ella carries, I see many similarities.  Both of these sisters are very service oriented.  As we were growing up Eleanor was always very affected by what she would see or hear about.  I remember her always wanting to help save those in the world who were living in difficult conditions.  In fact, I always thought she would choose to be in the medical field because that seemed to fit her passions so well, but she chose to get her degree in graphic design (art has always been another talent of hers.)  Eleanor is still a very sensitive soul.  When she sees someone struggling in person or through the media it is very common for her to start crying and sympathize with them.  Megan and her husband John are both very proactive.  They met in Africa on a study abroad and since then John has traveled all over the world doing research for his degrees (he just finished his PhD at Penn State.)  Megan is always serving those around her.  She faithfully serves in many different capacities in the church, but she is also an incredible friend and neighbor to everyone she meets.  Both of these sisters, okay all of my sisters, are intimidatingly intelligent.  Meg and Eleanor both earned and kept full scholarships to BYU with their ridiculous ACT scores and grades.  Meg got her degrees in Art History and Eleanor just finished her Bachelor of Fine Arts.  Last summer El did her internship in New York at Martha Stewart.  They are obviously both very talented.  I hope that as Ella grows up she knows that she has the potential to be anything she wants.  She is surrounded by incredible people on both sides of the family who will always love and support her.

just because